Tip of the Day 16 January 2010

Textured Paint Brushes

When you are finished with your bath sponges, scrunchies or anything made of a flexible material, use them to paint with...they make pretty designs and they are cheap. Textured finishes can give new life to old furniture and look fantastic as feature walls, especially in bedrooms. Sponge cupboard doors to give a dated kitchen a lift, re-vamp old drawers with a scrunchie paint job - use your imagination. Just because  you're painting doesn't mean you have to use a paint brush or roller.

Tip of the Day 15 January 2010

Calculate the Real Value of Spending

A good way to curb spending is to calculate how long you have to work to earn enough
money to pay for each purchase! For example, a takeaway meal may be nice, but is it worth the extra time you have to work to pay for it? The average takeaway chicken dinner for four means you would have to work three hours to enjoy one meal that is gone in just 30 minutes!

Instead of looking at the dollar value of an item,  look at the ‘work value’ of an item - this is what it will really cost you. To do this, work out your net hourly rate (after tax and minus expenses such as babysitting). When you are tempted to buy something, divide the purchase price by your nett hourly rate to see how long you will have to work. It can be a real turn off - especially when buying takeaway food!

Tip of the Day 14 January 2010

Have a Lipstick Stain? Try This to Clean It Up!

Summertime can be hard on lipsticks and coloured lip glosses left in handbags. The heat can make them soft  and on those really scorching days they can actually melt and run, leaving awful stains on fabrics.  If this happens to you, scrape the wax off with a flat bladed knife. Then using a cloth soaked in rubbing alcohol, dab the stain and rub towards the centre (this avoids spreading it any further). The colour should disappear quite quickly. If you 're not sure how the fabric will react, test it somewhere inconspicuous first

A Year of Saving

A Stitch in Time Saves .....$65!

When I was in high school I hated sewing class with a vengeance. Learning to make bias tape and the perfect French seam was BORING. Doing samples of different seams, fasteners, bindings and hems was painful. Then there was making things: the felt pot holder (yuk), the cotton nightie (so not my style back then) and the woollen, gored skirt (I was a definite jeans girl) nearly sent me, and my mother, around the bend.

My mother sews beautifully. The only bought things I wore were my socks and shoes. Mum made everything else. Dad drafted the patterns for her from Enid Gilchrist books (does anyone remember those?) and she'd sit at the sewing machine, hour after hour, sewing for my brother and me. She loves sewing and she didn't understand at all why I didn't. It led to many an interesting discussion, especially the weekend before a sewing project was due.

Thankfully mum and Mrs Winzenreid (she was my sewing teacher) persevered and I managed to pick up a few basic skills. A few years after I left school a friend talked me into going to sewing classes with her and after twelve weeks we graduated as fully certified Knit Wits. The sewing bug had bitten and I found that I actually liked it if I was able to choose the pattern and fabric. As time went on my skills developed (or my belief in them did anyway) and I started to adapt the patterns to suit my idea of the finished garment.

I would carry a pad, pencil and tape measure with me and when I saw something I liked I'd draw it and go home and try to make it. That habit has stuck with me and this week I stood in front of a dress Hannah liked and decided that no matter how much she wanted it and how pretty it was, $24.95 for what was about 90cm of fabric and some wide elastic was not worth it. Instead I pulled out the pad and pencil  and drew it, made some notes about waistlines, necklines and gathers  and came home to draft up a pattern. 

Monday was just too hot to sew, 44 degrees outside and about 34 inside and the thought of sitting at the machine was enough to send me back to the cool of the air-conditioned lounge. But yesterday was cooler so we pulled out the material boxes and went through them, then made a quick trip to Big W for a couple of singlet tops and came home to sew.

Hannah is now the very happy owner of two lovely new sundresses, one black and grey check, the other hot pink floral and a very pretty pink floral skirt. And all for $12, the cost of the two  singlet tops! The materials were already in the box, leftover from other garments. The elastic for the skirt was in my sewing box and we found a belt buckle on an old belt to use for the skirt.

Now if I could only figure out how to get the photos from the new camera onto my laptop I'd be able to show you. As soon as I can get one of the boys to show me I'll upload them for you.

I'm thrilled with the savings we have made, but I'm not putting $65 in my money box. I'll leave it sitting in the clothing budget. You never know, I may get the urge to actually buy something one day  soon.

Tip of the Day 13 January 2010

Get the Kids Involved

Let your children help with the housework, shopping and bill paying even if their performance isn't quite up to your standards. Show them how you like things done and give them the opportunity to learn from the best possible teacher - you!

Tip of the Day 12 January 2010

$2 Dinner Tuesday

Beef and Vegetable Pasties
Ingredients:
 400g can Coles Beef Stroganoff or other type of canned meat e.g. mild curry, braised steak and onions etc
1 cup frozen corn and pea mix
4 sheets of puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten

Method:
Preheat oven to 200ºC or 180 ºC for fan forced. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Place beef stroganoff in a bowl. Add corn and pea mix and mix well. Cut a 16cm round from each sheet of pastry. Place ¼ of the meat mixture in the centre or each round. Fold the pastry up over the filling to form pasties. Pinch the edges together to enclose filling and seal edges. Brush lightly with egg. Chill pasties for 10 minutes in the fridge. Bake pasties for 20 minutes or until puffed and golden. Serve with tomato sauce and salad.   Serves: 4 Prep: 10 minutes  Cook: 20 minutes

Contributed by Kirsty Harris

Tip of the Day 11 January 2010

Beautiful Gift Boxes

Here's a great idea for getting free gift boxes. Use spray paint on ordinary boxes that food and consumer goods (such as cereal or shoe boxes) come in to hide any lettering, logos, etc. that may be on the outside. Now you add the embellishments: stencilling, sponging, stamping, charms, stickers, decorative painting, yarn, small toys, fabric scraps, snippets of lace, silk flowers, ribbon roses, old greeting cards, etc. to make your gift package look even prettier, and to hide any damaged areas on the box. Not only will you be spared the expense of buying expensive gift boxes, but you're helping the environment by recycling what would normally end up in a tip into a gift box that's truly distinctive and one-of- a-kind.  Start now and you'll have all the gift boxes you need during the year and wrapping next Christmas will be a breeze.

2010 - A Year of Saving

Getting Started

I have been in the position of not knowing how much money would be coming into our home in a week, or even IF there would be money coming into our home. I have also been in the position of having to juggle bills because of the lack of money. It's not easy, I know. But you can live on a very unreliable income and still pay down debt and build savings. And you can do it while living a really good life.

How much money anyone saves depends not on their income and expenses but on their attitude. Yes, having a good income and minimal expenses will give you a surplus, but that doesn't mean you will save that surplus. You could be living on minimum wage, paying a mortgage and raising a family and be able to save more in a year than your wealthier neighbour. It's your attitude that makes the difference.

If you are trying to save $22,000 on a $35,000 income - that's too big a goal. Break it down. For example:

*aim to cut $20 a week off the grocery bill this month. That will give you $1,040 for the year. Put that $20 straight into a savings account.

*challenge yourself to not buy any takeaway meals or drinks this month. That means no fish'n'chips, pizza, Chinese, no bought lunches or snacks at work or while out. A lot of the families who come to me for help say they don't have takeaway meals, what they are saying is they don't have them five nights a week. They forget about the $24 fish'n'chip dinner they bought one night or the coffee and coke they had at the shops. They all add up. Thats another $1,248 in savings.

*aim to cut your utility costs. I don't mean sit in the dark or suffer the heat without fans. I do mean be sure to turn everything bar your fridge and freezer off at the wall when you have finished using it. That includes the TV, DVD player, set top box, the stereo, microwave, kettle, computers, the washing machine, even your clock radio. Do this faithfully for a month and you will see a decrease in your electricity bill. Think of ways to cut the cost of your gas, water and phone too and the savings soon mount up. A ten percent saving in electricity each month averages $300 a year - add that to your savings.

*Put a moratorium on all unnecessary spending. If it's not necessary to maintain life or pay at least the minimum payments on your debts, it's not necessary. No new clothes (even op shop bargains), shoes, books, toys, DVDs, CDs, magazines, hair cuts, movies etc. If the kids get invited to a birthday party, be creative and make a gift and card from materials and things you already have at home. If you get invited to a special event, renovate an outfil you already have instead of buying a new one. How much do you think you don't need to spend each week? Add another $50 a week to your savings, $2,600 in a year.


So far we've found $5,188 you could be adding to your savings. But unless you do actually bank the money as you find it, it's not saved. It's just not spent. To have $5,000 in savings at the end of the year make sure you actually bank your saved money. I'm putting mine in my money box (see the first post in A Year of Saving), where are you going to put yours?

Tip of the Day 10 January 2010

Coffee in the Compost

Composting is the most well known use for old coffee grounds. You can add your grounds, filters and even used tea bags right onto your compost pile. As they decompose, they will add nitrogen to your compost. You can also add your old grounds directly into the soil around your plants, or in your flowerpots. The old coffee grounds will increase the acidity of the soil so you'll want to be careful about the amount that you use.  Make sure you spread them evenly over your garden.