Over the last couple of weeks we've had quite a few outings and events on our calendar. Darren and I enjoyed a weekend in the city to celebrate Darren's birthday. This was a last minute surprise getaway that I'd been saving for for almost 12 months. We enjoyed a buffet breakfast each morning, no lunch ( we were still full ) and room service for dinner ( cheaper than the restaurant downstairs ). Of course we took home all the freebie goodies they gave us including bottles of water each day and little tins of mints with our dinner.
We also enjoyed a trip to see an AFL football game, a family dinner for Darren and Jessica's birthday and Luka's Auskick awards night.
Here's how we saved money over the last couple of weeks -
* I baked three loaves of wholemeal bread every second week. We use this bread as toast for our breakfasts every morning.
* We went to the football a few weeks ago. This is our once a year tradition that we started when our girls were very little. Unfortunately we couldn't go in 2020 and 2021 due to obvious reasons. In 2022 we were still reeling from the loss of my father and in 2023 it was impossible to get tickets. So for 2024 Darren got in super early to buy tickets online. We took a backpack each with a bottle of water, snacks, a blanket and all the extra cold weather clothing needed for the trip home. By taking our snacks and water, we easily saved $25 - $30.
* I dried as much washing as possible on clothes horses over the ducted heating vent in our spare bathroom. Some items of clothing dries in one hour.
* I made a trip to Hindustan Imports in Dandenong to stock up on bulk herbs and spices.
* I gratefully received lots of supermarket brown paper bags from a cleaning client. We use them under the kitchen sink for our rubbish.
* I cooked up a bulk amount of beef stew in the slow cooker. Once we'd eaten some for dinner I portioned the rest up into 1 and 2 serves and froze them. This form of bulk cooking has saved us 23% on our electricity bill over the last 6 months.
* Now that I'm making our own muesli bars, I've been going through a lot more peanut butter. I found some on clearance in Woolworths and it was much cheaper than the generic brand. So I cleared the shelf of the remaining stock. The best before date is next year but I've found peanut butter can last another year or two if kept in a cool dark place.
* Megan and I made a trip to Costco. My main reason was to buy beef mince and a cooked chicken. I'd been saving my leftover grocery money for 6 months to buy these 2 items. We did go halves on their bulk eggs which was about the same price as the cheapest eggs in the supermarket but they were much bigger. Woolworths is selling 1 dozen eggs ( 500g which is tiny ) for $5. I also picked up glasses wipes, roll on deodorant ( $2 ), cuppa soups for Darren's lunches ( $1.25 per box ),and a few other items.
* I bought a huge bunch of celery for $1.99 at a fruit and veg shop. I used my Nicer Dicer to finely dice it all and it only took about 10 minutes. I froze it all into ice cube trays and added a little water to each cube. Once frozen, they were easy to pop out and place in a snap lock bag for future stews, soups and casseroles.
* I made wholemeal rolls for Darren's work lunches. Darren also gratefully received a portion of ham which he thinly sliced to enjoy in the rolls with homemade tomato relish.
* I made a whole orange cake using gifted oranges. I find baking cakes in various sizes and freezing some of them prevents any wastage.
* We have enjoyed more of our homemade muesli bars for work morning teas.
* I made up a bottle of surface cleaning spray with cooled boiled water and kitchen detergent.
* I gratefully received lots of lemons.
* Our bathroom bins were lined with saved and recycled bread bags. I also save the bread tags and reuse them when I'm freezing our homemade bread.
LINKS -
Wholemeal Bread With Extra Goodness
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| Freezing celery |
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| Darren on his birthday in the city |
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| Melbourne |
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| Collingwood's 2023 AFL Premiership Cup |
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| Melbourne in Winter |
Thank you for your tip on how you freeze celery, Wendy. I just bought half a bunch yesterday and will try this so none gets wasted. Your weekend away in the city sounds lovely, what a treat! It is school holidays here and we've stayed close to home and had many no spend days. Here's our frugal list:
ReplyDelete* received a whole bag of oranges and lemons from a dear friend which I juiced and froze - orange juice for use in sweet potato brownies and lemon juice for dressings and lemon & honey drinks when we are sick.
* chose not to eat out for birthday or anniversary meals; we had favourite meals at home.
* made meat free meals including zucchini slice, fried rice and a split pea soup
* made an apple crumble for dessert - I often make a dessert to follow meat free meals
* put together a gift for a loved one from items in my present box; I already had a card, saved wrapping paper and used string to tie a bow
* my son and I borrowed books and magazines from our local library for holiday reading
* put an extra blanket on each bed for added warmth
* snuggled in under these warm covers earlier in the evening to watch a favourite show on ABC iview (free) while keeping nice and warm.
Have a lovely week!
Meg
Dear Wendy ,wow where do I start ,you always have such wonderful frugal tasks to report but this one really was great ,you say sometimes you didn't do much but you really did because you and Darren are both working and looking after grandchildren etc as well as running a household so you probably don't count done things you do because they come automatically.
ReplyDeleteThat hotel looks beautiful and I'm glad you both had a lovely time .
Your cards are beautiful as usual .
My week was great but not as great as yours savings wise !I'm happy though .I made a chicken soup in my slow cooker using the chicken carcass and then added in all the leftover shredded meat that was left from the chicken before I put the bones in mi took the meat off to make other meals and kept some chicken aside for the soup .I used slm ingredients I had on hand and it literally took me ten minutes or less to prepare the soup .I had dinner then topped the slow cooker up with more hot water ( I forgot to use stock but the chicken makes its own stock ) and I added extra vegetables and simmered the soup for a bit longer .I have at least two more meals from that pit of soup
I gratefully received two free items from a giveaway group this week .
I spent $100 less so far this fortnight than last fortnight on groceries .I bought 3 boxes of my favourite tea bags which are half price this week and some chorizo sausage which I never buy but it was half price too and I shared it with my parents ,( only dad will eat it .
It cost me around $7 instead of $24 and we will get many meals from it I also bought two art sets from a lady on Facebook group ,instead of paying $209 per pack for artist quality supplies I paid $10 per pack for a total of 14 items .I have gifted two items to a friend .I think there's more but my comment will be too long and won't publish !have a great week Wendy and family
Barb W
What a wonderful trip! Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful night in the city. I lived in Melbourne for 2 years in 2002 and 2003 and Brisbane Lions won the Premiership. I had never followed football until we moved to Melbourne and lucky my home town team won both years we lived there. Football is like religion in Melbourne and creates an amazing atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteI found some great deals in the pre-4th of July grocery sales! I bought 16 pounds of strawberries for 75 cents a pound and canned 12 pounds of them to make 15 pints and 6 half pints of strawberry vanilla jam. I gifted the other 4 pounds to an 84 year old widow who had missed the sale.
ReplyDeleteI got corn on the cob for $2.40/dozen so I bought a full box (48 ears), canned 24 pints, gifted a dozen ears to a friend with a big family, used 4 ears for eating fresh at dinners.
Watermelons were $2.99 each so I bought 2 and gifted 1 to the friend with big family.
I also found on Flashfood, 2 boneless Black Forest half hams (about 4-1/2 pounds each) reduced from $21 down to $4 each. Mine is glazed and wrapped in tin foil and cooking in my Instant Pot. I offered the second one to my friend and she was happy to buy it at that price for her big family!
2 more quilts came in for me to longarm quilt for a client so that will bring in some extra money to the budget and savings!
Chickens keep laying and we got some rain which cooled things off a bit so we can work in garden again!
Lots of opportunities for us in our area if we keep our eyes open and are willing to work! And we are grateful to have enough and to share!
You’ve been so busy and frugal Wendy, I love reading about your thrifty ways, it’s very encouraging 💕 From Cheryl
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