Saturday 24 September 2016

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 24th September 2016

This week has been a bits and pieces week.  Darren has been patching and painting our ceilings after the new downlights were installed a couple of weeks ago.  He will finish painting them later in the year.  I've been busy taking photos of my cards and getting ready to sell them. Stay tuned for the big announcement.  I've completed my monthly food shop this week and started planning and buying for my Summer stockpile.

Here's what else I got up to this week -

*  Sold five of my handmade greeting cards to a friend.

*  All of our chickens have started laying.  Wednesday was the first day we collected five eggs.  I've added  weeds,  grass and old vegetable plants from the garden to their diet..

*  Kept the heater off for a couple of days.  It was even warm enough to have the doors open.

*  Refilled a couple of foaming hand wash dispensers with diluted shower gel.

*  Picked a few lemons off our tree.

*  Dried some washing on the line and clotheshorses.  Some items had to be dried in the dryer.

*  We all ate leftovers out of the freezer for dinner one night.

*  Gratefully received three avocados from a friend.

*  Gratefully received a few placemats,  serviettes and doilies at the Cheapskates card making day.

*  Made a card for a wedding we are going to.  I used supplies I already had on hand.

*  Bought a beautiful pair of near new shoes from Savers for $24 using my 20% discount.  These shoes are for the wedding.

*  Refilled all the spray bottles with Miracle Spray.

*  Cut off the hanging ribbons from a cardigan.  These will be used in card making.

*  Gratefully received a handful of train magazines.  I cut out a few pictures for decorating cards.

*  Saved the washing machine water for each next load.

My ( new ) shoes


Handmade wedding card

Handmade men's card
Free card making items


What was on your frugal list this week ?

24 comments:

  1. It is nice when all the chickens are 100% productive. The cards look great - you are very clever and creative.

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    Replies
    1. Thankyou Phil. I was so excited to find the first egg a couple of weeks ago.

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  2. Hi Wendy,

    Those shoes are beautiful. I'm glad everything is coming together for you and you are happy in your new beautiful kitchen and with all other renovations. Nothing like being totally happy in our own home. Though I miss my own home, I'm happy for both you and Annabel for having able to give your homes the 'feminine touch' and make them cosy and welcomed.

    Well, I was thinking of you a lot yesterday. You tell me how easy it is to make foaming hand wash! Gee, recently Aldi had packs of 3x1L refills for forming hand wash. I looked at them and thought, "No, will try Wendy's" and guess what. Didn't even take a minute to make it from the shower gel I had at hand. Just can't believe why people sell or buy those refills any more. Lol. On the other hand, how many people know how to make refills? I too wouldn't know unless I followed you and Cath. Thanks heaps for telling us how to make them at home. Never thought such a simple task would make me this happy. It is true what wise men say - Simple things make you happier.

    Though we had few very cold days, I managed to wash few loads and dry them in the sun. I didn't have any decluttering to do other than few papers. Did some spring cleaning with windows open. Used old shampoo to clean bathroom cubicles and vinegar to mop floors. Had all meals homemade from scratch and had some leftovers too. It is nice to have the smiling sun back though I don't like the summer heat.

    Last week I accidentally came across a half priced 5kg bag of brown rice at Woolworths. It was the only bag left at this particular branch. When I asked for a raincheck, they offered me only 6 bags and to be bought within 4 weeks. Is this normal? This is the first time I asked for a raincheck. I was assuming I could use rainchecks within few months, not weeks. Do you think the policy (or the way they do things) change from branch to branch? Do I have to use this raincheck at the same branch?

    Have a nice weekend!
    Love,
    Milllie




    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Think of the money you are saving on the foaming hand wash Millie.

      Supermarkets changed their raincheck policy within the last 12 months. A rare store might still have the 12 month rainchecks but they were meant to throw them out. Pretty much all stores now offer 28 days or 1 month.

      Unfortunately brown rice doesn't keep for too long before going rancid. It might be worth freezing it in smaller portions to keep longer.

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  3. Hi Wendy,

    Your shoes look lovely and so do your weddding card. It's great to hear your chickens are laying.

    Attended the card making day lasr Saturday and received lots of goodies from the swap table, made two cards which i still need to finish, bought fruit and veggies near card making venue and got some bargains and picked up some bargain papers at Kaisercraft.

    Bought my vitamins i take each day for half price so i bought enough for 4 months. Went to savers and got some bargains and used my 15% off card. I sold 22 cards this week to a friend.

    We were given bread, scones, stickers and for my birthday flowers which i kept the bag and paper for card making.

    I mooed bickies, muffins, castor sugar, rocky road ,truffles, brownies and lemon slice. We went to a friend's house for dinner last night so i brought a tasting plate of brownies, lemon slice, truffles and rocky road. One meal i made this week was Sausage casserole and i had enough leftovers for 3 meals.

    I also cut off the ribbons from a t-shirt which i was given for my birthday to use in card making and i also kept the heater off for 2 days.

    Have a great week,
    Maureen

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    Replies
    1. Great minds think alike Maureen. I also look at everything through card making eyes.

      Did your friends like the tasting plate. It sounds so fancy and posh !!!

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    2. Yes, they did. She doesn't Home bake so any homemade is always a treat

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  4. Hi Wendy. Your shoes look great and it's lovely that you are selling some of your cards:) My main frugal thing this week was menu planning, I'm trying to be more disciplined with this and have a little system now, in an old exercise book, that's working for me.
    We had rain here during week so I didn't do any washing on overcast days, waited until sun came out so using power from our solar panels and not grid. I did a lot of baking: made a second mulberry and apple pie from scratch but this time I used foraged mulberries instead of gifted mulberries from my friend's tree. Also made a lemon and yoghurt loaf which I sliced up and froze for school morning teas and I made batch of lemon butter too. I'll do more double batch baking this coming week so there's plenty in freezer when school term resumes. Got a free packet of bee-friendly seeds sent in the pack of beeswax sheets I bought (my son makes little hand-rolled candles for teacher gifts) and a free little beehive candle too. Bonus!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How exciting that your son makes candles. I'm sure the teachers love them.

      Meg, I love the sound of your baking. Anything lemon is yummy. Good on you for getting a head start on next term's meals.

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  5. Your cards are beautiful! What a great talent and skill to have. :) Most of my saving this past week came from being on vacation at my parents place on the lake in Montana. They do spoil us when were are there! I posted my savings at my blog.

    Be blessed!

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    Replies
    1. Debbie, your holiday sounds lovely. I hope you were able to have a relaxing time.

      Delete
  6. Hi from the UK
    I love your cards when I have finished the garden I must try making some.
    This week I have:-

    Tidied the freezer to see what I have and to make room for some meat when hubby goes into hospital in Dec/Jan as I may not be able to shop when he comes home.

    I baked a loaf of bread, 2 Bakewell tarts and 2 Mincemeat tarts using the last of last Christmases mincemeat. They were all baked at the same time to save electricity.

    I made this years mincemeat giving it a nice long time to mature.Also made plum and blackberry jams from fruit stored in the freezer only 1 lot of plum left to do but I have run out of sugar.

    I harvested the last of this years carrots, parsley, beans courgettes and an onion. Also I harvested my cob nuts all 12 of them, I think the squirrels got there first.

    I made compost from the garden and kitchen waste.

    I line dried all the washing, cleared most of the garden ready for winter, weeded the Leeks, Parsnips and Brussels. Collected seed from Cosmos, Parsnips, Nasturtiums and Marigolds.

    The greenhouse comes down next week ready for the new one and we have an estimate for the kitchen tiles and tilling which should all be done by the end of December. Things should slow down a bit now

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trying to empty the freezer is a challenge in itself. I hope you can find all the meat you need on sale.

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  7. The shoes are so pretty ♥

    summerdaisycottage.blogspot.com

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  8. Hi Wendy

    Great cards as always. I never find as much time these days to get making some.

    This weeks tasks:

    *dried all washing on the line

    *planted Strawberries, Eggplant, Spring onions and aloe vera

    *had house open as much as possible but had to have air con on for 2 afternoons as the temp shot up to 35 degree

    *shopped only at the fruit and vegetable shop

    *went to the movies on a cheap day with DD6

    *sorted through my present box and found some great idea for Christmas

    *put out the pillows for airing

    *was gifted a bag of clothes for DD6

    *cooked an extra batch of butter chicken to have in the freezer as stocks are getting low

    *found some new recipes that have 4 ingredients or fewer in that DD6 actually likes......yay

    Hope you have a wonderful week ahead

    Aly xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A great week Aly. What a wonderful blessing to receive clothes for your DD. Such a money saver.

      I must sort through my present shelf to see what else I need to buy / make for Christmas. Thanks for the reminder.

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  9. Wendy...it's Maxine here in northern Idaho. I didn't do anything special this week because I've been down with a virus. But so much of frugality is ingrained in me, all that stuff got done, anyway. This is the unusual of what I managed to accomplish:

    (1) Cleaned out my broom closet and gave all of my oddball cleaning stuff to a friend, who is just moving back into her house after a fire. This might not be particularly frugal at my end, but I was never going to use that stuff. Left plenty of room on the shelf for Miracle Spray! (Question: what do you use when you need to make up a bucket of solution to clean a floor, etc.?)

    (2) I read The Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson while I was stuck in bed. While I do not aspire to live in a zero waste home (I'm not going to take glass jars to the store for the meat), I definitely am trying to reduce the packaging and unwanted mail that comes into the house. Also, after 44 years of recycling--and having to haul it to the recycling center for most of that time--I want to eliminate as much of this as possible. This week I requested 4 companies to remove me from their catalog lists. I also reused bread and produce bags to freeze things or cover them in the fridge, and plastic grocery sacks for lining wastebaskets. This is one that I do all the time...except for when I don't. No exceptions for the past two weeks!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you are on the mend Maxine. It's not nice being sick. I just sat on the couch and made cards.

      I've read about the Zero Waste Home too. It has good ideas but some are way out there. We can all learn to be more mindful of what we bring into our homes.

      I answered your question below. I hope that was what you were asking. If not, let me know.

      Delete
  10. Wendy, what do you use for a bucket solution for cleaning?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I use Miracle Spray for bathrooms and the kitchen. For the floors I use vinegar and detergent in boiling water. For windows I use detergent and metho in hot water. If the kitchen window is really dirty I use Windex and paper towel. I use microfiber cloths for most of my cleaning.

      Delete
  11. Detergent = laundry or dish? Thanks.

    The Zero Waste Home lady is a little far out (maybe a lot far out), but once you accept you don't have to have a zero waste home, she's got some good ideas for things that you can do. I find myself picking the book up before bed and reading a few pages over again each night.

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  12. Wendy I absolutely love your wedding card. You have used my favourite colours and the clean and simple design is stunning.

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