Saturday 23 January 2016

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 23rd January 2016

We've had a very exciting week in the Gower house.  On Monday Jessica got a first round offer for University.  She'll be doing Primary Teaching and is planning to defer this year so she can earn lots of money to pay for the Uni fees.  On Wednesday Megan turned 16 and passed her learner's permit to start driving.  She's already had her first lesson with Darren.  On Thursday Jessica bought her first car.  How exciting !!!  Here's what else we got up to -

*  Made a batch of mango flavoured yoghurt using a packet.  I'd forgotten I had one in the pantry.  Megan enjoyed it on a few hot days during the week.

*  Picked lettuce,  tomatoes and beans to go with our meals.

*  Jessica purchased her first car this week.  She was able to pay for it outright because she's been working since she was 14 1/2.  A lady at her work gave her a Navman she no longer needed.  This is such a blessing as Jessica had it on her list of items to buy for her car.

*  Gratefully received lots of scrap card and ribbon at the Cheapskates card making day last Saturday.  This is a huge blessing and will save me lots of money.

*  Gratefully received a bottle of lavender oil from a friend.  I'm hoping to use it in my soaps in the future

*  Saved the shower warm up water to keep my fruit trees hydrated during the heat.

* Made lots of cards at the card making day using really cheap materials.  The next day I made another eight cards.  I'm trying to get a stockpile of cards ready for when we need them throughout the year.  I'll be encouraging my girls to make their own stockpile.  Megan has already made one card.

*  Filled up my car with petrol purchased at $1.08.  I didn't have a discount docket as I'm not doing much food shopping at the moment.  This was a great price.

*  Used lots of bread bags as bin liners in the bathrooms.

*  Made lavender room air freshener for one of the toilets

*  Picked a handful or two of raspberries this week.  The fruit seems to come in waves and the fruit in this batch are big and juicy.  I can't wait to have enough for raspberry jam.

*  Kept the cooling off as much as possible and used electric fans instead.

A box card I made for Megan
From the garden
Home grown

What frugal tasks did you complete this week ?
.

34 comments:

  1. It has been an eventful week at your house! Congratulations to your girls! I just did a post on my frugal doings for the week at my blog. :)

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    1. Thankyou Debbie. I'll take a look at your blog.

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  2. Congratulations to your Girls, Wendy. You must be so proud that Jessica could pay cash for her first car, such a great achievement.

    Unable to save on power bills this week with temps reaching 39's everyday so far and then 40 today an 41 tomorrow. However I have saved in other ways, staying home and not going out spending

    *Collecting the last of the eggs from friends chooks

    *Borrowed DVD's for DD5 from the library to watch in the afternoons

    *Did lots of crafting with DD5 when only had the air con on and nothing else

    *planted a sweet potato that had started to sprout

    *froze the left over mango to make smoothies

    *Started making a hints book for a friend of mine for her birthday

    *shopped from my pantry for lots of items

    *saved 2 meals to be frozen for when DP is away next time

    Hope you have a wonderful weekend

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    1. Thankyou anon. How great that your sweet potato is growing.

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    2. Sorry Wendy I forgot to put my name

      Aly

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  3. Happy birthday Megan.

    I am so happy to hear that Jessica bought her car in cash!!!! Woohoo how awesome is that! And congratulations on Megan passing her L's

    Love your card and your garden! Such great produce

    I've had a big week this week and I remembered to write everything down lol

    Frugal tasks

    Went to card making and scored some great amounts of paper woohoo thanks for bringing that box Cath xx

    Got some great things off the swap table at card making

    Got some great ideas from you Wendy with your chook pen thank you for showing and sharing that with me.

    Picked my second zucchini and pollinated some pumpkin flowers, some pumpkins seem to keep dying off still so I really should start doing some research on it.

    Have been crocheting a baby comforter for my best friends baby when she arrives not long now. This will be my gift to her in the hospital.

    Accepted quite a few loaves of bread and bread rolls from mum

    Dad gave me his bath tub for the garden woooooo! How exciting still got one more to go.

    Picked up some great gifts and things to make gifts from the op shop I got HEAPS of stuff for only $20 and I can make numerous presents out of them for the next 2 years!

    Used my 5% discount at savers I found a collectable platter and bought it for my mum (my brother collected the whole entire set for her) and I thought this platter would be great to add to it (it was $5 compared to $30-$40) I also got some wool for crocheting and heart molds for bath bombs

    Bought some wool for crocheting at lincraft they were on special for $1.99

    Shopped some great woollies specials online and got free delivery and 5% staff discount

    Made lemon slice for my mothers group/play group get together, we were suppose to be crocheting but chatter got the better of us lol

    Cut the cost of some bills/plans was paying month to month with two devices so I cancelled them the contacts are already over.

    Got a great deal on the living social app for air con car re gas. Cost $53 compared to $180

    Mum agreed to help me pay for my storage unit. This is a strongly unwanted waste of space time and money the unit costs $160pm and I could be using the money for better things so until mum has thrown out her stuff then I'll be able to store mine in its place. (This is only until I move to a bigger house)

    Got paid a family bonus put half in savings a quarter in the kids savings and the rest on bills groceries and pocket money. I thoroughly budgeted that money where there would be no un necessary spendings. I would have put it in my ing account though I would be tempted to spend it and that's not good.

    I made a crochet baby comforter for when my best friends baby arrives (I can't wait!)
    And now I'm making one for my sisters baby too :D

    Got a box of mangoes for $10

    Picked up a few bargain things that would have cost me $30 I paid $8. The store was closing down

    Bought 48 boxes of baby mum mum rice crackers for Elisha and Stu for $35 I saved $110 through woollies online though I know these aren't 100% essential they are really good for snacks when I can't make them and at a really good deal. I wish they did rain checks. The unfortunate thing is they only delivered 17 boxes because they had ran out of stock so I was refunded the money. I almost cried when I saw this :(

    Got 9 Christmas boxes from the reject shop for 20c each they were marked down from $3.50.

    All the money savings I have done with these shopping specials I will put towards my slush fund (not sure if I should do it with the rice crackers though, what do you think?)

    Have a lovely week next week xoxo

    Anne

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    1. What a wonderful week you've had Anne. So many savings.

      Yes, put the rice cracker savings away. You'd planned on spending it online any way.

      It was great to show you my garden and chicken coop. Hopefully it won't be too long until you can have your own chickens.

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    2. Ok I will put that money away, I'm so chuffed with myself for this weeks frugal tasks I love posting how much I've done on here :)

      I enjoyed it. I am going to help dad build a triangle coop he will be going away in June sometime and needs someone to look after his chickens so he's going to give them to me and buy 5 new ones when he comes back

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  4. Happy weekend Wendy , it has been a very busy and successful week in your household, well done to Jessica and happy Birthday and well done to Megan too. I am always inspired by you Wendy and encouraged and motivated too but my week has not been quite as exciting.!.
    I gratefully received more meals from my parents and some home grown produce from them too.
    I had 3 no spend days and 2 low spend days thus last 7 days.
    I bought 2 x 5 pack lunch box / lunch bag etc for gifts for the wish tree ( good brand and only $3 each pack)
    I bought a glass canister with lovely lid for $1 and will use it for a gift with homemade biscuits or rocky road in and decorated with a ribbon and gift tag.
    I picked a strawberry from my own strawberry plant, not much but gee it was nice ( I have a few strawberry plants) .
    I used newspaper in my budgies cage again.
    I watched DVDs and vies on TV for entertainment.i also read books and some magazines from my mum too.
    I did full loads of washing on cold as usual.
    I topped up my foaming hand wash with water and I worked out that my refills cost me 20 cents per bottle of hand wash ( one refill costs 20 cents) .
    I made Rocky road using baking ingredients from my stockpile ( saving myself $ and time)
    I have saved $86 on my groceries this fortnight and have banked the money.
    I made pizza at home instead of having takeaway
    Made chips at home and wedges too , saving $ and they are healthier baked in the oven.
    I think that is it Wendy. Have a great Weekend .love Barb

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    1. It was great that you banked your grocery savings. This reduces the urge to spend it.

      You're saving lots of money with the foaming hand wash. Are you making your own refill with shower gel ?

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    2. Wendy, with the foaming hand wash , I bought a clear type anti bacterial hand wash refill for $2.40 on good special and I get approx 10 or 12 refills when I dilute it as I top up the dispenser with water as I use it in between as well as when I first make it up. So if the dispenser is half full I top it up with water the anti bacterial hand wash refills are 500 ml and come up on special at Woolworths from time to time . I buy two at once giving me 20 por more refills for $4.80 .i sometimes use shower gel too but the hand wash I use is very strong and dilutes well.
      I am saving for my 40 th birthday holiday ( to do something really special) , I have paid for my share of accommodation already by banking my savings and I have some fun money put away too.i won't need a lot of money though as we will be making our own fun mostly.
      Thank you Wendy.

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  5. Wow. What a blessed week. Well done Jessica on getting into Uni and being wise enough to pay fees up front (they are cheaper than having s hecs debt). Also what a beautiful example to others paying cash for her car.
    Well done Megan on passing her Ls.
    My week was a bit of a drain onvthe finances. I crashed my car into a gate post and I have had to pay the $550 excess on my insurance to get it fixed. Also I needed some tests that I couldn't get in the public health system quicker enough so I have had to pay for them. We are lucky with medicare as I didn't have to pay the whole amount. Spent a few hours in the local hospital emergency department and as it is serviced by the local GPs I have a bill for $148. You are lucky in the bigger cities as the public hospitals are bulk bill. But not in the country areas.
    Made a plan to put an amount in the savings account that would be a car payment and hopefully in a couple of years I too can pay cash to upgrade my car.
    I would love to know how you made that box card. It is amazing.
    Have a great week.

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    1. Thankyou Janine. Sorry to hear your week hasn't gone to plan. Let's hope next week is better.

      I learnt how to make the box card at the Cheapskate's card day. Sometime soon I'll try to put instructions on here.

      Jessica worked hard for that car. Megan is doing the same and saving like crazy.

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  6. Congratulations to both of your girls! You are so clever at card making Wendy.

    -Cooked chicken karage for dinner and made a homemade ice cream cake for my daughters birthday.


    - Sold some items on Gumtree and put the money on an additional mortgage payment to reduce our debt.


    -Volunteered at a local food co-op with a friend. We got to buy some cheap groceries there too.


    -Received a gorgeous homemade gift package from an IG friend. So beautiful!


    - Invited a friend over for a pot luck lunch and card making afternoon. We shared resources and had great fun!


    -Helped a friends elderly relatives clean their year up. I rescued a fully lined guitar case for my daughter that was going to be taken to the tip. I also salvaged a very old copy of Alice In Wonderland which I will give to a friend's daughter and also a lovely ornate frame I will spray paint black and will look great in my living room.


    -Went to the movies. The kids used a movie ticket they got as a Christmas gift, so I only paid for my ticket. We also packed drinks and snacks from home.


    -Received a box of chocolates as a thank you gift.


    -Bought some supplies from our gift fund to make a homemade gift.


    -Stretched a roast chicken and boiled the bones to make a lovely and filling chicken and barley soup.


    -Picked up some free bread and rolls from the op shop.


    -Spent my evenings hand stitching a few more fish for the felt fishing set.


    - Made a list of all the craft items I have on hand ready to participate in Annabels Christmas Challenge

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    1. I'm sure your soup tasted delightful. So much better than anything from a tin.

      Mel, do you have a blog ? If not, you should do a craft one. I'd be one of your readers.

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    2. Thanks Wendy. I sure do! I write about frugal living, our debt free journey and some craft and fun stuff thrown in :)

      http://thriftyfrugalfun.blogspot.com.au/

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  7. Wendy,
    How wonderful and exciting for both of your girls! That is super fantastic! Your garden produce is beautiful as always. Here since it is winter the produce looks awful. The tomatoes are not even half ripe because they pick them so early to ship to stores here it is very disappointing if you want to put salad on the menu. You card box is beautiful! Really creative! I hope you have a great weekend.
    XOXO
    Vicky

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    1. Vicky, I rarely buy tomatoes in Winter for that same reason.

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  8. Hi Wendy,

    Congratulations to Jessica on her Uni placement and on buying her car. What a wonderful example she is to other young people.
    And Megan, a very Happy Birthday and Congratulations on getting her Learners permit. Good on Darren for taking her out on her first driving lesson, nerves of steel.

    This week has been up and down.
    I Mooed Lemon slice for the card making day, Spag bolg, bread, cup cakes and bickies.
    Received 3 loaves of bread, picked strawberries, Zucchinis , cucumbers and tomatoes.

    Attended the card making day and received lots of scrap paper for card making and some great things from the swap table.
    I cut opened a few tubes of things to get the extra out.

    I bought some bargains this week like from Savers DVD's for $1.99 for Birthday presents, a toaster for $6.00 and Pillowcases x 2 for $1.00 ea.
    From Kmart, I bought mens P.J's for $6.00 which had been reduced and a baby bowl and spoon for $2.00 as a present for a friend who is expecting.
    Dimmys in Cowes(Phillip Island) had 75% off their Christmas stock and I bought Christmas oven mitts for 0.50c each. Speaking of Phillip Island, we had a mini break there this week and took most of our own food to save on food costs. I used their washing machine before coming home so less washing here. Also charged things up their before coming home. As we bought our own meals for 2 nights, we had a takeaway treat on one night and some afternoon tea treats at the Chocolate factory and the bakery's Vanilla slice, YUM!!!(Thanks Darren and Wendy for this hint).

    My Mum has been in the wars lately. Last week she had a mini stroke and yesterday broke her hip so things have been a little up and down since we returned from holidays. Thank goodness for the stockpile and freezer meals.

    Blessings,
    Maureen

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    1. I'm sorry to hear about your Mum Maureen. I hope she's not in too much pain.

      I didn't know there was a Dimmys in Phillip Island. Great price on the oven mitts. Glad you liked the vanilla slice. It is yummo.

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    2. Wendy, Dimmys is roughly opposite Mitre 10 in Settlement Rd

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  9. Congratulations to both Jessica and Megan. What a big week!
    I had a busy week. Much of it was spent working through peaches and putting lots in the freezer. Also I did some painting and am sewing hankies for the Christmas Challenge. I watched a tutorial on hand rolling hems. It looks nice and it quite easy to do. I have a lot of hankies cut out so will just keep going on this! We also got some rain and it really soaked the garden which is good.
    Have a good week Wendy. With love Annabel.xxx

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    1. The peaches have been a blessing for you Annabel xoxo

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  10. Your box card is great! Making cards to give is such a nice touch and a fun activity with the added bonus of being frugal! How nice to be gifted lavender oil. Such a great scent.

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    1. I have Annabel to thank for inspiring and encouraging me to start card making.

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  11. You've done my heart good, Wendy! We're still in full home improvement mode and I had to clear the makeshift kitchen off of my desk to get to the computer to catch up with everyone's lovely projects. I miss baking and crafting (and warm weather) so it's wonderful to see your beautiful box card and garden produce! So fun and encouraging.

    Congratulations to Jessica on her University offer!

    Could you please tell me how your card making group is organized? Do you do a supply swap? That sounds like something I might like to start here and I'd love to know how other groups manage it. Thank you!

    Have a lovely week! Blessings, Leigh

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    1. The one I go to is organised through the Cheapskates Club but anyone can set one up. Just gather other card makers together. We run the group from 12 noon until 5pm but we always go much longer. I think we need to start at 10am.

      We all put our ideas together for the next card day. I think our first card day we made men's cards because some of us newbies were struggling for ideas. Pamela sort of heads up our group but if someone knows how to make a particular card, then they show us how to do it.

      We are given a list of materials needed to make the cards for the day so that we know exactly what to bring. We can bring anything else we think we'll need and we share equipment like shape punches etc.

      We have a swap table for anyone to bring garden produce, plants, material, jams, relishes etc, excess card making supplies and anything else we think other would like . There are no rules with this table, We bring and we take what we need. If you don't have anything to swap, that's ok, you can still take things home.

      We do have a limit of 10 spots for the card group otherwise it gets too big. We generally hold it in Cath's home as she has a large dining area. The last one was held at my place.

      Also everyone brings their own cut lunch or eats before they come. We also bring a small plate to share for afternoon tea.

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  12. Hi Wendy what an exciting week at your household! Congratulations on Jess with her university course and her new car! I remember how excited I was when I got my first car, What a great accomplishment! And congrats to Megan on getting her L's! We have had another busy week at our place this week, we are starting to plan our little one's first birthday.
    We also were disappointed to find that our tomato plant died and we were so close in having our first home grown tomatoes! We have had a few hot days here (though we have been diligent about watering them and everything else we are growing is thriving) but we will investigate. We have only done a few frugal things this week:
    - gratefully received a dozen eggs and a chocolate cake
    - picked some coriander from our garden
    - opened a savings account for our little one which we will put money in once in a while
    - made 1L yoghurt
    - Used the air conditioning as little as possible (although very difficult on 40 deg days)
    - made a budget for gifts this year and maximum spend amount per person/occasion (and obviously try to go below that maximum spend).
    - had a few banana's go over-ripe again, popped these in the freezer, we now have enough bananas for banana bread
    - made baby food where possible

    Amy

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    1. How exciting, your baby is turning one.

      Well done on setting up your gift budget. I set a maximum amount but always try to spend less. The leftover money is used for Boxing Day sales. Quite often I can find bargain presents then so it's great to have the leftover cash on hand.

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  13. Congratulations to both your girls, Wendy!

    It was a fairly slowly week. I only went out once to grocery shop.

    *Gratefully received a brand new Kindle fire from a friend who received it as a Christmas gift, but didn't need it. I put it away and will give it to my oldest son next week for his birthday!

    *Made bread for lunches

    *Made all meals from scratch

    *Made lunchbox goodies

    *Kept the thermostat the same, even though it got well below freezing for a few days

    I think that's it for now

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  14. Hi Wendy, just thought I'd let you know...I was looking for a cheap Happy Birthday stamp for card making on ebay and I came across a box card similar to the one you made for your daughter. It was selling for $35! xx

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    1. WOW !!! I could become a millionaire if I keep making these cards.

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  15. Hi Wendy! Im new too your blog and has been spending all morning going through your posts! In just a few hours i've already written down so many tips of yours and am sure this will save me a small fortune! Also looking forward to trying some of your recipes, they all sound yummy and very budget friendly! Congrats to your daughter for purchasing her first car!! My eldest will be turning 18 in May and we are starting to shop around for cars now, may i ask what car she bought, year and price and where from? Any tips i can get, to not be ripped off will be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Madeline

    ReplyDelete

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