Here's what else I got up to this week while having cleaning jobs from Monday to Friday -
* Gratefully received a couple of cauliflower plants from my Mother Inlaw..
* Made up a bottle of double strength Miracle Spray for around the home ( diluted as I refill the spray bottles ) and two bottles of usual strength Miracle Spray for cleaning jobs.
* We had Mother's Day dinner at home instead of going out to a noisy restaurant. For the price of one restaurant meal we fed five adults salmon or steak on a bed of mash and streamed beans, roasted honey carrots with a citrus butter. Courtesy of Darren and Jessica.
* Saved the washing machine rinse water and shower warm up water to use in the washing machine.
* Dried most of the washing on clothes horses placed over the ducted heating vents in the floor.
* Gratefully received lots of glass jars from my Mum and Dad.
* Stocked up on Cadbury blocks of chocolate on sale for $2.40 a block in Coles. Some have been put aside to go with birthday presents.
* Cut up an old dressing gown that Jessica was throwing out. It had a few holes in it but will be great to line Princess' bed.
* Picked about 60 - 70 feijoas from the ground under the tree. They are not as big as they should be but the taste is still the same.
* Stocked up on deodorants on sale ar half price. We've been Avon deodorant users for over 20 years. Due to Avon now not being available in Australia, we've had to find out what's available to buy in the supermarkets. There's so much choice that we didn't know which ones to buy. I guess time will tell us if the ones we bought are doing the job.
* Found a bottles of body spray in the bathroom cupboard so I repurposed it into a toilet spray.
* Bought a new jacket from Savers op shop and received a 20% discount by using my donation card.
* Made a few men's greeting cards last Saturday at our monthly Cheapskates Club card making group. I'm on a mission this year to learn new styles of men's cards and to use supplies I already have without buying new things.
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| Part of our chocolate stockpile. |
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| Men's greeting cards |
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| Almost finished |
Hi Wendy
ReplyDeleteSo glad you got special cuddles from your grandson on Mothers Day. Unfortunately, my mother in law passed away on Mothers Day. My husband was with her holding her hand right til the end.
So this week ended up with more expenses than usual as we are the only ones with the means to pay for her funeral thanks to my frugal ways over the years (my husband is one of 6). I would never complain about that though, she had advanced dementia and the last few years were not kind to her but now she is finally at peace and with her love.
I'm frantically menu planning today so that I can make some lovely food for friends and family afterwards. All home made is what I'm aiming for.
Hope everyone has a great week.
Deb
Deb, I'm sorry to hear of your Mother inlaw passing away. I hope your husband finds comfort in knowing that she is at peace. Funerals cost so much so I hope you are able to find ways of being frugal in other areas of your budget. The menu planning will help.
DeleteDear Wendy, I am glad you had such a nice Mothers day. I love how you cut up the dressing gown for cat bedding. I just cut up a latex foam mattress neither of us liked at all. But it seems such a waste. So I cut it up and got 15 dog/cat beds. All covered in old pillowcases. Each is 4 inch thick. My SILs both have farm dogs in fact currently 14 all up between them as there are puppets and Lucy has a cat and three kittens! Anyway I figure these will help. Have a lovely weekend, we both had busy weeks! xxx
ReplyDeleteAnnabel, that's a wonderful way of reusing a latex mattress. Well done.
DeleteHello Wendy, I just love your blog, and am a frequent reader. Just a question. Do you know what's happened to Brandy from the Prudent Homemaker? I am concerned as she hasn't blogged for some time. Thanking for sharing your knowledge and experience, and what is happening in your world. Regards Robyn S,A.
ReplyDeleteHi Robyn. I haven't been to Brandy's blog for a few weeks. I'll pop on over there and see if I can find out what's going on. Hopefully she's just super busy with her family and daughter going to college.
DeleteI spend three months each year in Australia and shop for Cadbury blocks when they go on sale. I bring them home and keep them in my spare fridge to use for birthdays, Easter baskets, etc. and needless to say, I am a very popular Grammie as a result. This March I had 40 pounds of chocolate in my luggage...I have no idea what the security people thought.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the security people thought you'd either found a bargain or your home country doesn't have good chocolate.
DeleteHi Wendy and I am happy you had a wonderful Mother's Day and your Mum too :). You are so right that restaurant meals are getting so pricey and we tend to cook at home too or occasionally go to the RSL clubs for lunch which is reasonably priced for some special occasions. Your cards are really lovely and it is hard to find nice men's cards in the shops at a reasonable price.
ReplyDeleteBeen a busy gardening week here this week tilling up the garden beds and getting amendments for the soil here for the raised garden beds. We didn't find any good specials last week on groceries so we have kept our $40 a month pantry stocking budget until we do.
Our savings added up to $374.47 last week :).
Internet listings -
- Listed 10 items on a free listing promotion saving $16.50 on usual listing fees.
Purchases -
- Bought an RACQ e-gift card to cover fuel and groceries for the coming weeks saving 5% or $12.55 in total.
In the kitchen -
- Made 3 loaves of bread in the bread making machine saving $10.47 over purchasing them in the stores.
In the gardens -
- Our neighbour who is selling her property :( , gave us 4 dwarf apple trees in pots saving $128 over buying them.
- Picked up 3/4's of a cubic metre of cow manure from a friends farm free saving $ 206.95 over buying it in bags from the local hardware store.
- DH dug 3 garden beds with the rotary hoe and together we shovelled and removed lots of wheel barrows full of soil to add amendments later to via wheel barrow. I cut and added weed mat and composted grass clippings to the bottom of two garden to prevent weeds.
Hope everyone else had a wonderful week also.
Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).
Lorna, I'm sure you'll enjoy the home baked bread better than the store bought. How exciting to get the dwarf apple trees.
DeleteWe are very excited about the apple trees as we are setting up our gardens here in our new home :).
DeleteAs our neighbour is selling her property (sad situation) she also has offered us a number of paw paw trees, some rose bushes and other potted plants too which she wouldn't accept payment for. As we are house sitting for her at the moment while she is away on holidays with friends I will make up a care package to put in her home for when she arrives back to say thank you.
Our pantry and household stockpiles are a financial backup for us as well as also to help others with, and we are so glad we have it and have worked hard to build it up over a number of years.
Have a fantastic week ahead :).
Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).
Hi Wendy, just wondering what deodorant you have started buying as we have been long time Avon deodorant fans too and have almost run out! Thanks, Marie
ReplyDeleteMarie, Darren is using the Nivea men's 48 hour protection ones. So far so good. He needs a good one for days he's cooking on the grill at the café. I still have about 5 years worth of Avon aluminium free deodorant. It's the only one my skin can tolerate. I'm hoping by the time my stockpile has run out that someone has worked out a way to get Avon back into Australia.
Delete