WHAT WE SPENT, WHAT WE DIDN'T SPEND AND WHAT WE SAVED WEEK 5

This is the first week on No Spending Month, so of course Murphy came visiting didn't he! My car was making a rattling noise, and Wayne was able to fix it, but while he was fixing the rattle he discovered some rubber grommets were missing, so after hunt around he found the cheapest place to get them was from Nissan and to  buy genuine Nissan parts - go figure!

This is what we spent:

Aldi: $21.64
Ferntree Gully Nissan: $21.60
Craft: $10.99

This is what we didn't spend (and what was moved into savings/slush fund/holiday fund):

Coffee: Wayne is still using the Keep Cup but this week instead of hot coffee, we've both been having iced coffee in the mornings, minus all that fake cream the cafes use. I've been making up Iced Coffee Syrup, using expresso from my machine and MOO vanilla extract. Total cost: $3.82 for 1 litre of coffee syrup, that makes 20 iced coffees (I use 50ml per drink). Our iced coffees cost just 40 cents each (200ml milk costs 20c, 50ml syrup is 20c). Between the two of us, over seven mornings, we didn't spend $52.50 on iced coffee this week!

Petrol: No petrol needed in my car this week, I still have between 3/4 and a full tank, so I didn't spend $80 on petrol.

Meals:  We didn't spend $376 again on takeaway this week - even though it was our anniversary and we had some very hot days and nights.  I allow $50 a month for takeaway, but we rarely use it. Being the end of the month, I shifted $50 to our holiday fund.

Greeting cards: I've sent two birthday cards and a get well card this week, using cards I've made. Nice greeting cards cost an average of $7 each - that's $21 not spent. I left the $21 in the gift account.

Petrol: No petrol bought so as per my habit, $80 has been moved to the holiday fund.

Mechanic/Car Repairs: Wayne was able to fix the rattle in my car using his own tools and spare parts we had, and replace the missing grommets, saving on a trip to the mechanic and a hefty bill. We have a great mechanic, and we trust him with all our cars, but he's still in business to make money. He's not the most expensive around, but he's not the cheapest either. For us we feel he does the best work. I estimate the cost would have been around $200, including the parts. With Wayne doing the work, we didn't spend $177. I moved the $177 from the car service account to the holiday account.

Total spent this week: $54.23
Total not spent this week:  $490.49
And moved to savings:  $307.00

Remember, money isn't saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it is just not spent - hence my "what we didn't spend" list and making sure I move money from the relevant categories into our savings accounts.

WHAT WE SPENT, WHAT WE DIDN'T SPEND AND WHAT WE SAVED WEEK 4

Sorry I'm late posting this week, the hot weather left me with a migraine, and then Hannah left yesterday so we were in an (very organised) uproar, getting her packed, checking she had everything she needs, that we had copies of everything just in case, and finally getting her out the door.

This is what we spent:

Aldi: $19.63
Coles: $3.60
Petrol: $65.72
Pellegrino's: $14.35

This is what we didn't spend (and what was moved into savings/slush fund/holiday fund):

Coffee: Those Keep Cups really are keepers! He's still very happily taking the coffee I make him every morning. He didn't spend $21.35.

Petrol: Moved the leftover petrol money to the holiday fund - $14.38

Greeting cards: While the card making things were out I used those odd 15 minutes of time between other jobs to make more cards.

Cooking:  Made a batch of bread'n'butter cucumbers. Coles sells them for $3.91 a jar, mine worked out to under 50 cents a jar - most of the cost was the vinegar and sugar! I didn't spend $20.46 on bread'n'butter cucumbers to stock our pantry and enjoy  during the year (they're delicious on crackers with a slice of cheese for a quick lunch or supper).

Meals: Last week I calculated how much takeaway would cost us as a family if we  were the average and had it three times a week.  All our meals were cooked at home, using ingredients on hand. We didn't spend $376 again on takeaway this week - I'm going to continue to track how much we don't spend by cooking at home. At the end of the year, it could be a very nice $19,552! No wonder folk who eat out or have takeaway regularly complain they're broke!

Hairdressing: Hannah cut my hair for me. At her salon a wash, style cut and blow dry costs $65.  I budget $30.33 a month for hairdressing, so $65 has been moved to savings, from the hairdressing account.

Gardening: This week, before it became too hot, I planted eight iceberg lettuce seedlings I grew from seed, into the veggie garden. I also transplanted two white cucumbers and two zucchini, also grown from seed. To buy them from the nursery would have cost $21! Growing from seed, they cost under 20 cents, and that was for the lettuce. I saved the seed from the cucumbers and zucchini last year, so they were free. The holiday fund was boosted by $21, from the gardening account.

Total spent this week: $103.39
Total not spent this week: $518.19
And moved to savings: $124.53 (haircut, gardening, petrol)

Remember, money isn't saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it is just not spent - hence my "what we didn't spend" list and making sure I move money from the relevant categories into our savings accounts.

WHAT WE SPENT, WHAT WE DIDN'T SPEND AND WHAT WE SAVED WEEK 3

This is what we spent:

Petrol:  $36.65
Onions: $2.99
Aldi: $5.98
Ceiling Fans: $408

Petrol: Prices around here are crazy, with as much as 16c/litre difference. Even with the 4c/litre discount and any possible Flybuys/Rewards points, our local 7Eleven has been the cheapest petrol this week @$123.9/L.  Filled my car, cost $36.65 - a saving of $5.12 over Woolworths, which was again cheaper than Coles this week. Shifted $23.35 to holiday petrol account and $5.12 to savings.

Onions: Joy was able to get me a 10 kilo bag of onions for $2.99, which is my buy now price of 30c/kg. The cheapest I've been able to get them locally is 80c/kg, so a 50c/kg saving. $5.00 doesn't sound like much on its own, but when it's added to all the other savings we make, it adds up to a lot over a year. Watching the small spends has a big impact on overall savings.

Aldi: Milk, $2.99 and I splurged and bought a box of icy poles on Thursday, when it was so hot. Yes, I could've made them, but freezer space is at a premium so 20 for $2.99 made them 15 cents each, and I used my pocket money to buy them (and we all enjoyed them).

Ceiling fans: This was  a planned and saved for expense. We are gradually updating all the ceiling fans in our home. This week we replaced two in the family room and one in our bedroom. After spending hours online and even more hours tramping from store to store, taking photos and sending them to Wayne to approve or ignore (that means he didn't like it, but if it was what I wanted he'd be OK with it - he's a keeper!), I finally chose the two styles. Cost for the three fans came from the home maintenance account, for a total of $408, a saving of $429 (it really pays to shop around and compare prices online and instore before buying. Yes, I had to go to two different stores but the saving was over 50% - well worth it!).

This is what we didn't spend (and what was moved into savings/slush fund/holiday fund):

Meals: All our meals were cooked at home, using ingredients from the pantry, fridge and freezer. According to a survey (Eating Out in Australia 2017)  http://www.the-drop.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/EatingOutinAustralia_2017_Respondent-Summary.compressed.pdf, Australians spend an average of $94 a week on eating out and takeaway meals, and that's per person. Using this as a guide, we've saved $376 by eating homecooked meals! That's a month's grocery budget for my family, for just three meals! So glad I cook at home.

Lunches: Packed Wayne's lunch and snacks every day this week. He's still taking a MOO latte every morning in his keep cup. Saved $21.35 on lattes ($24, the cost of five large lattes, less  $2.65, the cost of five MOO lattes). Saved $60 on lunches and another $30 on snacks.

Baking: This week was card making week, so I made a batch of vanilla slices to take for afternoon tea. Because it was hot, they were my favourite no-bake style. The batch cost  $7.50 to make (a little more expensive than usual because I used biscuits for the base rather than pastry - it was just too hot to put the oven on). Vanilla slices sell for $3.20 each at our local bakery. My batch made 24 for $7.50 or 31 cents each; a few minutes in the kitchen filled the cake container and I didn't spend $69.30  ($76.80 less the cost of ingredients, $7.50) on vanilla slices!

Nails: Years ago I used to splurge and get my nails done at a salon. It was so long ago it only cost $10. This week I did my nails myself, using tools and nail polishes and hand cream I already had. I didn't spend $60 on a set of gel nails.

Made a batch of Miracle Spray. This filled the dispenser for a cost of $1.75, or 87 cents per litre. I didn't spent $9.90 per litre, a saving of $9.03 per litre or $18.06 for the batch.

Total spent this week: $453.63
Total not spent this week: $1070.71
And moved to savings: $452.35 (leftover petrol money  and saving on ceiling fans moved from house maintenance account)

Remember, money isn't saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it is just not spent - hence my "what we didn't spend" list and making sure I move money from the relevant categories into our savings accounts.

WHAT WE SPENT, WHAT WE DIDN'T SPEND AND WHAT WE SAVED WEEK 2

This is what we spent:

Groceries: $4.99 (milk, plain yoghurt)
Household: $260.00 (new mattress)
Chemist: $40.12 (vitamins)
Kmart: $3 (t-shirt)

Yoghurt: NQR had  1 kilo tubs of Greek yoghurt for 99 cents so I bought two and froze them in ice cube trays. The yoghurt cubes will be used as starter for MOO yoghurt and to add to curries and sauces.

We came home on Sunday to a damp bed. We have a water bed and it sprung a leak sometime between Friday night and Sunday afternoon. Ho hum. We  (read: Wayne) tried to patch it. We have a super-strength patch kit with amazingly strong and fast drying glue. After pulling the bed apart and hunting for the leak, we thought we'd found it, so it was patched. And we thought that was the end of it. Nope. There was still a leak, a sneaky, hidden, impossible to find no matter how hard we searched leak.

After a night in the spare bed we both woke up cramped and cranky. After a discussion on the merits of buying a new mattress over hunting for the leak, we chose the new mattress. Then came the searching for a replacement at a price we could afford and were prepared to pay. We found it, with same day delivery if ordered before 2pm. Yes! So I rang first thing, had a chat to the fellow to make sure what I was ordering was the equivalent replacement of what we had and handed over $260 (this included a new liner, water conditioner and delivery). This came out of the household account, which is where I stash the cash to cover replacement furniture etc.

This is what we didn't spend (and what was moved into savings/slush fund/holiday fund):

Yoghurt: Made two kilos MOO yoghurt. Cost: 12 cents for yoghurt (it was 99c/kg!) and $2.88 for milk powder. Plain Greek yoghurt costs $5.30 per kilo. My MOO yoghurt cost $3 for two kilos, leaving my grocery budget $7.60 better off.

Coffee: Wayne is still using his keep cup - and I'm loving the saving.  $21.35 moved to savings from Entertainment.

Lunches: Packed lunches every day, along with morning and afternoon tea. This week I made a batch of scrolls, a large chocolate slab cake and two dozen mini fruit cakes, as well as two dozen sausage rolls for lunches. Our local bakery sells coffee/cinnamon scrolls for $4.80 each. The batch made 14 really big scrolls and cost $6.10 to make; that equates to just  44 cents per scroll, or $61.10 I didn't spend on scrolls (not that I would - we can't afford to spend a week's grocery money on cinnamon scrolls!).

The chocolate slab cake cost $6.20 to make and it filled my large Corningware baking dish (I made four times the recipe). This gave me 60 large slices of chocolate cake. At $2 a slice, I didn't spend $113.80 on cake for morning/afternoon teas and lunches.

Sausage rolls are $3.30 each at the same bakery (and it's not even a particularly trendy bakery). The cost of making sausage rolls has gone up, as sausage mince has doubled in price in the last 12 months. It now costs $4 for a roll of sausage mince, $2.50 for pastry, 30c for onion, 30c for breadcrumbs, 20c for herbs and 25c for egg, for a total of $7.75; that equates to 32c/sausage roll or $71.45 I didn't spend on sausage rolls (and mine are so much nicer, better flavour and not as much grease). Again, I would never buy two dozen sausage rolls from the bakery, we just couldn't afford it, but I can make them without hurting our grocery budget.

Mini fruit cakes are an expensive treat for us. A batch costs $9.45 to make (I get 24 cupcake size from a single recipe). I use Aldi mixed dried fruit I buy for $4.95/kg before Christmas each year and freeze, and Aldi butter. I really noticed how the cost of butter increased the cost of Christmas cakes and puddings this last Christmas, and it has made me think about baking and how much butter is in a recipe. The 24 fruit cupcakes cost $9.45 to make, or 39 cents each. I've no idea how much they would sell for, but regular cupcakes are $1.50 at the bakery, I think fruit cakes would be more expensive, so I didn't spend at least $26.55.

Bread: I've been making our bread this week. Bread at Coles is $1.80 a loaf - my homemade bread costs around $1 a loaf. I've made 5 loaves of bread, not spending $4.00.

Household: My knitted dishcloths in the kitchen were starting to get very ragged so they've been shifted to the laundry and I knitted three new ones. These sell for $8+ each on Etsy, and they cost me approximately $3 each to knit, so I've moved $15 from the household account to the holiday fund.

Chemist: My doctor bulk bills (for which I am very grateful) but sadly medications cost a small fortune. Last week he ordered a bunch of vitamins and minerals for me, to balance the long-term effects of medication I'm on. Some time spent hunting for the best prices and I found them on half-price sale, saving $40.12.

Total spent this week: $308.11
Total not spent this week: $360.97
And moved to savings: $286.70*

*I didn't move the $26.55 for the fruit cakes, the $7.60 for the yoghurt or the $40.12 for vitamins

Remember, money isn't saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it is just not spent - hence my "what we didn't spend" list and making sure I move money from the relevant categories into our savings accounts.

What We Spent, What We Didn't Spend and What We Saved Week 1

A new series for 2018, as so many of you are curious about what we spend (or don't!).

This is what we spent:

Groceries - $56.54 - $16.54 over this fortnight's budget as I bought reduced meat for the freezer
Petrol - $60
Chemist - $5.49

This is what we didn't spend (and what was moved into savings/slush fund/holiday fund):

Petrol: Shopped around (locally) for the cheapest petrol.  Woolworths was 5c/litre cheaper than Shell/Coles, saved $3. This, along with the unspent petrol money, has gone straight to the holiday petrol jar. Just so you aren't confused, I budget $80 a week for petrol. I rarely use that much (very rarely), so when I fill up I shift what's left from the petrol budget for that week to the holiday petrol account. It builds up very quickly, meaning we can travel without worrying about any additional costs for fuel.

Garden: Bought liquid seaweed concentrate from Aldi 2 x 2litre bottles @$9.99. Saved $24.64 over buying 4 litres from Bunnings. I do have worm tea and bokashi tea on the go as well, and these are cost free to make, but not always ready when I need to feed the garden.

Parking: Mum is in hospital, so I've been parking a couple of streets over and walking to visit. Saved $60 over paying$4/hour for parking at the hospital for the time I've been there this week. I also had a couple of very quick visits, under 15 minutes, so I did take advantage of the closer parking - under 15 minutes is free.

Lunches: Packed Wayne's lunch and snacks every day this week. He's been taking a MOO latte every morning in his keep cup. Saved $21.35 on lattes ($24, the cost of five large lattes, less  $2.65, the cost of five MOO lattes).

I ate leftovers, sandwiches and salads for my lunch this week.

Cooking: Made gnocchi instead of buying it. Saved $4 over buying 500g of fresh gnocchi.
Made all our meals from scratch, using pantry, fridge and freezer ingredients.
MOO Pizza - My boys LOVE pizza so every Thursday is MOO pizza night. They make their own, and clean up so it's a very easy dinner for me. I don't eat pizza (well not very often anyway) so on pizza night I have a freezer meal. Last Thursday two pizzas were made, for a total cost of $5.80. To have two large pizzas delivered would cost $26 (according to the Pizza Hut website - 2 large super supreme @$13 each). Saving: $21.20 - and they're much nicer pizzas.

Chemist: Used my discount card to buy prescriptions, saving 15% or $12.80. I've left this in the chemist account, so it doesn't show in the savings total.

Doctor: Asked him to bulk bill pathology. No idea how much this saved but at least $80.

Craft: Used my stash of fabric to make some presents for the gift box. Scraps of fabric and lace I've had for ages became pretty gifts that sell for $7.95 each at a local chemist. I've made six, so a saving of $47.70. I've moved that from the gift budget to the holiday account.

Total spent this week: $122.03
Total not spent this week (and moved to savings): $281.59

Remember, money isn't saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it is just not spent - hence my "what we didn't spend" list and making sure I move money from the relevant categories into our savings accounts.

Sharing the good life

This afternoon I spent a fantastic couple of hours at the Box Hill Library, sharing lots of tips about living the Cheapskates way with a room full of people, all eager to find out more and oh, so very willing to share their knowledge.

It was so much fun. We never realise just how much we knowledge we have until we start to share. One lovely young mum, who had the most gorgeous new baby girl, shared some tips she had picked up for living on one income with a stay-at-home mother of three almost grown children who was finding it really hard to make ends meet.

And there was the lady who excitedly told us all about a fantastic factory outlet she found for business suits, shirts and ties (it's in the Discount Outlet Directory) and told everyone to jump online and register to be advised of upcoming sales.

So many people stayed behind to talk and chat to me and I loved meeting them and hearing their stories. I was so inspired by the single mum who is currently unemployed but still managed to save enough for a deposit on her own home. And by the older lady who grows all her own veggies and fruit and bottles them the old fashioned way, in a stovetop Fowlers outfit. And never buys jam because she makes it from the plums and nectarines off the trees in her back yard.


I took along some washing powder and the ingredients to make some as a part of my talk. It's getting harder and harder to find borax and washing soda, so I like to show everyone the packaging. That way they know what to look for when they are shopping. The washing powder recipe is my most requested recipe - even above the shake'n'bake or the basic biscuit mixes so I love to be able to share it with everyone.

I also absolutely loved the sharing of ideas. It really makes my day to see people sharing their hints and tips with others, helping each other out and making life that little bit easier for someone else. That really is the Cheapskates way to living the good life.

There's No Place Like Home

We are home! We were only away 10 days, but it seemed like forever and it's so good to be back in our own little piece of Australia.

It was great catching up with family and friends, some of them we haven't seen for a very long time. The whole family gathered to celebrate  Granny's birthday, with lots of good food and even more laughter. At times the neighbours must have been wondering what we were doing, the laughing was so loud.

But it is good to be home, even if we came home to a disaster in the front garden. One of our big trees had split right through the middle on one limb and was hanging over the footpath. Most of our neighbourhood walks, and many of them are quite elderly, so getting it cut down (just the offending limb, not the whole tree) was top priority for this morning.

My brother called and asked to borrow the trestle table and some folding chairs, so we swapped them for his chainsaw. It sure made cutting up the tree easy. Now it's all nicely stacked in the woodpile, to dry for firewood.  Wayne put the small branches and leaves through the mulcher and spread it over a new garden bed along the side fence and now it looks much better. I can't decide whether to put daisies (m favourite) or lavender in that spot, it would suit both. Decisions, decisions.



While we were away the tomatoes and cucumbers went crazy. I've picked two buckets full of lovely fresh vegetables. There are enough cucumbers to make ten jars of pickled cucumbers. The tomatoes I will cook into sauce and freeze. Tomorrow will be a busy day in the kitchen me thinks.

The good news is that we didn't spend over our regular budget while we were away. The petrol costs came out of our holiday budget and were covered. Food, treats, eating out and entertainment all came out of our normal household budget for 10 days so we  came home with money over! 

Now it's back to reality, getting ready for school and Uni.  There are books to cover, hems to take up and let down and new uniforms to name. And of course the newsletter and website to keep me out of mischief.  That should keep us all busy. 

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.

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?

2010 - A Year of Saving

Sewing and Saving in a Heatwave

It was rather warm here again today (manged to get to 36 degress) so we have had the ceiling fans going from early morning. They did a great job of keeping the kitchen and family room cool when I thought we would be running the air conditioner so some electricity saved there.

Hannah and I spent some time sketching out a skirt and a dress that she'd like to make for church and decided we won't need to buy a pattern for either, so that's another $20 saved. I am going to use my drafting skills to make the skirt pattern. Thank goodness for an old fashioned Home Ec teacher when I was at school, being able to draft a patttern has saved us a fortune over the years. If you like to sew I heartily recommend you learn to draft at least basic patterns. Check your local TAFE or CAE for pattern making courses, there are even some you can do online.

To make the dress we are going to combine pieces from two patterns we already have. We'll make it up using an old sheet first, just to make sure what we imagine will work, before we cut into the beautiful fabric. It's a black, grey and purple checked organza and as we bought the last of the roll and it was quite expensive I don't want to take any chances. There are plenty of old sheets in the linen cupboard, mum gave me a pile when she had a clean out a while ago and they are great for mock-ups.

Savings today: $25

Total savings for 2010: $85

How is everyone else doing with their saving?

2010 - A Year of Saving

Today is the first day of a year of saving

Everyday the things I do save us money. I get a lot done in a day, having a family and a home to look after, as well as Cheapskates certainly keeps me out of mischief. Today my mother had a hospital appointment for a check-up. Rather than wait at the hospital and pay those outrageous parking fees, I dropped her off and came straight home. It's OK, I didn't abandon her, the tests she had required her to have an anaesthetic so I would have just been sitting in a waiting room anyway. As it turned out she was there until 6pm, six and a half hours! Thank goodness I decided to come home, that saved about $40!

Because I wasn't sure where I would be at dinner time I pulled some sausages out of the freezer this morning, sliced up a couple of onions and made some coleslaw. That was dinner taken care of - bbq sausage and coleslaw rolls to use up the last of the hot dog rolls in the freezer. They were delicious too.

Hannah helped me save a few dollars today too. She has been looking and looking for a denim skirt, but they have been either too expensive or too short (mean mummy that I am). This morning I went through the attic boxes and pulled out a denim skirt I used to wear about twenty years ago. I have no idea what triggered my memory but I'm glad I remembered it. She tried it on and of course it was too long (even I thought it was) and too big but it's a straight skirt on a waistband - a simple job to fix it so it fits her. And best of all she loves it. We'll fix it on Sunday morning so she can wear it next week. $20 plus saved and a happy girl, what more could a mother ask for?

I have been wondering how to deal with the money I save. Remember I always say money isn't saved until it's in the bank, it's just not spent yet? The kids gave me a huge money box in the shape of a dollar sign last year so now it's sitting on my desk and I have put my savings from today into it. I won't be saving $60 everyday (wouldn't that be nice?) but I will be saving something so each afternoon I am going to add my daily savings to the money box. When it's full I'll count it and take it to the bank. I wonder how long it will take me to fill it?

It can be tricky working out just how much you save by living the Cheapskates way. There are lots of things we do that don't appear to be savings at all in the beginning, but actually end up saving a lot of money. Things like:

• Washing in cold water
• Hanging the washing outside or on a clothes horse to dry
• Cooking from scratch
• Only running the dishwasher on a full cycle
• Growing veggies
• Making cleaning products
• Taking lunch to work or school
• Learning to sew
• Doing home handyman jobs yourself
• Turning appliances off at the wall
• Leaving the car at home and walking or riding
• Carpooling
• Sharing tools with family and friends
• Bartering for what we need instead of buying

There are so many ways to save money everyday. And it is those savings that allow us to build fully funded Peace of Mind accounts and emergency funds so that when disaster strikes (and it will at some time) we only panic for a few minutes, until we remember that we have savings!

Ok. I've told you how I've saved today, now it's your turn. I can't wait to see how close we are to that $10,000,000.00!