* Sold 2 pamper packs to a friend. He'll be using them for Kris Kringle gifts.
* Sold 1 dozen eggs.
* Baked four loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness. I hadn't quite run out of bread from my last bake up but wanted to avoid baking around Christmas Day.
* Made a big batch of pita chips from pita bread.
* Picked 900 grams of beans and a few handfuls of raspberries from the garden.
* Used my present cupboard to supply a last minute birthday present and wedding present. I also recycled a department store gift bag to use for the birthday present.
* Darren fed the compost bin and worm farm every couple of days with kitchen scraps.
* Sold 6 hanging tea towels to friends.
* Completed an extra day of bonus cleaning work and an hour of ironing for a client.
* Made the most of the Spotlight sale and purchased Christmas fabric at 60% off and really sharp kitchen knives at 30% off. The knives were $2 each then reduced to $1.40.
* Decorated lots of department store gift bags at a card making day last Saturday.
* Gratefully received a tub of margarine from a friend.
* Made lots of Christmas gift tags from card making scraps. These will be used next year.
* Froze lots of singles serves of leftover food.
Our year in review
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| In Tasmania Jan 2018 |
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| Summer garden finds |
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| Soap making |
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| Brisbane holiday August 21018 |
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| From the garden |
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| Family photo at Jessica's 21st May 2018 |
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| Pretty op shop find |
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| New crafts to make and sell |
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| Birthday cake Jessica made for me Oct 2018 |
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| Afternoon tea in style |
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| Trying to pack for a holiday with Princess helping |
Thank you for all the time and effort you put into writing such encouraging posts.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely Christmas with your family and enjoy your bloggy break.
Cheers Cheryl
Your Christmas village is lovely, and your kitty is so sweet. They always want to be taken with, don't they? (I have a picture of my cat sitting in my daughter's infant car seat before my daughter was born!) Happy holidays to you, and see you next year! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Wendy for a year of wonderful posts. I love the way you handle the ups and downs in life with such grace and faith. Merry Christmas to you and yours. We will be awaiting your return in 2019.
ReplyDeleteAnne
Merry Christmas to you, your family and your readers who comment, from Robynne ( I read all your posts and readers comments but rarely comment myself. Thank you all for sharing your frugal tips.) xx
ReplyDeleteMany blessings to you and your family. Thank you for the time you take with your blog. May you and yours have a blessed 2019.
ReplyDeletePatricia/ Fl, USA
Thanks Wendy for your wonderful blog. I enjoy reading it every week. Wishing you and your family a merry christmas and a new year
ReplyDeleteLeah.
a wonderful blog full of interesting reading, looking forward to reading more in 2019
ReplyDeletehave a merry christmas & a happy & safe new year
thanx for sharing
Thank you Wendy for all your wonderful posts during the year and DH and I wish you and your family and other My Abundant life bloggers a very happy Christmas and New Year.
ReplyDeleteYou have picked up so many good bargains and now is the time of year to do it as it appears they are having sales everywhere if you know where to look :).
t has been go go go here and we haven't stopped. It has been a good week for feathering our nest here and buying lots of preparedness items for the home that we didn't have before. Being a larger property far more heavy duty tools were needed.
Our savings added up to $2157.51 last week.
Home organisation -
- Finished unpacking all the boxes and the kitchen is now fully set up and operational.
- 1/2 of the lounge room is all set up.
- Our bedroom and clothing is mostly set up apart from more clothing in bags.
- Bathrooms are fully set up and laundry is almost totally set up with the addition of a gorilla 4 shelf storage unit in there to store washing detergents, vinegar and the like.
Groceries -
- Used 1 of our e-vouchers and with $40 off and specials saved a total of $43.87.
- Purchased 2 x 2 lt bottles of BBQ sauce on half price special saving $6.
Earnings -
- DH made $185 from 2 mowing jobs which we used to buy needed garden tools for around the home.
- We also heard that in a small country town near us in a supermarket near us that they sell all their meat and dairy at ridiculously low prices on Christmas Eve so we plan to go and try and pick up what we can to stock our freezer with for far lower prices.
Purchases -
- Purchased 3 Racq gift cards giving us $15 off what we purchase. We plan to use these for needed household items and the groceries on Christmas Eve.
- Purchased 4 stainless steel garage shelves on special for $9.95 per set saving $20 on usual prices.
- Bought a 2 drawer 122pc auto car maintenance kit with metal tool box included for $34.99 saving $330.10 on usual tool prices.
- Purchased a large house extension ladder on special saving $160 on usual prices.
- Purchased a stanley 28 pce screwdriver set on special saving $35.04 on usual prices.
Repairs/Renvations/house maintenance.
- Taking around 4 hours in total DH fixed our sliding door track straightening it with pliers, oiled kitchen door handles so now they work, oiled the really huge old Hills hoist so now the handle turns and it goes up and down, installed cup hooks for our kitchen dishwashing brushes and L hooks to hold our bread and cutting boards saving around $400 over hiring someone to do it for us. We purchased the hooks in bulk discount packages from the hardware store.
Gardening -
- DH and I spent 20 hours removing a Bogainvillea huge bush impeding on our side driveway, I trimmed all the hedges and trees impeding on the paths and touching the house taking 4 hours and DH did around 3/4's of the 1.21 acres of mowing between heavy rain taking around 1.5 hours. By doing this ourselves we saved $1147.50 over hiring a gardener to do it for us.
We still have boxes and bags around the home unopened but we are getting there and had to buy more shelving and other items to suit what we wanted to do.
Have a great week :). We had our first black out last night with the storms and pleasurably sat outside on the back covered patio and had a BBQ and listened and watched the birds, of which there are many, lit with our solar powered lanterns. Ah the bliss of the simple country life off grid for a while. We survived very well I might add :).
Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).
Thank you Wendy for all the wonderful tips all year, look forward to next years blog. Merry Christmas to you and your family xox
ReplyDeleteThank you Wendy for all the time and effort you put into your blog. We are all travelling along together through life's ups and downs and the support to us all in blogland has come to be very important to me and I'm sure to many of your readers. Happy Christmas to you and yours and here's to a happy and healthy 2019.
ReplyDeleteSo many things I’ve learned from you and your readers this year! Hope you have joyous holidays with your family/friends!
ReplyDeleteTime to step back and just relax! Hope your 2019 holds many new and wonderful experiences for you!
Happy Christmas!
Gardenpat in Ohio
Wendy,
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you and your family. May you be blessed with health, happiness and prosperity in the new year. I hope you enjoy a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones.
Ellie in Arkansas, U.S.A.
Merry Christmas to you and your family! Thank you so much for your blog, I read it every week and have learned, as well as found a sense of kinship in your frugal ways. May your 2019 be wonderful.
ReplyDeleteTo Wendy and Family
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you all. I hope you enjoy your well earned rest and relaxation. Thank you for sharing the ups and downs of life with us all. I know this helps me get through some tough days and being able to get things out in the open.
To all other Abundant Life followers I wish you and all of your family a Merry Christmas and safe travels to anyone travelling
Hope Santa is good to all but especially to the children
Take Care
Aly xxx
Merry Christmas to you and your family Wendy. Thank you for all of your money saving tips and your positive and generous nature :). Lauren X
ReplyDeleteI hope you have had a lovely Christmas day, Wendy and that the new year will be a happy one for you all. MegXx
ReplyDeleteDear Wendy,
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the rest and quality time with your loved ones. See you again in the New Year :)
xTania
Rest and recuperate Wendy. 2019 will bring many joys to us all. Mimi xxx
ReplyDeleteHappy 2019! Thank you for your blog. It is encouraging and gives me a different perspective on things sometimes. We have also had several rollercoaster years in a row and it would be nice to get off the ride but I suspect that's why heaven is so great. Praying for peace and blessing for your family in 2019!
ReplyDelete-Kathryn Washington, USA