Over the last couple of weeks we have tried to be super thrifty with what we have and trying not to spend money unless we really have to. The work Darren picked up last month is starting to dry up and we are not sure if it will continue. Darren is in the process of lining up more work but there could be a wait time of up to 6 weeks while his applications are being processed.
My cleaning work continues and we are very grateful for it. It has been a bit challenging with the dreaded virus hitting 3 of our clients homes and our work has been cancelled. I guess you could say that the Frugal February Spending Freeze has come at the perfect time for us.
Here's how we saved money over the last two weeks -
* Gratefully received tomatoes, lemons, oranges and a cucumber from a cleaning client.
* Made 1 x large lasagne and 2 x medium lasagnes ( 24 serves in total ) using the gifted tomatoes as well as tomatoes from our garden. I bulked out the meat sauce with TVP, grated carrot and zucchini from our garden. We had 2 serves for dinner that night and the rest went into the freezer. We always serve lasagne with either steamed veggies or salad on the side so that the lasagne serve doesn't need to be too big.
* Saved the shower warm up water and poured it into the washing machine.
* Baked choc chip biscuits for our morning teas using dough from the freezer.
* I made hooded bath towels for when our grandsons come for a visit.
* Darren planted capsicum and spinach plants.
* Sewed 12 tea towels from a cotton Doona cover.
* Baked three loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.
* I found and replanted some plant seedlings in our garden. They are great for filling in gaps and are free.
* Made a bulk amount of beef stew in the slow cooker. We had some for dinner that night and another 3 meals ( 6 serves ) went into the freezer. I just love cooking once and eating many times.
* Bought a few boxes of our favourite icecreams on a half price sale. They will be rationed out and enjoyed for a long time.
* I picked raspberries, beans, tomatoes, strawberries, corn and zucchinis from our garden.
* Sold 2 jars of jam, 1 jar of relish and 1 bottle of plum sauce to a friend.
* Donated a bag of unwanted goods to Savers and received a 20% off discount voucher.
* Turned power points off when not in use. I try to check them on a regular basis.
* Saved water from our drink bottles and poured it into our watering can on the deck. This is used to water pot plants and mandarin trees.
* Finished 6 greeting cards at our card making day last Saturday.
* Knitted 5 dish cloths. I'm getting ready to sell lots of goodies for Mother's Day.
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| Handmade male greeting cards |
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| Handmade female greeting cards |
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| Some garden produce |
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| Homegrown cherry tomatoes and raspberries |
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| Cooking the tomatoes to make lasagne sauce |
How have you saved money this week ?
What's growing in your garden right now ?
This week has seen me adding to our food stores. I added 3 kg of butter which will last a long time and bought free range chickens at $4.50 a kg. My mother is have major mouth surgery next Friday so I will be making stock and some simple vegetable soups. I picked up my granddaughter and slipped in the shops to buy some bread and found some good deals on pumpkin, parsnips and some other things. So our fruit and vegetable drawer is full. Our volunteer tomatoes reproducing still so I am preserving those. I serched to save money on petrol. I didn't save much but every cent counts. I downloaded free books off the internet. Home made entertainments fill the days.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I hope everything goes well with your Mum's surgery.
DeleteThank you for sharing Wendy. Your greeting cards are lovely. I’m enjoying following your progress in the February no spend challenge. Very Inspiring.
ReplyDeleteAfter a good stocktake we have enough meat and frozen bulk meals in our freezer to last at least the next week. Not visiting our butcher this week will save us at least $70. Just topping up the grocery necessities will help too. The rain continues here in QLD and the air is damp. We use the clothes airier then use the dryer to finish. We have solar so hoping this small amount of use won’t be too bad on our electricity bill. My score for the week was a treat of 4 strawberry donuts marked down to 90c at Woolies. My teenage son was happy as I wouldn’t normally buy this sort of thing.
Have a lovely week.
Rachel :)
Rachel, I hope you are safe where you are. Love the donut savings.
DeleteThank you for the work you do in supporting people to live within their means. Your positive outlook is inspiring.
ReplyDeleteThankyou Melanie.
DeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteYour homegrown produce looks so fresh and delicious raspberries too! I hope to get into our veg patch soon and get it ready for Autumn planting. We are getting so much rain up here in Brisbane. Our tanks are full! Here's my list for past couple of weeks:
* Lots of home cooking including a big pan of fried rice and a big pot of split pea soup. Lots of extra serves to freeze!
* Baked many things including weetbix & oat slice, chocolate cupcakes, little orange and almond cupcakes and honey oat biscuits. I used a tin of kidney beans from pantry in the chocolate cupcakes instead of flour. Makes gluten free.
* Found a couple of markdowns at aldi - 2xtrays of chicken thighs (40% off), a tub of double cream (short dated), a twin pack of chocolate mousse for 99c.
* Filled both cars up at fuel price of $1.68 then used 4c per L discount on that.
* Drying washing on racks inside as very wet here. We don't have a dryer.
* Sold one of our son's school shirts.
* Received a lovely light jumper for Winter from a thoughtful friend who passed it on to me. I'll get a lot of wear out of it.
* Watched tv show I like for free on abc iview.
* Saved shower warm-up water and used in wash machine.
* Planted up 8x little succulent pups from friend's plant. The tiny pots I used were gifted to us through our local buy nothing group.
* Worked an extra morning relief for a colleague so some extra $ for the bank.
Have a great week,
Meg
Hi Meg, What is the show you are watching on abc iview ? I'm watching Further Back In Time For Dinner.
DeleteThis has been a horrible month for unexpected exspenses. Took sick at work and had to pay for a taxi at 5am to get me home. Then i don't know how but i tipped 2 mugs of boiling water over myself so paying for creams, powders, dressings, anti biotics and having to take time of work. Couldnt be bothered cooking as moving was to painful so had some takeaways delivered. Mums had 2 falls this week spent last night in hospital so another taxi fare to bring her home.
ReplyDeleteHave managed to buy some really discounted fruit stewed some pears for the freezer. 15 kilo box of bananas for $5 was to cheap to pass up. Shared them around and plenty in the freezer. Pumpkin was 79 cents a kilo so i bought a large one made soup and cooked the rest and froze in containers.
Planted a few cuttings, cut some old T Shirts up for cleaning rags not much else i was capable of doing. Bought 4 weeks supply of orange juice and froze it Nudie Juice was $2 for 2 litres at the discount store so that saves $12 this month.
Hope everybody had a great weekend. Thinking of those in our flood areas please stay safe. Be thankful i have good friends family and food on the table. Sending Prayers overseas for a peaceful resolution. Take Care Leanne.
Gosh Leanne, what a week. Please take it easy. Maybe you can watch some YouTube videos on money saving ideas while you are healing. I know it's not actively saving money but knowledge is powerful.
DeleteWhat cuttings did you plant ?
I saved money by bulk-buying my favourite washing powder, which is getting increasingly difficult to find in the shops. I went through my seed box and worked out what I had run out of and needed to buy to grow this year. I also decided to try a couple of new things - French Beans and Welsh Onions. I am in the North of England, so my garden is just starting to wake up from its Winter sleep. I grow a lot of herbs and they are starting to stir, my rhubarb forcer is doing its work and I have carrots in pots that have over-wintered. Today I have been busy collecting birch twigs to use for kindling and am also just about to start making a batch of apple scrap vinegar. I have also been busy gluing the handle back on a favourite tool, a tiny Victorian crochet hook which is very useful when mending clothing. My husband borrowed it to help with a job he was doing. I will say no more!
ReplyDeleteHi Tracy. I'm sure you are looking forward to warmer days for your garden. Oh dear about the crochet hook. I hope it mends well.
DeleteLots of inspiration again this week Wendy.
ReplyDeleteMy end of summer vege garden is looking pretty sad and I’m looking forward to getting my beds prepped ready for autumn plantings.
I’ve gone over my planned budget for frugal february grocery shopping, but I’m still pretty pleased and have not spent any money on anything else apart from some chemist essentials.
March will start with a big aldi shop and still trying to get through some freezer items that need using up.
Hi Amanda, what are you planning to plant in Autumn ?
DeleteMy silverbeet needs replacing so I have seeds ready to sow To replace it, also some rainbow chard, beetroot and broccoli. Looking forward to autumn!
DeleteLast year I bought barerooted plum trees- a blood plum and a “plumscrumptious” (plum x apricot). They have grown so well with the rain and milder summer, so I’m also planning on giving them some extra care. Collecting cow manure & hay to give them a boost (I live on a farm)
I'm in Belgium, and the first thing to pop its head out of the ground is chives! Tiny, at the moment, but soon we will be able to eat it.
ReplyDeleteWe're at my parents' place for spring break, and the weather is lovely! Cold, but bright clear sky. I've stocked up on gloves in the sale, for future use, as we seem to loose at least 2 pairs each year.
We bought new jeans, a new T-shirt, and 2 new sweaters for dd1 (13), who had always been a good sport about wearing hand-me-downs; all we have in the attic now is either too small or not to her taste and body shape.
There's plenty to do for free here: parks, window shopping, visiting friends and family (the lockdown has lifted). DDs (13 and 10) are taking turns cooking dinner, they are doing crafts with my parents, and they play together (sometimes on their tablets).