* Gratefully received a bottle of perfume from a family member. It was new but the family member didn't want it. I'm blessed that it was a fragrance I usually use.
* Dried the washing on clothes horses. I only needed to dry a couple of things in the dryer.
* Saved the kitchen water to use on pot plants outside. Saved the washing machine water as per usual.
* Cooked all meals from scratch using what I already had on hand ( eating down the pantry and freezer ). Darren and I were also invited to a friend's place for dinner. Thankfully the girls are old enough to cook for themselves.
* Cooked a big pot of chunky chicken and veg soup for a church lunch. I used two chicken carcasses from a catering job a couple of months ago that I'd frozen. The leftover soup from church was bought home and the girls had it for lunch.
* When I was shopping in IKEA, I bought home a couple of their free paper tape measures to use in card making.
* Refilled the shampoo and conditioner bottles in both showers and diluted them a little. I also emptied the little shamp / cond bottles you get from holidays into the big bottles. I'm hoping my girls won't notice.
* Refilled the foaming hand wash pumps around the house with diluted shower gel.
* Over the last few weeks I've given handmade soaps and decorated hand towels for a number of occasions. It's great to have these items on hand in my present cupboard.
* Made a batch of soap for our personal use. I still have plenty wrapped for presents.
* Decluttered my craft supplies. Some has been thrown out, some to donate to other crafters and the rest was organised into boxes for easy access.
* Cut up some store bought soap that had been in our bathroom cupboard for a couple of years. I then blitzed it the food processor and added it to the grated soap bucket the holds laundry soap for laundry powder making.
* Gratefully received three avocados from a friend's tree a couple of week's ago. One is now ripe enough to eat so I've taken it out of the pantry and placed it in the fridge. I'm suprised Darren hasn't noticed it in there.
* Closed off the ducted heating vents and doors for the girl's bedrooms when they were at work.
* We received our gas and electricity bills this week. I always read them carefully to make sure it looks correct. Thankfully I did because I noticed our Winter concession discount hadn't been applied to either bill. A saving of approx. $100.
* Picked silverbeet and lemons from our garden.
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| Yummies, pretties and a basket for egg collecting. |
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| The latest batch of soap. |
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| Cutting the soap before blitzing it. |
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| Another pantry tidy up. All the tea is now on the same shelf. |
I am so glad I found your blog Wendy it couldn't have come at a better time, as I am trying to pay extra off our mortgage. Prompted by your weekly specials post I bought the half price chocolates from Coles, together with a gift voucher, it made a great present for an 11 year olds birthday that my son is going to, and I spent about $5 less than I normally would have, every bit helps.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great present Cheryl.
DeleteHi Wendy, what a great week you've had. I've been decluttering my house too, I've been sorting through my chest freezer. Here are some things I got up to:
ReplyDelete- bought 4kg of chicken drumsticks at woolworths for $2.50 a kilo, despite this I managed to still be under budget for my fortnightly shop. I don't touch the food fund unless necessary
- being under budget again means more money put away in the food fund.
- I bought two luxury diffusers for $10 each, they are usually $40 and they will be used as gifts at Christmas time.
- saved bread bags as usual
- washed and re-used some sandwich bags
- diluted some windex (thanks for the tip!)
- all lunches were taken from home
- all meals were cooked at home (we don't have take away anyway)
- had 3 no spend days
- dried washing on the line as much as possible
- turned off appliances at the wall where possible.
Once my freezer is better sorted, I'm going to cook a batch of four bean and barley soup for the freezer, these can be used for lunches.
Amy
I'm glad I'm not the only one decluttering Amy. I think it's good for the soul.
DeleteYour pantry tidy up reminds me I have a freezer to defrost and re pack (intelligently) and whilst I am in the mood I may as well doe the pantry too......that picture of your tidy pantry gave me the shove I needed.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I could shove you Phil.
DeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteI have a great week this week. Lots of cooking things like bickies, bread, brownies and all meals from scratch.Last night we had friends over for dinner and i made sausage rolls, chunky chicken and sweet corn soup, chicken snitzels and apple rose pastries. They were blown away with all the home cooking and the whole meal cost very little.
I also mooed castor sugar, kept the cereal box for my price book and bag, did heaps of sewing, and caught up on lots of jobs around the house.
Well done on your decluttering and your new purchases. Always good to check your bills that come in as these often can be incorrect.
Well, off to organise my card making things for next weekend.
Maureen
You certainly keep busy feeding your hungry boys Maureen.
DeleteI'm sure your visitors have never tasted such good home cooking like yours. They'll be telling all their friends about the good feed.
that's a lot of tea! LOL
ReplyDeleteYes it is. Some was given to us but all the Lipton I bought at half price. It lasts for at least a couple of years past it's best before date. We don't drink coffee, soft drink, cordial or other sugary drinks. Just tea, water and milk with the rare hot choc.
DeleteDear Wendy,
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how the little things can add up to big savings in the long run. Keeping track of what we do inspires us to find more ways to cut back on spending.
You had a great frugal week and your list keeps getting longer :)
I bet you are getting excited for your new flooring to be installed.
My frugal tasks included;
*Making homemade tomato soup with tomatoes from our garden.
*Cleaned houses for income.
*Cooked most meals from scratch using things I had here and sticking to my menu plan.
*Three no spend days.
*Dried clothes on the line and in front of the fire.
*Used hot water heated in kettles on top of fire for washing dishes.
*Baked chocolate and orange cakes.
*Only turned the TV on when there was something on we wanted to watch.
*Shut off rooms not being used to control where the heat goes.
*Draw the blinds in the late afternoon to keep cold out and heat in.
*Cleaned the house using homemade cleaners.
*Picked mandarins and grapefruit from our trees.
*Picked tomatoes and spring onions.
*Bought two sets of summer sheets that were on special.
*Used leftover meals for hubby’s work.
*Stockpiled almond milk that was half price.
*Used my heat pack in bed to keep warm instead of the electric blanket.
*Getting 3-4 eggs a day from our girls.
Wishing you a lovely week!
xTania
Tania, that's a great use of your fire. Cath dries bread crusts on top of her fire. Saves using the oven to make dried bread crumbs.
DeleteGood luck with your renovations Wendy, I bet you will be relieved when all the upheaval is over!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if you might do a post on planning your kitchen and renovating it on a budget? We are in the process of planning to build a house and I am very interested in what makes a kitchen work. Any advice would be much appreciated.
All the best,
Peach
Yes I will be very glad when it's over. I don't cope well with mess.
DeleteUnfortunately we are not renovating on a budget. In saying that, we are not going high end either. I need a kitchen that's good quality because I give it a good work out each day. I will make a note on planning a kitchen that works post. Thanks for the idea.
Your blog is great inspiration, Wendy. I sit here with a pen and paper noting down specials I can make use of from your lists:) Frugal tasks this week included picking and eating lots from our garden, finishing off a dishcloth that will go in my present box and promptly starting another one, cooking from scratch and eating meals from freezer. Saved a $1 off a letter which hadn't been postmarked too:) All washing air-dried (we don't have a dryer so no choice there) and only use one little heater in our boy's room which we turn on just before bedtime and off after he's asleep. Walking round house in many layers and under warm doona if watching tv. Filled car with petrol at cheaper price per litre. Blackout earlier in week & we all loved eating by candlelight for those couple of hours that the power was out!
ReplyDeleteMeg, you could make one night a week " blackout night ". The boys would love it. I really must do this in my home. We have so many candles that need using up.
DeleteHi Wendy
ReplyDeleteWishing you all the best with the renovations.
This week I have
*Hung all the washing on the clothes line or on the clothes horse
*Made a double batch of muffins for DD6 lunches (returns to school tomorrow)
*Purchased a pair of school shoes for $4.00 yes you did read correct...they were down to $14 Lynx brand and I had a $10 in points value and so when the lady said $4.00 I nearly fell over
*Made 3 left over meals to freeze
*Made all meals from scratch
*Purchased 6 seedlings for DD6 garden for $2.50 and used the "worm pee" to water them and they are looking wonderful
*Gave all vegetable scraps to the worms
*Using up all meat in my freezer before buying any more
*Used heat packs in bed to keep feet warm (do not own electric blankets
*Opened up the house to let the sunshine in to help it stay warm longer
*Purchased a few items on special to put away in my surplus box
*Made homemade cookies whilst DD6 was on holidays as our picnic afternoon tea special
*Decided to "hire a movie" from Bigpond instead of driving the hour and a half to town, spending money on movie tickets and popcorn this saved me well over $70
Well I do hope you and everyone else has a wonderful week ahead of them
Aly xxx