* Refilled all the foaming hand wash pumps with diluted shower gel. I also made up a couple of big refill bottles.
* Sold a couple of decorated hand towels to a friend.
* Baked and sold lots of mini quiches and choc chip muffins to a cleaning client.
* Gratefully received lots of bread bags from a charity bbq. They will be used to scoop the kitty litter or for kitchen rubbish bags.
* Made a big pot of sausage casserole with sausages leftover from a bbq. We had the casserole for dinner that night and froze three single serves for later.
* Sold two pamper packs and a few decorated hand towels to a cleaning client. She's asked for four jars of homemade jam the next time I come to clean.
* Picked silverbeet and lettuce for a few meals.
* Ate freezer meals a couple of nights when my days were crazy busy.
* Made the most of Spotlight's latest sale to purchase Christmas material at 50% off. I'll be making hanging tea towels to sell plus a few other projects I'm planning.
* Used the Wilson carparking app to get a better deal when I took my parents into the city.
* Kept both the cars topped up with petrol while it's cheap.
 |
| Ready for Christmas |
 |
| Ivory. The leader of the pack. |
 |
| Coconut and olive oil soap |
 |
| Pamper packs |
 |
| Mini pamper packs. |
Wow! Those pamper packs are really nice! You've wrapped everything so pretty!
ReplyDeleteWhen we still had our kitty, my favorite bags to use for litter were the cereal liner bags. They were so sturdy and they never had pinholes....which is a disaster with cat litter!!
I did have a pretty frugal week. I'm hoping to do just a minimal of grocery shopping in Dec. and just buy super sales or things like milk. I have a couple of annoying end of year bills and I don't want to withdraw the cash from savings. It's always more fun to squish it out of the regular. I feel proud when I do that lol. Especially with Christmas spending, too.
It's a little chilly in here right now. The outside temp is hovering at 40 and the inside is about 62. Instead of turning the thermostat up, I just put on my robe. I'm comfy now. I hate to run the heater for just me. I'll turn it up when my husband is on the way home. I usually don't get cold when I'm flittering about. Good argument for house cleaning, huh?!
I found twin packs of cream cheese blocks at the market today for $1.79. The sale price for a single bar is $1 and this is about .90 cents. I also found a small tub of a variety of miniature tomatoes on clearance for .99. They're usually $4.99 so I grabbed them! I also found a bag of brussel sprouts on clearance for half price. I'm making half tonight and half tomorrow night. I love them! I also got a couple packs of cloth napkins on clearance. Some of mine have been around since we got married 25 yrs. ago! They could use some replacements.
We borrowed a couple of Christmas movies from the library to get us into the holiday mood. Will get a couple more tomorrow.
Debby, I do exactly the same with the grocery shopping at this time of the year. I've stockpiled so much that now I just need to buy milk, fruit and veg until next March when the weather starts to get mild again. I'm always reworking the budget to fit more in. You're right, it's so much fun when you achieve the almost impossible.
DeleteKnowing the last week was going to be crazy I made rolls and banana bread to freeze and make school lunches quicker in the morning. Menu planning has slipped due to crazy schedule...it really does save time and money when your organised! Back to it this week. Hung towels on the back of chairs the day it poured. Doing inventory of pantry supplies to sort out whats needed for Christmas. Any one got ideas for food. Whilst the school days are ok with sandwiches in the holidays they want more. I thought maybe sausage rolls anyone got other quick ideas? Cathy
ReplyDeleteSausage rolls, mini quiches, Hoovers Doovers, wraps, mini pizzas, pizza scrolls, salad boxes or even the DIY noodle cups could make great lunches. Have a look in the recipe section here on the blog. Some of the recipes mentioned above are in there.
DeleteWendy you pamper packs look divine :) and fantastic you were able to sell homemade items in the lead up to Christmas.
ReplyDeleteOur Vicky challenge added up to $4351.71 last week in savings.
House organisation -
- Packed more boxes in our home and cleaned areas as we went.
- Pulled up the last of our vegetables from the gardens and a friend levelled them for us free of charge with his tractor. What a blessing this was instead of doing it manually as he was grateful for help we gave him a few times in the past :).
- Mulched most of the gardens with grass clippings from our yard as well as the neighbours grass clippings too to get rid of them. we also have some to go under the house where the weeds grow too to make it nice and neat.
Home purchases and insurances -
- Saved $3100 in stamp duty on our new to us home by applying the home concession rate offered by the Qld Government for buyers using homes as their primary place of residence. Our solicitor was kind enough to let us know about this and we filled out the forms in their office.
- Got multiple quotes for house, contents and ride on lawnmower transit insurance and saved $443.18 per year compared to another quote we got.
Sales -
- Sold a homemade large cotton bread bag on eBay making around $16.
Purchases -
- Bought $325.60 worth of groceries for $200 saving $125.60 on usual costs in total. We used a $40 off purchase e-voucher, coupled that with $10 off we earned for rewards by buying what we usually buy and purchased lots of half price specials on items we usually use saving $75.20.
- I did a years supply order of herbs, spices and about 1 yr + of yeast from Hindustan Imports in Melbourne and even with shipping I saved $98.75 over what it would have cost to buy it all in our local supermarkets. I do this a lot and bulk order from various capital cities in Australia and it saves us hugely on lots of needed household items and groceries throughout the year.
- DH's battery went in his car suddenly and we saved 20% off usual prices or $39 by using our roadside assistance club discount.
- Purchased 2 sets of heavy duty 1200 Amp 6/12/24V 6mt long sets of jumper leads, one set for each car, off eBay saving $546.18 over buying them in the local auto store. We wanted to buy the heavy duty ones so we could start any machinery, trucks and cars with it. I was absolutely gob smacked at the prices our auto stores are charging for jumper leads :O .
I hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead and find some ways to save leading up to Christmas.
Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).
Your pamper packs are a great idea, Wendy. And the cards you featured in your last post are lovely too. You are very creative! This week:
ReplyDelete* filled both cars up just before the price hike. Whew!
* found a $3 op-shop top for work next year. It's lovely and floaty and spotless!
* made another tote bag from a flax linen tea towel for a xmas gift.
* got $20 off at my butcher (loyalty card) and redeemed 2 x $10 off on two smaller shops at Woolies.
* made bread chips from a few sheets of somewhat broken Mountain Bread.
* baked ricotta and roasted last of veg for a meat-free meal.
* made nachos to use up corn chips, last of salsa, half avo and remains of bean mix and sour cream.
* saved $17 purchasing a scientific calculator for my son by sourcing myself rather than ordering it from school book pack provider.
* printed some brown paper I already had for wrapping a few gifts.
* got two rolls of ribbon for $1ea at op-shop (for wrapping)
* hubby fixed a drip in our toilet which will save money on water
* picked spring onion from the garden to use in quiche.
I will post our xmas parcels to far away family early this coming week. That will save on express post charges. I hope you have a lovely week, Wendy. Meg:)
Dear Wendy,
ReplyDeleteYou have done a wonderful job with your pamper packs and soap. They will make lovely gifts.
Have a great week, and I look forward to reading your "use it up" challenge :)
Many blessings,
Tania xxx
Thankyou Tania. I look forward to seeing your ' Use It Up ' List too.
Delete