This week's frugal list is a list of ways we've saved money over the last few months when I was absent from blog writing. I feel like I've kicked major goals lately so that when Summer comes, I'll be able to relax more.
Here's the latest list -
* Baked pumpkin scones with frozen pumpkin puree from earlier this year when pumpkin was cheap. The scones were enjoyed for morning teas and extras were frozen for future eating.
* Darren made pork sausage rolls. He added potato and silverbeet from our garden to bulk them out.
* Picked lemons from our tree and froze the juice.
* Gratefully received extra groceries from Megan when the supermarket accidently delivered the same order twice.
* I made dish drainer cloths from microfibre cloths and cotton material. These are used to drain delicate items that need handwashing. This prevents accidental chipping.
* I picked up a couple of items of clothing from Savers when they had a 50% off sale on a couple of months ago.
* I made a big batch of raspberry and strawberry jam. The raspberries were homegrown and the strawberries were a bargain price bought last Summer and frozen.
* Baked and sold some muffins to a cleaning client.
* Charged the vacuum cleaner and Darren's shaver on sunny days.
* Gratefully received lots of plastic and paper shopping bags from a friend. It's been well over 25 years since I've bought bin liners.
* Darren and I used a gift card to go to the movies.
* I stocked up on butter using the Woolworths 10% off offer and a $10 in rewards money. Most of the butter was put in the freezer.
* I made 2 + years worth of laundry liquid for $8.50. I now add a good squirt of Dynamo laundry liquid to the big bucket of homemade liquid. This seems to help stabilise the liquid so that it doesn't clump as much. I also dilute the liquid down even further than the original recipe. Each 2 litre bottle has 500mls of liquid and 1.5 litres of water. I do this because I now have a front loading washing machine and any laundry liquid used must be fairly runny.
* I picked lots of rosemary from our bush. It's currently hanging up in paper bags to dry. I'll then blitz it into a powder so that it sticks better to roast potatoes.
* Gratefully received enough mulch for FREE from a ' buy nothing new ' FB page. Not knowing how big this mulch pile was or how many people would be grabbing it, I couldn't wait until Darren was home to go and lad up the car. So I grabbed 3 x large Ikea bags and 2 x 60 litre buckets and raced over to the location. I made 2 trips there that day ( only 7 minutes away ) and was able to get enough to mulch all our flower beds with some left over. This was a saving of maybe $200 or more.
* I resprayed some outdoor side tables that were looking a bit rough. I used Rustoleum spray paint with is also a primer.
* I made a big bowl of egg custard with milk we couldn't use up quick enough.
LINKS -
I just uploaded photos of handmade items I'm selling on both my Facebook pages. Please go over and have a look. You might find something to buy for Christmas
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| Rosemary from our garden |
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| The leftover free mulch |
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| Homemade laundry liquid |
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| Egg custard |
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| Revamped side tables |
In the garden
What a week. I get free mulch delivered. Just check out Facebook market place. Tree loppers mulch the trees and it doesn’t cost them to tip,it. I got three tip truck full for free recently. Do you have a dehydrator. I dry my herbs in mine.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the suggestion.
DeleteYour garden looks and sounds beautiful and productive, Wendy. It must be lovely sitting out on your deck with all those lovely roses! We are being as frugal as possible here as things get more expensive and we have had a couple of big bills. Here's my list of savings:
ReplyDelete* Used gift card and monthly 10% off to save $36 on grocery shop.
* Bought heavily discounted pies + 2x bags of stir fry veg (70c ea). Popped pies in freezer as soon as I got home and cooked up chicken stir fry for freezer meals
.* Picked last of perpetual spinach + spring onion + herbs from garden and made several spinach and feta impossible pies for freezer.
* Made big pot of spaghetti bolognese from 200g mince, tinned lentils and tomatoes, and lots of grated zucchini and carrot.
* Baked school snacks - chocolate and yoghurt cupcakes, choc-chip biscuits, Weetbix and Oat slice.
* Mended a pair of my son's school shorts that had a small rip in them.
* Staked several volunteer tomato plants that have sprung up in garden.
* Planted several gifted plants from my neighbour into my garden. So lovely!
* My husband has painted all the rails and slats and treads of the new section of stairs we have had built. To pay someone to do painting would be very expensive so he has done all this work himself!
I am thinking forward to Xmas now. I have started buying an extra item or two, on special, and put these aside in my pantry ready to have when everyone comes to our place on Xmas day.
Meg
What a lovely blessing to get plants from your neighbour Meg. A great saving on the painting too.
DeleteFantastic savingsWendy! And great to see you blogging again.
ReplyDeleteFrom Cheryl
Thankyou Cheryl.
DeleteGood morning Wendy,your garden must be so lovely with the spring roses out. I have been able to spread around‘volunteer’ seedlings from annuals like alyssum, pansies and foxgloves, also parsley everywhere, so free plants. I have also been knitting cotton washcloths, it seems to relax me and lessen anxiety.Like Meg I have been adding a few Christmas food items as they are on special. Love your pretty outdoor side tables, good job with the respray! Have a lovely week in our milder weather.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful to have you back Wendy. Some grreat tips and money saving for you this week. God bless you all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a happy new month.
ឯកសារយោងកីឡាបាល់បោះ