This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 27th June 2020

This week I took a break from gardening to concentrate on organisation and tidying inside our home.  I spent a couple of delightful hours tidying our pantry,  filling up herb and spice jars,  making mixes as well as making the most of the storage space I have    I just love spending time in my pantry because tit  holds so many possibilities for cooking and baking when it's stocked correctly.  Having Luka down for a long nap meant my little helper wasn't trying to pull out all the glass  Moccona storage jars I use.

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

*  Cut the dish washer tablets in half.  They still wash the dishes really well.  Most of these tablets came from accommodation we've staying in over the years.  Some were also samples and the rest came from Megan.  I still use the Aldi powder for dishes that don't have baked on food.

*  Used old bread bags as bin liners in the bathrooms.

*  Bought brand new Spot and Pepper Pig Easter books for $1 each from a local op shop.  They will be put away as presents for our grandbabies next year.

*  Megan diluted her fabric softener by 50%.  She'd saved an empty bottle and halved the mixture.

*  Baked four loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.

*  Purchased a few brand new DVD's from a local op shop.  They have been put away for Christmas and birthday presents.

*  Diluted a bottle of laundry stain remover by 50% that was given to us.  It still works fantastically.

*  Made butter from cream I'd purchased on clearance and froze a few moths ago.

*  Diluted a bottle of Windex window cleaner.  I don't use it but other family members do.  I'd already diluted it about a year ago but saw the bottle was getting a little low.  I'm sure no one will notice what I've done.

*  Fed the compost bins with kitchen scraps.

*  Mended a coat.

*  Made up a jar of homemade gravy powder mix using pantry staples.

*  Processed the rosemary I'd hung up to dry a couple of months ago.  I run my fingers down the sprigs to get all the leaves off.  This is done over a large deep bowl to prevent the mess it usually makes.  Then I give it a quick whizz in the coffee grinder until it's a coarse powder.  This helps it to stick to veggies I roast.

*  Made up a jar of French onion soup mix using a few store bought packets and pantry staples to stretch the mix out.

Making my own mixes and herbs.

Dish washer tablets cut in half.

Do you tidy your pantry on a regular basis ?

What was on your frugal list this week ? 

Supporting Aussie Made On A Budget.

In recent times there has been a call across Australia to support Aussie made to encourage more jobs and to stimulate our economy.   Our heavy reliance on other countries to fill our supermarket and department store shelves became very evident when our boarders were closed and production halted in many overseas companies.  This included Australian companies who relied on ingredients, components and / or materials from overseas.

While I would love to buy everything Australian made or owned,  my budget doesn't stretch that far.  So I did a bit of investigating around my home to see what Aussie made products I already have.  I will be the first to admit that I have the united nations living in my pantry and bathroom cupboard but  I was pleasantly surprised to find I had many Australian made products.

My trips to the supermarket have taken on a whole new meaning too.  I've found that Aldi stocks many Aussie made products with the symbol proudly displayed on the outer cardboard packaging on the shelf making it very easy to identify.

If you live in another country then I'm sure you'll be doing your best to support locally made products too. 

Below are some of the Australian made products I found around our home.  Please keep in mind that some were purchased a couple of years ago so the country of origin might have changed since then.  Also,  this blog post is not to be used as a platform to debate whether certain products should be consumed or used or how much they cost.  I'm budget conscience and always buy at the best possible price,

The dish washing liquid on the left is my latest bargain find. It comes from Aldi and costs 99 cents for one litre and works fantastically well.

The skin repair cream on the right is used to remove make up especially around the eye.  I just use a tissue.

All these shampoos were bought at rock bottom prices.  Tresemme often comes on a half price special.

Sukin products come on sale in the supermarket or can occasionally be found at clearance centres at rock bottom prices. Lynx products often half price in supermarkets.  Tilley soaps ( candle pictured ) is Australia's oldest 100% Australian owned soap manufacturer.

A few Aldi groceries.

Flour is flour and sugar is sugar.  No need to buy the fancy brands when even the home brands are made in Australia from Australian wheat.  Campbell's soup come on a half price sale especially during Winter.

A few more Australian made groceries I found in my pantry.  Lemon Crisp biscuits are the only store bought sweet biscuit I'll buy ( and only when on sale ).

What Australian made / owned products to you like to buy ?

Will you be supporting more Aussie brands if your budget allows ?

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 20th June 2020

Life has been quite busy at the Gower Abundant Cottage since the last time I posted about 4 weeks ago.  Darren and I have been in the garden every chance we get.  Our backyard makeover is almost complete with only a new shed for Darren and a new chicken coop to be installed late Winter / early Spring.

We've relayed garden edging that was looking a bit crooked.  Plants have been moved to better locations with some being ditched all together due to poor growth habits.  Lots of new plants are filling up the garden beds around our home.  Our Winter veggie garden  has now been planted.

Over the next few weeks we hope to tackle our front garden which has had little attention for many years.

Darren and I were blessed with an extra cleaning job that lasted 8 weeks while our friend completed writing her third novel.  This cleaning job helped to fill in the gaps left by other cleaning jobs that have been put on hold due to the lock down.

Our grandbabies continue to bring us great joy ( and busyness ).  Luka keeps us on our toes as he tries to get into everything he can.  He has enjoyed helping us in the garden with his own digger and watering can.

Here's what else we've been up to -

*  Grated lots of little hotel guest soaps we've collected over the last few years.  They will now be turned into laundry powder.

*  Cleaned the kettle with citric acid.

*  Made up a spray bottle of diluted dish washing liquid to use as a spray and wipe on the kitchen and bathroom surfaces.

*  Sold 2 bars of handmade soap,  a bottle of room spray and a bottle of Miracle Spray to a friend.

*  Froze lots of leftovers into single serves.  Some were given to Jessica to use when she's had a busy day at work.

*  Megan and I made a menu plan.  10 days at a time seems to work best with all the comings and goings in our home.

*  We filled up our cars with cheaply priced petrol just before it went up for the long weekend.

*  I received 10% off at Woolworths when I scanned my Everyday Rewards card.

*  Hung wet washing on the shower door rail to dry.  This works well for jeans and jumpers.  I just close the bathroom door and let the ducted heating do all the work.

*  Cleaned the shower with diluted dish washing liquid.

*  Picked silverbeet from the garden to add to a few dinners.

*  Planted broccoli and cauliflower seedlings.

*  Refilled the herb jars from bulk bags.

*  Baked two orange cakes.  The mixture was divided so we could eat one cake straight away and the other one was frozen for future eating.

*  Made chicken stock in the slow cooker then made a chunky chicken soup.  Some was frozen into single serves.  

*  Gratefully received lots of lamb chops from a friend who couldn't use them.

What do you do with the little hotel soaps ?

What has been on your frugal list lately ?