This week's frugal list is a little on the smaller side due to illness. I've had the chills and a sore throat since Wednesday and Darren has been unwell too. Hopefully by the time you read this on Saturday we'll be feeling a little better.
I guess the size of the list doesn't really matter does it ? We've stayed away from the shops as much as possible and only spent money when needed. Sometimes it's not necessarily the bargains you get, but the money you don't spend that counts.
Darren continues to earn really good money at his new job but our spending hasn't changed much. No job seems to be secure these days so we are saving as much as possible. That rainy day might just be around the corner.
Here's our frugal list for the week -
* Darren fed our compost bins with kitchen scraps and garden clippings.
* I picked 6 heads of broccoli from our garden. The total weight was 1.5 kilos and will eaten with many meals. I've blanched and flash frozen the broccoli florets and then placed them in snap lock bags. The stalks were finely diced and frozen too.
* Finished a few of upcycling projects. One is a jug my Mum gave me. It was brown and white and I've sprayed it white. I spray painted a dull silver picture frame white. It now looks fresh. The last project is a timber tea bag caddy. I've also spray painted it white ( I'll post a photo of this one next week ).
* I've placed the two batches of soap on the new ( from the op shop ) metal shelf I purchased last week. I used an old thin plastic cutting mat to line the shelves. Now the soap can cure without being knocked over.
* I made a pot of chunky chicken and veg soup, two bread sticks and ANZAC biscuits to take over to Jessica's place for dinner. Jessica has just come back from a 6 week trip to Europe and was desperately needing some wholesome food. I was going to get bread sticks at the supermarket but to be honest, I couldn't be bothered.
* Picked a few lemons and mandarins from our trees.
* Fed bread crusts, broccoli leaves, grass and weeds to the chickens.
* Made a chop suey meal and added TVP to the 250g of mince ( that I usually use ).. This meal normally gives me 4 or 5 serves. This time I got 6 main meal serves and 2 lunch serves.
* Saved the washing machine rinse water and shower warm up water like I usually do.
* Picked 5 large spinach leaves for the garden to add to the chop suey meal.
* Kept the curtains mostly closed ( except for a few inches ) on the cold, overcast days.
* Baked 3 loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness. This is almost the same recipe I used for the bread sticks. For the bread sticks I didn't add extra goodness and only used plain white flour.
LINKS
Wholemeal Bread With Extra Goodness.
Chunky Chicken And Veggie Soup
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| Broccoli from the garden |
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| Diced broccoli stalks. |
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| Homemade bread sticks |
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| Before photo of an upcycling project |
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| The after photo. |
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| Op shop find soap curing rack |
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| Another upcycling project. It was grey |
How did you save time, money or energy this week ?
I hope you are feeling better now, Wendy. Your broccoli harvest looks delicious! I have just recently pulled out my broccoli plants because, while huge and leafy, no florets formed and something was munching on all the young leaves. I dug in some compost and planted zucchini. On the frugal front this week:
ReplyDelete* shopped at factory outlet and specials at supermarket. Got 2x50c boxes of biscuits, 10x 50c bars of simple soap, 3x trays marked down chicken snitzel and dozen large packets tortilla chips for $11. Chip brand usually sells for over $4 in supermarket.
* split discounted biscuits into clip lock bags and got 8x little packets.
We hardly ever have a shop bought biscuit so these are something different.
* filled car for $1.58 per L before price skyrocketed towards $2. Locked in lower price for week with 7Eleven fuel lock.
* picked celery and spring onion from garden and used in homemade potato salad. Made dressing with plain yoghurt, mustard and honey instead of mayo which I don't buy.
* homemade meals, packed work and school lunches, made a chocolate cake
* charged my mobile in car while driving
I hope you have a lovely week!
Meg
I'm feeling a little better today thankyou Meg. I always enjoy reading about your thrifty week. Well done on the grocery specials.
DeleteAll of those up cycles are fantastic Wendy. The metal shelves was a great find too. I’m sure Jessica was so looking forward to your soup and home made bread sticks. There’s no place like home and Mums cooking after a long trip.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely weekend :) Rachel
Thankyou Rachel. Jessica and her boyfriend loved all the homemade goodies. When my Mum and Dad came home from a trip to the USA, I would make a big pot of veggie soup for them. They said they needed to detox after all the bad food there.
DeleteHello! Made your Lemon Slice recipe yesterday and it was lovely! When I read your previous blog with the recipe I realised it was an opportunity to use a tin of condensed milk left over from making rumballs at Christmas time. I have a great supply of lemons, too, so yesterday's visitors had delicious Lemon Slice for afternoon tea, along with scones and jam. Thanks for your inspiring ideas.
ReplyDeleteDeborah
I'm glad you all enjoyed the lemon slice. It keeps for a couple of weeks in the fridge too ( if not eaten ).
DeleteHi Wendy, I hope and Darren are both feeling a little better. I really like your upcycles, that little jug looks so cute and fresh now. It will embolden me to do similar projects. All the best. Barb.
ReplyDeleteBarb, I use Rustoleum spray paint for Bunnings. I've used it on glass, timber and plastic with no problems.
DeleteThe Broccoli looks beautiful Wendy. I love the jug you renovated it looks lovely so does the frame. Also love the chopped Broccoli stalks. I think you are both smart to save while you can.xxx
ReplyDeleteI hope you and Darren are on the mend. I haven't had a very frugal week. Bu tlife is improving and hopefully my expenses will decrease soon. Even though life has been expenisve I have managed to save a little and am very. pleased with that.
ReplyDeleteAny saving is good Suzan
DeleteHi Wendy what sort of paint do you use to paint the jug
ReplyDeleteThanks
Hi Mel. It's Rustoluem paint in a spray can from Bunnings.
DeleteOh so many bags going around at the moment! I do hope you both continue to get better.
ReplyDeleteThis morning I visited a local charity shop as I was looking for a specific Woman's Weekly cookbook and had my fingers crossed a copy would be there. But no. Instead my daughter spent her weekly pocket money on a pair of black boots, jeans and a belt. $11 in total! She has a school disco coming up and is very excited about it.
After that, I spent my Flybuy dollars on a wand mixer with some extra attachments at Kmart.
This week I excitedly filled up my car for $1.65/L!!
Our peas have been growing well throughout winter and yesterday I noticed a number of pods. So many flowers still too.
Today I have made a pot of pumpkin soup with our homegrown pumpkins and after a cuppa, I'll be baking vanilla patty cakes, choc-chip banana bread and weet-bix slice. If time allows, I'd like to also whip up a muesli slice. I found two patty cake tins online in near new condition and they are the Wilton brand. I worry about the amount of cake like treats my kids eat that are muffin size!
This morning I gave our son my old cd player (old school to him!) and hooked up the sound bar we no longer were using in the kitchen so I can listen to MY music. :)
Yesterday I filled up all the near empty containers in the pantry, added a few items to our next shopping list and rearranged a few pantry shelves. I also washed my new 8L Decor tabs and they now store 5kg brown rice in one and 5kg jasmine in the other.
Righto, better get my apron on and get baking.
Vicky
That's a great frugal list Vicky. Don't you just love filling up containers in the pantry ? One of my favourite homemaking jobs to do. Darren knows not to do it for me because I get so much joy from it.
DeleteThe comment about detoxing from all the bad food in the US is disheartening. Many of us work very hard to provide good and nutritious food for our families.I think it may be what and where you choose to eat.
DeleteMy parents struggled to find restaurants that freely offered vegetables that were not fried. Even homes that they stayed in or visited offered food that was from cans, or fried or loaded with dressings or toppings. My Mum is diabetic and struggled to find good healthy food. They visited USA many times. Yes there was good food here and there but not common. When they had friends and family visit them from USA they always commented on the fresh healthy food Australia has to offer and felt healthier within themselves. I've watched plenty of American YouTubers and am always shocked at what they call healthy in their pantries. So many sauces, so many boxes of food, so many must have processed snacks.
DeleteWhen I comment on food from other countries, I don't do it lightly and I don't do it without doing research and listening to people who know about it.