* Made an whole orange cake for a Mother's Day lunch at my Mum and Dad's place.
* Gratefully received a bag of silverbeet. Asian greens and Spring onions from my Dad's garden. They were added to three meals this week
* Saved some shower water to use in the washing machine.
* Dried the washing on clothes horses when I could.; Some things had to be dried in the dryer. To offset the dryer expense, I kept the heater and laptop off a little longer.
* Megan made me a Mother's Day card from herself and Jessica using my card making supplies. The girls also reused some tissue paper and a gift bag for the presents ( which I saved to reuse again ).
* We had takeaway fish and chips on Tuesday night that was budgeted for from our treat fund.
* When to Savers to donate more household items ( got my discount stamp ). I found a savings book I'd been looking for the last couple of years. It only cost me $3.60 but retails for $20.
* Filled up my car with petrol just before the price went up and used a discount stamp.
* Started using a thermos to stored boiled water in during the day. I fill and boil the kettle in the morning, make a cuppa then pour the rest of the water into the thermos. There's enough water in there for a couple of cuppas or to use at dinnertime to cook the potatoes / veggies.
* I gained another regular cleaning job. The extra money will help me save for a new car sometime in the future.
* Made a bottle of Miracle Spray and sold it to my new cleaning client.
* Saved the cereal packet liner and cut it into squares to use as go between for crumpets and frozen soup portions.
* Darren picked a couple of roses from the garden for my Mother's Day breakfast tray.
* Made a tuna casserole on Thursday night. The recipe needs cooked rice so I cooked enough for three casseroles at the same time and froze the other two portions for future casseroles.
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| In my home |
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| Our silverbeet is almost ready to pick |
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| Cupcakes my sister made for a Mother's Day lunch at Mum's. |
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| Our rosemary bush is doing well. |
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| Color in our garden. |
What frugal tasks did you achieve this week ?
Went to an Agricultural Show and asked the stallholder who was demonstrating an expensive peeler if she had any vegetable scraps for my chickens and was given a bag of about 10ks. Just got to the bottom and there was an added bonus of a peeler - really good score. I've been given scraps like this before - you just have to ask.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea Gwen. The next time I go to the Dandenong Market I'll ask the demonstrator. It saves them getting rid of the scraps.
DeleteI used saved water for watering the pot plants
ReplyDeletebaked bread and cake
bought some toothbrushes at Coles, RTC a 2 pack for $1, so I bought 8 packs, this should be enough for 2 years if we replace them every 3 months
spent $3 at the op shop, bought a couple of cook books with old fashioned recipes, one of them even has some ideas for packaging food gifts
gratefully accepted DD#2's Mother's Day gift of a weekend in Brisbane to visit DD#1 and grandchildren. DD#2 is going also and we will be staying in a motel, that way DD#1 doesn't have to re-arrange beds while she isn't well.
saw the movie Suffragette for free, including pop corn and choc top in the community cinema
bought some RTC lilies, added to the RTC chrysanthemums from the previous week, and the lilies from the week before that, now have a bright bunch of flowers with lots of bloom left in them still
picked some roses from the front garden for the kitchen
got most of the washing dry inside, the towels needed a short burst in the dryer though
Op shops are great for cheap cookbooks Meg.
DeleteHave a great time away too. xoxo
Hi Wendy, Liz here from Bridgetown in W.A., been awhile since Ive left a comment. What a great week we have had! I did the monthly shopping this week and found a Whole Rump for $8.99 kg which we will slice ourselves. Also bought a huge box of Finish dishwashing tablets for $20 from the reject shop which will last for at least 4 months. We travelled to Perth for the Nitro Circus concert and saved heaps of money by staying in a motel close to the venue, so no parking costs and only paid $124 a night for accomodation which is very cheap for Perth (we all shared one room but worked out fine). The concert was cancelled on the Saturday due to wind, but gave our son the opportunity to meet and get autographs from his favourite stars from Nitro Circus, then the show went ahead on Sunday. Our tickets included a free hamper of food and drinks each so we were provided with this both days, Bonus! We also cut the cost of the trip by taking our little 2 door suzuki which runs on the smell of an oily rag compared to the 4WD, saving at least $80 on fuel. We also saved $50 on kennel fees by getting our dog babysat by our eldest son. I traded some eggs for pumpkins and my son picked a bag of lemons from the deserted house down the road from our farm. We also cut a load of wood off our farm as its getting very cold here and the fire burns 24/7 to also heat our hotwater and dry the washing on clothes horses, saving $200 if we had bought an equivelent load. I have also posted lots of unwanted items on our local Buy Swap & Sell facebook page to raise some money for our sons school trip to Japan next year. Wishing everyone a great week ahead!!!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Liz. You've been missed here. Sounds like you had a wonderfully frugal week.
DeleteHave you tried cutting the dishwasher tablets in half ? I know of people who do that and they seem to still work well. Also Coles dishwashing powder is great if you are using the dishwasher on a quick cycle
Hi Wendy,i managed to dry the clothes on the clothes horse this week,and on the line, today after work I got some bananas for$2.00 a kilo at the market as well as some potatoes and green beans,i made a boiled chocolate cake during the week and finished my lux flakes soap they look and smell lovely, i have had plenty of work this week including this weekend i miss my sleep ins lol.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've had plenty of work Mel.
DeleteThanks for that idea Wendy, will definately try half dishwasher tablets, the box would last for 8 months then, regards Liz
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteLove your Teapots. What a great idea about the rice, will have to do this.
Well for Mothers day, I received some veggie seedling and a Chrysanthemum plant which I planted out today. We also stayed home and had a roast lamb and orange cake.
I fixed my old broken slippers by giving them a good wash, new inner soles and some shoe glue. I also fixed DS1's school shoes with the shoe glue. I made a Mother day card and another card for a 21st birthday and did some mending. The solar starting working again this week but we still haven't used the heater as yet, instead Blankets and wheat bags are being used.
Picked some flowers from the garden and still picking Capsicums. All meals were made from scratch and we were given 6 loaves of bread. I shopped the specials and did a survey for a $10.00 gift card. I had a friend over for a cuppa instead of out and washed out the freezer bags my boys use as their lunch bags to reuse again.
DH received money for extra duties at work which went into my car fund and I went through the boys excess pencils , gel pens etc... to find watercolour pencils and gel pens for my card making, yeah!!!
Picking up a cleaning job, that's great news Wendy. What was the savings book, if I can ask?
Have a blessed week,
Maureen
Maureen, you'll have that new car before you know it.
DeleteThe savings book is the $21 Challenge. Cath leant me hers a while ago. Although I didn't learn anything new ( and can do better ), it did have a couple of recipes that caught my eye at the time.
This week we ate leftover roast lamb from Mothers day - yum. Made lemon cakes. Made curried sausages and a fruit crumble when we had guests for dinner - from your crumble mix I had on hand(so handy). Found a fab football scarf at the op shop (new) - a perfect gift for a nephew. Reorganised the gift shelf. Found a few great markdowns at Target for the gift stash which will suit the teens. Reused gift bags and tissue for birthday gifts going out. Made an enormous pot of minestrone for lunches. Had a friend over for a movie night. Car pooling when possible with kids activities. Made 4L Miracle Spray. Whizzed up bar soap in the food processor and mixed with borax for washing clothes in the machine. Marie
ReplyDeleteAfter having a week like that I'm sure you are feeling pleased with yourself. Well done to you Marie xoxo
DeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've commented before, but wanted to pass on something that might be useful for your chicken you mentioned a couple of posts back. Have you ever tried some apple cider vinegar in their water or feeding her a bit of plain yogurt? This helps our chicks if they get what we call "pasty bottom"...not sure if this is the issue with your chicken!
You may well do this already, or maybe it hasn't anything to do with her issue, but thought I would pass it along in case it helps!
xx Jen in Nova Scotia
Thankyou for the info Jen. I'll get Darren to try that next time.
DeleteA lot of life consists of just plugging ahead with what you know you should be doing. It looks like that was one of those weeks for you, but I'm impressed with all you got done. Picking up that other job will benefit you for a long time, and, like you said, all of the little habits add up over time to quite a bit of savings.
ReplyDeleteI have to mention that those cupcakes are absolutely lovely, as are your flowers and plants.