* Made lots of pita chips to serve with dip at Darren's party.
* Mended a couple of tops.
* Turned the heater down to 18 degrees when possible.
* Hand washed the dinner dishes a couple of times this week instead of using the dishwasher.
* Baked two loaves of white bread and two of wholemeal bread.
* Made double batches of choc truffles and lemon slice for Darren's party.
* Made sweetened condensed milk to use in the above recipes.
* Bought about 18 months supply of Vegeta stock powder on sale in Coles this week.
* Dried some washing on clothes horses. With Darren's party on Sunday I didn't want wet washing around the house so a few loads went into the dryer.
* Cooked a leg of lamb and roast veggies for Darren's birthday on Wednesday. There was enough lamb left over for another meal this week.
* Cooked beef stew in the slow cooker. There was enough left over for another meal. It was wonderful to have two nights off from cooking.
* Made sure the curtains were open when the Sun was streaming through the glass.
* Megan and I made Darren's birthday cards using supplies we had on hand. I printed some birthday greeting off the internet to put on the cards. Darren said they were amazing and the best cards he's received. That made us smile. I'd looked in the $2 shops for cards and wasn't happy with what was available for $1, $2 and $3. The cards we made worked out to be 25 cents each.
* Donated a bag of clothes to Savers and received a discount stamp.
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| Chocolate truffles |
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| My card for Darren |
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| Megan and Jessica's card for Darren |
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| Our daisy bush in full bloom |
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| Out to dinner at The Titanic Restaurant. |
What frugal things did you get up to this week ?
Wow Wendy those cards look amazing.
ReplyDeleteThis week we had so much rain that a lot of my washing went into the dryer but I've only had the dishwasher running twice.
I baked cookies and a slice.
Took lunch and morning tea to work each day.
Shopped the specials - IGA have Kleenex Cottonelle for 17.99 for 48 rolls which Im off to stock up on today.
Bought 12 tubes of Colgate Optic White toothpaste which is what we use for $35.00 normally around $6.99 each - they're not the normal international versions that you sometimes get either.
Planning on buy some cheap tomatoes this weekend if possible. DD would like me to make her some tomato soup for school - I bought her a thermos not long ago which is the perfect size, for $5 it had a slight dent in the lid and it works really well.
Thats it for me. Have a great week.
Deb
Soup for school is wonderful and comforting and a $5 thermos is a bargain.
DeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to your Hubby. You two are still mere babies yet :-)
I love the photos .. I have to make a few birthday cards this week but I doubt I will reach your quality.
This week I have been cooking cooking and cooking. Loaves of bread, herb breads, herb bread rolls, scones and today I am going to make a huge batch of mixed biscuits. pumpkin, banana, choc chip, peanut, jam tartlets, coconut, well you get the idea.
I have been knitting again for gifts. Berets with matching boot cuffs, beanies, just basics.
I had a pair of leather shoes that were a bit tight on the toe which have made them impossible to wear so I have taken the week to stretch the leather so now they are a delight to wear. Hubbies Ugg boot sole fell of after years of use. I resoled them including patching a hole in the sole.
I have spent not one penny this last week. Today however I think this will change lol. I will be visiting the second hand stores and if I can find a few of the things I have on my list I will be spending the ten dollars I have set aside for these buys.
Our electricity bill came in and boy has the bubble wrap made a difference. I have also been turning the hot water system off and only turning it on for a few hours every 48 hours. I guess this has made a bit of a difference as well.
Have a great weekend
Linda
Thankyou for your knd words on the cards Linda. I just used wrapping paper and some text I printed off the internet. Darren is a Collingwood supporter, so he loved the black and white theme.
DeleteI love the sound of your knitting Linda, the berets and boot cuffs! I think knitting as gifts is wonderful! x
Delete:-) Thank you Annabel. I am an amateur but I like to make things for family. I never apologise for the 'not so expert appearance' lol..I tell them it is made with love. Surprisingly they wear them too ...
DeleteThanks Wendy, I will pull out the wrapping paper and stick to the footy colours as well. If nothing else I will make them happy about that :-)
The two of you look lovely Wendy and the cards look so professional.
ReplyDeleteThis week was good for us and a fair few good savings. I made heat packs as gifts and took photos of my Grand daughter instead of the parents getting professional photos, a saving for three hundred dollars apparently!
Also made soup, stock, lots of winter cooking...
Have a great day tomorrow. I hope there will be pictures on next weeks blog! Love Annabel.xxxx
I'll try to remember to take photos - if I get out of the kitchen.
DeleteHAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY Darren!
ReplyDeleteWendy, those cards look great. I find males are a bit harder to design for but you have done an awesome job. You have had a busy week with so much on. Hope tomorrow's celebration goes well.
Such a gorgeous photo of you both.
xTania
Thankyou. I've got a new haircut and my first ever hair color. Now to grow my hair a little longer for the layers to stand out.
DeleteI forgot to say about my week lol!
ReplyDelete~I did have four no spend days this week.
~Paid off a big amount on our mortgage as we sold a car we didn't need. Also we will save quite an amount by not having insurance and registration to pay anymore.
~Cooked every meal from scratch.
~Sold excess eggs.
~I haven't had to water the garden because of the rain.
~Baked some more bread.
~Made some of your peanut butter choc chip cookies...YUM!
~Picked two more buckets of mandarins, one for us and one for my daughter.
~We were gifted two little fluffy pom pom chooks (silkies), they are so cute.
xTania
Praise God for the rain xoxo
DeleteWhat a lovely photo of the two of you at the restaurant make sure you put it in a frame . I loved your cards and wonderful food you cooked for the party not only money saving but a show of love and care I can imagine how special it was for Darren
ReplyDeleteContinued to do all my usual money saving things they are becoming more automatic now and easier to do
Your muesli slice continues to be a hit
Tidied the pantry so I can see what I have
Had lunch at home with a girlfriend rather than going to a cafe more relaxing and
we talked much longer than if we had been at a cafe and a lot cheaper
Have a great weekend everyone and thank you Wendy for all the work you put into your blog Shelley
Thankyou Shelley. Every time someone posts a comment I get excited. I'm blessed with our wonderful blog community. xoxo
DeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteBelated birthday wishes to your hubby!
I've been frugal and happy as much as possible this week.
Prepared all the meals from scratch.
Made breadcrumbs to fill a large airtight container and fed the birdies with the extra. Will be using these to coat fish cakes and pan frying fish (after seasoning them), make meatballs etc.
Used up most of the frozen and refrigerated leftovers.
Made homemade pasta and ravioli using the staples I had in the pantry. This is the first time I used my pasta machine to make my own pasta. Guys, this is super easy and I loved it. Hopefully I will make my own pasta, ravioli and lasagne sheets at home hereafter.
Dried most of the washed clothes on clothes horse.
Made smoothies out of yoghurt and fruits which were feeling sad being so long at home not doing much.
Bought few tins of Cadbury drinking chocolates, Nutella and some other stuff from Coles for either half price or a certain percent off the regular price. Some of them went to my pantry and some will be given away as presents.
Made both stock and soups with some frozen meat trimmings, frozen broccoli & cauliflower stalks, and some other 'tired and unhappy' veggies from the fridge.
Crocheted a beautiful little beanie for my 3 yr old niece with balls of fancy wool I had in my craft box for some time. So sure she would love it.
Did a major cleaning at home without using any chemicals other than to clean toilets.
This could sound ridiculous but I have some plans for the next few days too, as follows:
Bake choco chip muffins, peanut butter cookies and a coffee cake from scratch.
Make more smoothies to finish up the remaining few 'unhappy' fruits and yoghurt / ice cream which are getting a bit old in the cold.
Finish using up remaining few frozen and refrigerated leftover meals.
Make fresh batches of extra meals for the freezer and fridge from scratch (after finishing up all I have at hand).
Crochet a scarf for me.
Mend the soles of my woollen ugg boots (I don't know what they are called. Looks like ugg boots but the 'body' is made out of wool, so they don't stand straight like normal ugg boots and have soles made out of some material with a rubber beading going around the sole, they too are not solid.) The sole is coming apart from the woollen body and have one small hole too. I was wondering what to do with it as the 'body' is in very good condition.
The comments given by Linda gave me some hope but will have to Google to see how to get this fixed with new soles. - Thank you so much, Linda, for your comments and giving me hope.
I was pretty upset with those soles and unless I do something very soon my hubby would throw them away in the bin or cut them in half - believe me, he has done both these in the past. It is heartbreaking to see my favourite but used up clothing in a 'headless' or 'homeless' status, thanks to him.
Well, that is all I guess. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my frugal list for the first time.
Have a lovely week, all of you.
Millie
Hi Millie, My fix was basic. I used cardboard between the old sole and the upper and inserted a liner in the slipper so I ended up with four layers to the 'new' sole.(the inside liner, the bottom of the upper part of the ugg boot, the cardboard to strengthen and reinforce the sole and then I had the original sole I put it all together with tarzans grip and pegs held it together for 24 hours while the glue dried. I can remember in the old days we use to be able to buy the soles at the grocery store so we could resole our own shoes. Your soles are a material you say??? have you thought of using a hard wearing piece of material as a new sole..eg denim. maybe there is something that is made of similar material to your existing sole that you can cut up and glue to the existing sole.......or you could stitch it on to the upper part of the slipper , maybe??? sorry I am probably just talking silly talk...
DeleteLinda
You've had a very frugal week Millie. I quite often have a list of jobs / frugal tasks for the coming week. It puts my mind at ease once it's written down.
DeleteHi Wendy and happy 50th Darren! Liz here from WA, I haven't left a comment for a couple of months but been busy being frugal. Today we packed the freezer with 2 of our home grown sheep, and gave a side to my mum. My chickens are finally laying and with 4 eggs a day was able to give a dozen to my neighbour. The vegetable garden is in full swing, harvesting broccoli, spring onions, turnips and swedes, and cabbage. We collected 2 loads of firewood off our property, giving 1 load to a friend in need. I did the monthly food shopping last weekend and continue to reduce our bill each month, enjoying the challenge! I sold a few unwanted items on Buy Swap and Sell this week for some extra cash which went towards buying a bargin priced second hand pool table for the boys, hours of fun! Baked and froze school snacks and cooked all meals from scratch with hubby taking the leftovers for lunch at work. We also made beef jerky in the Food Dehydrator for snacks and bread in the bread maker. Loving the rain, has filled both of our water tanks, have a good week, regards Liz
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Liz. You've got a bit of reading to catch up on.
DeleteI'm drooling over the thought of all that meat. Your lifestyles sounds wonderful. Living off the land is a dream for most suburban people.
Hi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteA very Happy Birthday to Darren. You both look like you had a lovely time and survived the Titanic.
Your cards look wonderful!
This week i still did the usually things as they have become second nature now.
Also made Miracle spray and Washing powder and gratefully received Bread and 8 packets of Choc chip bickies from DS1's school as the teacher said they were a bit burnt to be able to sell in the school bakery.
Tonight i am busy cooking up a storm in my cosy kitchen. DS2's Confirmation tomorrow and I'm making his cake which looks like a Bible and some sausage rolls.
Good luck with Darren's party tomorrow, I'll be thinking of you when I'm also hosting my guests.
(Hope you take lots of photos ).
Blessings,
Maureen
Hope you son's confirmation goes well. xoxo. i'll be thinking of you too.
DeleteMy Frugal Week
ReplyDeleteWith Tony out of work, we are really having to watch the pennies. I took his diesel fuel ute to work this week as it works out I can further on a tank than my petrol fueled wagon. Took my lunch and snacks to work.
I got an outfit for a Fire Brigade dinner from the hospital op shop for $8.
I was gifted a jumper and top from a friend
Was gifted some bread.
Brought some chocolate tulips from Aldi for 49c each ( They say Happy mother's day but by taking them out of their wrappers and re wrapping them I can use them for gifts.
Girls took their lunches every day.
Tony walked to the CBD in our town.
Only spent $102 when shopping for groceries but I will need to top up with meat next week.
Made vegie soup with the left over beef roast and a few very tired vegies.
Used carrots from my garden for meals.
Made the coleslaw to take to a BBQ.
Bought a coffee cup from a friend for $3 that I will use for a gift.
Dried all clothes on line or on the horses.
But we have had to have the gas heater and small fan heater on to heat our very cold house. Trying to save up to get the house walls insulated and the insulation in the roof replaced and then hopefully will get central heating.
worked an extra shift at work.
Happy Birthday Weekend Darren - 50 is the new 40!!!
Janinr
What a great idea about the tulips. I think I saw them in Aldi this week but didn't pay to much attention to the price.
DeleteI'll tell Darren that 50 is the new 40. He'll love that xoxo
Hi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteThose birthday cards look amazing, so professional.
This week I made your peanut butter cookies and Tuna Bake. Both are delicious. I am
currently re-negotiating my hours at work. I want to work 2 full days instead off 4 part-
time days. I will lose 4 hours per week, but this will give me more time for family
commitments, more time to do "frugal things" and less wear and tear on the car.
I took in the rubbish bins and collected the mail for my next door neighbours whilst they where on
holidays and was given a Myers gift voucher as a thank you gift. I bought an nice top (40 % off already reduce prices) to wear at a family function in August.
Also mended a pair of DH's jeans. They don't look that great anymore, but are still good to wear at home and local shops etc, until they "fall apart".
Have a good week
Tricia
I hope you get the work hours you want Tricia. More time at home is a blessing.
DeleteHappy 50th Birthday Darren
ReplyDeleteWendy I hope all goes well today with the party. I am sure everyone will be looking forward to the treats you have made.
The cards were so well done....fantastic job to you and the girls
Unfortunately this has not been a very frugal week for us as we had to get new tyres on the car and the bearings done, but with the money we have been putting away for the last few weeks made the dent in our budget a lot less than it would have otherwise.
I guess the frugalness of the last couple of weeks groceries has helped in us being prepared for the car to be done. I have done lots of shopping in my pantry thanks to both you and Annabel, so this has kept my budget under $60 for a few weeks.
You and Darren looked so lovely together in your photo out to dinner. I am sure it was a wonderful night out.
Enjoy your day today
Aly
Thankyou Aly. It's been a busy weekend getting ready for the party. We are eating left over sausage rolls and mini qichesw for tea tonight.
DeleteCars are expensive to keep on the road. Maybe a special bank account for car expenses might help.
That is such a lovely photo of you two and I love the cards!
ReplyDeleteJust the usuals this week
- cooked all meals from scratch apart from one night where I pulled out a chicken risotto out of the freezer from when I'd made a double batch a few weeks ago.
- Cashed in some flybuy points to get money off my weekly shop
- Weekly shop was a bit over budget, mainly because I paid closer attention to cost per kilo and therefore bought more teabags, more flour etc etc. Bigger shop but hopefully leading to bigger savings down the track.
- gratefully accepted greens and lemons from a clients veggie patch. Made wonderful tabbouli from clients parsley and spring onions, which I served with thinly sliced lamb backstraps, pita bread and plain yoghurt.
- bought 10 classes of pilates instead of 5, bigger outlay, but cheaper classes in the long run.
- kept the heating at 15, 16 or 17. It came on at 15, so it must have been a cool week! (in my very cool house)
- potted up my veggie seedlings and put them outside and watered with saved water. Hope to plant more seeds this week to keep the supply up.
- enjoyed almost spending $460,000 of someone else's (interstate) money at an auction! Unfortunately we were the underbidder. Had a lot of fun and learnt a lot.
Hope everyone has a good week.
Tania
The lamb meal sounds very yummy Tania.
DeleteYour cards look great! Those daisy's are what captured my attention. Just beautiful! I love it to when you can have two meal off one. It's easy, and keeps the cost low.
ReplyDeleteOur garden here is just starting to produce (mainly lettuce and radishes) but we glad because it's already saving us money.
That state / country are you in Vickie ? Silverbeet can be grown all year round as well.
DeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to tell you your muesli slice us a hit in this house too. Vanessa
I'm so glad Vanessa. After tasting homemade muesli bar slice, the supermarket ones taste like cardboard.
Delete