Card Making On A Budget - Part 3

As you've probably gathered,  I just love making cards.  For me it's a hobby that I'm enjoying and it's saving us money. Cards bought from the $2 shops and discount stores were originally sold for 3 or 4 for $2.  Recently the discount stores have put the price up to $1 or $2 each.  Whilst this is still a great price compared to newsagents and department stores, I can make them cheaper at home.

Recently I was on the hunt for a card for Darren's 50th birthday.  I didn't think I'd have the time to make one with all the party preparations etc.  So I went to the $2 shop to have a look.  I must say,  I was disappointed with the few cards on offer.  They didn't look nice,  some had pictures of alcohol ( we don't drink ) or they just didn't suit Darren.

I knew what I wanted to make for Darren.  It had to be black and white as he's a mad Collingwood supporter.  So I bough a packet of 8 black cards and envelopes for $2 and came home to make one.  I had some suitable black and white wrapping paper in my present wrapping box.  I cut it slightly smaller than the card and glued it on with a glue stick.

Then I googled " free 50th birthday sentiments ".  This took a fair bit of time as it had to look right and not have a copyright on it.  The one I picked was perfect and I printed off a few extras for future card making  Now I have a few options in my stash.

I cut this out and glued it on the front. Because the card is black,  I needed to cut some white card for the inside so I could write on it.    This part was quick and easy.  Megan made a card for Jessica and herself to give to Darren.  She used another sentiment I printed off and mounted it on black paper.

Darren was thrilled with both cards proclaiming they were the best we have ever made.  He just loves them and they only cost 25 cents each.

Since then I made a few other cards using the same idea  Here are some photos of a few of them -.

Darren's birthday card

Megan made this one

For the inside of a black card

Stamps mounted on paper.  I used sticky foam squares too.

Men's card using wrapping paper

Using scrap booking papers bought on sale and a stamp

Using a printable sentiment and gluing it to a punch out.

A printable sentiment glued straight onto a blank card.

Adding embellishments to pretty up a card.

This Week's Frugal Tasks 18th July 2015

With the weather being so cold this week  I've tried to stay busy on my days at home.  I just love cooking and baking good wholesome food for my family and as Annabel says " feathering my nest ".  I had a lovely day with Cath form the Cheapskates Club.  Of course we talked about all things frugal as well as the up coming Adelaide workshop.  So exciting  !!!  Here's what else I got up to this week -

*  Made a couple of cards for my stash.

*  Made up lots of biscuits using a packet mix bought after Christmas for 5 cents. It was meant to be a gingerbread house but I don't have time for such a fiddly thing.

*   Emptied the bottom of the wheat bix packet into the Dried Seasoned Bread Crumbs container and gave it a good shake.

*  Kept the curtains 90% closed during the cold days.  They were open just enough so that we could see our way around the house.

*  Hand washed the dinner dishes a few time this week.

*  Fed the chickens handfuls of grass and clover to keep their vitamins up during the cold weather

*  Finished using up two lipsticks by digging down into the tube to get every last bit of it.  I got another 6 weeks use out of each one.

*  Found an old eye shadow in my travel toiletry bag that didn't have enough in it to take away.  So I've put it in the bathroom cupboard and have been using it every day.

*  Bought my mum a bunch of flowers for her birthday.  The tissue paper the florist used went soggy straight away and wasn't a nice color.  So I used some of my stash of florist colored plastic wrap to make it look better with craft ribbon I had on hand.  Gave my mum a handmade card from my supplies.

*  .Made a bulk batch of fruit crumble topping mix.

*  Redeemed a rain check for 4 litres of Moro olive oil for $20.  I've had this rain check for almost 12 months but waited until I was low on stock in the pantry ( and I needed the room to store it ).

*  Wiped out the fridge using water and a microfibre cloth.  I saved the water from rinsing out the cloth and used it to water some pot plants outside.

*  Came in under budget for groceries from June 16 - July 15.  I only spent $237 out of $270.  The left over money went into the food slush fund to buy future food specials.

*  Bought lots of chicken fillets from Tasman Meats for $5.99kg.  They were portioned into meal sizes and frozen.

*   Made a double batch of pumpkin scones using cooked and mashed pumpkin I'd frozen last year when it was cheap.

*  Saved the washing machine water and dried most of the clothes on clothes horses.

*  Made 1 litre of homemade yoghurt.

*  Froze 3 single serves of left over meals.  I'm trying to get a stash together as next Tuesday is the last of my major dental work.  I'll only be able to eat pureed vegetable soup and custard for a few days so I won't be wanting to cook for the family.

My 5 cent gingerbread biscuits for church morning tea.

My favourite morning tea.

One of the cards I made.

Left overs for the freezer

Making my own yoghurt.

What frugal things did you complete this week ?  I'd love for you to share your list.
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We're Coming To Adelaide For A Workshop

Hi everyone.  I have some exciting news to share.

Cath Armstrong,  tv star and owner of The Cheapskate's Club and myself are coming to Adelaide to hold a one day workshop.  We are also being joined by Annabel from The Bluebirds Are Nesting blog.

This is our first ever interstate workshop and we are just so excited to be able to share our money saving tips,  recipes and skills with you.  This will be an inspiring day where you'll make new friends,  share ideas and learn some important life changing skills.

If you have friends and family who live in South Australia,  please share this post with them.  We look forward to spending a great day together.

Here's the information that Cath put up on her website with the booking link.


"The Art of Living the Cheapskates Way 1 Day Workshop is coming to Adelaide!

Come along and Cath, Wendy, Annabel and your fellow Cheapskaters for a day of fun, frivolity, food and frugality as they refine the Art of Living the Cheapskates Way.

During the day we'll discuss the art of living the Cheapskates way and share favourite Cheapskating tips and tricks for saving money, time and energy on your journey to living life debt free, cashed up and laughing.

The programme includes workshops, demonstrations, Q&A sessions and special guest speakers Wendy (moderator, $300 a Month Food Challenge) and Annabel (our very own frugal pampering expert).

Places are limited for this workshop to be held on Saturday 15th August 2015.

Click here for more information and to book your place now.

http://www.cheapskates.com.au/pages/default.cfm?page_id=44776"

Grocery Specials Wednesday 15th July 2015

This week's supermarket catalogues didn't have a lot to offer in specials on basic food items.  If you love junk food,  convenience or dearer products then you'll have lots of specials to choose from.  If you're like me and buy ingredients to make meals from scratch,  then you'll have slim pickings.  Here are the few specials I found -


COLES -

*  Sorbent Toilet Tissue 12 Pack 1/2 PRICE Was $9.00, Save $4.50  Now $4.50 each

*  Duracell Coppertop AA 10 Pack 1/2 PRICE Was $13.49, Save $6.75  Now $6.74 each

*  Gold Choice Canola, Vegetable or Sunflower Oil 4 Litre or La Espanola Rice Bran Oil 3 Litre 1/2 PRICE Was $18.00, Save $9.00  Now $9.00 each

WOOLWORTHS -

*  Cadbury Dairy Milk Block 190-200g or Old Gold 200g Now $2.45 each 1/2 Price, Save $2.54

*  Alfa One Rice Bran Oil 4 Litre Now $12.20 each 1/2 Price, Save $12.27

*  Cinnamon Donuts Pk 6 or Mini Donuts Pk 8 Now $1.00 each 1/2 Price, Save $1.00.  As a treat,  this is a great price and they freeze well. 

*  30% off selected Arcosteel cookware.

*  Handee Paper Towels Pk 2 Now $1.75 each 1/2 Price, Save $1.75

*  Cadbury

*  Cadbury Cooking Chocolate Melts 225g, Chips or Block 200g Now $2.50 each Save up to $2.00  

*  Cadbury Favourites or Favourites Mini Blocks 320g Now $6.00 each 1/2 Price, Save $6.00

*  Mission Pizza Base 200g Pk 2 Now $1.99 each 1/2 Price, Save $2.00.  I don't buy these as I make my own pizza bases.  These did seem like a great price though.

TASMAN MEATS -

*  Chicken Breast Fillets skin on $5.99kg

*  Pork leg on the bone $6.99kg.

On sale until 20th July.

UPDATE

I was in Aldi today ( Wednesday ) and they have lots of kitchenware in stock.  I saw toasters for $7,  slow cookers 3 lts for $19.99,  old fashion radios,  saucepans,  woks and lots more.  If you have an Aldi near by it might be worth having a look.

Fruit Crumble Topping Mix For Desserts

Jessica's favourite homemade dessert is apple crumble.  She could happily eat it at least once a week.  She's been known to eat leftovers for breakfast the next day.  When you think about it,  it does make a healthy breakfast too.  Having this bulk mix on hand in the pantry helps to get a quick dessert in the oven.


1 cup of plain flour
2 cups of rolled oats
1/3 cup of brown sugar ( MOO )
1 teaspoon of cinnamon ( approx ).

Mix all ingredients well and store in an air tight container.

To serve use 3/4 cup of mix and add two tablespoons of melted butter to a bowl.

Mix well and pour over cooked apple, or any tinned / stewed fruit and bake in the oven as per your recipe

This dry mix recipe can be doubled or tripled to suit the container size you'll store it in.

This Week's Frugal Tasks 11th July 2015

I'm not sure where my week has gone.  I seem to be busier in the school holidays that when everyone is at work and school.  In the midst of all the comings and goings,  I did manage to get a few frugal things done.  Here's this week's list -

*  Cleaned the inside of the dishwasher with bi carb and vinegar and wiped it down with Miracle Spray

*  Made muffin sized quiches with tomatoes given to us and silverbeet from our garden.

*  Made some apple rose pastries with apples given to us.  The pastries were for a church lunch.

*  Made chunky roast beef and vegetable soup using left over roast beef and vegetables given to us.

*  Megan made a double batch of lunchbox chocoalte choc chip muffins for school and home snacks.

*  Picked a big bowl of lemons from our tree.  I'll let them sit for about a week before juicing.  I did juice some older lemons and froze the juice in ice cube trays.

*  Picked silverbeet to put in a spag bol sauce.  My girls were not happy about this as they don't like silverbeet.  I'm in the process of having major dental work done and I can't chew things very well so the shredded silverbeet was perfect for me.

*  Megan made a big pot of chunky chicken noodle soup to help me feel better after the dental work on Tuesday.  She used chicken stock I'd made in the slow cooker and frozen months ago.  I lived on this soup for a few days.  Very yummy.

*  Picked a bunch of daisies from the garden to brighten up my kitchen.

* Mended and altered two tops for Megan.

*  Only spent $4 at the shops on milk.  This is the third week running that we've only needed milk.  We still have plenty of fruit and veg in the fridge and freezer plus we have been blessed with some.

*  Did the usual frugal things with saving the washing machine water and drying clothes on clothes horses..

Daisies from the garden.

Muffin sized quiches

Dinner of quiches and some for the frezer

Daffodils Darren is growing. A little bit of sunshine in Winter. 

Thank you to everyone who left kind words and wishes on my face book pages and blog.  I'm very blessed to count you all as friends.  You are very important to me       

 xoxo

I'd love to hear about your week.  Did you do anything frugal ?

Happy 1st Blog Anniversary

Happy 1st Blog Anniversary.  It was one year ago today that Darren and I ventured over to our friend Tanya's place to set up this blog.  About a year earlier I'd been tossing up the idea of starting a blog and wondering if I had anything of interest to say and if anyone would take the time to read it. Then my family's story appeared on A Current Affair back in June 2014 and Tanya had a quiet word to me saying that I needed to get my blog going because people would be googling me.  I still laugh at that now - PEOPLE GOOGLING - ME  !!!!

So that cold Winter's night Tanya helped me set up this blog.  I'm very tech challenged but Tanya was gentle with me and wrote instructions down so that when I was on my own,  I could keep the blog running.  Thinking of a name was the first challenge.  I knew I wanted the word " abundance or abundant " in the title and after a bit of research I came up with the name My Abundant Life.   It describes my family's life to a " T ".  Not abundance of money,  but abundance of blessings that fill our lives with joy.  God's abundance and God's joy.

Tanya then talked me into two facebook pages.  I was not a big fan as I'd seen so much rubbish, bullying and time wasting through this area of the media.  Once again,  Tanya said that people needed to be able to find me.  To say that I was nervous was an understatement.  Who was going to find me ???  Mmmmm  !!!!

So my blog and two facebook pages made their debut that night and a whole new world opened up to me.  My first few posts were a bit clunky and awkward and I had to learn to use my family's digital camera to take half decent photos.  It was and still is a big learning curve.

I remember getting excited the next day to see that a few people had looked at my blog and taken the time to post a comment.  To this day I'm very grateful for every comment made.

Within a few weeks I started checking out other people's blogs that had the same simple living theme to mine.  I found the same people commenting on each others blogs so I took the plunge and introduced myself.  I was excited to see others living like I do with the same values.  These blog writers have now become firm friends.  We email each other,  we pray for each other and most importantly,  we've created a community that cares.

Annabel from The Bluebirds Are Nesting became one of my first blogger friends.  She has a generous spirit and is full of encouragement.  Her card making posts led me to start making my own cards.  We pray for each other and I know when my life is hectic,  she cares.    One of her parcels arrived in the mail when I was filming a story.  Ben the reporter wanted to know if it was from a fan or stalker.  I proudly said it was from a blog friend.  I wanted to stop filming right there and then to see what was in the parcel ( her tea towels,  wrapped soap,  face washer / dish cloth and other things .  Have a look on her blog ).

Since then I've connected with Tania from Outback Tania.  She lives on the edge of the outback in South Australia and grows lots of veggies and fruit.

Joolz from Simply Joolz loves to cook and bake and I just love looking.  She's posted some of my recipes on her blog and others are using my recipes.  How exciting.

There's Mimi from A Tray Of Bliss and  Brandy The Prudent Homemaker.  Lately I found a blog called A Working Pantry.  Patsi loves to stockpile and stockpiling is one of my favourite subjects.

Cath from The Cheapskates Club has been a wonderful supporter of everything I do.  We are blogger friends and real life friends who share the same values and way of life.  It's like we've been cut from the same cloth.

Most importantly,  I'm very grateful for the friends I've made here on my blog.  I'm grateful for the amazing community we've created ( how awesome is that ? )  I'm gobsmacked that you cook and bake my recipes and love the food as much as Darren and my girls do. I'm grateful that you share your frugal tips with others.   I'm grateful for the spirit of encouragement over this blog.  My goal was ( and still is ) to offer hope to those who are struggling financially or wanting to live a more fulfilling life  I wanted to show that saving money isn't about penny pinching or going without. In fact,  once our needs are met we have freedom to do the fun stuff without guilt.

To all my blog readers,  Take a bow,  pat yourselves on the back and send virtual hugs to each other.  You make my day, every day.  You give me so much joy that my heart is over flowing.

Thank you

Here's a snap shot of the past year -

One of the first pictures for the blog

Bread making

Doing an interview with Denis Walter on 3AW

Miracle Spray

Pumpkin scones

Lettuce from the garden

Cranberry Hootycreek biscuits - a big hit with you

One of our chickens - Becky

Making face washers fancy for gifts

Tv ads for my Christmas story on ACA

Making jam

First attempt at card making

A days pickings from our garden.

Melbourne Flower Show - oh what beauty. 

My card making is getting better.

Flowers from the garden

Home made gifts

Apple Rose Pastries

Darren and I

My family

5 Easy Ways To Cut Your Heating Bill Part 2

Here are 5 more easy heating tips for you to try -

* If your heater turns off automatically before you go to bed.  don't be tempted to turn it back on.  Instead,   grab a blanket and snuggle underneath.  You'll be warm and toasty in seconds.  Dig out your throw rugs and blankets and strategically place them where family members can grab them easily.

*  Keeping busy on a cold day is a wonderful way to keep warm.  Feeling a little cold ?  Instead of turning the heater on,  pull the vacuum cleaner out and give your home the once over.  Do your showers need a clean ?  Then grab your Miracle Spray and microfibre cloths and give them a good scrub.  Not only will you feel much warmer,  your home will be sparkly clean.  I've been cleaning homes for over 15 years and love walking into an unheated home in Winter.

*  Cook up a storm in your kitchen.  Winter is a wonderful time to bake and cook in bulk.  With your oven or stove on there will be enough heat generated to keep you warm.  Your family will be thanking you for the wonderful homemade treats too.

*  Keep your heater temperature set at 18 - 20 degrees Celsius during the day and before you go to bed ( or lower if you can handle it ).  For every degree over 20 you are adding 5 - 10% to your heating bill.

*  Reduce your heater temperature overnight.  Once you are snuggled under your doona,  you won't need the house heated to 20 degrees.  We have our heater on 15.5 degrees overnight.  This means the heater turns on just a few times for about 30 seconds to prevent the temperature dropping too low.

This Week's Frugal Tasks 4th July 2015

With school holidays upon us and being too cold to be outside, it's a wonderful time to be busy around the house catching up on baking, cooking and maybe a few crafts.  I try to use this time to bake extra school snacks for the freezer.  Here's what I got up to this week -


*  I gave both Jessica and Megan a haircut.  Their hair was due for a good trim.  This saved us $10 - $15 each.

*  Made a litre of vanilla yoghurt using some natural yoghurt given to us as a starter.

* Baked two loaves of white bread with chia seeds and two wholemeal loaves.

*  Filled up my car before the school holiday price hike and used a discount coupon too

*  Gratefully received a couple of boxes of clothes from a family member.  There were lots of jeans and other items we can put to good use.  All were in as new condition.

*  Froze two single serves of a pasta dish.

*  We've started using newspaper in the bottom of the chicken coop nesting boxes with a smaller amount of hay.  It gives the boxes better insulation during the colder weather and means we don't have to use as much hay.

*  Made Annabel's Golden Syrup pudding.  This is a very frugal pudding and wonderfully comforting in Winter.

*  Refilled all my spray bottles with Miracle Spray.

*  Started saving the washing machine water again.  With the two big birthday celebrations lately,  we just didn't have time to do it.  It's great to get back into the routine.

*  Dried most of the washing on clothes horses.  Some was put into the dryer.

*  Watered all our pot plants and bulbs with water saved from the kitchen.

*  Gratefully received some meat and vegetables.  Most of the vegetables I blanched and froze straight away as I couldn't use it quick enough.

*  Donated another couple of bags to Savers and received some discount stamps.  Megan bought some tops from Savers as she's doing work experience shortly at a local hospital.

*  Baked raspberry and white choc muffins for snacks.

*  Picked lettuce from our garden for two meals.

*  Collected a fair few eggs.  One day we collected four eggs from five chooks.  Not bad for the cold weather.

Raspberry and white choc muffins

Annabel's Golden Syrup Pudding

A lamp from the Titanic Restaurant

Beauty at The Titanic Restaurant

Our chickens - busy as usual

Bread rising.


What frugal tasks did you complete this week ?

Grocery Specials Wednesday 1st July 2015

There are quite a few good specials on offer at the supermarkets.  I hope you have lots of money in your food slush funds to stock up.  Here are the best of the best specials -

COLES -

*  Lynx Deodorant Body Spray 96g-100g 1/2 PRICE Was $5.99, Save $3.00  Now $2.99 each.  Well worth buying some and putting them aside for Father's Day and Christmas stockings.

*  Cadbury Family Block Chocolate 190g-200g 1/2 PRICE Was $4.99, Save $2.50  Now $2.49 each

*  Golden Crumpet Rounds 6 Pack 1/2 PRICE Was $3.10, Save $1.55  Now $1.55 each.  Crumpets freeze well.

*  Tip Top Café Raisin Toast 650g 1/2 PRICE Was $5.80, Save $2.90  Now $2.90 each

*  Nestlé Cooking Chocolate Melts 375g Save $2.96  Now 2 for $5.00. 

*  Campbell’s Condensed Soup 400g-430g 1/2 PRICE Was $2.09, Save $1.05  Now $1.04 each

*  Garnier Fructis Shampoo or Conditioner 250mL 1/2 PRICE Was $5.44, Save $2.72  Now $2.72 each

*  Sorbent Facial Tissues Aloe Vera, Eucalyptus 70 Pack or Soft White 200 Pack 1/2 PRICE

Was $1.99, Save $1.00  Now $0.99 each  For those who don't have an Aldi nearby,  the price for the 200 ack is almost as good as the Aldi price.

WOOLWORTHS -

*  Nescafe Blend 43 140-150g or Gold Blend 95-100g – Excludes Decaf 100g Now $6.90 each Save up to $2.59

*  Cadbury Sharepacks 160-180g Now $2.25 each 1/2 Price, Save $2.34

*  Steggles Whole Family Roast Chicken – From the Meat Dept  Australian Grown.Now $2.99 kg Save $2.00 kg

*  IXL Conserve 600g Now $1.99 each Save $2.00.  If you don't make your own,  this is a great price and well worth buying at least a few.

*  Riviana Basmati Rice 5 kg Now $8.99 each 1/2 Price, Save $9.00.

*  Cinnamon Donuts Pk 12 Now $2.00 each 1/2 Price, Save $2.00.  A great price and they freeze well.

*  Cheese & Bacon, Spicy Mexican or Cheese & Caramelised Onion Rolls Pk 4 Now $2.00 each 1/2 Price, Save $2.20. A great lunchbox treat and they freeze well

* TRESemme Shampoo or Conditioner 750-900ml Now $5.00 each 1/2 Price, Save $5.49

*  White King Oxy-Lift Booster 2 kg Now $5.00 each 1//2 Price, Save $5.00.  I don't buy this product but it seemed like a good price for those who need it.

*  Pine O Cleen Disinfectant 1.25 Litre Now $2.49 each 1/2 Price, Save $2.50.  At this price I buy a few.

*  Head & Shoulders Shampoo or Conditioner 350-400ml Now $6.25 each 1/2 Price, Save $6.25

Please add any specials you find.