to share. It just goes to show that everyday living can be frugal without trying too hard. Here's what we got up to -
* Gratefully received some zucchinis from Cath. They have been made into a zucchini slice and frozen.
* Made 21 jars of jam from peaches and apricots bought at $1.69 a kilo The sugar used was given to us and the lemons came off our tree.
* Bought a doona cover for our bed for $20. The quality is excellent and such a bargain price.
* Saved the shower warm up water to use on the garden. Saved the washing machine water for each next load.
* Made lots of chocolate cupcakes for a church morning tea. They were decorated with Christmas cupcake toppers bought on clearance last year for 5 cents a packet of 12.
* Made a trip to Hindustan Imports to stock up on herbs, spices, chia seeds and walnuts. They are so much cheaper than any supermarket.
* Darren made white Christmas and rocky road to give as presents to friends at church and the cafe. I bought all ingredients at half price a couple of months ago.
* Picked up some perfume and aftershave bargains at Chemist Warehouse. These items have been put away for birthdays and Christmas next year.
* Bought some great bargains at Savers op shop. I was after a slightly bigger teapot. I had my eye on one in Kmart and was waiting for the Boxing Day sales. When I was in Kmart on Tuesday, they only had one left at full price ( $10 ). I found the size I was after in a color I love for $5.59. I also picked up a beautiful jug for $3.19, a Decor storage container for $2.38 and a veggie steamer for $3.19. These are all things i can use in my kitchen.
* Started picking beans this week from our dwarf bean plants.
* Picked lettuce from the garden for a couple of meals during the heat last weekend. I used some lettuce for a garden salad for Christmas dinner.
* Sold two dozen eggs, a jar of tomato relish and a jar of jam.
* Gratefully received a parcel from my blogger friend Mimi. She found a cake mould that would be suitable for making soap. She included so rose pictures for card making. Thankyou Mimi. I'll be making more soap in the new year.
* Planted the Loganberry plant I bought on clearance a few weeks ago. I wanted to wait until it was looking healthier. I also planted some silverbeet seedling my Dad gave me
* Saved all gift bags, ribbon, tissue paper and Christmas cards to be recycled. The Christmas cards will be made into gift tags for next year.
* Did the usual water saving tasks. We dried most of the washing on the line. Some washing was put into the dryer so that we didn't have clothes horses all around the house during Christmas.
* Used my flyby dollars to buy some Christmas Eve snacks.
* Wrapped up five hand made soaps to be given as presents next year.
Like you Wendy, I thought I hadn't done much this week, but every little thing adds up.
ReplyDeleteI used Fly Buy dollars and a Woolworths gift card for the Christmas food so the meal was almost free. Even then I only bought what was necessary, the ham now needs to be cut up and frozen for future meals and soup.
I re-used 2 paper bottle bags for DD and DSIL's presents(a bottle of coke in DSIL's as he doesn't drink), the bags are now under the tree ready to put away for next year. DD knows I recycle gift wrapping and often brings some for me from other gifts she has received lol.
I also used the dryer once so that washing wasn't everywhere.
DH uses QV lotion after his shower and when he thought the bottle was empty he asked me to open it up, there was enough in there for at least another 2 weeks, this is now in a recycled plastic hummus container in the bathroom.
I bought some pj's, a tshirt and a scarf from the op shop. The scarf is quite large and I am taking it with me on my 2 short holidays, it will be more versatile than a cardigan or jacket and takes up less space in my bag. In winter I can use it as a scarf again.
Good idea for the scarf Meg. I also open all lotions etc and get everything I can out.
DeleteI hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas. I've had a few days off work and have been able to get a few frugal tasks done this week
ReplyDelete- made 1 kg of yoghurt
- grated two bars of laundry soap
- received a large tupperware box of tomatoes and some capsicums so I turned them into a lovely pasta sauce and added zucchinis that we harvested last week
- saved ribbons, Christmas cards and gift bags that I will use for Christmas next year
- gratefully received some ham and sliced roast beef which I froze into smaller portions for later use
- gratefully received some leftovers from family Christmas lunch, the leftover lamb will be used in a lamb and vegetable curry
- gratefully received lots of bread rolls which I have frozen, we will use these up in homemade burger nights
-we had lots of apples, so I steamed and pureed them for baby food. Any excess was portioned and frozen
- made other baby food
- unfortunately my husband was working Christmas eve and Christmas day so I made chocolate chip cookies for him to take to work as well as homemade hot chocolate mix to share with his colleagues
- I plan to buy Christmas wrapping paper soon as it's cheap
- I've been saving a myer gift card for the boxing day sales, so I'm hoping I will get good prices for what I am after.
Amy
Amy, you've been very frugal with your food this week.
DeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely loving your tasks this week Wendy I feel like I have accomplished quite a few things this week too and remembered to write them down haha
Frugal tasks
Picked my first sweet corn from the garden
Tidied up the garden and added in some more cow and horse manure
Stuart replanted some chilli plants we have
Made 1 litre of frozen banana and mango yoghurt and 1 litre of frozen berry yoghurt
Made more salt scrubs and will be experimenting with more different types of ingredients that I have on hand
Diluted 10 bottles of morning fresh by half I now have 20 bottles which will last quite sometime I still have 6 un diluted bottles in the cupboard
Made a big batch of bubble and squeak for two nights worth of dinners
Made some washing powder
Did some last minute Christmas shopping with items that were marked down or half price
Did a few good deeds and gave to the needy
Helped my mum with a few things for chrissy dinner
Gave mum 2 doz quail eggs that my neighbour gave me
Enjoyed our Christmas Day
Merry Christmas everyone and to you Wendy xoxox
Love Anne
WOW !!! what a list Anne. You've been busy xoxo
DeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteYou've had a great week considering the busy time of the year.
Tried not to use the cooling too much but when we did, I tried to use less elsewhere eg: I swept the floors instead of vacuuming. Also on these hot days, we used freezer meals.
Picked our first apples of the tree, strawberries and snowpeas.Made bread and chocolates with a nutella centre for Christmas day. Used up a very small amount of mince by making them into meatballs and stretching them to feed the 4 of us. Used the tank water in the washing machine and to water the garden, thank goodness for the rain today which refilled the tanks and gave a good soaking to the garden.
Made Christmas crackers, recycled Christmas paper and bags and used pumpkin and potatoes I had stored during winter to use on Christmas day. We entertained 2 days this week and i had prepared for this in our budget. We made chicken kebabs ourselves as they were too expensive and had lots of leftovers which we ate for a couple of days.
Christmas day was also at our house, all budgeted for with lots and lots of leftovers, very blessed.
Used some of the flybuys for movie vouchers, bought perfume at Chemist warehouse at half price (thanks for the tip , Wendy)and visited a warehouse near my house which is closing down and bought a doona cover and some presents all at 65% off.
Blessings,
Maureen
Maureen, you certainly keep yourself busy.
Deletei bought 90% of my gifts to family from one garage sale! so much more fun than trudging store to store. mostly everything was there. i couldn't BELIEVE it!
ReplyDeleteWell done on your finds.
DeleteSeasons Greetings Wendy, lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteI made sausage rolls from reduced sausage mince for a family party.
Gratefully accepted a dozen bread rolls.
Finished off some last minute Christmas gifts (knitted and sewn).
Made mince pies using Cath's recipe for slow cooker fruit mince. I had this mince stored in jars since 2011, used the last one. Will need to make more next year. Made simple sweet pastry. Some given as gifts.
Made a fruit cake from scratch.
Made caramel sauce on Christmas day for the pudding from frozen cream, brown sugar and butter.
Made the Christmas pudding from scratch in the slow cooker on Christmas day.
Bought a "new" pair of shoes and dress at the op shop - half price.
We also started picking our beans.
Hosted lots of guests on Christmas day and eve. Each told me what they would be bringing so I could work out exactly what I needed to buy and I did manage to stay within budget. Happy with that.
Marie
Staying in budget at this time of the year is always good. I'm sure you enjoyed making your Christmas treats.
DeleteI hope you had a lovely Christmas, Wendy!
ReplyDeleteWe did a great deal of our celebrating away from home, so I haven't much to report in the way of frugal happenings. I'm grateful that careful shopping and planning allowed me to enjoy the festivities rather than stress over lots of last-minute details or budget concerns. I'm relaxing today, then tomorrow I'll jump back in to normal life with Christmas clean-up and planning for a productive 2016.
Blessings, Leigh
Leigh, your year long frugalness paid off.
DeleteI'm new to your blog Wendy but will be following along now. It's great. Best wishes for 2016.
ReplyDeleteWelcome Tracy. We hope to hear from you often. The readers / commenter here are lovely and you'll find good conversations.
DeleteI'm glad the festive season was well celebrated by you and your family Wendy. And I'm thrilled you liked the soap mold! Love, Mimi xxx
ReplyDelete