Saturday 27 May 2017

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 27th May 2017

With the cooling of the weather,  my slow cooker is getting more use.  I just love the comfort it brings as it cooks away and the delightful aromas wafting throughout our home.  Here's what I got up to this week -

* Gratefully received a small bag of home grown capsicums.  I've chopped them and frozen to use in casseroles.

*  Fed the chickens  lots of weeds from the veggie garden.

*  Saved a few glass jars from condiments in the fridge.  They will be reused later in the year for jam and relish.

*  Made lots of cards at the Cheapskates card making weekend.  I used supplies I had on hand so there was no extra cost.

*  For three days running I kept the heater off and the curtains open when the sun was shining.

*  Bought 3 Winter tops at the Savers 50% off sale. 

*  Baked four loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.

*  Pruned the fruit trees and bushes.  I'm hoping this will promote healthier growth and more fruit.

*  Gratefully received lots of 30 x 30 card stock from a friend.

*  Baked an orange cake using pureed orange from the freezer.

*  Gratefully received some bread bags.  I used these to line the bathroom bins.

*  Jessica and I filled up our cars with petrol at $1.14 per litre just as it started going up to $151.9 per litre.

*  Sold one dozen eggs.
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*  Fed the worm farm with veggie peelings.

*  Saved the pink plastic and display box from my Mother's Day flowers.  The flowers lasted 13 days from the time Jessica bought them. 

*  Wrote a menu plan for the next three weeks or so.

*  Sorted out my craft ribbons into same colors and stored them in snap lock bags.  This has given me a little room in my craft cupboard which is quite small.  Hopefully this organisation with lead to more ribbon being used instead of hoarded.

*  Darren picked the last of the iceberg roses on the bush.

    
Iceberg roses from the garden

Me trying to be artistic.

Potato plants grown from eyes.

Apricot tree changing color

Cards I made for charity

Cheapskate card making weekend results from the ladies.

What did you do this week to save time,  money or energy ?

21 comments:

  1. All those handmade cards look lovely, Wendy. I think I might make some little gift tags this weekend because our family has lots of birthdays in the later half of the year. I also have seed potatoes to plant out this weekend. I'm going to try growing them in a bag this year as they didn't go so well in the ground last year. A bit of poor planning on my behalf cost a bit of money this week but it was a good reminder to plan ahead when going out and to make sure I take enough food with me!
    * filled up car at $1.09 per Litre.
    * line dried all washing, ran wash machine/dishwasher when sun on panels
    * eating lots of leafy greens, mandarins, herbs from our garden
    * sourced some seed potatoes and a grow bag to grow our own potatoes
    * made leftover pasta, odd veg, leftover stock, and some cream into a
    pasta carbonara that was delicious with bit of bacon thrown in.
    * checked out lots of books and few magazines from library & brought home little bunch of herbs too from little community garden that surrounds the library. Have lovely weekend. Meg:)

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  2. I want to learn how to preserve and bottle with fowlers vacola and have been checking out fb and Gumtree for 2nd hand bottles, was so blessed to get 37 No27 bottles for $20 on fb. Was originally only getting 10 for that price but the lady was thrilled i wanted to learn how to preserve/bottle that she gave them all to me ��

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    Replies
    1. WOW !! What a great deal on the bottles Anita. Happy bottling .

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  3. This was an unusual week for us as my husband was in the hospital for a couple of days with pneumonia (he is home and doing better). Something like this has a way of hijacking everyone's frugal plans. This is what I did this week:
    *Line-dried 5 loads of laundry this week. This is the first week that the weather has been good enough to dry all of the laundry.
    *Took some more cuttings and hope they take root. Several of my earlier cuttings have already done so. I also divided a few plants for my "keeper garden." These are all plants that I intend to take with us to our new home next spring.
    *Cashed in points for a $170 hotel room. Unfortunately, there's a good chance my husband won't be well enough for us to go.
    *Picked up Scotch pine cones and used them to mulch a tiny planting bed. The texture looks great and I saved about $3 over buying a bag of cedar mulch.
    *Made menus for the long weekend so I won't be tempted to go out. The only ingredient I need to buy is cilantro.

    That's it from northern Idaho, USA, where spring seems to have finally arrived!

    Maxine

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    Replies
    1. I hope your husband recovers quickly Maxine. Can I ask what cilantro is ???

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    2. I think you may call it coriander

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    3. I think fresh coriander is the same thing. It is similar to Italian flat parsley and is used in Mexican cooking.

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  4. Hi Wendy,
    Your cards are gorgeous! I have had a good week of being frugal, line dried all of the washing and i did some market research for a $50 coles myer voucher which will be used for groceries. I also found out this week that i am expecting! It will be our first child so very exciting, overwhelming and unexpected all at once. I was wondering if you can do a blog post or give me some tips to plan for going from two incomes down to one and any helpful tips along the way. I am not due until Jan next year so very very early days however i am feeling a little anxious about not working so would love to get a head start on the savings. Have a lovely weekend Wendy.

    Samantha

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    Replies
    1. How exciting Samantha. I'll try to do a blog post soon. In the meantime, start stockpiling and don't get carried away with all the baby things on offer.

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  5. Hi Wendy, a great frugal list as always! We love our slow cooker too, and this is the time of year where our family sees it a bit more often for hearty meals. The cards you made look lovely! Here's what we got up to this week:
    - bought two legs of lamb half price (about $12 each), I discovered one was turning green (yuck!!!) and took it back. They refunded me the price of bad lamb and gave me an extra big one for free.
    -started grating more laundry soap for laundry powder.
    - kept heating in the car to a minimum, only turning on the de-mistifier as needed.
    -saved left over lamb and portioned it so that I'll get four extra meals.
    - Tried to group errands to save on petrol.
    -made all dinners from scratch, made home made fish fingers from tinned salmon. I'm not a fish finger person but these homemade ones were delightful and a big hit with the family
    - picked kale and swiss chard for meals
    - kept heating in the home to a minimum and letting the sun shine through the windows during the day to help warm the house.
    - wrote a monthly meal plan and our monthly shop was $60 under budget. Woohoo!
    I'm eagerly awaiting my on the beetroot in my veggie patch, I've never grown it before but it's almost ready to be picked! I would love to grow potatoes but we are limited in our backyard space. Have a great week!

    Amy

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    Replies
    1. Hi Amy, I'm growing potatoes this year in a grow bag on my back verandah. Do you have a space like that where you could grow potatoes in a bag? Meg

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  6. I have been blessed with landing two part time jobs in the same week. Thankfully I start one this week and so will know whether it is a good fit for me before I have to decide on the other job. Not if it is frugal or not but I filled my car up whilst I was at an appointment in the next city before I came home. I have an empty purse so I am making Cath's quick bread in the bread machine rather than rounding up money to go and get bread from the shop.
    Love the cards. Need to make some myself once I have used up my card stock.
    Have a great week
    Janine ��

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  7. I couldn't find shorts for yard work, and around the house, so I made some out of pants that were too big. I also price matched a few airline flights, getting $150 in credit for future travel. Last night when making dinner, I used basil from the garden. Yum! Our peppers are almost ready to pick. I also called an airline about a big travel adjustment for a flight my parents are taking that had been modified to become a red eye, and got that sorted out, as well as $500 credit for them to use for future travel.

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  8. Samantha babies grow really fast. Buy a few outfits from the op shops as they are cheap and usually hardly been used. Look at buy swap sell sites and visit garage sales for prams, high chairs and cots. Keep an eye on the sales for baby car seats. Look in the op shop for maturity clothing or clothes a couple of sizes up as you grow. Work out how long you are going on maturity leave and see how much annual leave you have. You will be entitled to some paid maturity leave. Then divide what is left by the number of weeks left. Then try and save a bit of your pay each pay run to get to that amount. Some employers will let you take leave at half pay which will extend your holiday pay (double the time). Hope that helps. Enjoy this happy time.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Janine. I would love to know thoughts on what i can buy second hand vs what i should be buying new (If anything). Thanks for the tips with the money that is a good idea. I might start an account this week just for putting in some money each month.
      I would like to think i could have 12 months off but we will see. I will definitely be needing some maternity corporate clothes for work so i will start with the Op shops. Thank you for your kind suggestions.
      Samantha

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  9. Love the iceberg roses and your artistic photo is a great success 🙂

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  10. Hi Wendy. All those cards are such a money saver. This week I got stuck in and made my Granddaughter a number of items of winter clothing from fabric I was gifted. The patterns were the ones I used when her Daddy and Aunty were babies. She now has a new dress, sleeping bag, 2 long sleeved Tshirts, a pair of overalls, a bucket hat and a hoodie. It's her first Birthday in July so all of these items will be part of our gift to her.

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  11. All the cards are just beautiful!

    I have a grapefruit tree full of fruit and none of us like grapefruit at all. I'm looking for a barter oppertunity but so far I have come up blank!

    I need to get my apron on and get to beginning to process all my lemons mind you- they are always useful. We are having citrus cakes too at the moment. :)

    xx

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  12. Hi Wendy,
    How do you freeze capsicums? And how long can you keep it in the fridge and freezer,after cutting?
    Thanks
    Sanda

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    Replies
    1. I just chop them up and place in freezer bags. They seem to last about a year in the freezer.

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