Here's my latest frugal list -
* Jessica baked and decorated her own birthday cake. Like her mum, she's not a fan of store bought cakes. After doing some research, she made a biscuit cake that was delicious. There was lots of dough leftover so I froze it for future baking.
* Filled up our cars just before the petrol price went up.
* Saved the shower warm up water, washing machine rinse water and kitchen water to reuse where possible.
* We had the need to buy a baby car seat for car rides with Luka ( and future grandchildren ). The one I liked the best happened to be on sale that week. The sales person said they sold many of that particular seat due to it's features and budget friendly price. A couple of days later Megan had gastro and Darren made a dash to Megan's at 4am to bring Luka back to our place while Megan recovered.
* Baked a batch of ANZAC biscuits using dough from the freezer when visitors came to see Luka ( while he was staying with us ).
* Lined our bathroom bins using recycled bread bags.
* Cut the top off a conditioner bottle and vitamin E bottle and scraped out the remaining contents. There was enough for another 4 - 5 days.
* Baked four loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness. I costed these loaves a few years ago at about $1.60 for two loaves. Similar loaves would retail for $4 - 45 each
* Defrosted our little freezer and did a stocktake of the meat in there. I used boiling water in plastic containers on the shelves to defrost the freezer. Once the water cooled I poured it into the washing machine.
* Froze the remaining contents of a jar of tomato paste into an icecube tray and froze for future use.
* Megan did a clean out of her wardrobe and gave the clothes to me to donate to Savers. So far I've received three discount stamps for her future purchases.
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| Jessica's birthday cake |
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| Scraping out the contents |
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| Freezing tomato paste to avoid waste, |
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| Nana and Luka watching tv together. |
I looked after my granddaughter 3 times this week and took mum to the doctor on another day. These days soon take up much time so I really enjoyed my one day of pottering. Sadly I need more time to potter and clean.
ReplyDeleteThis week I have tried to use everything down to the last scrap. My shopping list was much smaller than usual which is a good thing.
I hope your daughter is feeling much better.
Jessica did a beautiful job of her cake! And Luka is so adorable. He's growing so quickly Wendy! Mimi
ReplyDeleteOMG the baby is so cute....I love babies...my babies are 15 and 13 now.
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy, thanks for sharing. I hope everyone is feeling better. Poor Meagan! It is the pits being that ill as a new Mum! So nice you and Darren are close by to help. Thank you for the photo of Luka, he is a gorgeous little man. I'm sure you are enjoying every moment. Happy Birthday to Jessica! All the best.
ReplyDeleteIt has been very cold up here in Qld! Lots of hot comfort food, hot drinks and cosy blankets. Like you, I enjoy the simple pleasures at home.
Have a lovely week. Rachel:)
Hi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteI’m always reminded when I read your blog, how little things done often really do add up. I get complacent sometimes (and just plain lazy too) and I let the little things slip sometimes, I need to be reminded and encouraged to stay on track!
Oh Wendy you did so well for the week :). Being both a Mum and a grandmother their is never enough time in the day. You are a wonderful Mum,wife and grandmother and your family are blessed to have you. Happy belated birthday to Jessica too and we hope she had a wonderful day and the birthday cake looks divine and far better and prettier than a shop purchased one.
ReplyDeleteOur savings added up to $1748.97 last week :).
In the kitchen -
- Cooked all meals and bread from scratch.
- Made a batch of homemade chocolate fudge including the condensed milk saving $55.67 over purchasing it.
Finances and listings -
- Banked money for additional savings.
- Paid and extra $400 in payments off our home loan.
- Listed 10 items on eBay on a free listing promotion saving $16.50 on usual listing fees.
Purchases -
- Bought a gift card for future groceries and fuel from RACQ saving us 5% or $11.32 on the cost of groceries and fuel combined.
- On half price specials we purchased 11 tubes of toothpaste as we each use different ones and on 15 % off I purchased DH's favourite aftershave saving $49.72 on normal costs.
- At IGA we purchased 6 packets of french fry chips on half price special, 2 x 6 pks of croissants on half price special and 4 pkts of bread rolls for 0.92c each or 60 % off saving $17.12 on usual costs. I can't make the bread rolls for that cost here and they are good to have in the freezer for quick snacks.
Home maintenance and improvements -
- Put our portable summer pool spa at the bank of the tank shed roof and collected about 200 lts of water in the recent storms. We will use the water for watering our potted dwarf fruit trees and herbs.
- Retrofitted 118 square metres of wool/glass ceiling insulation batts into our roof cavity saving $1559.95 in labour and the extra percentage they charge for materials costs from if we hired a tradesperson to do it for us. The house is so much warmer now with the fire on and cooler during the day when it is warm outside. Well worth doing as far as we are concerned. Being an older home too none of the insulation batts sold today fit the roof joists so we had to cut quite a few to fit in the spaces left over. This is one job we are glad is over as crawling around in cramped spaces is hard on the knees and body in a pyramid roof.
Have a fantastic week ahead everyone.
Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).
Hi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteWow Jessica done a fabulous job with her birthday cake!
Gorgeous Luka is growing so fast, enjoy your cuddles.
I have been gardening most of this week while the sun is shining. There has been a quite a few no spend days because I stocked up on groceries while in Adelaide recently.
xTania
What a blessing you are to your family Wendy - I'm sure they appreciate all you do for them. Jessica's cake looks fabulous! Yes I love pottering around at home and in the garden - I still achieve things but at a steadier pace which is better for me.
ReplyDeleteThat cake is gorgeous!!!
ReplyDelete1. The bday cake is beautiful!
ReplyDelete2. The baby is adorable.
3. Frugality on the Nebraska (USA) Farm: Went to Dollar General to buy 2 birthday cards for our youngest son & my sister. Both significant birthdays so a generic card wouldn't do. Even buying in the store, the "music" card Dh insisted we get for the son (so the grandson could enjoy it too) was only $3.50 and the card for my sister's 50th was only $1.00.
*Ate out for lunch after church but chose the $5 lunch boxes plus we get the senior citizen discount.
*Only went to the Warehouse store for Diapers (we purchased them to help out the kids now that they have 2 in diapers again); cherry tomatoes & cucumbers & feta for my suppers this week and a large can of baked beans for the sister's bday party contribution. I stayed away from the regular grocery store. They had a few good specials but nothing I really needed this week. Big savings!
*Got the paperwork from the chiropractor I need to prove what we paid for with the Flex card through Dh's insurance. It'll save us having to pay back the $200+ they say we were not approved for.
* Asked for the best deal possible for Dh's contacts. They found a rebate that will save us $200. The Optometrist praised Dh for good eating habits as his almost 60 year old eyes are in great health.
* Applied my receipt for the diapers to my Ibotta app. I almost have enough registered for a $40 gift card.
* Made sure I put the leftover baked beans from the party in the freezer for another meal.
* Stopped by Menards for the 3-Day special to get Era laundry detergent at a $4-off sale. I got 3. That was a great sale.
* Made sure we took water bottles with us when we went out on errands. It was very hot this weekend and that saved us from wanting to buy beverages.
* Kept shades & drapes closed during the daytime to help keep the house cooler & the A/C from running so much.
Wow Wendy Luka is growing up. He is so cute and I can see a lot of Darren in him! May I ask which car seat you went for? I need to get one for my Mums car.
ReplyDeleteJessica's cake is gorgeous. I would pay for a cake like that, she is very talented maybe she could do a little side business of selling them. I think people much prefer something like that over the store bought. Have a great week - I hope Megan is feeling better.
Samm
The car seat brand is Baby Love birth to 4 years. Thankyou for your kind words
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