At this point in time, Melbourne is in the middle of a 7 day lockdown. Supermarket shelves were stripped bare yet again as people went into panic mode. I chose to stay away from the shops and enjoy my very healthy stockpile of food, toiletries and cleaning ingredients.
We have a garden that supplies some of our veggie needs as well as last Summer's haul stored in our freezers. This has been a real source of comfort during times of uncertainty and a huge help for our grocery budget. Plans are already in place for a bigger veggie garden next Summer and we look forward to warmer days of Spring planting.
Here's how we saved money this week -
* Replanted 7 self sown snap dragon seedlings Darren found in a garden bed. They were growing in the oddest places so I've planted them in another bed as a mass planting. Hopefully we'll get a good showing of flowers in the next couple of months. Gotta love free plants.
* Made 15 jars of raspberry jam using fruit I'd picked and frozen over Summer.
* Made lots of dried bread crumbs using saved bread crusts I'd been storing in the freezer.
* Fed the compost bin every second day with kitchen scraps. Darren said he's almost ready to empty one of the bins out into our veggie garden.
* Fed lots of weeds to the chickens.
* Saved and washed the snap lock bags I used to store the raspberries in the freezer. They are now ready to use for next season's raspberry haul.
* Baked three loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.
* Made 8 jars of plum jam using fruit my Dad gave me last Summer that I froze. With all this jam making I now have a fair bit of room in the freezer in readiness for our Spring / Summer garden haul.
* Decanted and diluted 8 litres of laundry liquid into saved vinegar bottles. The laundry liquid is from the big bucket I made a few months ago. As I get vinegar bottles given to me I keep decanting then storing the liquid in my shed. By the time I'm ready to make my next batch I should have enough vinegar bottles to decant it all at the same time eliminating the need to blitz and stir the liquid getting my hands all soapy in the process.
* Froze 5 single serves of Massaman beef curry that was leftover from our dinner one night.
* Picked broccoli, lemons, lettuce and silverbeet from our garden.
* Saved the shower warm up water and bath water ( from our grandbabies ) to pour into our washing machine. We also saved lots of kitchen water that was used to water lots of pot plants.
* Blanched and froze the broccoli from our garden.
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| Bread and jam making |
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| Princess joining Darren for a workout. |
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| Broccoli ready to flash freeze. |
Hi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteYou must feel a real sense of security in knowing you don't need to rush to shops for essentials when lockdowns announced. I hope it does not go beyond the 7days!
Up here, in Qld, it's gotten very wintery. That's soup weather at our place. I will make more soup today with split peas from my pantry and veg I want to use up. Other frugal things:
* filled up at $1.27per L, got 4cper L discount off that, ahead of rise where some charging $1.71per L.
* baked batch of sweet potato brownies and saved mashed pumpkin to make scones today.
* bought a pretty patchworked quilt cover in excellent condition for $10 at op-shop. This is to cover an old doona I put out on our lounge to snuggle under on cold nights. Blankets and warm clothes mean we don't need to run heating.
* Made batch of rissotto this week which used supermarket brand arborio rice, small amount of diced chicken, frozen peas and some leftover roast veg I had frozen. We had this two nights in a row. Delicious and cheap and filling!
* Sold my son's school sport jacket, too small for him now, for $30.
* Hubby fixed broken computer key on my son's laptop. Free!
* Picked lettuce, herbs and spring onion from our garden. Gave our lovely neighbour some lettuce too.
Stay safe and well, Wendy.
Meg
I was impressed with your good planning and attitude when another lockdown was announced Wendy. I saw the news how the shelves were stripped quickly. It is amazing how fast that happens. A lesson there for us all. I hope you have a good weekend and week ahead, I cant wait to see what you make and do with the time as I know you will be busy and industrious! xxx
ReplyDeleteGreat work with the jam making. I need to start moving things out of our freezer, to make room for our garden items. It's really starting to produce. I'm looking forward to lots of kale, spinach, radish, tomatoes, peppers, squash, & spices. Yum!
ReplyDeleteGood evening Wendy. Well I did think that Melbourne was heading for a lockdown but the whole of Victoria was a bit of a surprise! I shopped last Sunday so we will be ok for 2-3 weeks,so it's just staying home for us except for daily dog walks. I will be making dried apricot jam tomorrow and we've a big pot of minestrone soup that will last a few meals.I use herbs from our small garden every day,and it helps make plain meals more interesting. I will get onto finishing some UFOs from my craft cupboard this week. I hope this lock-in doesn't give you too much financial grief and take care.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have a great plan Jenny.
DeleteDarren has lost a little bit of work but we have continued with our cleaning jobs.
Please stay safe. This virus has been tough for Melbournites.
ReplyDeleteAs Meg had written we were able to buy petrol before the price rose. I bake a hame early in the week. I shared this with my youngest and not one big of that ham was wasted. I made a batch of minestrone today. I have kept myself away from shopping and the temptation it brings. Take away was bought once and it cost a grand total of $6 for three people.
Its a shame that there is a 7 day lockdown again for you but fantastic that you do not need to go to the shops at all. Just wondering if you have shared your laundry liquid recipe?
ReplyDeleteI haven't shared the recipe yet because I'm not completely happy with it. When I make the next batch I'll melt the soap first. If this works I'll post the recipe.
DeleteWe have spent another weekend at my parents', who live in a neighbouring country, so we had te be back within 48 hours to avoid having to be tested and quarantained. We shared their home, but aired as much as possible, constantly wiped down door handles etc, didn't hug.
ReplyDeleteDDs and I went grocery shopping, because it's soooo much cheaper where my parents live, even included a treat for dds it was still cheaper.
DD1's 'new' clothes were brought down from the attic and she will try them on tonight. I was given so many clothes by colleagues with older daughters that I stacked it all in the attic for the appropriate time. Even if she picks just a pair of jeans, it's money saved. All the clothes she doesn't want, are still too large, or are too small by now, go back to the attic for another year, for either her or DD2 to try on next year. I have bought 4 60l sturdy plastic rolling containers to store the clothes, and will use the containers for other storage once the clothes have gone.