* Froze three single serves of leftover beef stew.
* Made two chocolate cakes at the same time. One was for us and the other was for a church morning tea.
* Juiced some lemons and picked the last of the lemons off our tree.
* Made a batch of pita chips for snacks.
* Sewed a button on a pair of 3/4 jeans. The stud had fallen off leaving a hole so I sewed up the hole too.
* Gratefully received a collection of buttons from a friend. Her mother had been collecting them over the years and they were sorted into colors in each container.
* Made a bottle of air freshener.
* Picked a bunch of roses from the garden for our kitchen.
* Baked four loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.
* Fed weeds, silverbeet and grass to the chickens to vary their diet.
* Line dried most of the washing.
* Saved the washing machine and shower water.
* Stayed at home as much as possible to save on petrol. When I did go out I combined errands.
* Sold a few more items in my Etsy shop. I've sold all the Christmas hand towels so now I'm busy making more.
* Jessica used a coupon for 50% off labour on her car service
* Listed all of Jessica's and Megan's school text book on various FB pages. I've already sold one book.
* Stocked up on scented candles on sale in Spotlight. They were a bargain at $1.99 but with a further 30% off, they are an amazing bargain. Teamed up with a vintage saucer or plate from Savers, they make a delightful gift for under $5. Normally you'd pay about $20 in a gift shop.
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| In the garden |
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| One of our standard rose bushes in bloom |
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| A frugal yet pretty gift |
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| Pansies |
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| Chocolate cakes |
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| Flowers for my kitchen from the garden |
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| Each chicken lays a different colored egg. |
How did you save time, money and energy this week ?
Dear Wendy, this week was fairly quiet compared to last week ( I comment on Annabels blog each week with what I do to save and my frugal tasks etc.
ReplyDeleteThis week I have had subsidised cleaning for two hours , subsidised meal prep for two hours and social support , also subsidised for an hour , I saved myself at least $100 based on private fees for home help.
I made more Christmas and birthday cards and saved at least $ 50 compared to what handmade cards cost.
I topped up my foaming hand wash in my bathroom and kitchen
I used ingredients from my stockpile for my meals .
I bought some tins of Corinthian wafers for gifts for $2 a tin ,also bought some Scottie dog shaped shortbread for 30% off for a gift.
Bought more gifts for Christmas , these are some nice gifts and were for hard to buy for people so I am glad they are done .
Bought the finishing touches for 3 more Christmas gifts .
Bought a block of chocolate on special to pop in with a Christmas parcel.
Saved $22 on groceries and will put $20 away in my savings .
Only just need to buy more bird seed for my budgies after using seed from my stockpile for the last three months.
I am revising my budget and it looks better in the next few weeks than it has been for two months.
Received free medication due to the pbs ( government scheme) , I have received free medication for almost 6 months now . I hate taking so much medication but the pbs scheme helps.
I think that is it Wendy . Thank you for another great post, you have had a good week.i hope the Etsy shop continues to do well and I also hope you sell all the school books.have a great weekend Wendy and readers. Love Barb W
Barb, I have two West Highland white terriers (one a rescue and the other a giveaway) and they also look like those Walker's Scotty dog shortbread cookies. I'm always on the lookout for them--and 30% off was a steal!
Delete--Maxine, aka mikemax
Barb, you might think your week was quiet but you still had great savings. Your doing the right thin by banking the savings too. Well done xoxo
DeleteThank you Wendy, I had a huge week last week and this week in comparison seemed really quiet / small but when I read my list again , you are right Wendy , I have had some good savings . I try to put aside some money each fortnight even if it is only a small amount. I am finding myself checking my shopping list twice or three times( just like Santa!) and thinking can I make that or do without it.thanks to you and Cath and Annabel I have learnt a lot .
DeleteMaxine , I buy the Scottie dog walkers biscuits at Woolworths, are you in Australia?. They currently have two sized boxes in my Woolworths 150 grams and 330 grams ( or it might be 300 grams I cannot remember ) . I bought a beautiful tin that shape last year for $8 and it had tiny dog shaped biscuits. My mum loved it and I was glad because it was part of my gift to her. It was at Woolworths too but big W had them also, i haven't seen them this year though.
Thanks again Wendy . Love Barb W.
Hi, Wendy. Your roses are very pretty and look lovely in your new kitchen. I was less busy this week with only one relief teaching day so that gave me more time here at home. Here's what I did:
ReplyDelete* all meals and snacks made here at home
* made a chicken and vegetable pie with a small amount of left over roast chicken and lots of frozen veggies that I had in the freezer. Yum!
* used lots of green beans and cherry tomatoes from the garden
* filled car at cheapest price I could find $1.19 per L which at least was less than the $1.25 and beyond elsewhere. Sigh!
* finished knitting a cotton dishcloth for a gift
* cut out some little round gift tags from old Christmas cards (I will attach to a cardboard backing and then glitter around the edges of each one and add ribbon from my stash over weekend.)
* sorted through old gardening/natural health magazines & gave some away
I like reading your frugal posts very much as I get lots of good ideas. Thanks! Meg:)
Meg, I try to see less work as a blessing. It gives more time at home to save money.
DeleteGreat job on the gift tags too. I'm sure they are delightful
Dear Wendy,
ReplyDeleteYou have had a great frugal week! Your weekly routine has produced a lot of savings.
I love your roses and wish I could grow them so beautifully. Maybe I should find an area to put some in.
I am yet to start my Christmas shopping, but have started planning. I need to get going on this as I am going to be going to Melbourne in the middle of December. My daughter is graduating from La Trobe university. Very proud mum here ~smiles.
Just the normal homely things happened this week at my place, always conscious of saving where I can.
Thank you for sharing your week,
xTania
Tania, I like to get the Christmas shopping done early because the shopping centres become crowded
DeleteDear Wendy, What a nice week! All those buttons! There are so many things you can do with them! I have some craft and gift ideas for buttons which I will send you.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely weekend! Love Annabel.xxx
I look forward to the button ideas. I have so many.
DeleteWendy, your roses are just beautiful! It is late fall here in northern Idaho and I still have a few white roses in bloom, as well as a cluster of red climbing roses.
ReplyDeleteI made a super-big pot of stew this week and my husband ate the leftovers for lunch for 3 days straight. (He ate leftovers of various types for lunch all week). I decided to make stew at the last minute and thawed the meat in the microwave and cooked it in the pressure cooker. On another day, I made spaghetti with marinara sauce. I had some leftover angel hair pasta in a jar of water in the fridge, so I cooked less than usual, and added the leftovers at the end...just long enough to heat through.
In addition to all of the usual frugal stuff:
(1) Mended a cotton knit shirt. I put a little piece of used dryer sheet on the back so it wouldn't bunch up when I machine-darned it.
(2) Got free plants from a friend for the last of my fall planting. If I could have even bought them at this time of year, they would have easily cost $50. I also divided some of my own plants.
(3) Received a check from the county for being a poll worker last week.
Maxine, I just love stew. I could have it all year round. I'm glad you received your cheque. Do you have plans for the extra money ?
DeleteWendy, last spring I decided that I would like to make $1,000 extra by the end of the year. It was sort of a challenge to myself. I have done this by working two elections (I would do this for free, but it's nice that they pay) and by selling unneeded items. I did this for awhile in the spring, then took the summer off. Now that I am working on it again, I am at $761.62. I don't have any special plans, but my son will be getting married in 2017, so having an extra thou is appealing.
DeleteHi Wendy
ReplyDeleteI have a question about the Miracle Spray. You mention making a double quantity and watering it down when you use it. This would be great as I am using it for showers, bathrooms, and toilets so having plenty on hand would be great for when I have a busy week.
What is the recipe for a double strength mix? How much water do you add when you use the double strength mix?
Thanks in anticipation
Blessings to you
Kerrie (kezzie.k@hotmail.com)
Kerrie, just double everything except the water. Once you have all the other ingredients in a bottle, top up with water to the lid.
DeleteHi from the UK , winter has arrived here, we had to scrap the ice off the car this morning and almost all the leaves are down.
ReplyDeleteMy frugal list this week is:-
I have dried all my washing outside although this is becoming more difficult, lots of looking at the weather forcast.
I shopped at Aldi as usual and made all meals from scratch
I have made bread
I slow cookered some stock from 2 chicken carcasses and made soup from it and froze the rest
I made pepper sauce for pasta from the remaining peppers and froze it
I raked up all the leaves and put them in the container for leaf mold
I have now done all the Christmas shopping, wrapped all the presents, bought the cards, I will try to make them next year. Made the Christmas puddings and mincemeat so that is Christmas sorted
I must now go upstairs to find a pattern for a jumper for my grandaughter as I have 200 grams of wool left from my last cardi, have a good week
Chris
Chris, it seems so odd that you now have Winter as we are about to go into Summer. Do you hang washing on clothes horses inside during Winter ?
DeleteHi Wendy yes I have a cloths horse in the pare bedroom but even in winter I can still get washing dry outside sometimes. I only use the drier for towels as if they hang around they start to smell
DeleteThis week I made your recipe of chunky chicken soup using a chicken carcass from the freezer.
ReplyDeleteYet again flybuys has sent a "spend $50 for 4 weeks, get $50 to spend at Coles" offer, so I started that again today. I seem to get them one after the other.
Bought a box of Maltesers on sale for $5 at Woolies and knitted a pair of fingerless gloves for a 16yo boy's birthday gift.
Shopped from the gift shelf for 2 gifts for 16yo girls. Party season!
Recycled gift bags, bows and handmade cards were used.
Meal planned and make all meals from scratch. Baked snacks.
Planned out Christmas gifts from my gift shelf at home.
Gratefully chose 2 free plants from our local nursery as their annual gift to newsletter subscribers.
Sold a couple of text books to a friend, and received a message from another that she'd like to buy some other texts. All $ goes toward the next lot to purchase!
Have a great week!
Marie
Marie, do you like planning your presents from the gift shelf ? I do. I just love looking at all the bargains and things I've made. I have half of next year's presents sorted and some for 2018 and 2019.
DeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteYour roses loom beautiful and such great bargains at spotlight on the candles, well done.
This week i received a desk from my hubbies work as they are closing down his office and lots of other goodies for free. I'm using this for my cardmaking table. I had a few more orders for cards this week.
This week i made bread, muffins and all meals from scratch. My boys were out for some if the meals this week so i still made the same amount and froze the leftovers.
I picked lettuce, capsicums and found some potatoes in the garden growing. Use the shower water on the pot plants and ueed tank water in the washing machine.
Received some lovely things from the swap table at the card making day yesterday and bought some bargain stamos and ink also.
It's our 23rd weddding anniversary today but as we are going out next week for dinner, we are staying home and eating in tonight.
Have a great week,
Maureen