Saturday 19 October 2019

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 19th October 2019

This week has been a busy one.  I've worked four days,  made a trip into the city with my Dad,  did the monthly grocery shopping,  cooked and baked and tried to keep on top of the housework ( with Darren's help ).  I've made a great start on next year's present shopping and I'm contemplating wrapping up this year's Christmas presents.
Here's my frugal list for the week -

*  Made mini garlic breads from gifted day old bread sticks.

*  Blanched lots of broccoli then froze it for future meals.

*  Gratefully received some daisy plants from my Dad.

*  Finely diced,  bagged up and froze two bunches of celery.  I think I have enough to put in casseroles for the next 12 months.

*  We have a charity that moved just down the road from us that opened up an op shop last week.  I purchased lots of Sukin face products for $1.50 each.  I'll be bundling them up into little packs to give as presents over the next 12 - 18 months.

*  Used a $20 Coles voucher earned from surveys to buy 2 tray of mince.

*  Made 2 zucchini slices from gifted zucchinis and potatoes.  We had some with our dinner that night and froze the rest.

*  Baked four loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.

*  Made lemon butter from our own eggs and lemon juice.  I'm almost out of jam and it's at least a few months until I can get my hands on cheap or free fruit to make more.  The lemon butter is delicious on the bread I bake and turn into toast for my breakfast each morning.

*  Saved the shower warm up water and washing machine rinse water as per usual.

*  Fed the compost bin every second day with kitchen scraps.

*  Found another tv standby light to turn off at the power point.   Family members will have to figure out for themselves why the remote won't turn the tv on.

*  Picked up a couple of Stephanie Alexander colanders from the new op shop near us.  They were priced at $5 each and with their 50% off sale they came down to $2.50.  I found them on Amazon selling for just under $30.   I'll be making pasta hampers with them to give as presents.  I'm planning on including a couple of tins of tomatoes,  a packet of pasta and a small bag of spag bol dried herbs.

Cheap meals we ate this week were - Pita bread pizza and Chop suey


Broccoli ready to freeze

Zucchini slices

Chopped celery ready for the freezer

How have you saved time or money this week ?


10 comments:

  1. Hi, Wendy. You are super organised for Christmas! I finally made a Xmas gift list this week. Earlier in the year, I bought some organic cotton hand towels from Aldi and put them aside. Following instructions I found here on your blog I am going to sew on strips of pretty matching fabrics and gift them with some calendula salve I am making from petals I collected from our garden. This week:
    * bought a second-hand solid timber bed frame off Gumtree and, with some new nails and lots of elbow grease to polish it, now have a lovely new-to-us bed. It came up beautifully and saved us hundreds!
    * shopped specials in three different stores and added more to our stockpile.
    * made all our meals + baked sweet potato chocolate cake and ginger Anzacs for snacks this week
    * picked lettuce from pots to have with salads and on homemade burgers
    * picked little yellow cherry tomatoes to have in salads
    * dried washing on line on sunny days
    * borrowed a DVD from library of series I have been wanting to watch.
    Have a great weekend, Wendy!
    Meg:)

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  2. It has been a usual week for me. I did find some pyjamas to give to my daughter's for Christmas. I also found a gift for one little boy. I need to haul out a chair I collected from the street and repair it for my granddaughter for Christmas. Then there is a cradle I bought at a thrift shop to paint and decorate for the little girl too.

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  3. Hello Wendy, can you freeze Celery OK? No blanching or anything? Regards Robyn S.A

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    Replies
    1. No blanching, just cut and freeze. It does defrost soggy but it's great for casseroles and soups.

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  4. Wendy you have had a productive week of preserving and making wonderful meals for your family. I always get excited when I find a new cheap op shop and you will have some wonderful gifts to give with minimal cost to you :).

    Our savings last week added up to $607.11 :).

    Grocery stockpiling -
    - With the blessing of supermarket discount vouchers, racq gift cards and weekly specials we were able to stock up on 2 cartons of tinned mangoes and a years supply of shampoo and conditioner on sale.

    Finances -
    - Paid an extra payment off our mortgage saving time and interest off our home loan.

    Purchases -
    - From IGA on clearance we purchased 1kg of strawberries for $2 which was dessert for two nights, 2.07 kg of apples for $3, bananas at a low price of $3 kg, peanuts for $7 kg and value packs of tim tams and mint slices for $2.25 ea saving in total $21.31 on usual prices.
    - Bought 2 logs lifters with peevie hooks and post pullers in one unit for $170 ea saving $512.50 on prices elsewhere we had seen. These are rare as hens teeth to find as they are not commercially made anymore and usually cost a fortune. We were fortunate enough to find them in a tyre repair store where the new owner wanted to liquidate them so we wrangled a good price.
    - Received 200g of swiss cheese & a 8 pack of bolognese Arancini free as a sample as I am a taste tester for a supermarket saving $8.60 over purchasing them.
    - Bought a RACQ gift card for groceries saving 5% or $7.90.
    - Our local supermarket was having a $15 off $160 pick up order promotion so we put in an order. With weekly specials and the supermarket promotion code we were able to save $56.80 on usual prices.

    Home spring cleaning -
    - I damp dusted the whole home.
    - We moved furniture in the lounge room into a better configuration and I damp dusted walls, skirting boards, doors, a buffet and entertainment unit.

    Hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead :).

    Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).

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  5. What great ideas for presents. I have just finished making and addressing our Christmas cards for this year, earliest time yet.

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  6. I'm curious, Wendy--does the celery freeze into one big lump, or do the pieces stay separate? I have the last of the green peppers to freeze. Can you tell me about that? I would like to be able to pour out just the amount we need.

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    Replies
    1. They do lump together due to the water content but I pop them straight into a soup or casserole pot from the freezer

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  7. Hi Wendy,ways I got ahead I made anzac biscuits from frozen dough I had left over from the last batch & today I got some tomato plants ready to go in,& another strawberry plant hope you have a gr8 week.

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  8. Wow Wendy you've been super busy this week! I love your idea of tge pasta hamper gifts :). Lauren

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