TV Appearance

 Tomorrow morning Monday 14th October 2024 I will be appearing on Sunrise Channel 7 at 7.45am.  Live from my kitchen and talking about our make,  bake,  sew and grow life and how to save money in this cost of living crisis. 

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 12th October 2024

 This week seems to have flown by so quickly.  The family came over on Sunday for a belated birthday gathering.  Luka and Bryson ( our grandchildren ) brought over party hats and balloons because a birthday is not a birthday without them.  Luka was very quick to point out that most of the balloons were green - my favourite color.

I've tried to get into the veggie garden as often as possible to get rid of the weeds that have popped up with the warmth.  I'm happy to say I'm winning the battle.  My goal has been to pull out at least 100 weeds a day.  They are not big weeds.  Just babies really.

Here's how we saved money this week - 

*  I dried all the washing on clothes horses over ducted heating vents and outside on the line.

*  We saved the shower warm up water and used it to water the plants outside.

*  I planted lots of green bean seeds out in the veggie garden.  I also planted Luffa seeds.  Hopefully this year we get a long hot Summer so that they grow to maturity.

*  I used our own compost on the veggie garden as extra nutrients when planting the seeds. 

*  Darren picked a bunch of beautiful hot pink roses from our garden.  Their scent is lovely and strong and fills our home.

*   The  pedestal fans we use during Summer are starting to get a little rickety and have always had me worried when the grandchildren come over.  It's so easy for them to put their fingers through the grill.  After doing some research over Winter,  we went and purchased a tower fan from The Good Guys.  Their price was $179.  I found a cheaper online price for $149 which they agreed to match.  We added on the Gold Service extended warranty for an extra $35 which gives us a total of $180 in store credit over 3 years.  To top that off,  we already had $60 in store credit to use on the fan.  I know its confusing but in the end we only paid $124 for the fan but the total value in product and credit is $359.  BARGAIN.  We use the store credit throughout the years to purchase gifts for family.

*  I made Christmas cards from gift tags and birthday cards from old cards given to me.

*  I baked three loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.

*  We picked silverbeet,  lettuce and a few lemons from our garden.  I also dug up just over 2 kilos of potatoes.

*  We had a few good sunny days that helped us charge the solar lanterns for night time use.

*  Darren had a work morning tea / afternoon tea at the hospital he works at.  Everyone brings something to share so I made a batch of scones.  Darren picked out a jar of homemade jam from the cupboard and we had a little bit of cream left in the fridge.   He said the scones went like hot cakes and some of the staff were fighting over the last one.  The scones cost well under $1 to make,  the jam is 15 cents per jar and the cream did need using up but the amount used cost under $1.       

LINKS -

Scones

Wholemeal Bread With Extra Goodness

Flowers Darren picked

Recycled birthday cards

Gift tag Christmas cards

Homemade bread

Silverbeet plants that keep on giving

Freshly baked scones

Please check my Facebook pages tomorrow ( Sunday ) for a tv appearance announcement .

How have you saved money this week ?

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 5th October 2024

 It looks like the weather has turned here in Melbourne.  We've had a few days of 25 degrees Celsius ( 77 Fahrenheit ) with the nights and early mornings still being a little cool.  I've enjoyed being out in the garden even if it was to pull out hundreds of weeds each day in the veggie garden or to just water the plants.  With the sun shining for longer periods and the warmth,  the weeds have decided to pop up and say hello.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I'd had a photo shoot with a major Australian magazine.  This week my family's story featured in a 2 page spread in Woman's Day.  If you are interested in purchasing this magazine,  it will be available in supermarkets and newsagents until this Sunday.  I have posted a photo on my Facebook pages too.  As far as I'm aware,  Woman's Day will be doing a Facebook promo with a link in a few weeks time. 

Here's how I saved money this week -

*  I cleaned the inside of our kettle with citric acid.  I do this at the start of every month and it always amazes me how clean it comes up.

*  I baked 3 loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.  I store it in the freezer and use recycled bread bags to store it in.  These bags get used over and over again.

*  I made a double batch of muesli bars for our work lunches.

*  I dried all the washing on the line outside on the warm days.  On the cooler days the washing went on clothes horses over the ducted heating vents.

*  I sold 2 unwanted items on Marketplace.

*  I found 6 volunteer sugar snap pea seedlings growing in our veggie garden.  I dug them up and planted them with the other sugar snap pea seedlings.  They must have self seeded from last season.  At least I hope they are snap peas.  Darren said they could be sweet peas.  I'll give you an update in a few weeks.

*  We charged the solar lanterns on the sunny days and bought them inside at night to light up our loungeroom.

*  We saved the shower warm up water and poured it on some plants outside.

*  For my birthday on Tuesday,  I chose to have dinner at home.  We had salmon over mashed potato with a side salad and lemon.  For dessert we had a quarter of a cheesecake from The Cheesecake Shop  for dessert.  This dinner was much nicer,  cheaper and quieter than going to a restaurant.

*  I picked a few lemons off our tree.

*  We gratefully received some vegetables which I turned into a pot of soup.  From that pot I got 10 generous serves.  Most will be for my work lunches but we did have some for dinner one night with homemade herb and garlic bread.

*  I cleaned the dishwasher with bi carb and vinegar.  I wiped around the door seals with kitchen detergent and water.

*  I made up a bottle of surface spray with cooled water from the kettle and a dash of dishwashing liquid.

*  I dehydrated quite a few lemons ( for Summer drinks ) and mandarins ( for snacking ).  

Gifted lemons

Filling the dehydrator with lemons and mandarins

In the garden.

How have you saved money this week ?

My Latest Greeting Card Designs.

 Just to change things up a bit I thought I'd share with you about the card making weekend I went on last month.

Myself and four good friends made our way down to a holiday house at Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula for a weekend of card making.  Together we made over 170 cards for carious charities and nursing homes connected to our group.  

We also worked on our own card projects as well as sharing and teaching new designs to our group.  My personal goal was to finish off the rest of the cards I needed for this year and to use up some of the scraps from my stash.

There was lots of tea / coffee drinking,  talking,  eating,  laughing and more eating in between card making.  Most of these ladies I've known for over 10 years and we've shared the ups and downs of life together and prayed for and supported one another. 

Here are the many of the cards I made over the weekend -

                                                              CARDS FOR CHARITY

                                   SOME OF THE NEW CARDS WE LEARNT TO MAKE

                                                         THE NEW CARD I SHOWED

                                                       NAOMI'S 1ST BIRTHDAY CARD

Do you make your own greeting cards ?

Earn Extra Money With Side Hustles

 Over on the Cheapskates Club YouTube channel a couple of weeks ago,  Cath spoke about side hustles you can do to boost the family budget.  Many of these side hustles Cath has done herself when money was tight.  Even today I know she has many little income steams that helps keep her budget on track.

Over the years Darren and I have faced many financial hardships due to insufficient work hours,  low pay rates and our choice to be a single income family while I stayed home to raise our girls.

Having a few little side hustles meant we could save for holidays,  have enough money for groceries,  buy gifts,  replace our ' make do ' furniture for quality items and purchase cars with cash.

Here are some of the side hustles I've personally used to bring in a little extra cash.  Some of these hustles I still do to this day.

*  I polished silverware for a friend who was hosting Christmas at her place.  The silverware was family heirlooms that she wanted to use and display for the occasion. 

*  Some of my cleaning clients needed their ironing done.  This was additional work on top of my cleaning hours so I treated the extra money as a bonus.  Some of these clients enjoyed my ironing so much that it became a regular part of my cleaning visit.

*  Speaking of cleaning,  my cleaning work first started because we were living below the poverty line.  We desperately needed extra money to make ends meet but I didn't want to put our daughter in day care so I could work.  Somehow I managed to fit in a couple of regular clients when Darren had a day off and my work has snowballed from there.  When our girls were school aged,  I would clean during school hours.  When the school holidays came around,  the girls would come to the cleaning jobs with me.

*  I make jam from the fruit we grow.  Most of the jam is put away for our personal use.  I sell a few jars here and there which more than covers the cost of the sugar and gas used in the cooking.  I also give some as presents which frees up some of the gift budget.  This money is then put into other areas of our budget.

*  During the long lockdowns of 2020,  I made and sold many,  many face masks.  This was an unexpected side hustle that kept money coming into our home when I wasn't allowed to work.

*  Making my own greeting cards started out as a money saver for our budget.  The price of greeting cards had gone up from 4 for $2 to a minimum of $1 each in the discount shops. With the basic supplies I had on hand,  I started making very simple cards to put with presents.  Then I helped form a card making group and it turned into a hobby that earns me a little bit of money when I sell them on Facebook. 

*  I sell unwanted items on Marketplace.  Darren and I have always been wise with our purchases so we've never really had much to sell.  Still,  I've managed to sell DVD cases,  spare yoghurt makers, pet items,  a snow suit from my teens,  small electrical appliances,  Tupperware and pieces of furniture.

Jam has been a good seller

Some of the cards I've sold over the years -
   

                                                 

                                            

                                       

What side hustles have you done to earn a little extra money ?

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 21st September 2024

 The last few weeks have full and eventful.  We celebrated Father's Day followed by our wedding anniversary the next day.  During that time,  Melbourne was hit by a ferocious storm in the wee hours of that Monday.   It was quite frightening and sounded like a cyclone was swirling around our home.  We heard a big crash outside but couldn't find anything other than a bin knocked over.  

The winds continued all week and we heard another crash on the Thursday but still couldn't see any damage.   I went to a card making weekend on the Friday and came home Sunday afternoon just as the rains came down again.  That's when I discovered we had a major roof leak.

Darren climbed up on the roof to find at least 7 broken tiles.  We heard from our next door neighbour that the house at the back of us lost a trampoline sometime during the storms and we think it hit our roof.  Darren said there were 2 trampoline springs up on our roof. 

Darren used the spare tiles we had to do some repair work with the help of our next door neighbour. Unfortunately the roof still needs more work.  We also have water damage inside our home which still needs attention.

We celebrated our granddaughter Naomi's first birthday on Tuesday and her party was last Sunday.

I also had a photo shoot with a major magazine this week.  That was just a little bit exciting.   We had lots of fun dodging rain and gusts of wind.  It's never a dull moment with Melbourne weather.

So after all of that,  here is my frugal list from the last few weeks -

*  Darren and I took our grandsons Luka and Bryson to the Jurassic World Dinosaur display.  It was a lovely day out into the city with a first time tram ride for the boys.  To keep costs down we took water bottles,  fruit and snacks for all four of us as well as sandwiches for the boys.  

*  Even with all the rain and strong winds we've had over the last few weeks,  I've managed to get most of the washing dry on clothes horses and the clothesline.  Only a few items were dried in the dryer.

*  Recently I bought a craft stamp cleaning mat.  It needs a cleaning spray to go with it but I was able to make that myself.  This retails for $23 but I made it for under $2.

*  I planted tomato and sugar snap pea seedlings.

*  I made up a big bottle of foaming hand wash using cheap shower gel and cooled water from the kettle.  I refilled the pumps around our home with this.

*  Darren and I went out for dinner for our wedding anniversary on the 2nd September.  We used a voucher to help lower the cost of our meals.

*  We filled up both our cars when petrol was $1.68 per litre.

*  On the colder days I turned our heater down just a little bit to 19 degrees Celsius.  Usually we have it on 20 degrees during the day.

*  I gratefully received lemons,  oranges and mandarins from a couple of friends. 

*  I wrote out a menu plan for the next four weeks.  This is quite an easy task to do when I keep old menu plans that worked well.  I just switch around a couple of meals to suit any occasion coming up.

*  I refilled the herb and spice jars from bulk packets I bought at Hindustan Imports.  This is a far cheaper option than constantly buying those little jars at the supermarket.

*  We are enjoying the homemade muesli bars so much that I make them on a regular basis.  I made another batch last weekend.

*  I dug out the dehydrator and dried the gifted oranges and a few mandarins.  They turned out really well and are so delicious.

*  Three loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness was baked this week.

*  I picked the last of the mandarins from our trees.

*  I bought 3 Summer tops from Savers and used a 20% off discount voucher to get them even cheaper.

*  There are some great bargains to be had as the department stores clear out old stock.  I picked up gumboots for the grandchildren for $4 and  Minecraft backpacks for $1.98.  I also picked up a couple of items for the gift cupboard and insect repellent products on clearance.

*  I made honey joys for Naomi's party using items I already had on hand.

First time dehydrating oranges

The finished product

Luka at Jurassic World

Both boys looking at the dinosaur

Bryson with his dino pet

Darren on Father's Day

Naomi turning 1

Honey joys for the party

$1.98 clearance bargain

Have you found any clearance bargains lately ?

How have you saved time,  money or energy the last few weeks ?

I'll Be Back Next Week

 I'm taking a short blogging break due to life being super busy at the moment.  

We had a very full last Saturday when we took Luka and Bryson to see a Jurassic World dinosaur display in the city.  Sunday was Father's Day and Monday was our wedding anniversary.  This weekend I'll be away at a card making weekend having lots of crafting time,  tea drinking,  chatting and eating.

I hope to be back next week and I'll have lots of photos to share.

Please keep your frugal list going and we'll share them together next weekend.

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 31st August 2024

It's been a crazy week for weather in Melbourne ( also across Victoria and other states ).  We've had high winds for three days straight which has made it challenging to be out in the garden.  I bought a few vegie seedlings earlier in the week but I'm so glad I've held off from planting for now.

We lost one large shrub in the front garden but other than that there has been no damage.  We are grateful there are no tall trees around us.

Here is our frugal list for the week -

*  I made a double batch of muesli bars.  Darren likes them with nuts and some fruit.  I like mine with fruit and more of the cereals.

*  I made lots of pita chips from pita bread for snacking and lunchtime nachos.

*  We saved the shower warm up water and kitchen water.  This was used to water some new plants and vegie seedlings.

*  All the kitchen scraps went into the compost bucket.  This was then emptied into the compost bins outside.

*  We used the solar lanterns in the loungeroom most nights.

*  All washing was dried on the line,  on clothes horses on the deck or inside over the ducted heating vents.

*  I gratefully received lots of supermarket paper bags from a friend.  We used them for our household rubbish.  I also gratefully received some lemons

*  I made a big pot of beef,  tomato and vegetable soup.  We ate some for dinner that night and I put aside 4 portions for my lunches.  The rest went into the freezer for an upcoming card making weekend.  

*  I picked more mandarins from our tree.  This is such a blessing and money saver.

*  Darren,  myself,  Megan,  Luka and Bryson went to a free Bunnings Father's Day Fair on Thursday night.  We had a free dinner of bbq sausages in bread with bottles of water and fairy floss.  They had a tea cup ride,  a baby animal farm,  Father's Day crafts,  a spinning wheel ( with prizes ),  wooden Father's Day signs to take home,  children's secondhand book giveaway ( help yourself  ) a fire truck and police car,  a photo booth and a few other stalls.  Towards the end of the night they were giving away Bunnings tshirts with every spin of the wheel.  We ended up with tshirts for the whole family including Darren and Kurt.   We also bought home a Bunnings basketball which the boys were thrilled about.  Megan even won the Rotary raffle first prize of a power tool pack.  We had such a good time and hope to go to more in the future.

*  I made ANZAC biscuits using dough I'd frozen earlier.  We have an outing with our grandsons over the weekend and we'll be taking some in a backpack with water bottles,  fruit and sandwiches.

LINKS -

ANZAC Biscuits

Crunchy Muesli Bars

Chunky Beef And Vegetable Soup - I used 250g of beef mince

Chunky beef and veg soup

Mandarins from our tree

Homemade muesli bars

ANZAC Biscuits

Lots of pita chips

How have you saved time,  money or energy this week ?

    

Our Frugal Night Time Routine

 Money saving tips can be as simple as turning off a light.  Here are all the frugal things we do at night to save a little extra money -

*  After dinner and when we are ready to settle into the loungeroom we bring the solar lanterns inside ( after charging all day ).  They are placed around the loungeroom and the lamp is turned off.  If the lanterns have been fully charged,  we get 4 - 6 hours of good light from them.

*  We turn off lights in the rooms not being used.  Both Darren and I grew up with this being a common practice in our families.  Lamps are never left on in the hope that someone might go into that room.

*  Before bed we turn off the standby lights on the tv and double check that other appliances haven't been left on.

*  A soon as it's dusk we close the curtains and pull down the blinds in the laundry.  On hot days we keep the blinds down in the bathrooms too.

*  If the washing has been outside on clothes horses,  we bring them inside and place them over the ducted heating vents.  

*  We use battery operated lights hidden under the overhead bathroom cupboards.  These are also great in case the power goes off.

*  Darren prepares his lunch,  snacks,  water bottle and lunchbox ready for work the next day.  He also brings his own tea,  coffee mug and cutlery so these are always restocked and cleaned.  If I've got a cleaning job the next day,  I fill my water bottle and have a morning tea snack packed ready to go.

*  If it's cold or windy,  we make sure the draught stoppers are on the external doors.

*  Blankets are used when we watch tv at night in the colder weather.  Our ducted heating automatically turns off at 9pm.  By having the blankets handy,  we are not tempted to turn the heating back on.

*  The overnight ducted heating temperature is set at 15.5 degrees Celsius.

*  In Winter we put a blanket on our bed.

*  Meat is taken from the freezer and placed on a tray in the fridge for dinner the next day.  This helps us avoid the takeaway temptation.

*  All dinner leftovers are portioned out into containers and put in the fridge.  If I remember,  I then label and put them in the freezer.  This avoids picking / nibbling at what could be a proper dinner serve.

Lots of blankets in our home

A programable ducted heating controller

Using draught stoppers

Do you have a frugal night time routine ?

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 24th August 2024

 My frugal list is not a big one this week.  We both had a busy weekend,  then work for both of us.  I spent some time in the veggie garden pulling weeds and turning the soil over ready to do some Spring planting shortly.  

I guess my biggest achievement was staying away from the shops and not needing any groceries.  Even when I took my Mum grocery shopping on Monday I didn't buy a thing.   Darren did buy 4 kilos of apples from a grower near our church office.  He needed them for his lunches and the apples on offer at our local fruit and veg shop have been of a very poor quality.

Here is our frugal list for the week -

*  We saved the shower warm up water and kitchen water ( from drink bottles etc ) and poured it on the mandarin trees,  strawberry plants and a few pot plants.

*  Dried all the washing on the line.

*  Refilled the foaming hand wash pump in our bathroom with shower gel and water.

*  I fed silverbeet,  bread crusts,  weeds and grass to our chicken.

*  I picked silverbeet,  mandarins and lemons from our garden.

*  I juiced lots of lemons and froze it into icecube trays.

*  The super cheap dinners this week were  - chunky chicken and veg soup  

                                                                      -  homemade pizza on Darren's flat breads

*  We used the solar lanterns a few times this week when they were charged enough.

*  We both filled up our cars before the price of petrol goes up ( predicted any day now ).  We paid about $1.71 a litre

*  I made three loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.

 LINKS -

Wholemeal bread with extra goodness

Chunky chicken and veggie soup

Wholemeal bread with extra goodness

From our garden

Picking silverbeet

How have you saved money this week ?