Saturday 13 February 2016

This Week's Frugal Tasks 13th February 2016

As I look back on my frugal week,  I didn't think I'd done much at all. A very special friend of ours has been  hospitalised and is very unwell.  Darren,  myself and the girls have spent much of the week in prayer for him.   If you are friends with me on Facebook,  I've posted a photo of him.  please join us in prayer for complete healing.  He's the reason Darren and I met and married.

Here's what I managed to do this week - 

*  Picked,  cut and froze lots of beans from the garden.

*  Picked lots of tomatoes,  lettuce, raspberries and one strawberry.

*  Made 7 jars of raspberry jam using our raspberries, our lemon juice and sugar given to us.  I used this recipe ( using raspberries and without the apples ) to make the jam.

*  Made lots of pita chips for snacks.

*  Saved the washing machine and clean shower water.

*  Made 7 jars of peach jam.  The peaches were $1.99 kg and the lemon juice and sugar were free.

*  Made four loaves of wholemeal bread.

* Stayed away from the shops except to buy milk,  fruit and veg.  I'm participating in the Cheapskate's February No Spend Month.

*  Cut up lots of used printer paper to recycle into note paper.

*  Made potato cakes for lunch when Cath came over.  The potato was leftover for dinner the night before.

*  Threw the kitchen scraps into the compost bin.

*  Refilled the shampoo and conditioner bottles in the girl's bathroom.  I also diluted it a little.  I can't dilute it 50 / 50 any more as they complain it's too runny and they use more.  If I dilute it a little I'm hoping they won't notice.

*  Bought Tresemme shampoo  and conditioner on a half price sale using money from the slush fund.

*  Refilled the hand wash pumps with diluted shower gel.  Here's how I do this

*  Used electric fans when possible to cool the house instead of the evap cooling.

*  Picked a few beautiful pink roses from the garden.  They smell divine

From the garden
Pretties for my kitchen
Peach jam to eat and give as presents.
The egg on the right is a normal sized one.
Producing my own food
.How did you save money this week ?

26 comments:

  1. YOu did very well indeed! I can't wait for this summer so I can enjoy fresh strawberries from our garden also. There is nothing as delicious as a strawberry that is freshly picked and still warm from the sun. :) I just did a blog post today on my frugal doings for the week.

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  2. Wendy, I am sorry to hear about your friend. I prayed as soon as I read your post. I've had a slow week too because of a health issue, but something is better than nothing and for those of us who practice frugality as a way of life, we get more done than we realize. By the way your roses are beautiful!

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  3. Hi Wendy,
    This weeks frugal things were:
    Made silverbeet and feta parcels with home grown silverbeet
    Hand watered the garden form our tank every third day
    Picked another homegrown pineapple
    Made a baked ricotta from home made ricotta
    Did some shopping in China town, where the prices are cheaper than the stupidmarkets.
    Hope you have a great day.

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  4. I just said a prayer for your friend. May God hold him close and work through his caregivers.

    Your slow week puts my normal weeks to shame. Hang in there!

    Blessings, Leigh

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  5. Dear Wendy, I don't know how you managed to do this post and travel to Adelaide and back as well!
    My savings this week were good and today I got lots of fresh figs! I looked up the price of them locally and fresh figs are around $1 EACH. So in my kitchen I think I have $500 worth of figs!
    My other saving was a future one... learning what I did last night I can save a huge amount at aldi. I would say an average family can save several thousand dollars a year! Amazing. Very impressed with products I have tried so far! Also had a fantastic time! With love Annabel.xxx

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    1. Annabel, I had this post ready to go on Thursday night. It was great to see you again. xoxo

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  6. Oh Annabel fig jam, dried figs, fig paste - I'd be in fig heaven :)
    Mum's tree is full, I've told her I'll be over this week to collect some to start the jam and drying. We love fig jam! Hope you find lots of lovely tasty ways to use them up.

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  7. Another quiet week here again, still have an ear infection.
    Took 1 cat to the vet's as he was limping, cost $173 for antibiotic injection and anti inflammatory liquid, he is now much better. If we had left it, the cost would have been much higher.
    Last night I went to the military tattoo, took a sandwich, water and coffee with me.
    Managed to get all the towels, tea towels and dishcloths in 1 load instead of 2, so saved on water and electricity.
    Only used the air conditioner 1 day for 1/2 hour.
    bought fruit and veg from Aldi, Coles and the fruit shop depending on where it was cheaper/better quality.
    while sorting a bookcase to use for stockpiling food I found a skirt pattern, now I don't have to buy one.
    made rye bread, not perfect to look at but yummy taste.

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    Replies
    1. You'll save lots of money making your own skirts.

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  8. Hi Wendy, Liz here from W.A. been awhile since Ive left a comment but have been following and enjoying your page, always an inspiration for me! Well after a couple of unplanned expenses this month I have been working hard to come up with the extra money without touching our saving. I have sold some unwanted items on our local Buy Swap Sell page, sorted all the loose change around the house into bags of denomenations ready to take to the bank, estimate theres about $120 in $1, 50c,20c,10c & 5c. I did our monthly food shop today and came in $50 under budget, and even managed to include a whole rump in that at $10 kg (IGA) (we googled how to slice it and its worked out at $7 a meal for three of us and will keep us in steak for quite a few months. I sorted the 2 freezers out and turned one off to save money on electricity. Been baking bread and cooking all meals at home. One of our unplanned expenses was a new scooter for our son as he has worn the old one out (he spends all his spare time at the skatepark perfecting tricks, it gets him out socializing and away from screens), anyway as the new scooter was delayed being sent as the bars were out of stock, my cheeky husband emailed the company and asked them if they could include any free stuff due to the delay, "of course not a problem" they said. What a bonus, pays to ask! regards Liz

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    1. You sound like a woman on a mission Liz. Keep us informed of the bonuses you get with the scooter.

      Welcome back.

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  9. Dear Wendy, I am sorry about your friend, I hope he will be ok.
    My week included: I bought a sizzix machine for $70 less than the original price, very happy with that.
    I made cheese and bacon muffins/ rolls using a yoghurt and flour dough, this will save me money as
    I love cheese and bacon rolls and often buy them.
    Had lunch out using a voucher , which made my lunch almost free!.
    Used newspaper in my budgies cage
    Washed all clothes in cold water
    I am making my mum a card for her birthday , saving me money but also enabling me to personalise the card .
    I think that is it this week Wendy. Love Barb.

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  10. Made up some miracle spray and laundry powder from your recipe.
    Picked tomatoes,cucumber and zucchini from the garden,picked beans and froze them whole.
    Sold a dozen free range eggs.
    Bought some clove oil online to use in shower for the mould,also purchased mild yoghurt starter to make 100 batches of 1lt yoghurt.

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    Replies
    1. You've saved a lot of money this week Jody. Great that you can pick from your garden.

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  11. Slow week. But I managed to get free plums for plum jam and free pears. Caitlin started her 1st ever paying job at a pizza shop.
    I made your raspberry and white chocolate muffins and froze them. Got cheap hot cross buns and they are in the freezer. Got a 2kg leg of lamb for $17 saving me $20 as it was a mark down. God's plan will hold your friend close. He will feel the love.
    Have a frugal and happy week

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    Replies
    1. Cath and I saw cheap hot cross buns in Adelaide. If I didn't make my own I might have bought some.

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  12. I've been keeping a little notebook to write in each day. At the end of the week I am always pleasantly surprised at how much I've done/saved. It is encouraging! I do hope that your friend is better soon. Melissa

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  13. I do hope your friend is ok

    Wow Wendy what a week you have had.

    This week we

    *saved $12 on school canteen lunches (due to me being convenor and this is the schools way to say thanks)

    *saved $14 in my $2 bottle (having a short holiday in a few weeks)

    *saved $5 by not buying any coffee in town yesterday. This is usually a luxury for me each time after a long drive to town

    *hung all washing out to dry in the sun

    *sorted through the freezer to make things easier to find and labelled everything that was not already done

    *got the butcher to cut a very thick piece of steak into 2 pieces as this one piece would be enough for a meal for DD5 and myself

    *saved all our scraps for the worm farm

    *used the worm pee to water the sweet potato and some flowers we have growing

    *was gifted 3 bags of clothes from a friend who's daughter had grown out of and most of the clothes hardly look worn.

    *also gifted a bag of books

    *cleaned out the filters on the washing machine so that it works more efficiently

    Your family is in my thoughts and I hope that you are able to have a good week

    Aly xxx

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  14. Best wishes for your sick friend, Wendy.
    Our lawnmower repair was only $43. Saved buying a new one, as hubby had originally planned, and he is very happy with it.
    Valentines Day I cooked a leg of lamb and we had a bottle of bubbly with a delicious chocolate dessert at home.
    His gift to me was digging out my vege patch and enriching it with compost and worm castings. That's my idea of a good present.
    Left some old furniture out on the nature strip which was gone in a flash, which saved us taking it anywhere.
    Baked oaty biscuits for school work lunches along with mini quiches. Wrapped them all up straight away so they didn't disappear out of the fridge/pantry.
    Made yoghurt and used some of it to make icypoles with the Tupperware set I have. Mixed it with a little bit of jam.
    Sold a couple of items online in effort to declutter.
    Used a $10 nursery plant voucher that comes in a newsletter to buy a gorgeous flowering ground cover which we potted, cost us 0.95c for the plant and the pot we had.
    Marie

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  15. Hi Wendy,

    Sorry for the late post but very big weekend, party and a Wedding.

    Anyway, I Mooed Tortilla's, Chicken and corn soup, pancakes, bickies, castor sugar, freezer meals, chocolate cake Muesli slice and yogurt.

    We ate out of the freezer for one night and as we were at a party and wedding, no cooking for 2 nights, yeah!!! The presents came in under $10.00 and homemade cards. I kept all the things from the wedding eg: ribbon on the invitation, place cards which I can use the card again and all the stickers and bling.

    I'm picking heaps from the garden , too much to mention and we were given bread, milk and cake this week. Using the tank water on the garden and saving the shower water.

    And I only bought milk and fruit this week.

    Are your chooks producing smaller eggs at the moment?

    Praying for you, your family and your friend, xxx

    Maureen

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