Saturday 1 July 2017

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 1st July 2017

The temperature has certainly dropped here in Melbourne.  Friday was only 12 degrees Celsius but thankfully the sun came out. On Thursday, Darren and I spent the day in the Dandenong Ranges as part of his birthday present.  It was a whole lot colder up there with Sassafras blanketed in a cloud until after lunch.    We had a lovely lunch at Miss Marple's then wandered around the local shops in Sassafras and Olinda.  We were very grateful we packed our scarves,  coats and gloves.

Here's what else we got up to this week -

*  Made pita chips for savoury snacks and nachos.

*  Made pizzas from wholemeal pita breads.  We used bits and pieces from the freezer and fridge.  This is one of our budget friendly versions of takeaway.

*  Saved the washing machine rinse water for each next load.

*  Made another container of dried seasoned bread crumbs.  After making all those salmon patties,  my container was almost empty.  Thankfully I had a container of dried bread crumbs I'd made a few weeks ago.  I just had to add the seasoning and shake.

*  Made a bottle of double strength Miracle Spray.

*  Froze four single serves of leftovers.

*  Picked more lemons from our tree.  I juiced and froze it into ice cube trays.

*  Fed the compost bins with kitchen scraps.

*  Let our chickens out to free range for a while. They had a lovely feed of grass and insects.

*  Dried most of the washing on clothes horses over the ducted heating vents.

*  Used storage containers to store lots of bits and pieces in the fridge.  I'm trying to avoid plastic cling wrap as much as possible.

*  Gave a jar of homemade jam and some lemons from our tree as a hostess gift.

*  Used old school notices as shopping lists and " to do ' lists.

*  Reused lots of plastic bags over and over again around our home.

*  Saved the washing machine water for each next load.


Lunch at Miss Marple's

Out with my love.

Making Miracle Spray
 
Ham and pineapple pizza


How did you save money this week ?

  

10 comments:

  1. Last night our family had a "Use it up" night, the meals that ensued were different to say the least!
    Daughter had a leftover roast potato with sour cream and leftover salad!
    Son had leftover bacon on a sandwich and 2 crumpets!
    Youngest son had leftover corn beef and cheese toasted sandwich!
    I had leftover guacamole, cheese and bacon toasted sandwich!
    And hubby had a single serve homemade chicken and rice curry from the freezer!

    Didn't waste any food, and created a meal out of seemingly nothing, that was my biggest frugal achievement this week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They all sound like wonderful meal options.

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  2. The temperature has dropped here too, Wendy. Not quite as cold as where you live yet though. Hot water bottles, warm doonas and extra blankets are keeping us snug, closing up the house around 3pm helps too. This week:
    * swapped some veg from our garden for an unwanted, unused worm farm
    * picking and eating lots of veg from the garden :)
    * all meals made here at home, made an orange cake for afternoon teas
    * simple toasted sandwiches have been on menu for lunch
    * filled up car at $1.17 per L.
    * used movie vouchers to cover cost of adult tickets to movies, only had child's ticket to pay (this was school holiday treat)
    * borrowed lots of books from local library
    Have lovely weekend. Meg:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A worm farm is a wonderful blessing to get in a swap. well done to you.

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  3. Happy belated birthday Darren. Gorgeous photo Wendy. I have been really sick all week but still managed to cook all our meals at home. All our vehicles were full of fuel ⛽️ and as I was off sick from work I didn't use much.
    Unfortunately my father in law is staying here at present and feels the cold and so our ducted heating has been going day and night. Couldn't encourage him to wrap a blanket around himself.
    Oh well I will just have to save after he goes home.
    We have food in our house we don't normally have because he is staying. So glad my husband thinks like me and not his spend thrift Father.
    Duh over the veggie patch ready for some new plants soon. Moved my strawberry plants to a better spot. Collected lemons 🍋 to make cordial.
    Have a great week peeps

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Janine, you could close some of the ducted heating vents in rooms not being used. This could save a little money. Also, reduce the temperature at night and give your FIL an extra blanket for the bed.

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  4. Other than picking a handful of late strawberries (the birds have been getting them first), I didn't really do anything unusual last week...or did I?

    I am one of those people who charges all of their expenses to a credit card for airline miles. (Don't worry, I pay in full every month...and I have used them to get to Oz and NZ). In previous posts I mentioned that my health has been difficult for the last two years (seems to be improving) and that DH was hospitalized with pneumonia last month. When I was paying the bills the other night, I commented to him that this month's bills were much lower than usual. "I'm not surprised!" he said. "We've been too sick to spend money!" True story.

    Still getting ready to move; an interim move (while our house is being built) within the next week. Still occasionally selling things we don't need; donating a lot that isn't worth the trouble to sell; and (horrors!) just throwing away a lot of stuff that shouldn't have been hanging around the house.

    Keep up the good work, girls. All of our little triumphs energize me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maxine, I'm glad you are seeing the bright side of not being well. I hope you both improve soon to cope with the move. It's amazing what we accumulate over the years

      Delete
  5. We live in Indiana (USA) and have a nice vegetable garden. I was able to can 4 pints of kale. I've never canned it before and we've also already used one of the jars. It is very good! I was surprised. Always before we just ate off of the plant, but then lots would go to waste in a season, so I decided to try canning it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Wendy
    I have just put on some thick socks with hubby's Ugg boots saving me wanting to put on the a/c to bring up the temp a bit.
    We have gas heater on drying washing and heating us also.
    Had left over pasta meal which I embellished with some extra ingredients. Made an everyday meal a little more special by sharing a small glass of wine...I don't drink much at a all.
    Have been taking lots of small cuttings from my Lavender bush and potting ready for a Lavender hedge for our daughter in Spring.

    Found some reduced to 50c punnets of Heartease for some colour in the garden.

    Carefully transplanting tiny seedlings that have come up from last year of Violas and gifted some to family and friends .

    Unpicked a fitted shirts back darts so some of my hubby's shirt buttons don't gape...I could kick myself as we gave some shirts away due to this problem...me, a dressmaker and mender forgot to even look to see if there were darts!!!

    Persevered and got some stains out or daughters children's quilts

    I am sure there are more saver activities that I do automatically

    ReplyDelete

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