Another 5 Cleaning Products You Don't Need

Cleaning products can add so much to the grocery bill.  I'm also concerned about the chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis.  Finding another way to keep your home clean is as easy as making your own products with a few basic ingredients.  Here are another 5 products you don't need to buy.

*  Disinfectant wipes.  For starters they are quite expensive per wipe.  Secondly they are an environmental hazard.  Thirdly,   a cloth wipe and disinfectant will do a better job.  Even better,  a cloth can be thrown into the washing machine to wash and reuse over and over again.

*  Dishwasher air fresheners / cleaners.  What a waste of money.  Clean the filters often with a toothbrush and detergent.  Then clean your dishwasher once a month with Miracle Spray on the door and seals,  bi carb in the powder dispenser and white vinegar splashed around the inside.  Run it on a long hot wash to clean out the pipes.  Dishwashers smell when dirty dishes are left in there for days on end.

*  Surface cleaners.  We are led to believe that a bench is not clean unless we use this harsh combination of chemicals.  The scent can be so strong it can cause headaches and migraines ( first hand experience here ).  Instead,  use Miracle Spray,  vinegar or a little detergent on a clean cloth.  I only use disinfectant on a cloth when I've been dealing with raw meat. All the other times I use Miracle Spray.   I can honestly say my family rarely gets sick and we've never caught gastro from my over worked  kitchen bench.

*  Toilet deodoriser blocks / Blue Loo.   If you believe the adverts for these products,  they are meant to keep your toilets clean without you lifting a finger.  Amazing isn't it ???  I've cleaned thousands of toilets in my cleaning career ( giggle, giggle ) and I can honestly say they do not keep the toilet clean.  Generally the fragrance dies after 2 weeks and the toilet still needs a clean.  Blue Loo ends up splashed all over the walls and who really needs colored loo water ?

Save the toilet deodorisers for when you have a big gathering at your home and you'd like the toilet to smell nice.  Occasionally I use the Duck disks and buy up big when they are half price at $2.80 for a pack of six.  They work out to 46 cent each and last 4 + weeks.  If you want your toilet to stay clean longer,  flush the toilet after each use and definitely DON'T  leave anything in the toilet bowl overnight.

*  Carpet deodorisers.  If you just want your carpets to smell nice,  add a few drops of  essential oil to a cup of bi carb.  Sprinkle over your carpets and leave for 1/2 an hour.  Vacuum up and enjoy your fresh smelling carpets.

Here's the link to the last post I wrote about cleaning products.

Do you use basic ingredients to keep your home clean ?

Basic cleaning supplies

January's Frugal Tasks 2018

During the month of January we've continued to be busy around the home and getting ready for 2018.  I've already made a really good start on my birthday and Christmas present list for this year with lots of purchases made during the sales after Christmas.

We also made a trip to Tasmania with Jessica, Megan and Jessica's boyfriend Eugene.  I'll post more about that trip in next week's frugal task list.  While we were away our garden continued to flourish in the heat with the help of our next door neighbour who came over each day to look after our chickens and to water our garden.  When we came home I had 2 kilos of beans to pick and peaches ready to eat.

Here are the frugal tasks that I remember doing during the month of January -

*  Gratefully received lots of bread bags.  They will be used to wrap food for the freezer and to be used as bin liners.

*  Made lots of  gift tags using recycled Christmas cards.

*  Baked wholemeal bread with extra goodness.

*  Jessica helped me design labels to attach to bottles of handmade room sprays.  This year I'll be giving some of these as gifts along with lots of other handmade gifts.

*  Picked beans,  raspberries and a few apricots and plums from our garden.

*  Saved all the gift bags,  ribbon, Christmas cards and gift tags to reuse next year.  The gift tag fronts were cut off to be reused.  The Christmas cards will be made into gift tags.

*  Refilled the foaming hand soap pumps with diluted shower gel.

*  Made up a bottle of diluted Dynamo laundry liquid.

*  Made the most of the Boxing Day sales to pick up lots of presents for next year.  I bought up on men's toiletry packs and aftershave.

*  Kept the curtains closed as much as possible on the hot days.

* Saved the shower warm up water to keep our hydrangeas alive.

*  Dried the washing on clothes horses and the line.

*  Gratefully received two mangoes and two bags of shredded paper ( paper is for the chicken's nesting box )

*  Used sausages left over from a bbq to make sausage casserole.  I portioned it into single serve and froze for future dinners.

*  Doubled the chocolate brownie recipe to make two.  One was used for a dinner and the other was cut up and put in the freezer.  Chocolate brownie defrosts really well and tastes like it just came out of the oven.

*  Used electric fans on the warm but milder days to save on electricity.

Our first picking of beans

Cucumbers galore

Peaches

Handmade Lavender room spray for a gift

Lavender starting to bloom.

  .

Have you been productive during the holiday season ?
Did you pick up any bargains during the sales ?

Summer Recipe Reading Links

No one feels like cooking or baking during the warmer weather.  Here are four easy peasy thrifty recipes that I personally make during Summer for my family to enjoy.


Creamy Pasta Salad

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/creamy-pasta-salad.html


Making your own cordial is very easy.  Here's my 50 / 50 cordial recipe

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/50-50-fruit-cordial.html


Have you tried making yoghurt yet ?  Here's my simple recipe adapted from The Cheapskates Club.

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/making-your-own-yoghurt.html


Making a Chicken Flan is an easy way to use up leftovers.   Any meat or vegetable can be used.  Just vary the seasonings to suit the meat flavour.

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/chicken-flan.html

Summer Savings Reading Links

Summer is a wonderful time to slow down and enjoy some family time.  Unfortunately the bills keep coming in and many people are faced with a huge credit card bill after the Christmas madness.  Here are a few articles about saving during Summer.


Keeping cool in Summer

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2016/11/keeping-cool-in-summer.html


Being water wise

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/februarys-theme-being-water-wise.html


Saving money during Summer

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/money-crashers-personal-finance/saving-money-summer_b_1414559.html


Brandy from The Prudent Homemaker posts a series each year leading up to Christmas called " A Gift A Day "

http://theprudenthomemaker.com/make/a-gift-a-day

More Holiday Reading Links

During our holiday down time,  I'm always thinking of new ways to save,  new lists to write and new presents to make.  Here are some reading links to start off the new year on the right foot.

Back to school organisation

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/starting-school-year.html


Menu planning is a great way to cut your grocery bill

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/menu-planning.html


Get a head start on your present list with this easy bath bomb recipe

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2017/08/make-your-own-bath-bombs.html


Cath from The Cheapskate Club wrote a wonderful article about cheapskating on auto pilot.  Are you thrifty without thinking about it ?

http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2016/06/cheapskating-on-autopilot.html

Holiday Reading Links

As promised,  here are a few reading links to keep your thrifty minds working over the holidays.  I hope you enjoy planning for the coming year.

Planning  the family budget for the new year

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/getting-your-budget-in-order-for-new.html



It's jam making season.  Time to get your glass jars ready with this recipe

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/strawberry-and-apple-jam.html



Annabel at The Bluebirds Are Nesting blog makes cards to give as presents.  Take a look at her beautiful cards.  Annabel was the one who inspired and encouraged me to give card making a go.

http://thebluebirdsarenesting.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/cards-as-gifts.html



Mimi at A Tray Of Bliss blog jazzes up teabags to give as a thrifty yet elegant gift.


http://atrayofbliss.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/customised-teabag-tagsfree-romantic.html

Merry Christmas 2017

As 2017 comes to a close I'd like to thank all of you for your lovely friendship and kind words / comments here on the My Abundant Life blog and my two Facebook pages.

It's been another wonderful year of learning new ways to live an amazing life on a budget.  I'm so grateful to be surrounded by like minded friends who are happy to share their frugal tips with the wider community.

This year we've had readers from the UK,  USA, New Zealand,  France,  Canada,  Russia, Spain,  South Africa, Netherlands,  Germany and  Sweden to name a few.  The internet has been a wonderful way to connect and spread the frugal living message.

I will be taking a blogging break for the next few weeks to spend some quality time with my family.  I'll try to post some reading links once a week to keep the frugal lifestyle going for you all.

For those dedicated Boxing Day shoppers,  here's a blog post I wrote on how to make the most of the sales and to be organised.

http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2016/12/planning-your-boxing-day-shopping.html

From my family to yours,  we hope you have a blessed Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  May your new year bring lots of love,  joy,  peace and new memories.

Our year in pictures

Our trip to Mooloolaba

Launching our new business

Jessica and Eugene

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 16th December 2017

Only nine more sleeps until Christmas Day.  I hope you are feeling organised and relaxed as the day gets closer.  Both Darren and I have been busy with work,  Christmas breakups and running Megan to work.  Thankfully everything is under control and I've started writing supermarket shopping lists for the next week or so.  I'm even thinking ahead to the Boxing Day sales and what I'd like to buy.
Here's how we saved money this week -

*  Baked four loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness.

*  Dried all the washing on the line and clothes horses.

*  Hand washed the dinner dishes most nights instead of putting the dishwasher on.   Most nights it was just Daren and I home for dinner.

*  Refilled the dishwashing detergent bottle and diluted it by about 30% ( and put the pump back on ).

*  Used the two light rule as much as possible and turned standby lights off when I saw them.  With electricity prices about to rise ( yet again ) I'll be rereading the utilities posts I've written over the last couple of years.

*  Picked hydrangeas from the garden to pretty up the kitchen.  The photo below doesn't fully show their intense color

*  Froze leftover chop suey into single serves.

*  Took lunch,  water and snacks to my cleaning jobs to prevent the takeaway urge.

*  Darren went to the movies for free using the movie money / points he's been saving. Darren books movie tickets for our girls because he gets a good price through Telstra.  The girls pay him back but he accumulates the points.  He tells me he has enough for another free ticket.

*  Saved lots of tissue paper from some department store purchases.  Most of it had little Christmas tree on it.

*  Saved the shower warm up water and washing machine rinse water.  Lots of it was poured on the hydrangeas to prevent them from dying in the heat.

*  Fed the compost bin with kitchen scraps.

*  Picked raspberries,  loganberries,  lettuce and cucumbers from our garden.

*  Gratefully received lots of bread bags.

*  Gratefully received a bag of glass jars from a friend.  He'd been saving them for me.  Before I know it,  jam making season will be upon me and I'll need the jars.

*  Sold a couple of sets of Christmas angels and wreaths.

Jessica bought Princess a Christmas hat.

Our Christmas card Darren and I made this year.

Hydrangeas from the garden

    Did you squeeze a few frugal tasks in this week ?

Thrifty Christmas Menu Ideas

Christmas is a time for enjoying each others company as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Please don't stress about the Christmas menu or go into debt to feed the crowds.  Share the load and ask your visitors to bring a plate.

Providing two meats, a couple of salads or roast vegies and two or three desserts is all that is needed to satisfy the hungry souls at your table. The more you have to choose from, the more confusing it is for the eaters. How to fit it all on the plate ? There is only so much you can eat at one meal and many people travel from table to table ( famliy home to family home ) in one day.

Also, the more you provide, the more likely you are to be left with leftovers for a week. To avoid gastro most foods should be consumed within two days of cooking. You are also less likely to forget what is left in the fridge if it is consumed within a small timeframe.

I've cooked traditional and casual Christmas lunches in the past. Here's what I've provided for my guests

TRADITIONAL

Roast lamb served in gravy
Roast chicken
Roast potatoes, pumpkin and carrots
Cauliflower and broccoli with white sauce and cheese on top
Mint sauce
Sticky date puddings in muffin size with caramel sauce, cream and icecream

CASUAL ( BBQ )

Rissoles
Bbq steaks ( cut in half )
Sausages
Mushrooms and onions
Bread stick
Green tossed salad
Potato salad
Pasta salad
Plum pudding ( no name ) with homemade custard, cream and icecream
Mini pavlovas ( homemade ) with cream and berries

REALLY THRIFTY

Corned silverside ( cooked in the slow cooker )  or
Crumbed chicken drumsticks
Roast veggies  and / or
Salad
Bread stick
Apple rose pastries with custard or cream.


Both the traditional and casual meals have been hugely sucessful and everyone is full and satisfied. The casual meal had a lot more leftovers. We just ate salads and sausages for the next two days. The best thing about these meals is that I have most of those ingredients on hand already so there are no grocery blowouts. The only extra expense is the meat and a few vegies / salad things. The leg of lamb is bought in Spring when it's just over $7 a kilo and usually costs me under $20. Snacks are bought on sale in November and bon bons are bought at half price on Boxing Day the year before.

Roast lunch

Dressing the roast lamb for extra flavou

Apple rose pastries

Megan's custard tarts

Setting the table with all the finery

 
How are you going with your menu plan ?
Do you have any tricks to keeping your costs to a minimum ?

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 9th December 2017

Melbourne received lots of rain this week and some minor flooding in our area.  We are thankful for the rain on our gardens and have seen the benefits with increased growth.

Earlier in the week I surprised Darren with a two night stay in the city.  I booked this 13 months ago and saved like crazy by doing extra cleaning jobs,  selling jam and baking as well as trimming the budget here and there.  We had a wonderful time exploring the city and viewing all the Christmas displays and lights

Here's our frugal list for the week -

*  Picked three cucumbers from the garden.  This is a real bonus for us.  We've tried to grow them in the past but the plants either died,  the flowers fell off or the tiny cucumbers shrivelled up and died.   The punnet of three seedlings cost $3.  With cucumbers costing about $2 each,  we are already saving money.

*  Made yoghurt using a sachet that was given to us.

*  Mended a couple of fitted sheets.  The seams in the corners were coming apart.

*  Picked lots of loganberries.

*  Took up one pair of jeans and one pair of trousers for Darren.

*  Picked lettuce from the garden for three meals.

*  Used the last of a lipstick and eyeliner.  When I say " the last " I mean every last drop.

*  Darren bought his work shoes at the Rebel Sports 20% off storewide sale.  When he got to the counter he received a 40% discount because that particular brand also had 20% off.

*  Darren purchased some new shorts when Myer had 30% off.  When he got to the counter and swiped his Myer One card he got another 10% off.  He then used a gift card he got through Velocity Rewards so he really didn't pay anything.

*  Picked the first raspberries of the season.  I've started freezing them to make jam in a couple of months.

*  Sold two dozen eggs.

*  Sold two jars of jam with an order for a few more.

*  Sold lots of angel decorations and wreath decorations.

*  Gratefully received some glass jars.

*  Baked some biscuits to give as early Christmas presents.  They were placed in a cellophane bag and tied with a recycled ribbon.

*  Saved a couple of gift bags and organza bags from presents.

*  Made gift tags from recycled Christmas cards.

From the garden

Our new Christmas display

Cucumbers hiding 

The first raspberries of the season.

What was on your frugal list this week ?