Saturday 4 June 2016

This Week's Frugal Tasks 4th June 2016

This week has been a busy one. I'm suprised I got any frugal tasks completed.  Our new kitchen and appliances were picked out this week.  Next week I'll be picking out new carpet and floor boards.  Here's what else I got up to-

*  Gratefully received a hot water urn.  This came from a cleaning client who is moving house.  I've always wanted one of these but never got around to buying one.

*  Saved all the plastic wrapping  from Jessica's birthday flowers.  I'm very thankful that florists have changed from tissue paper to pretty patterned plastic wrap.  It's so much easier to save and can be reused a few times to wrap presents or flowers from the garden.

*  Cleaned the inside of the dishwasher with bi carb,  vinegar and Miracle Spray.

*  Had two extra days of work this week.  The money will go towards my future car purchase.

*  The family ate leftover freezer meals for one meal.

*  Picked silverbeet and lettuce from the garden to use in a couple of meals.

*  Filled up the car with petrol at $1.08 a litre just as it was going up everywhere else.

* Kept the heater off when possible by having the curtains wide open when the sun was shining.

*  Jessica had her birthday dinner at home instead of going out.  We had Krispy Fried Chicken,  roast potatoes and steamed veg for dinner.  Jessica isn't a big fan of cake so she asked for a watermelon cake.  For a birthday dessert treat I bought a box of Magnum icecreams on sale at half price.

*  Made some cranberry hootycreek biscuits using dough from the freezer.

*  Gratefully received a discount fuel docket in the mail.  Thankyou Tania.

*  Gratefully received some glass jars from a friend.

*  Made a batch of Miracle Spray after refilling all my spray bottles.  I never like to run low.

*  Refilled the foaming hand wash pumps with shower gel.

*  Saved lots of shower water and poured it into the washing machine.

*  Dried all the washing on clotheshorses over the ducted heating vents. 

I'm sorry but I couldn't take any new photos this week except for Jessica's " cake ".


Jessica's watermelon birthday cake
Krispy Fried Chicken and relish
Making Miracle Spray
Cranberry hootycreek biscuits.
What frugal tasks did you complete this week ?

19 comments:

  1. Can you please share the recipe for those biscuits? They look delicious! I have been very lucky to find lots of things that we needed and were looking for plus some wonderful surprises at the thrift stores. We are going into our hot season here and our town has a free yard waste and composting site. My hubby was able to bring home trashcans full of compost and mulch for our gardens which will help keep the weeds down and the moisture in the soil. I still have one more garden bed to get mulched and hope to do it soon. :)

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    1. Hi Debbie. Just click on the purple writing and it will take you to the recipe. Otherwise it's in the recipe section under baking.

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  2. Hi Wendy. How exciting about your new kitchen! You still managed to get some good frugal tasks done. It's been a while since I posted because we have been exceptionally busy too. Here is what we got up to this week:
    - used the heater as little as possible
    - my little one loves farex for breakfast, however she eats a lot in one sitting. I've been combining weetbix and farex so that I can stretch that packet a bit further. She hasn't noticed the change at all!
    - bought peanut butter from woolies half price as we do go through it quite quickly in our household
    - gratefully received a kids popcorn bucket at woolies. They were giving them out to all the children in the store. We will definitely put it to use.
    - we are attending a dinner party where each person/family brings a dish. I bought lamb stewing meat (about 800g for $6) which will be perfect for a lamb and barley soup. It will cost me about $8 to make a huge pot of soup to feed a lot of people.
    - bought moccona coffee half price about a week ago. We will save the jars, they are fantastic for food storage.
    - used the dryer as little as possible
    - bought a pack of sausages on special for $2.50
    - gratefully received two avocados from my mum
    - took advantage of the huggies nappies special at Woolworths, a jumbo box for $25 (usually $33). I've tried cheaper brands before and they just don't work for us.
    - gratefully received some AA batteries, these are a great blessing because all the toys and remotes in the house use these batteries!

    I also hope to make some miracle spray this weekend as I'm down to one full spray bottle. I hope you have a great week!

    Amy

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    1. It's great to hear from you Amy. I know you said you've tried cheaper nappies and they didn't work. I've been told that Baby Love nappies are a superceeded version of Huggies. When Huggies changes the technology on their nappies, the older technology is used on Baby Love.

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  3. Dear Wendy,
    I can't wait to see your new kitchen! I remember the period our kitchen went in and I had the dining room table set up as a kitchen centre and we also used the BBQ. It was a bit like camping!
    It is really good you've been getting some extra work. It sounds like you are saving and getting ahead with that.
    I had a big week! I got lots of free mushrooms, did some cooking, had fantastic op shop finds... quite a few things. I have arrived at the weekend tired though.
    Today I am babysitting my Granddaughter. A one year old is surprisingly exhausting to me now but I didn't blink when my kids were little!
    Have a lovely weekend! With love Annabel.xxx

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    1. I saw your photos of the mushrooms. Yummo !!!

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  4. This week started with us making 10 Ohio maps for a client out of free pallet wood that we have a constant supply of! She was going t embellish and sell them and said if they sold well she would be ordering more! She always pays us immediately when we give them to her. I happened to post a photo of one of them on my personal Facebook page just saying how hubby and I had been using more of our pallet wood! Suddenly, we had friends who wanted to know what we would sell them for. I said $15 each and within 30 minutes we sold 7 more!! On Thursday our client called me back and asked how quickly we could have 15 more ready for her! She will pick them up on Monday and so in that week's time, we will have taken in around $500!!! After tithing, half will go into savings and have to make extra principal payment on mortgage!! She said she may end up wanting 100 over the next few weeks!! WhooHoo!!!
    I made 12 pints and 13 half pints of blackberry jam after hearing about a 2/$1 sale on blackberries! The half pints will be used as gifts!

    I found olive oil clearanced to $2/bottle (33.8 oz) rather than their normal price of $19.99/ bottle and so I bought 10 bottles for our pantry and won't have to buy any again until the Oct 2019 expiration date!

    A friend is having surgery in two weeks so I took a lap quilt top from my stash of UFOs and will quilt and bind it for her as a get well gift!
    I added several freezer meals to our supply and also used some of our freezer meals on hectic nights this week! A good balance!
    All in all, a very good week!!

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    1. That's wonderful to get the extra sales. Even better to put some of the money on your mortgage.

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  5. Wendy you had a very busy week!

    The wrap from the flowers makes lovely covers for cards too, another recycling use for it ;)

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  6. Hi Wendy,

    How exciting that your kitchen is coming along soon. Hope Jessica had a great birthday, xxx

    I bought meat from Tasmans and portioned out 41 meals with each meal costings $2.73 per meal. I bought a $30.00 ITunes card from Woolies for $22.50 (25% off) for a present and topped up on petrol before it went up.

    This week I mooed Pasta sauce with one you use as a side dish with pasta, Laundry powder, Pita chips, Red pasta sauce. all meals from scratch, moo hamburgers for freezer(cereal bags used as go betweens) and meat pie filling for future pies. A few meals had leftovers which went to the freezer for future meals.

    I did little things around the house like decanted little portions of jams I received from the card making day into a normal jam jar, watered down the shampoo and conditioner and gave the kettle, dishwasher and washing machine a clean out.

    DS2 had a check up at the dentist and parking has changed around the clinic where you have to pay, so I left earlier to check out free parking where we had a small walk instead but saved money. I did a focus group this week (like market research group) and we were given lunch and two movies tickets and as I was near a savers store, I donated another bag of goods and got another stamp on my card.
    We were blessed to receive 5 loaves of bread and some cakes this week.

    Well, off to do some housework, xxx
    Maureen

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    1. Great job on the meat Maureen. What did you buy ?

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    2. I bought at last weeks sale at Tasmans Chicken breast fillets, Mince and chuck beef steak total cost $112.27 @ 41 meals = $2.73 per meal

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  7. I've recently discovered your blog and really enjoy reading your weekly specials listings and your frugal tasks. Like you, I am picking lettuce and silverbeet from our garden along with Asian cabbage, mandarins and herbs. The mandarins are delicious and sweet and means we are buying less fruit. I used up a few things from the freezer including last of vanilla icecream I made a while ago, muffins and some biscuits. Soup meal came out of the freezer and I cooked up a large piece of silverside for an evening meal, fritters and sandwiches this week. Goes a long way! I dried two lots of washing on clothes horses and line strung up in my garage too.

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    1. Welcome Meg. I'm sure your mandarins taste divine. We've been trying to grow mandarin trees for years and they really struggle.

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    2. Our mandarin tree didn't fruit for 7years, Wendy! Now, it's prolific!

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  8. Hi Wendy, have enjoyed watching the videos and got some tips I'd forgotten about like using the older facecloths for cleaning cloths. I have also converted from tablets to the Coles no name dishwashing powder, it works great, better than the tablets even the expensive brands which didn't always disolve properly and sometimes left a residue. Also got some great op shop bargains for myself for work clothes and some expensive brand names for my teenage son who is growing like a weed. Love your blog. Many thanks, Lisa x

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  9. Wendy, love the birthday cake! On my to-do list for this week is to make a batch of miracle spray. That is some good stuff!

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  10. Hi Wendy...great to hear that Jess had a wonderful birthday...and watermelon cake is a great idea.
    Looking forward to seeing the pictures of your new kitchen...exciting 🤗
    This week, I attended a Swap & Meet day for the FB garden group I'm in. I took some potted plants I'd
    propogated not intending to sell them but others were so when someone asked if mine were for sale, I said yes...and made $40 for about 10 plants. They got them cheaper than at a nursery and I made money...but felt good too that people liked my plants 😊
    I also got a small potted fig tree for free as well as some succulent cuttings.
    A lady who runs a Connected Houses garden with 4 others needed help potting rooted strawberry plants so I did about an hour and a half and came home with quinces, persimmons and lemons..
    We've also been blessed with free bread, rolls and assorted cakes from a friend who works in a bakery.
    Cheers & blessings
    Julie Nicks

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