Saturday 15 February 2020

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 15th February 2020

Looking back on my week it doesn't feel like I've achieved any major frugal goals.  I'm meant to be participating in a no spend month with the Cheapskates Club.  That lasted about 5 days.   Our fence needed a repair and couldn't be put off any more.  Then I came across some great bargains of everyday items we use.  Resisting the sales would mean we'd be spending more money sometime down the track.  Maybe March can be our no spend month.

Here's what I managed to get done when I wasn't shopping -

*  Dried all washing on the line and clothes horses.

*  Baked four loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.

*  Made lots and lots of zucchini fritters using zucchinis from our garden.  I've frozen some to have with simple meals in the future.

*  From Savers I bought a Thomas The Tank doona cover in mint condition for $6.99 less 20%.  For myself I bought a light Summer dress.  The price tag said $9.99 but I noticed there was a small oil stain on it.  I asked for a small discount and they knocked it down to $4.99 less 20%.

*  Picked raspberries

*  Filled up both cars just before the price of petrol went up by 47 cents a litre.  We paid $1.26 per litre.

*  Our local small op shop had a three day sale to clear out stock.  Everything in their store was going out for $1.  I picked up lots and lots of shampoo,  conditioner,  deod,  Sukin  toiletry products,  soup flasks,  hairspray,  toothpaste and shower gel.  Most of these products usually retail  for $3 - $15.

*  Ate freezer meals for two dinners.

*  Picked silverbeet,  strawberries,  beans and lettuce.

*  Collected water from the shower,  bath and kitchen sink to reuse where possible.

*  Use an electric fan to help keep cool during the humid weather.

*  Sold the baby pram we used for our girls and Luka.  The lady I sold it to generously paid for me to deliver it to her.  It was hard to part with such a beautiful pram but the lady will be using it for her great grandchild.


The family pram was sold

$1 bargains

$1 bargains

Bread making


How did you save money this week ?


6 comments:

  1. Hi Wendy,
    Thanks for sharing with us all. Your pram is in mint condition! I'm sure the new owner is very happy.
    We had a good week. I stocked up on a good half price special at Woolies. We haven't used the oven much as it has been very humid. I did have to use the dryer to dry off a couple of loads as it is very humid here with all the rain. But the rain was a blessing as it filled our tank and everything got a much needed drink.
    Those op shop bargains are fantastic. I don't see many products like this at our local op shops. I really wish we had a Savers too! But I do find some good $1 products at our large Chemist like the small bottle of morning Fresh at $1 and Colgate toothebrushes for $1. These are great for our camping trips or if a guest forgets their toothbrush.
    My goal for this week is to get back on our menu plan for better planning. I'd like to stock our freezer with cooking too.
    Have a lovely week.
    Rachel:)

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  2. You got a great deal on the $1 toiletries, Wendy:) I bought a few toiletries this week too, at 40% off, but this still meant they were more expensive than the $1 you paid. It was an expensive week here with a hot water system that needed to be fixed. Besides that, we kept our spending to a minimum:
    * picking ceylon spinach, basil, oregano and chives from garden
    * made all our meals at home and packed lunches and water bottles every day
    * made homemade yoghurt
    * planted pots of cherry tomatoes to grow up on our back verandah
    * added 3x frozen whole chickens to my freezer stockpile
    * dried all washing on racks and a line strung up in garage (we've had so much rain)
    * borrowed books and a dvd from local library.

    Have a lovely weekend, Wendy.
    Meg:)

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  3. Well done on all the savings Wendy and yes I would have done the same thing and picked up the specials too :). I am also participating in the Cheapskates no/low spend February but was dealt with a few emergency repairs too with our yard :o .

    It has been rather a challenging week here which could let's just say we can describe as "it never rains but it pours" :o .We survived the week without scuba gear, flippers and a snorkel but we now really really love gum boots :) .

    Our savings last week added up to $244.03 :).

    Free samples -
    - I picked up a free 600 ml of cream free as a supermarket tester saving $2.90 on usual prices.

    Groceries -
    - Put in a monthly click and collect grocery order combining a $15 off promotion, using our Wish e-gift card saving another 5% and coupled with specials to save $29.13 on usual prices. We found one road out of town that wasn't underwater :) through traffic reports.

    Pantry stocking -
    - With the savings above we stocked our pantry for free with an additional 12 tins of champignon pieces and stems and 3 tins of corn kernels.

    Clothing -
    - Purchased some more short sleeved t-shirts for myself on special saving $2 on usual prices.

    Gardening -
    - We weeded 3 garden beds between rain showers and DH whipper snipped between them too. I raked the grass up to put on the paths to deter weeds. One end of one raised garden bed has sunk like the Titanic but we will rescue it when it dries a little more :).
    - DH dug more of our yard rainwater drainage pit to the back of the creek and now the water is draining away nicely and we have no more floodwater near our back door. Yes he did it in the rain in swimming trunks, a rashie and gum boots after he had some skin cancers removed from his arm the same day :0 .
    - While he was doing that I worked out a quick fix for the rainwater tank pool that had rainwater going into it from the patio roof that was overflowing contributing to the flooding. I put in a piece of high pressure hose into the top of the tank, pulled out a 30 metre length of grey water hose we had and plugged it into it, ran it though some PVC rainwater pipe through a removalist trolley to get the right angle for the water to drain and put the hose further down the yard to stop flood water build up around our back door. It worked like a charm.
    - After price checking I purchased from the cheapest local retailer 126 metres of storm water pvc pipe, elbows, grates and elbows to mitigate the flooding of our yard saving $210 or more compared to buying it off other local retailers. We paid cash using our home cash emergency kitty and let me just say we are so glad we have it.
    - Something a little more out of the ordinary is that we and the neigbour's dug out the poor Bunnings sub contractors truck that got bogged up to it's axles in our yard delivering the pipes to us. His truck was there for a day and we and many country neighbours with the aid of utes, recovery snap straps, a bob cat, many shovels and the aid of large hardwood planks got his truck out a neat day after he got here. Fortunately his friends took him home overnight. Oh dear we felt so guilty.

    Well that was our week in a nutshell but we survived and are still smiling :).

    Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).

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  4. How luck you were to get those skin products, Ive never seen them new in an op shop??
    Cathy

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  5. Wow those toiletries were a bargain. Here in house of Cheapness this week.

    Mum wanted her pillows washed which i did and dried on the line.

    Picked 12 roses and ferns from the garden used recycled printed cellophane and made a Valentines bouquet for my partner. Home made card and a discounted tee shirt i had bought. He was happy and so was i at the price.

    Picking tomatoes from the garden so grilled toms on toast makes a cheap breakfast. Mums happy snacking on the cherry toms to so cheap meal options.

    Drying herbs and using up bread scraps as the bread is going mouldy quickly. I have a frozen loaf which Mum doesnt like but its okay when she doesnt know.

    Carefully menu planning from cataloges and what we have on hand, making up fruit teas instead of buying soft drinks, saving heaps as the discount shop has teabags 10 for 50 cents. Making up cordial and adding fruit to make freezer ice blocks which i put into square ice cream cones to eat so much cheaper than zooper doopers.

    Making a batch of weed tea in a garbage bin in the garden will be ready for spring. Started a new garden bed will be doing trench composting and praying its ready by spring.

    Earned $8 from surveys this week. Saved 2 fares on the bus when the Myki system was down. Potted up several plants in large $1 pretty soft green ceramic pots i bought at Masters one day they are lovely.

    Catching rain water in buckets using in baths washing and watering the indoor plants. Every day is spent working out how i can save a few cents because a lot of small savings can add up to a lot of savings. Enjoy the weekend my friends and take care. Leanne xx

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  6. I haven't done especially well. But I will keep on plodding along. I really tried to keep my grocery spend down but it seems everything goes up every week. One price rise I noticed this week was UHT (long life) homebrand milk had risen from $1 a litre to $1.25.

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