The Week that Was 23rd April 2017

This week has been very frugal, even with the Easter holiday.

I started a Bare Bones Grocery Challenge this week. I need to restock the stockpile, so eating what we have on hand will free up some grocery money to help with that.

I still haven't made it to Aldi to do the shopping on my list, hopefully I'll be able to put it off until Wednesday when I'll be shopping for a fortnight and our trip.

I've taken photos to list a few things for sale on eBay which Hannah will help me do. I have a Bendigo Potter dinner setting for six, complete with accessories (even the margarine container), that I love but never use. It was a very generous gift, and I really appreciate it, but I don’t use any of it so it's time to move it on. I also have some glassware and crystal I don't use that will hopefully be going to a good home soon and this money will be used to help rebuild the stockpile.

We are heading off to a reunion on Thursday morning and will be away for 11 days so I've been making up a meal plan, based on my yearly plan, that uses only what is already in the house for the kids (AJ will be home from his trip Thursday afternoon) and our trip.

I've vacuum sealed and frozen meal packs of veggies for roasts.

Dried the washing on the line in-between rainy days.

Turned the sprinklers off for the year. I'm thinking that now the days are cool and the nights cooler, and we're getting semi-regular rain, we don't need to pay for watering the garden anymore.

All the usual things: collected shower water, cooked meals from scratch, turned lights and power points off etc.

Filled the Patrol with petrol using a Flybuys offer, a 4c discount voucher and another 4 cents off for buying in-store. Wayne bought kindling for the reunion to make up the dollar amount needed. All up 14 cents per litre off - made a huge difference. And I managed to catch the price right before it went up again after Easter.

Made a birthday card for a friend using materials I had.

Took a load of kitchen items to St. Vinnies and cleared a cupboard in the kitchen.

Made a 3 ingredient fruit cake mix and baked it as cupcakes for Wayne's lunches this week.

Last card day Joy generously gave me a big bag of tapestry wool. I sat and sorted it and matched colours this week, ready to use on a canvas I have this winter.

Filled a tin I had with hand cream, emery boards, soap, a nail brush and a trimmed face washer as a thank-you gift for a friend who travels a lot. Everything was already in the present box.

Made some pretty jars to use for a Christmas gift. I'll post the how to later this week - so simple, great fun to do and they look amazing!

Wayne was able to service and make a simple repair on the winch for the Patrol. Saved a service fee and the cost of the repairs - approximately $240, but the biggest saving was on the front diff and hubs. He and a friend spent Easter Monday working on them. Cost of parts was $671.75, saving approximately $1,200 over having a mechanic do the work. Thank you to YouTube, Google and old fashioned handbooks.

What did you do to save money, time and energy this week?