Saturday, 30 March 2019

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 30th March 2019

So much has happened since the last frugal post.  I've been busy taking care of Megan,  Kurt and Luka both at the hospital and at their home. This has given Kurt a chance to get some sleep and much needed fresh air.  It's been an absolute pleasure to cook,  clean and do their washing as well as cuddle Luka every chance I get.  I've also had three day of work and my own home to run ( sort of ). Here's what else I've been up to -

*  Cooked meat pies,  spag bol sauce ( with hidden veggies,  linseed meal and oat bran ),  garlic and herb breads,for Megan and Kurt's freezer.  Not a saving for me but a time, money and sanity saver for them

*  Used old bread bags to line our bathroom bins.

*  After making a big pot of spag bol sauce I spooned the remaining tomato paste into an ice cube tray to freeze.

*  Sold one dozen eggs.

*  Fed the compost bin every few days with kitchen scraps.

*  Dried all our washing on the line and clothes horses.

*  Saved the shower warm up water and washing machine rinse water to reuse where possible.

*  Saved a few gift bags and ribbons from baby presents.  Megan is also saving gift bags to reuse in the future.

*  Picked a few raspberries and froze them.  It hasn't been a great season this year.  I did manage to make a few jars of jam a couple of weeks ago.  I still have enough raspberries frozen to make muffins later in the year.

*  Cooked all meals from scratch with one exception.  The night after Luka was born,  Darren and I were on a mercy mission to grab some clothes and bedding for Kurt to sleep at the hospital t( to help look after Megan ).  Both Darren and I had been out ALL day.  We were racing against the clock to get to the hospital before visiting hours were up.  The easiest option was to get Subway just down the road from our place.

*  Baked Anzac biscuits for Megan using dough I had in the freezer.  She rang me about 7.30am from the hospital,  14 hours after Luka was born requesting my Anzac biscuits to snack on.

*  Ate freezer meals a couple of nights.  We also gave Kurt a few freezer meals to eat at the hospital to save a bit of money.  Our freezer meal stockpile has just about run out so we'll be making a point of building it up again ASAP.

*  Refilled the foaming hand wash pumps here and at Megan and Kurt's place using diluted shower gel.


Early morning Anzacs for Megan

From our garden

Making garlic / herb bread


How frugal have you been this week ?


9 comments:

  1. I think you are allowed to eat out this week. Call it a celebration on becoming grandparents. Enjoy every minute.

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  2. During such a hectic week, you've still managed lots of frugal things Wendy. Freezer meals are fantastic, aren't they! I've done a few frugal things this week too:
    * reheated lasagne portions from freezer for dinner one night and a lunch as well
    * bought a half price tub or organic ricotta that was just on use by date and used
    it up in baking. Nothing wrong with it!
    * made a chicken and vegetable pie using up a bag of frozen veg from freezer. Enough for dinner next night too.
    * used up veg from crisper in a big stir fry, enough for lunch next day
    * dried washing on racks when it's been raining
    * topped up, rather than filled up, fuel in car as price of petrol too high
    * made chocolate & oat cookies for school lunchbox treats
    * redeemed $10 off small grocery shop
    * put some money into my emergency envelope fund
    * bought a pair of cushioned sandals online for less than half price. $50 instead of $109. I had to replace my flat sandals to those with more support because of a problem with one of my feet. These sandals were on sale because we are coming into the cooler (hopefully) months now.
    Have a lovely weekend cuddling your new grandson, Wendy! Meg:)

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  3. Wendy you have had a really busy week and taken care of two households as well as cleaned other people's you are a wonder woman :). Of course the additional cuddles of your grandson in between was an added bonus.

    Not a lot accomplished this week in the gardens as we have had lots of rain which is a blessing and it is coming down again with 6.4 mm overnight and our rainwater tanks are full now and overflowing :) but we are still catching water in barrels as well.

    Our Vicky challenge added up to $71.70 in savings last week :).

    In the kitchen -

    - Made 3 loaves of bread in the breadmaker saving us $10.47 over buying them locally.
    - Made 3 batches of Moo yoghurt flavoured with our homemade strawberry jam saving $8.43 over purchasing it.

    In the gardens -

    - Pulled down 2 more posts from the grapeyard vineyard.
    - DH put together our post hole auger that turned up in the mail.
    - Tabatha the cat caught herself a 60 cm Eastern Brown snake and dispatched it without being bitten. She brought it inside and quarantined it in the food storage room and wouldn't let us in there until it had passed from this world. She is one fiercely protective cat with her humans and got to say an apt hunter.

    This scared me for the entire day as there was blood everywhere as I entered the room and I thought it was Tabatha's but fortunately not, and then I saw the snake on the other side of the room. We also had to keep an eye on her in case she was bitten for 24 hours as there is no way to see where our venemous snakes bite in most cases. Happy to say she is still her usual happy romping self this morning.

    Finances and listings -

    - I listed 32 handmade items on eBay using a free listing promotion saving $52.80 on normal listing fees.
    - Paid our usual minimum fortnightly mortgage repayments and paid in addition the monthly interest on the loan as well to save time and interest paid.

    Have a great week ahead everyone :).

    sewingcreations15 (Lorna).

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  4. Hi Wendy,
    What a wonderfully busy week you've had. That support is such a blessing. I remember my Mum helping us when our daughter was born....nearly 17 years ago! It was such a big comfort during those very tiring times. It was a very steep learning curve too. The bonus for Mum was "Grandma Cuddles" that she still looks forward too!
    Well done for still being able to be frugal during a very busy week. After five years of reading your blog I still am inspired by your drive. Have a great week! Rachel:)

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  5. I hope the new family are doing well.

    The week has putzed along at the usual pace. I have only bought groceries and finished with one bill I never should have had in the first place. That is an $112 a month for me. I am going to put that straight in the bank as my savings are too too low. I have started to make our own bread again. I need to find a supplier for bakers flour as the supermarket seems expensive. I am truly trying to live by need not greed.

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  6. Go Nana! Megan is so very lucky to have you not too far away. It sounds like life is finding its new normal after little Luka's birth. So very happy for you all.

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  7. I never thought of using old bread bags! Thank you for the tip.

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  8. Thankyou. Kurt did heat up a couple of meals.

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  9. Thankyou for your comments everyone. As you can imagine I've been very busy and not able to comment very much at the moment. I do appreciate you taking the time to say hello.

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