Grocery Specials Wednesday 31st August 2016

Here are this week's best grocery specials -

COLES -

*   Peters Drumstick 4 Pack-6 Pack1/2 PRICE Was $7.99, Save $4.00  Now $3.99 each

*  Cadbury Favourites or Mini Blocks Boxed Chocolates 320g1/2 PRICE Was $12.00, Save $6.00  Now $6.00 each

*  Peckish Rice Crackers 100g1/2 PRICE Was $2.20, Save $1.10  Now $1.10 each

*  Vege Chips 100gWas $3.40, Save $1.40  Now $2.00 each

*  Zoosh Mayonnaise 350g1/2 PRICE Was $4.49, Save $2.25  Now $2.24 each

*  Melrose Organic Refined Coconut Oil 300g1/2 PRICE Was $7.95, Save $3.98  Now $3.97 each

*  SunRice Jasmine Rice 5kg1/2 PRICE Was $13.50, Save $6.75  Now $6.75 each

*  Harvest 425g1/2 PRICE Was $3.50, Save $1.75  Now $1.75 each.  Handy for emergencies.

*  Uncle Tobys Plus 690g-820g or Nestlé Milo Cereal 660g-700g Was $6.75, Save $2.75  Now $4.00 each.  I'm not a fan of Milo cereal but the others on sale are yummy.

*  Receive a Bonus 10% Extra Value When You Purchase Any Rebel, BCF or Supercheap Auto Gift Card

*  Wemco Handkerchief Set 5 Pack While stocks last. No rainchecks. Was $10.00, Save $3.00 
Now $7.00 each.  Men's hankies can be hard to find.  If you need them.  stock up.

*  Mars Maltesers 360g, M&M’s Peanut 440g or Celebrations 300g1/2 PRICE Was $10.00, Save $5.00  Now $5.00 each

*  Golden Crumpet Breaks 6 Pack1/2 PRICE Was $4.00, Save $2.00  Now $2.00 each

*  Tip Top Raisin Toast 520g1/2 PRICE Was $5.40, Save $2.70  Now $2.70 each

*  30% OFF All Mitchum.

*  30% OFF All Covergirl Make-Up

*  30% OFF All Olay Regenerist & Total Effects

*  Head & Shoulders Shampoo or Conditioner 350mL-400mL1/2 PRICE Was $12.50, Save $6.26  Now $6.24 each

*  Garnier Fructis Shampoo or Conditioner 700mL1/2 PRICE Was $12.00, Save $6.00  Now $6.00 each

*  Norsca Anti-Perspirant Deodorant 245mL1/2 PRICE Was $5.99, Save $3.00  Now  $2.99 each

*  Pine O Cleen Disinfectant 1.25 Litre1/2 PRICE Was $5.00, Save $2.50  Now .$2.50 each  A stockpile worthy price

*  Glen 20 Disinfectant Spray 300g 1/2 PRICE Was $6.80, Save $3.40  Now $3.40 each

*  1/2 PRICE on All Sistema Klip It

*  Toblerone Milk Chocolate 360g1/2 PRICE Was $9.90, Save $4.95  Now $4.95 each

*  1/2 PRICE Bonds Men's & Women's

WOOLWORTHS -

*  Shortcut Bacon Rashers – From the Deli Now $8.50 kg 1/2 Price, Save $8.50 kg

*  NEW Belvita Crunch Breakfast Biscuits 253g Now $2.25 each 1/2 Price, Save $2.25

*   Fantastic Rice Crackers or Delites 100g Now $0.97 each 1/2 Price, Save $0.98

*  Lindt Block 100g Now $2.00 each1/2 Price, Save $2.00

*  IXL Jam 600g Now $1.99 each 1/2 Price, Save $2.00

*  Fountain Squeezy Tomato or BBQ Sauce 500ml – Excludes Salt Reduced & Good Choice 500ml
Now $1.00 each 1/2 Price, Save $1.50

*  Peters Maxibon 620ml Pk 4 Now $3.99 each1/2 Price, Save $4.00

*  Tip Top Cafe Raisin Toast or Cafe Style Breakfast Toast 650g Now $2.95 each1/2 Price, Save $2.95

*  Carefree Ultrathin Pads Pk 7-10 Now $2.24 each 1/2 Price, Save $2.25

*  Energizer Max AAA Pk 8 Now $6.79 each1/2 Price, Save $6.79

*    Energizer Max AA Pk 10 Now $6.58 each 1/2 Price, Save $6.59

*  Mars Maltesers Box 360g Now $5.00 each1/2 Price, Save $5.00

*  Toblerone Milk or Fruit & Nut 360g Now $4.95 each1/2 Price, Save $4.95

          

                       

Finding Room To Stockpile

Quite often people ask me where I find the room to stockpile.  The answer is simple - I make the room.  I'm not a hoarder by any stretch of the imagination.  Infact,  I love order and neatness and this helps me to make the most of the room I have.  My home is 15.23 squares or 141.57m2.  For my American readers that equates to 1523.8 square feet.  With four of us living here that doesn't allow for large amounts of storage.

Our kitchen is quite small and classified as a hostess kitchen which I think is a polite term for a small kitchen that does the job.  Our kitchen builder tells me that my pantry is quite a good size compared to others he sees. My pantry is 88cm wide x 57cm deep x 2.06 metres high. Not large at all but I can fit so much in there.  At the Adelaide workshop Cath and I held last year I showed a photo of my very tidy pantry. There were a few giggles about how neat it is. how many containers I have and how everything is in neat rows with ALL labels facing the front. A bit OCD ? Maybe, but when everything is neat and well stacked I'm making the most of the space.

I mentioned at the workshop that I only use my pantry to store food in. There are no empty containers, no extra rolls of paper towel, no toilet paper, no appliances, no cleaning products, no boxes of tissues, no canning jars and no cat food. These items are either stored in my garden shed or in the appropriate room ( cleaning products in the laundry etc ). 

 I also use everything in my kitchen on a regular basis and all my casserole dishes, chopping boards,  dinner sets etc are stacked neatly and efficiently.  This gives me the extra space to store supermarket specials  Before I had children, I worked in retail ( mostly toy shops ) and my specialty was merchandising shelves to fit more stock in when there was no space. I've just continued this at home and especially in my kitchen. I'm always sorting and rearranging my kitchen cupboards.

For those of you who think they can't find any more space to stockpile, just take a few moments to look at what you are storing.

*  Do you use it all the time ?
*  Are you keeping things you really shouldn't ?
*  Do you have too much of the wrong type of foods in your pantry ? This  question is targeted more towards junk food or food with too much packaging. Think about those packets of chips that are full of air or the individual serves of popcorn, chips etc etc. A jar of corn kernels takes up a fraction of the space compared to a packet of individual serves.
*  Could you store items in your linen cupboard ,  under your bed,  in the top of your wardrobe ?
*  Could you fill up all your containers to get rid of half empty packets taking up space ?

 By doing a little reorganising and decluttering,  you might be suprised at the space you can find.

Does your pantry and kitchen need a tidy up ?
Where do you store your extra stockpiling items ?

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 27th August 2016

The last of the major kitchen renovations were finished this week.  I now have my second oven and it was installed Friday afternoon.  It's already been christened and the first meal I made in it was my version of KFC drumsticks.  Later that day I emptied the last two boxes containing my miniature tea sets.  They have now been given a wipe and displayed back in the tv cabinet.  There are just a few minor adjustment to be made in the kitchen but all is good.  Here's what else I got up to this week -.

*  Cut up two cereal bags to use between frozen soup portions and chops.

*  Gratefully received two discount fuel dockets.  Thankyou Joy and Tania

*  Bought approximately 8 - 9 kilos of broccoli at a bargain price of 79 cents a kilo.  Over the next couple of days I spent some time cutting,  blanching and freezing it.

*  Gratefully receive lots of colored card stock and other card making bits and pieces from the Cheapskates card making day.

*  Bought oranges for 49 cents a kilo and zucchinis for $1.49 kg.

*  Made 10 cards to sell at some point in the future.  I used supplies I already had on hand.

*  Used my new dry mop head to give the bamboo floors a sweep over. This saves me getting the vacuum cleaner out mid week.   I bought this mop about three years ago and have only used the wet mop head on the tiles. 

*  Picked silverbeet from the garden for three meals.

*  Baked some ANZAC biscuits to take to the Paperific Expo in Melbourne today.  This will be my morning tea and  I'm also bringing a bottle of water.  I'm treating myself to a cuppa and lunch.

*  Did a one off cleaning job on Tuesday.  This family rings up about one a year to every 18 months for a clean.  I'm very grateful for the extra work every now and then.

*  Refilled the foaming hand wash pump in my bathroom.

*  Made Miracle Spray to sell to a cleaning client.

*  Fed our chooks some grass and weeds.

*  Saved the washing machine water for each next load.

*  Had the heater off for a couple of days due to us working hard to get our home back in order.

*  Cooked all meals from scratch.  Froze a single serve of sausage casserole.

*  Reused bread bags to double wrap items for the freezer

* Froze tomato paste into ice cubes..   

Our chickens

It's hard to get them to keep still

Our plum stick has come to life

Card making

Single easel card

Detail

Girl's side stepper card

Lots of broccoli for the freezer

My second oven ( top )

My wall of ovens - YAY  !!

Did you complete any frugal tasks this week ?

Grocery Specials Wednesday 24th August 2016

Here are this week's best grocery specials -

COLES -

*  Rexona Antiperspirant Deodorant 250mL1/2 PRICE Was $6.99, Save $3.50  Now $3.49 each

*  Cadbury Sharepack 160g-180g1/2 PRICE Was $4.60, Save $2.30  Now $2.30 each.  They make great Christmas stocking stuffers

*  Real Foods Corn Thins 125g-150g1/2 PRICE Was $2.00, Save $1.00  Now $1.00 each

*  Vegeta Gourmet Stock 250g1/2 PRICE Was $3.69, Save $1.85  Now $1.84 each.  A stockpile worth price.

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

*  Maharajah’s Choice Basmati Rice 5kg 1/2 PRICE Was $17.50, Save $8.75  Now $8.75 each

*  Continental Cup a Soup 2 Serve 40g-75g1/2 PRICE Was $2.00, Save $1.00  Now $1.00 each

*   Dolmio Extra Pasta Sauce 490g-500g1/2 PRICE Was $3.29, Save $1.65 Now $1.64 each

*  Uncle Tobys Muesli Bars 185g1/2 PRICE Was $3.99, Save $2.00  Now $1.99 each

*  Espressotoria Vittoria Espresso Coffee Capsules 12 Pack 78g 1/2 PRICE Was $8.39, Save $4.20 Now  $4.19 each

*  Creative Gourmet Fruit 300g1/2 PRICE Was $5.65, Save $2.83  Now $2.82 each

*  ASC Basa Fillets Thawed1/2 PRICE From the Deli.Was $11.00, Save $5.50 kg Now $5.50 kg

*  Tip Top Café Raisin Toast 650g1/2 PRICE Was $5.90, Save $2.95  Now $2.95 each

*  Golden Crumpet Rounds 6 Pack1/2 PRICE Was $3.30, Save $1.65  Now $1.65 each

*  Don Footy Franks 375g-500g1/2 PRICE From the Dairy department. Was $5.60, Save $2.80  Now $2.80 each.  Stock up for the footy finals.

*  Macleans Extreme Clean Toothpaste 170g1/2 PRICE Was $5.00, Save $2.50  Now $2.50 each

*  Sunsilk Shampoo or Conditioner 700mL1/2 PRICE Was $9.99, Save $5.00  Now $4.99 each

*  Colgate Plax Mouthwash 250mL1/2 PRICE Was $4.00, Save $2.00  Now $2.00 each

*  Palmolive Dishwashing Liquid 700mL-750mL1/2 PRICE Was $5.49, Save $2.75  Now $2.74 each

*  30% OFF All Pyrex

*  30% OFF All Papermate & Sharpie

*  1/2 PRICE All Sistema Klip It

*    Nescafé Gold 190g-200g1/2 PRICE Was $17.99, Save $9.00  Now $8.99 each

*  Cold Power Laundry Liquid 2 Litre or Powder 2kg1/2 PRICE Was $15.00, Save $7.50  Now $7.50 each

*  The Natural Confectionery Co. Family Bags, Pascall or Sour Patch 185g-350g1/2 PRICE Was $4.00, Save $2.00  Now $2.00 each

*  20% Off $30, $50, $100 iTunes Gift Cards Excludes $20 iTunes Gift Card

WOOLWORTHS -

*  Sunrice Medium Grain Rice 10 kg Now $12.00 each 1/2 Price, Save $12.00

*  Heinz Classic Soup 520-535g Now $1.74 each1/2 Price, Save $1.75

*  Mars M&M's Bite Size 145-180g Now $2.12 each1/2 Price, Save $2.13

*  Mars Pods 160g Now $2.12 each1/2 Price, Save $2.13

*  Mars Maltesers 140g Now $2.12 each1/2 Price, Save $2.13

*  Cadbury Dairy Milk Gift Box 175g Now $5.00 each1/2 Price, Save $5.00

*  Cadbury Bubbly 155g or Coco Blocks 100g Now $2.00 each1/2 Price, Save $2.00

*  Kraft Peanut Butter 500g Now $2.84 each1/2 Price, Save $2.84

*  Tip Top English Muffins Varieties Pk 6 Now $2.45 each1/2 Price, Save $2.45

*  Tip Top Raisin Toast 520g or Wholemeal Raisin Toast 600g Now $2.70 each1/2 Price, Save $2.70

*  Brunnings Pine Bark 25 Litre
May not be available in all stores. Colours, styles and sizes may vary by store. While stocks last. Now $3.00 each1/2 Price, Save $3.00

*  U By Kotex Tampons Pk 16 All U by Kotex Pads, Tampons, Liners Excludes Tampons Pk 32
Any 2 for $6.00 Save $3.38

*   Pantene Shampoo or Conditioner 900ml Now $7.85 each1/2 Price, Save $7.85

*  Palmolive Shower Gel 500ml Now $2.69 each1/2 Price, Save $2.70

*  Palmolive Naturals Shampoo or Conditioner 350ml Now $2.49 each1/2 Price, Save $2.50

*  30% off All Gillette Fusion Razors & Shaving Gel or Foam

*  Morning Fresh Dishwashing Liquid 900ml Now $3.45 each1/2 Price, Save $3.50

*  Chux Pk 10, Giant Pk 5 or Robuste Superwipes Pk 3 Now $1.99 each1/2 Price, Save $2.00

*  1/2 Price All Bonds Men's Range

*  20% off All Armor All

                                      

Hoovers Doovers

This recipe is an old family favourite from my childhood.  When Mum first made them,  Dad called them Hoovers Doovers as he thought that's how you pronounced hors d'oeuvres. As with most of my recipes,  you can make them your own by adding your favourite ingredients.  My inlaws like to add pineapple to theirs.


Bread - sandwich sliced of any type
Butter or margarine

Butter approximately 12 - 14 slices of bread and place onto large flat baking trays

In a bowl place -

1 1/2 large tomatoes or 2 medium tomatoes finely diced
4 eggs
Diced ham or bacon - about 150 -200 grams
1 1/2 - 2 cups of grated cheese
2 teaspoons of dried onion flakes or 1/2 small onion finely diced
1 teaspoon of chives or parsley
Salt or garlic salt, pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together.  The mixture should be wet and thick. Add another egg if needed.
Spoon onto bread and spread to the edges with a fork.
Cook in the oven for 25 - 30 mins @ 200c until the bread is golden underneath.

Serve hot.  They are best eaten fresh but can be refridgerated  for two days but must be covered.  Can be frozen.

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 20th August 2016

Our home is almost back to normal after a crazy couple of week and months of preparation.  I only have two boxes left to unpack.  On Friday I got back into the routine of baking again.  The second oven arrived that day after being told it would come early September.  It will be installed some time this week.  Then I will be in oven heaven.  Here's what I managed to do along with unpacking the house -

* Gratefully received pictures of rugs from a blog / facebook reader.  These pictures can be used in card making - especially men's cards.  I also received a parcel of craft items.  Thankyou for the blessing Lisa.

*  Decluttered as I unpacked our home.  I was able to donate one box and a few bags of unwanted items to Savers and received a couple of discount stamps.  Surely there isn't anything left to declutter.  We don't hoard -TRULY  !!

*  Darren bought 2 x 2 litres of milk for 50 cents each because it had a couple of days left on the use by.

*  Stayed away from the shops.  I only bought milk and a few items to make meals a little easier when we were so busy with the renos.

*  Picked silverbeet for two meals.

*  Saved the shower warm up water and the washing machine water.

*  Dried the washing on the line on Tuesday.  We've been unable to use the clothes horses with our home turned upside down.  The dryer was used most of the time so it was lovely to use the sun on Tuesday.

*  Kept the off cuts of carpet.  The carpet layers were happy for us to help ourselves.  There's almost enough to recarpet another bedroom - not that we have  spare bedroom. 

*  Avoided buying drop sheets for the painting.  Darren dug out our old curtains and flannelette sheets to use instead.

*  Filled up our cars with petrol when it dropped to 99 cents a litre.  Since then it has dropped further so we'll keep topping up our cars every few days.

*  Baked four loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.

*  Baked a double batch of chocolate lunchbox muffins.  Some were for the freezer, some for the Cheapskates card making day and the rest were for morning tea at church.

As you can imagine,  it's been a little hard to take photos lately.

In the kitchen

Baking in the new oven

Bamboo flooring being laid

Just over a week ago

Chocolate muffins

What was on your frugal list for this week ?

My New Kitchen

It's now time to reveal my new kitchen - YAY  !!!  The tiling was completed today and I've just given them a wipe over.  We are still waiting on our second oven which is being made somewhere overseas right at this moment.  We've been told it will arrive in Victoria sometime in the first week of September.  I couldn't wait that long to show you the kitchen I've been dreaming about for over 20 years.  Darren has some painting to do around the door trim and on the new cornices but he's having a little rest after working so hard on the new skirtings throughout the house.

So here it is -

My soft apple green splashback tiles

The entire kitchen

Double sink 

Pull out tap

In sink drainer

We've ditched the cupboards and gone with drawers

Fisher and Paykel stove top

New kettle

Side opening oven ( one of them )

Caesar stone bench top

New phone connection.  It was up on the wall on a shelf before

Oh so new and shiny

The fridge has a more fitted look.

Slightly wider bench top

Drawer handles

Cupboard handles

New bamboo flooring and skirtings.

The old kitchen

Stay tuned for follow up posts on -

How to survive a kitchen renovation     and

How to plan a kitchen that works.

How To Recycle Shower Warm Up Water

One of my blog readers asked me this question a couple of months ago.  She has a front loader washing machine and couldn't pour the saved shower water into it.  If you are in this situation too,  all is not lost.  There are plenty of ways to reuse the shower warm up water that would usually fall down the drain.

* Save the water and pour it into your soaking bucket in the laundry.  Sometimes stains need a good soak overnight.  I use one of those food grade white buckets from a restaurant kitchen.  Add a small scoop of homemade laundry powder to the saved shower water.  Pour into the washing machine with your next load of washing.

*  Use the shower warm up water to wash your car. Ok,  you might need to save the shower water for a couple of days to suds up the whole car.

*  Pour cooled shower water onto pot plants and the veggie garden.  Every little bit counts.

*  Add a little disinfectant to a bucket of shower water to mop your floors

*  Give your bath a good clean with a little Miracle Spray and shower water.

*  Rinse out a dirty kitchen sink.

*  Wash a window or two using diluted Windex, metho or dish washing liquid and shower water.

*  Give your outdoor furniture a good scrub with a stiff brush and the shower water.

 

Watering the lettuce

Saving the water into a wide basin.

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 13th August 2016

My frugal list this week is quite short due to all the comings and goings happening here.  I'm suprised I had anything to share as I don't know where my week has gone.  It got to Friday and I was picking up another box of tiles for my kitchen when the supplier said "  It's the end of the working week '.  I had to stop and think what day it was.  Where did the time go ?

This week we saw our bamboo flooring installed on Wednesday.  Thursday the stone bench top went in and the plumbing was connected.  We all stayed up very late to empty the three bedrooms ( except the bed ) and lounge room for the carpet to be laid on Friday.  We've packed up our entire home and moved the contents around from room to room as needed and Darren has almost completed installing new skrtings throughout every room except the bathrooms.

We can see the home stretch before us.  Next week the tiler will come and lay the soft apple green tiles for the splashback.  We are hoping our second wall oven will be made shortly.  If we have enough strength after all this,  we might be able to pick up a paint brush and paint the cornices in the kitchen.  The walls will have to wait until later.

Here's what we managed to do this week

*  Gratefully received four avocados from a friend.  Darren and Jessica are very happy about this.

*  With all the packing and unpacking of our house contents because of the renos,  we've been sorting as we go.  I came across quite a few empty envelopes which I cut up to use in card making.  I'm getting quite a stash.

*  Continued to have the heater off for extended periods of time with tradies coming and going and Darren working hard on the new skirtings.

*  Saved lots of shower water for the washing machine.  I did less loads of washing and hand washed the dishes (in the laundry sink ).

*  Took another bag of unwanted items to Savers and received a discount stamp.  I'm sure the staff there either think we're hoarders or we have nothing left in our home.

*  Lined our bathroom bins with bread bags.

*  I've now put all the food back into the pantry.  In my old pantry I had a couple of hooks to hang plastic bag holders.  I didn't want to do this with my new pantry.  I found a large cereal container out in my shed ( bought form Savers a little while ago ) and used that to store supermarket bags in to reuse. The container in now kept under the kitchen sink.

*  Gratefully received two moisturisers from a friend

*  Refilled the foaming hand soap in the kitchen and one bathroom.  I used diluted shower gel and water..

*  Mended a couple of socks.

*  Picked a head of broccoli and some silverbeet for a couple of meals.

*  Fed the chickens some grass and weeds.

First meal in the new kitchen - chicken pasta bake

New bamboo flooring

The view from our bedroom door

The family room.  Can you find Princess ?

New carpet

The dining room

I'd love to see your frugal lists for the week.  I'm sure you accomplished far more than I did.
     

The Kitchen Is Coming Along Nicely .....

As I mentioned last Wednesday,  my kitchen is being built.  We also have our new flooring being installed this week.  Due to this I am unable to post the grocery specials for the week.

Here are some older blog posts you might like to read -

Making Laundry Powder
http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/making-laundry-powder.html

Cleaning Your Kettle
http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/cleaning-your-kettle.html

We Are Not Poor.  This post is one of the most read posts ever.
http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/we-are-not-poor.html

Honey Mustard Chicken Recipe
http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/honey-mustard-chicken.html

Making Your Own Yoghurt
http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/making-your-own-yoghurt.html




My old kitchen sink 

Ice Cube Trays - 5 Uses To Save You Money

The humble ice cube tray has been around for a long time.  With the invention of ice makers in fridges,  it seems that people are either donating their ice cube trays to the op shop or forgetting to use them.

Ice cube trays are not just for water.  They have many uses that can save you money and reduce food wastage.  Here are five uses for you to try -

*  Freezing lemon juice.  When your lemon tree has abundant fruit,  juice the lemons and freeze the juice.  If someone offers you a bag of lemons,  it as a blessing.  You may never need to buy lemon juice in a bottle again. 

*  Freeze tomato paste.  Have you ever opened a jar of tomato paste to only use a tablespoon or two ?  Usually the contents need to be used in a few days.  By portioning the paste into ice cube trays you are eliminating waste.  When cooking spag bol or other tomato based dishes,  pop a tomato paste cube into the dish for added flavour.

*  Chopped fresh herbs freeze well when a little bit of water is added to the mix and frozen into cubes.

*  Make coffee ice cubes for your iced coffee.  There's nothing worse than normal ice cubes watering down your iced coffee.  This idea is great for using up left over coffee from the pot.

*  Freeze yoghurt into cubes to add to your smoothie.  This is a wonderful idea for using up yoghurt before it goes off.

Tomato paste portioned.

Lemon juice has so many uses.

Stayed tuned for more ice cube uses in the coming months.