Here are my frugal tasks for the week -
* Used a gift card to eat dinner out for our wedding anniversary on Monday..
* Gave Megan a haircut. She loves the feel of freshly cut hair.
* Bought blocks of chocolate at half price to put in our family's Christmas stockings. I know I'm a little early but I don't like paying full price for anything if I can help it.
* Cleaned the dishwasher with bi carb and vinegar.
* Gave the washing machine a good wipe out with vinegar. The drum and pipes were cleaned with Epsom salts on a hot wash.
* Emptied the last of a Dynamo laundry liquid bottle and swished water around to get every last drop out. This made up a 600 ml bottle of liquid which will be used over many washes.
* Finished making a lace bunting using old doilies I no longer use and ones I bought quite cheap at op shops. This bunting will be used instead of balloons and streamers at many family celebrations in the future..
* Dried all the washing on the line. I'm glad to have the clothes horses packed away for a while.
* With the weather warming up a little I resisted the urge to turn the heater on during the day. I made sure all curtains were wide open especially when the sun was shining.
* Went to the Savers op shop 50% off clothing sale. I picked up two Winter tops for myself and two tops for Luka in larger sizes.
* Used handmade cards and recycled gift bags for Father's Day and anniversary presents.
* Picked silverbeet from the garden as our green vegetable for three meals. I love to shred it finely and cook it in the spag bol sauce. I've been doing this for so long that spag bol doesn't seem right without it.
* Jessica did a cook up of butter chicken and froze all the leftovers into single portions. Sometimes she doesn't know if she'll be home to eat dinner with us. By having her own freezer meals it saves her money and reduces the urge to get takeaway on the way home from work.
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| Lace bunting |
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| Chocolate for presents ( and for our treats ). |
Wendy get well soon it is not pleasant being sick and you battled through with your cleaning jobs too. Your bunting is so pretty and who doesn't like chocolate at a discount price :) .
ReplyDeleteWe spent two days away from home too this week so what we got done seemed disjointed but we got there.
Internet savings -
- Dh rang up Telstra about our wireless internet & got more data for $15 less per month than the current plan we are on.
Purchases -
- Found skin on thigh cutlet fillets on 1/2 price clearance at Woolworths for $3 a kilo and purchased 3.352 kg. On special we also purchased a 2 lt chocolate milk and all up savings on the chicken and milk on usual prices was $10.91. We are trying to stock up our meat freezer with preferably all 50% of more meats.
- Ordered an e-gift card from RACQ for fuel and saved 5% or $10.53 in free fuel.
Finances -
- Paid near on an extra payment of $175 off our mortgage.
In the gardens -
- Planted some beetroot, lettuce and silverbeet seeds after adding fertiliser to the soil in the vegetable gardens.
- DH cleared some fallen ironbark branches from trees on our back boundary and cut it into firewood but there is still more to do.
- Watered potted fruit and herb plants with cleanish dish rinsing water, grey water pumped from the grey water tank and some town water.
- Watered the fruit, berry trees in the gardens with water pumped from the grey water tanks.
- Used saved shower water to fill up hand washing, drink water bottles and to clean the bathrooms and toilet.
Hope everyone had a wonderful week last week and will have this week too :).
Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).
Must have been the week for sickness as I too have been unwell. Didn’t get as much done as I would like. Hopefully will get some spring cleaning started next week. I have been re evaluating my budget this week. Looking at ways to save. I did get a post hole shovel for $20, so I will be able to start my extensions on the chicken run soon. Bought more potting mix so I can re plant my strawberries. Filled up the car when it was cheaper and scanned my car for points. Bought an enamel plate for 50 cents from the op shop that I will use for bbqs.
ReplyDeleteMy week has plodded on in the usual fashion. I have been busy looking after my granddaughter and my mother. I am challenging myself to spend as little as possible this month to help change my mindset. For example I need to tell myself that if I run out of something I should wait until the next big shop. I don't mind topping up milk or some fruit and veg but I need to be more disciplined. Today mum had me buy one of those thermal cookers from Aldi. I managed to get one and have cooked dinner in it. I hope that I can learn to cook many meals in it and save myself a little time.
ReplyDeleteMy granddaughter is two today. I set myself a budget of $50 and kept on target. I have bought her wooden toys and I hope she can use them for a long time. My mother has made her a quilt and bought her a doll. I have a small wooden rocking cradle in the shed and I will it do it up for her Christmas gift.
Hope you're feeling better very soon. It is never nice having to keep going when all you want to do is crawl into bed and stay there.
ReplyDeleteWe are getting ready to head off to our sons Wedding in the Hunter Valley. We are staying in our caravan at the Best Mans home. I have been making gifts to give this family as a thank you. All materials have come out of my stash.
I have made my two Grandies little cotton dresses in Christmas fabric that I purchased on sale earlier this year. I modified the pattern so that the dress has flutter sleeves and will be able to be worn at Day Care.
All the usual savings practices have been taking place. Have a great week with better health.
Your lace bunting looks lovely, Wendy. What a great way to re-purpose your doilies and to make something that can be used over and over again. It's been a hectic time here the past couple of weeks; I have been far from home helping to care for my Mum who has been in hospital. This is what we've done to save some $ during this time:
ReplyDelete* booked cheaper airfares and used RACQ discount for hire car when needed one (driving to and from area with no public transport)
* stayed in self-contained accommodation close to hospital so could walk there each day
* had omelettes for brekkie, salads for lunch and toasted sandwiches for dinner after getting back after hospital visiting hours; no takeaway required.
* hubby and son ate snacks and dinners from those I had ready in freezer for them
* shopped specials and added several items to my stockplile (including half price
jars of our favourite pasta sauce)
* used $10 off Flybuys rewards at Coles
* received a large bunch of ladyfinger bananas from a friend's tree ... very lucky!
* made a pear cake using half large tin of pear slices from my cupboard. Hubby will have rest of pears with yoghurt for afternoon teas.
I hope your health continues to improve, Wendy, and that this coming week is a good one for you all. Meg:)
I do hope you are feeling much better now Wendy. My household has been unusually unwell throughout Winter this year and I am off from work AGAIN today with my daughter.
ReplyDeleteLast week I was off from work for two days due to one of my other children being sick. That means for this coming pay period, I will be down three days pay so I really have to tighten the money belt.
Last Sunday we went out for the day and took our own food and drinks and I resisted the urge to buy a coffee! Other things we have done is to turn off our deep freezer and really go back to basic meals - meat and three veg with atleast two meatless evening meals, incorporated leftovers into meals as much as possible (eg leftover fried onion went into spag bog), harvested all of our red onions (they are currently drying in the sunshine), made a big dent in our CC debt by using half of my tax return and then saving the other half, purchased some school snacks for the kids at half price, jazzed up a banana bread load with an leftover Easter egg, purchased a lining for the boot of our 4WD at 20% off online with free postage, received our water bill and saw that we had reduced it by $6. It is our second water bill to be reduced! We have been using limited tank water for the veg garden as well tipping out the water from drink bottles, hot water bottle and water from the bird cages onto the garden, purchased four pairs of pre-owned shoes for myself for $20, sold a cookbook and a HEAP of vintage Tupperware and have a few other listings still going and as always, taking our own food and drinks to school / work, min lights on and short showers! and yes, one other thing - enforcing the half flush rule. (Sorry kiddos!!)