Painless Ways to Save a Bit of Money this Year

There are so many ways to save a bit of money. That's not a whole lot - like enough to buy a car or put deposit on a house - but enough to enjoy a treat at the end of the year, perhaps a weekend away at a romantic B&B or a nice family day out or a totally paid for Christmas.

One of my favourite ways to save a bit of money is with the 50 Box. We've used this for at least 20 years (the children were all really small, now they're all grown up!) and it is a variation on saving loose change, We, as a family these days, never spend a 50 cent coin. They are always put straight into the 50 Box (and yes, it's a real box I made to keep the kids interested all those years ago) and at the end of the year we take it to the bank and convert the contents to cash. Then we use that cash for a treat. The first year we did this it paid for our family farm stay holiday for a week. We've used the money for a family treat every year since. This year we're waiting until Thomas is home so he can share the fun.

Another way is to match the week to the dollar amount you save. So, this being the first week of 2018, you'd save $1. Next week is week 2 so you'd save two dollars and so on, until the last week of the year when you'll add $52 to your savings. Over the year you'll end up with $1,283.

If that sounds too much, you can do the same thing with saving 1c a day. So day 1, 1c; day 2, add 2c for a 3c total - at the end of the first week you'll have 28 cents in your jar. As we don't have 1c coins in circulation anymore, some week's you'll be rounding up. That's OK, you'll have a little extra saved at the end of the year. Oh, and if you're wondering how much you'll have in your jar at the end of the year, it will be at least $667.95 (more if you round up occasionally).

Wayne and Hannah like to empty their purse/wallet/pocket every night into a money box, adding all silver coins. There's no guaranteed amount at the end of the year but during 2017 Hannah emptied her money box every month and averaged $86. Thank goodness for her bank having a coin counter and for not charging to count and cash coins.

Another idea is to save every $5 note you come across this year. Just pretend $5 notes don't exist and put them away till the end of the year when you should have a nice cash lump sum to enjoy!

My Mother would save $1 coins and at the end of the year she would share them between the grandkids as a part of their Christmas gift. She didn't miss the $1, and the children loved getting money to spend during the holidays.

There are so many ways to save a bit of money, without it being a struggle or painful.

Do you have any other fun, painless, simple ways to save a bit of money this year?

Things that are outrageously overpriced

I had  the pleasure this afternoon to chat for a few minutes with Darren James who was hosting Afternoons with Dennis Walter on radio 3AW here in Melbourne.

I was thrilled to be able to talk about everyday things that are overpriced and if you click here you'll be able to listen to the full segment.

Darren mentioned hairdressing and I agree, hairdressing can be very expensive. I get my hair cut and dried at a local salon for just $27 and in all the years I've been going there I've only been unhappy twice. Thankfully my hair grows very quickly so I wasn't sad for too long.

He also mentioned parking and I agree with him there too. Parking fees are outrageous. Whether it is in the city or at the airport or even our local hospital parking can eat up a huge chunk of your daily budget. I've had reason to visit Box Hill Hospital here in Melbourne weekly for the last couple of months and the parking was sending me broke - $7 minimum each visit. These days I get dropped off and just call when I'm ready to be picked up. My chauffeur brings a book and a drink and parks a few streets away, where it's not only free but far less congested.

I mentioned bottled water. Everyone who knows me knows how I feel about paying for water in a plastic bottle. We have a very cheap, clean and safe water supply here in Australia so buying bottled water is a complete waste of money. Tap water costs you just one tenth of one cent per litre. Bottled water can cost over $5 per litre!

Fill your water bottles from your kitchen tap and you'll save around $844 a year. For my family that's almost three months' grocery money. It's 15 months of mobile phone access for Wayne, Hannah and me. $844 is 21 weeks of petrol for my car (I budget and use around $40 a week at current prices of $1.44.9/l). And if those figures don't convince you think about this: we pay $1.45 or more per litre for petrol and whinge and whine about it, while we pay three, four or more times that price per litre for water and gloat because we're drinking plain water!

Bottled water is not just expensive, the cost truly is outrageous.

Coffee pods are another thing that are very expensive. Aldi pods are $5.99 for 128g or $4.67/100g. I can buy coffee beans from Coles and grind my own coffee for a fraction of the price. Coles Fair Trade coffee beans are the cheapest at just $1.30 per hundred grams. My favourite Lavazza beans cost $3.37 per hundred grams, almost half the pod price, off the shelf and less than half price when they are on sale.  And if you're not convinced or really love your pods, you can refill them with your own ground coffee. I'll post a How To later in the week showing you how, but it is really easy.

So many of the things we buy are overpriced and yet we still buy them. We may be aware they are overpriced and we may grumble and moan about the cost but we still buy them.

We don’t have to. We can stop using those products. We can find MOOs to replace them. We can look for cheaper, better value alternatives. We don't need to be swept up in the advertising hype that has us believing that only those over-priced products will make us happy.

What outrageously priced items do you buy? What outrageously overpriced items do you leave on the shelf because you've found a cheaper alternative?

The CPR (Cost Per Recipe) Calculator

One of the things I'm asked most often is how I keep our food budget so low. This year my grocery budget is $320 a month and so far we are not only under budget but we are eating well too.

There are lots of  things I do to keep the grocery budget down, and I've covered them in other posts, and no doubt I'll go over them in future posts.

But the thing that really helps to keep our food bill down is knowing how much a recipe costs. I first wrote about the CPR Calculator in August 2013, and I thought it was time to remind you all about it, especially as this week I've had two questions just on the cost of recipes in the Cheapskates Recipe File.

We've all see the ads on TV for family dinners for under $10, or Jamie Oliver getting excited over a meal that cost £2.36 a serve (which by the way at today's exchange rate is $4.29 a serve - almost my budget for the whole meal). But then when you get the recipe and actually make the dish you realise it costs a whole lot more.

There are a couple of reasons for this:
1.These recipes usually use premium ingredients.
2.These recipes usually contain ingredients you wouldn't normally buy.
3.These recipes contain ingredients bought at full price in supermarkets.

If you really want to know how much your recipes cost you need to calculate the exact cost of the ingredients. It's a bit of a pain having to work out how though. Or it has been. A little while ago I was despairing, doing the math for a bunch of new recipes was sending me grey and giving me wrinkles. And that's when I decided to do the math once for all the basic ingredients I use and keep a record of them.

And so the CPR Calculator was created. It's a simple sheet with a list of ingredients down the side and a list of serving sizes across the top.

Next to each ingredient you can jot down the price for each portion (and the prices will vary depending on where you shop, how you shop and of course what you buy - organic products being pricier than regular and so on).

Now when you find a recipe and want to know the exact cost you can get your CPR Calculator and do the math, quickly and easily. Then you can decide if the recipe fits your budget as is, or if you can make some adjustments and substitutions to make it fit.

I love this A4 sheet. I printed it off and laminated it and it's stuck on the inside of the baking cupboard door. I use a white board marker to make changes to prices as they go up and down so it's always up to date.

Click here to get your CPR (Cost Per Recipe) Calculator
http://www.cheapskates.com.au/docs/cpr_calculator.pdf

Two interesting articles you may be interested in

In my day-to-day research for Cheapskates I come across all kinds of interesting websites, blogs, articles and so on.

Today I came across two that I thought you might be interested in - one about Thanksgiving, which we could translate to the way we celebrate Christmas and the other on a blog I love to read, Vegetable Vagabond, about a rather unique business based in Tasmania.

Worlds Most Expensive Thanksgiving

Re-inventing the art of sock making, in Tasmania

Have a nice weekend everyone.

I Think Its Interesting

I think it's interesting that so often people equate living the Cheapskates way with spending hours and hours shopping, cooking from scratch and cleaning. They think that to save money, you need to work hard and go without the luxuries in life.

Well I am here, along with my family, to prove them wrong.

Grocery shopping is not one of my favourite things to do so it's a certainty that I would spend less time than the average Australian in a supermarket or shopping centre. I spend less than 2 hours a month on grocery shopping and probably less than another two hours a month on any other kind of shopping.

When it comes to cooking well lets face it, Gordon Ramsay would probably turn his nose up at my gastronomical delights, but even I can whip up a couple of pizzas in less time than it takes to get them delivered, for about half the price of one from the pizza shop! In fact we can have a cooked from scratch meal on the table in under 30 minutes, even if we've just walked in the door after a long day at work, school and sport. It can take that long to decided between pizza, Chinese or fish and chips if you are really tired. By the time you've rung and placed your order we are sitting down to a freshly prepared and cooked meal. The difference is that we have saved around $25 and get to sit down to eat exactly what we want.

While a cleaning fairy is on my 'one day' wish list simply because there are other things I would rather be doing (like working on Cheapskates) you can be pretty sure that I don't spend any longer cleaning our home than most working mothers do. It's no harder to clean with water and a micro fibre cloth or a splash of vinegar and a sprinkle of bi-carb than it is to use an all in one spray cleaner. It takes me around 5 minutes every three months or so to make a batch of washing powder at a saving of around $20 and the plus is I am not lugging home a heavy box of laundry detergent every fortnight.

The point I am trying to make, in this twisted and convoluted way, is that the spendthrifts have it all wrong.

Cheapskates don't spend hours and hours trolling the shopping centres. We know what we want and where to get it at the cheapest possible price. Our trusty price books save us money and hours searching for the best bargains.

We don't spend hundreds of dollars on takeaway and home delivery meals. We have homemade takeaway, save a fortune and teach our children that you can have fun and save money at the same time.

We are not polluting our homes and our bodies with supposedly fast cleaning products. We use one or two multi-purpose products that do an excellent job and are budget priced.

We live within our budget, regularly adding to our PoM accounts and emergency funds.
We eat tasty, freshly prepared meals with our families.
We spend time doing the things we enjoy with our families and friends.
Our homes are clean (tidy may be another matter, especially if we have kids!).
We wear fashionable clothes and dress our children well on our budgets.

As Cheapskates we choose to spend our money, time and energy on the things that are important to us and not waste them on the unimportant stuff.

A new workshop

I've just announced a new workshop, The Art of Living the Cheapskates Way. 

Places are limited to 20 for this hands on workshop to be held on Thursday 28th November, 2013. 

Click here for more information and to book your seat.

I'm looking forward to a morning of fun and frugality, sharing hints, tips, ideas and practical solutions to living life debt free, cashed up and laughing and hope you can join the fun.

Slash Those Home Energy Bills

Every year, most of us spend a huge chunk of our pay packet on energy for our home.  Whether it’s heating, cooling, or powering electrical devices, it makes a big dent. But by taking a little extra time and some small steps, you can decrease your energy use, reduce your bills and, of course, benefit the environment.

A simple way to cut your gas bill is by using less heat. While one degree may not seem like a lot, it can save you thousands of dollars through the year. Try putting on a jumper and slippers.  You can also get a programmable thermostat or just remember to turn down the heat when you’re not in the house during the day.

Cutting your water bill is easy. While it might not seem that high, think of all the energy you’re using to heat the water you use. By cutting water, you’re slashing two bills at once. Here are some quick tips for saving lots of water.

* Don’t water your lawn. If the plants and grasses you’re using in your yard are appropriate for the area you live, you should never have to water your lawn.  Research native grasses and plants and slowly transition your yard as you can.

* Turn off taps. Many of us know to turn off the tap when we’re brushing our teeth, but you can also do this as you shower. It takes a little extra thought, but saves a lot of water.

* Collect running water. When you let your water run so it will get warm or cold, collect it. You can use this later to make coffee, water your plants, do your dishes, wash vegetables or brush your teeth.

Saving money on your electricity bill is probably the simplest step of all: turn things off! It’s simple and easy and most of us forget to do it several times a day. If something is not in use, turn it on. If you have young children make a game of it so they develop the "turn it off" habit.

What’s even better than turning a thing off? Unplugging it. Most appliances use up power even if they’re not on. You can unplug them, or put them on a power strip and turn it off when you’re not using everything.

You can’t live without lights and appliances all the time, but you can switch to types that are more energy efficient. Energy star appliances may be an investment in the first place, but you’ll save in the long run. Even if you can’t afford the upgrade now, you can still make a dent in the electric bill by buying compact fluorescent light bulbs. They use less energy and last longer too.

A fantastic way to cut your energy is to cut how much you use by using alternative energy sources. It can take some investment of time and money to install solar panels or a device to harness wind, but when you see how much they save you, you’ll be happy you made the change.

There's nothing like the scent of baking to say welcome

We are having visitors tomorrow, and they will be staying with us until early next week.  So, instead of putting the newsletter together today, I have been happily and busily making up beds, fluffing pillows, chasing dust bunnies from under the spare beds and baking.

The house smells divine. There truly is nothing quite like the scent of baking to say "home" or "welcome".  I've made a double batch of Lunchbox Cookies. One lot are white chocolate and cranberry, the other are choc chip. And they are big!

Lunchbox cookies are usually small biscuits when I make them, but tonight I have made lovely big cookies, very much like the giant biscuits you buy from Mrs Fields or coffee shops.  The boys' eye almost popped out of their heads when they saw them on the cooling racks. I gave in and let them try one each. And promptly put the others away.

Our visitors are due to arrive about afternoon tea time tomorrow, so I've put a log of choc chip dough in the fridge. I'm planning on putting a tray of biscuits in the oven a few minutes before they arrive so they'll smell the welcome when they come in the door. Then we can enjoy freshly baked cookies and a cup of tea together while we catch up and wait for everyone else to get home.

I love having visitors. Having a full to overflowing house makes me smile. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of work with extra meals and washing and bed making but I love the conversations and laughter and the change in routine.

Thomas has very generously given up his bedroom. He'll sleep on the family room floor and he's very happy about it, he'll have a TV in his bedroom - albeit temporary (we don't allow TVs in the kids' bedrooms).  And he's decided he's going to park his mattress in front of the fire so he'll be toasty warm all night long.  Sounds like a good plan to me.

Cleaning Out the Margarine Container

Something I do, that I'm fairly certain not everyone does, is to scrape the margarine container to get every last gram out of it. When the butter knife won't pick up any more marg,  I use a thin, silicone spatula (I love those silicone spatulas) and scrape it around the container, making sure to get into the edges. Tonight I scraped enough out of the "empty" container to add to the mashed potatoes for dinner!

Scraping the marg container (or Vegemite jar or whatever) may not seem like it's saving you a lot of money but if I can get one extra use out of everything, then over time it adds up.