* Cleaned the dishwasher using bi carb, white vinegar and Miracle Spray.
* Gratefully received lots of bread bags. They'll be recycled into bathroom bin liners.
* Cleaned the kettle using citric acid.
* Gratefully received a big bucket of feijoas from a young man at church. I even got to keep the bucket which is a really strong one. I'll use it to save water for the garden.
* Mended a fitted sheet. It was coming apart at the seam in one corner.
* Made a big meal of beef stew. Unfortunately I was the only one home when dinner time came around. So four serves went into the freezer and Megan took some to work the next day.
* Jessica bought a few groceries because she said the fridge looked empty ( it wasn't really ). Some of the groceries were two cooked chickens. We had one for dinner that night then two nights later I peeled the other one down and froze the meat for two meals. The carcass was put into the slow cooker to make stock then the meat was picked off to make a big pot of chunky chicken soup.
* Kept the heater off from 9 am - 5.30 pm on Friday due to the Sun shining through the windows. A couple of other days I managed to either reduce the temperature on the thermostat to19 degrees or keep it off for an hour or two.
* Dried some washing on clothes horses or on hangers in the showers. Thankfully we have a heating duct in both bathrooms. The dryer did get some use but I tried to limit what I put in.
* Altered a dress for Jessica.
* Decorated 11 hand towels and tea towels to sell. I used stock I already had on hand.
* Stocked up on veggie specials of 1 kilo of carrots $1, broccoli for $2 kg and cauliflower for $2.
* Decluttered my craft / card making stash. You might be wondering how this saved me money ? It kept me away from the shops.
* Gratefully received a container of hummus dip and a bag of bread rolls.
* Made a bottle of diluted laundry liquid.
Unfortunately I didn't take many photos this week. I've posted some from the blog archives but they still represent the tasks I completed this week.
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| Sewing time |
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| One of my sewing caddies. |
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| Chocolate self saucing pudding treat |
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| Freezing left overs |
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Making diluted laundry liquidWhat frugal tasks did you complete this week ? |
Other than the usual frugal stuff, this is what I was doing this week:
ReplyDelete(1) Early in the week I picked about a pint of homegrown strawberries. Yesterday, I picked over a gallon! I made low-sugar freezer jam with some of them and DH and DD are gorging themselves on the rest. We should get another picking around Tuesday, and I'll make more jam. The new raspberry row doesn't look too promising.
(2) Gratefully received an inspirational book with garden tips and a Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CD. My friend was helping clean up from a used book sale.
(3) DS and fiance are arriving tomorrow for a 4-5 day visit. I have on hand all of the ingredients for a super-yummy dinner tomorrow. I am working on eating down the contents of my freezer and pantry in anticipation of a move in a few weeks. I'll be making menus tonight for the rest of their visit--thinking about thawing and roasting a turkey bought for cheap at Thanksgiving.
Best wishes from Maxine in northern Idaho USA
Forgot to add--I made a big meatloaf this week, anticipating leftovers for sandwiches. I had some leftover roast pork, so I chopped it up in the food processor and added it to the ground beef mixture. Very good. We also had about a serving of leftover bean salad that I mixed into salad greens, and my DD liked it better that way than she did the first time around.
DeleteHI Wendy, what a long list! Your lists help me think of things I can do here or help me to remember things when I feel I haven't been that frugal. My list this week is pretty short because I worked four out of the five days relief teaching.
ReplyDelete* looked after a friend's lovely children and she shouted a fish and chip dinner to which I added a salad made from our garden and my son made a chocolate cake for dessert with ingredients we already had here. A lovely and generous meal!
* Filled up car just in time at $1.07per L - the next day it was well over $1.30. (Can't understand these drastic swings in price).
* Picked up coffee grounds from local cafe to use as soil conditioner in my garden and to add to worm farm. Now have standing arrangement to collect every Friday.
* Picked lots from garden to eat here - lettuce, zucchini and such. Made zucchini slice as muffins and they were a hit!
* Not using heaters here on cold nights, just rugging up and winter doonas on the beds so nice and cosy.
* All washing hung on line to dry or on airing racks.
Have great weekend,
Meg:)
One of our main frugal tasks this week was entertaining at home. How was this frugal? If we had gone out, as was initially suggested, there would have been no change out of $80. We ended up spending about $20 and had a feast of pumpkin soup with ham and cheese pull apart, lasagne, marinated chicken and garden salad. All the veg and salad came out of the garden. I baked the pull apart and I also baked a choc caramel slice and an apple slice for sweets. We have left overs, with some being frozen and some being shared with friends. Home grown and made from scratch saved us at least $60 for just the one meal, let alone the extra meals from the leftovers.
ReplyDeleteYour second chicken certainly went a long way Wendy.
ReplyDeleteI also keep the heater off during the day. It goes off at 8am until evening. I just pile on the layers and keep moving.
Feijoas....selling for $1 EACH at Coles I see! Goodness me. Tiny little measly things they were too.
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDelete- How do you clean your washing machine? Please mention the quantities of chemicals you use for it as well.
- How often do you clean your fridge? Do you switch is off before you clean it?
Your cleaning schedule us very impressive.I learned a lot from it. Thanks so much for sharing such a knowledge.
Thanks
Sanda
Good inspiring work as always...thanks for the tip of using masking tap to mark meals...my lids were getting pretty scrambled...Also regarding meal planning...many times cook and family don't feel like the meal...and I leave it waiting for a day or two...I will follow your lead..one day then frozen.
ReplyDelete