Sunday happenings

We ditched the menu plan last night. Hannah was sleeping over at my mother's with my niece and it was our turn to collect the bread for our church so there were only four for dinner and it was going to be late.

When I was pregnant with AJ, all those years ago, I developed a craving that didn't go away. You need to realise that at the time we were living in a country town, where the only thing open after 7pm were the pubs, and no, I didn't develop a craving for beer. What I did crave was a doner kebab with the works - lamb, salad, garlic sauce and tabouli. I craved them for months until finally, just before No. 1 Son was born a kebab van opened in the car park of the pub on the highway out of town. It was the other side of town to where we lived and it didn't open until 11.30pm but my darling would sit up on a Friday night and at 11.25 he would rug up (it was winter after all) and drive to the pub to get me a doner kebab.

I've been hooked ever since, I love them. Unfortunately they are rather expensive and since moving to Melbourne they've been hard to find. Until now. A new kebab van has opened, not too far from home and they are the best kebabs I have ever had. Wayne and I had one each for dinner last week while the kids were out and oh my they were nice. The meat was so tender, and the sauce was just garlicky enough. They were wrapped in the softest and freshest bread. Are you getting the picture yet? They were perfect.

So, last night, after dropping off the bread we decided on the spur of the moment to have kebabs for dinner. I decided we the takeaway budget had enough in it to cover the $28 required and we pulled in. And you know what? It only cost us $18. We bought a large container of lamb, a large container of salad and a small container of sauce and brought it home. I had Lebanese bread in the freezer so while the meat was re-heating and the sandwich toaster was heating up the bread thawed in the microwave. Ten minutes and we all had delicious, hot kebabs. We saved $10 - ok we saved $9, because the bread was originally 99 cents by putting the kebabs together ourselves. Best part was there was enough meat leftover to make another three kebabs today for lunch. I'm so excited to know that I can have kebabs as a treat every now and then and they won't break the budget. I highly recommend Ali's Kebabs, situated in the service station on Mitcham Road, opposite Coles supermarket in Mitcham if you ever have kebab craving.

Thomas received an unexpected invitation to go to a spur of the moment 16th birthday party today. He didn't get the invitation until yesterday afternoon and straight away went through the present box. He came up with a battery charger and a set of re-chargeable batteries and was really excited about it. I was too because if he hadn't found anything it would have meant money in a card or racing to the shops and both would have cost more than the battery charger and batteries - they were bought with a bonus Coles gift card I was sent so they didn't cost me a real cent. Gotta be happy with that.

We didn't have far to go to the party but we used the new Eastlink freeway anyhow. We only have three more weeks to use it, then we'll be back to our usual routes around town. There is no way known I can justify spending 99 cents each way to get to my local shopping centre or the post office, even if it will only take me three minutes. Taking 12 minutes and saving $1.98 a trip seems a much better option to me.

Sunday night is always roast night in our house and would you believe that I forgot to get the roast out of the freezer last night! I had a scrounge around and found some tandoori flavoured chicken pieces so we had those and baked vegetables. Very yummy and as the chicken was marked down to $6 it was a relatively inexpensive meal too.

I can here the rain on the roof as I'm typing, it sounds lovely. The forecast is for a few days of rain so here's hoping the bureau's got it right, we sure could use it.

Take 5

I was so excited this morning to see an interview I did a few weeks ago published in this week's Take 5 magazine Budget Blitz. Please forgive the horrible photo, I'm not as stuffy as that picture makes me look, really!

Now the secret is out, everyone will know just why we started living the Cheapskates way. When I talk about living the Cheapskates way it is because in the beginning we had to and now we do from choice, we like being free to make the choices that suit us best. I have every intention of being a Cheapskate for the rest of my days.

We are into the fourth day of the school holidays and we still haven't been out or spent any of the holiday money I had put aside. The kids have been busy playing games or catching up on their DVD watching. Limiting the time spent on computer games and TV during term time sure does make them a lovely treat during holidays (and it saves us money too!). No doubt by the weekend they will be ready to get out and get active.

I was talking to Joseph Thomsen (ABC Goulbourn Murray) yesterday about how to keep the kids entertained during the holidays. We were both lamenting the hold technology has over our kids, although we were both happy to admit that it does have its advantages too. One of my favourite ways to keep the kids amused is to get them to prepare dinner. They have to menu plan and cook and serve the meal. And clean up of course, it's not a holiday for mum if she has to do the cleaning up too. We will have some interesting meals over the next week or so but at least I won't have to prepare them.

Another thing we have done this week is drag out the cards and play snap and I've been teaching Hannah to play solitaire. I'm finding that all those old fashioned amusements are coming back into favour as everyone looks for ways to stretch their budget. Keeping the kids amused doesn't have to be expensive and it's nice to know people can be Cheapskates without even realising it. Imagine how good they'll be when they do realise?

Our March grocery bill

Sometime during the first week of each month I spend some time going over our household accounts, bringing them up to date and making sure we are on budget and on track. I've just finished working on my grocery tracking for March. Our family food bill for March totalled $441.07, an average of $99.49 a week. I thought it would be more, we had lots of visitors over Easter and I did some stocking up on some particularly good meat markdowns I came across, as well as re-stocking some pantry staples.

Going over the spreadsheet I was really pleased to see that the bulk of the spending was on fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy, followed by the deli and only $16.24 on treats and snack food. Considering Easter was in March and we had 12 visitors staying for that weekend and that Wayne's father was in hospital, the treats and snack food spending is much less than I thought it would have been.

Having a stocked pantry and freezer really helped to keep the food bill down while we had so many visitors. Being able to prepare meals using food already on hand took away the temptation to eat out or order takeaway, something I'm sure I would have done if I had not been able to look on the menu plan and know that even with extra serves I could pretty much stick to the plan.

Now don't shake your head and think that you can't do this. If I can then you can too. Remember I didn't get to this stage the day I decided the Cheapskates way was the way for me and my family. It has taken quite a while to get here, one step at a time.

If you are just beginning start small. Next time you shop try cutting 10% off the total of the last bill i.e. if your last grocery bill was $100, try and get this bill down to $90. Now to do this you may need to be creative, or really look for sales and markdowns or perhaps change brands or even the way you prepare your meals (cook from scratch and leave the convenience jars and packets on the shelf). If you can cut 10% this shop, then try for another 10% next shop. Keep going until you really don't like what you're buying and eating and then move up a notch.

And to keep track of your grocery spending, download the spreadsheet from here and use it to track your grocery spending. I find that seeing what I've spend and where I've spent it really helps to keep me on budget.

And that's how I can feed my family of five for under $100 a week, even with the cost of groceries going up.

April Fools

Did you get caught with any April fool's pranks this year? I did, in a big way. My three not-so-little darlings (and that could be not-so-darling today) played the perfect trick on me. After years of living with worn out furniture in the family room we splashed out and bought a lovely, brand new loungesuite and it was delivered two weeks ago. Orders were issued re eating and drinking and the placing of feet on the new furniture and I had thought all was going well until I heard a quietly screeched "oh no" early this morning and flew out of bed only to see a cup of hot chocolate pooling nicely on the top of the sofa and three horrified faces staring at me.

That should have been the give-away, it's school holidays and there's no way known the boys would normally have been out of bed at 6.30am on a holiday. I behaved beautifully. In my typical cool, calm and collected manner I quietly suggested that someone might like to get a couple of towels and someone else may like to get a bucket of warm water and the dish detergent. Well I thought I had quietly and calmly made these suggestions until Wayne came racing out of the bathroom to see what was going on. The kids were rolling around laughing at me in my panic. Thank goodness they didn't have a video camera. The sight of me in my pj's having a panic attack at 6.30am would make for interesting viewing I'm sure.

Anyway they finally 'fessed up that they had made the whole mess out of pva glue and poster paint and that it was just a joke. I am positive that if I had been properly awake I would never have fallen for such a trick but they really did get a good laugh out of it. And now it's over I can see the funny side too.

Now to how they made the fake "mess":

Mix some pva glue with some brown poster paint until it's the colour of chocolate or coffee or tea. Then put a sheet of silicone paper on a flat tray, get an old coffee mug and pour the brown pva mixture around the cup, drizzle a little inside so it look's like it has tipped over and spilled. Put it somewhere safe for three days until it has dried. Carefully peel the paper off, and let it dry at least one more day. And now you have a very realistic looking accident to fool people with.

How embarrassment!

I noticed earlier in the week that Kmart had a 25% off sale on clothing so I took a quick look through the wardrobes and decided that the men of the family - all three of them really needed reasonably decent going out clothes. I had a look through our local op shops and found some jumpers and a couple of really nice shirts for the boys (total spend $16.20 for two dress shirts and four jumpers/windcheaters) but I didn't find a thing for Wayne and unfortunately he's the one who really needs some good clothes.

So, yesterday afternoon, armed with a list of what he needs in what colour and size, off I went to Kmart to have a look. It felt a little odd looking at jumpers and long sleeved shirts and long pants when it was topping 40 degrees outside but I do like to get a bargain and I was on a mission. I looked and compared and picked things up to compare against other things and finally decided on a jumper (down to $9.95) a t-shirt for $5.95 and two pairs of pants for $13.95 each and off I went to pay for them. Imagine my embarrassment when I opened my purse to pull out the $50 note I knew was in there only to find that it had vanished! I had no cash on me apart from about $5 in change and I'd left the cards at home on the desk where I'd been working during the morning. I apologised profusely to the woman on the checkout and she very kindly said it happened all the time (just not to me!) and not to worry, she'd get someone to put the things back. And I left.

Panic set in, with me thinking I'd lot the $50. A quick phone call to Wayne sorted that out. Apparently he'd taken it as he left for work and had sung out to me that he was taking it. I was in the shower at the time. With the water running and the door shut. It appears my super human hearing just didn't work as he called out from the other end of the house.

By this time it was getting late so off to school I went, ready to pick up my three happy cherubs. Two were happy. One was definitely not happy and quickly lost her cherub ranking. Apparently I had overwritten her homework on the memory stick and when she went to do her presentation it was only a lot of my notes. I did point out that it was my memory stick and was she sure she had used that one? Yes, she was sure. All the way home she was sure. Absolutely positive she told me in between the tears and the growling. All the way home I apologised and offered to help her re-do it and write a note for her, telling myself off for not checking what was on the stick before I used it. All this in the confined space of my car for 25 minutes on a really hot day.

We were home less than five minutes when she came out all smiles, oops, it seems she had picked up the wrong memory stick after all. I was off the hook. She wanted her cherub ranking re-instated, after all it was just a little mistake. This mother isn't that kind, I didn't let her off the hook so easily. After an apology and a little talk about getting all the facts before accusing someone I did reinstate her cherub ranking. After all she makes a great cup of coffee and folds the washing as she takes it off the line. And she gives great kisses and hugs. I don't even have to ask for.

But sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I'd stayed single and childless.

In the right spot at the right time

It's not often that I find myself at the supermarket just as they are doing the markdowns but I did this morning. It's a bit of the old "I'm just going to get a loaf of bread" and I walked out with 4 green bags of marked down chicken, steak, sausages, chops, schnitzels and mince. There's enough meat there to feed us for a month (about 6 weeks if we have fish and meatless meals occasionally) for the grand total of $86.78. What made it even more of a bargain was the gift cards I used to pay for it. I had five Coles gift cards that had to be used up within the next couple of months (you have to watch these cards, they do expire), all with about $10 on them so I used them to pay for the meat and I only had to hand over $31.30 in cash. The gift cards were freebies from a couple of surveys I completed so I was more than happy to use them to pay for the meat. And I'll confess that I had a lot of fun digging through the meat fridge looking for the markdowns and then working out if it was a good deal or not. My little handbag calculator had a real workout.

I've had an update on Nick's Challenge too. The website www.nickschallenge.com is up and running and businesses are already submitting their discounts so if you're a business or know of a business that wants to take up Nick's Challenge and help those in need please go to www.nickschallenge.com and register now. AND if you are a pensioner and looking for discounted goods and services, please go to the website to view the free discount listing.

I am so pleased too that the Cheapskates Club has taken up the challenge and from today we have a concession membership available all the time, not just as a special offer.

This heat is really getting me down. I must be getting old I think, anything over about 34 and I just lose all my energy. With days of 35,39 and 40 coming up I've been on a get cool crusade. There are some great ways to keep cool and to keep your house cool and comfortable in the Tip Store if you're in need of help. I've already trawled through them and put a few new strategies into place around here, including moving from the office into the family room. My office is at the front of the house and it gets the full mid-day sun and becomes unbearably hot, even with good insulation and fans. The family room on the other hand is smack bang in the middle of the house and so stays pleasantly cool all day. Thank goodness for laptops and extension leads is all I say.

Nick's challenge

I was so disappointed last week when I was invited to be a guest on Sunrise and had to decline (AJ had an appointment around the same time I would have been on air) because the topic was grocer Nick Duggan and the discount he is offering to pensioners who shop at his IGA supermarket in Maroochydore. As it turned out I was able to get in a plug for Nick this morning on The Morning Show, so I'm feeling much happier.

Nick owns a 24 hour IGA supermarket in Maroochydore and he has taken it upon himself to offer his pensioner customers a 10% discount on their groceries and it's available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Nick was distressed by just how tough some of members of his local community were finding it and even more distressed when Prime Minister Rudd admitted that there is indeed a problem expecting someone to live on $260 a week but that he didn't have any answers to offer.

It was after this that he decided to lift the existing discount from 5% to 10%. It didn't take him long, overnight he had some banners and flyers explaining the deal printed and the staff alerted and the registers adjusted.

And now he is challenging all business owners to offer at least a 5% discount to pensioners. I'm always up for a discount so I've agreed to help Nick with his challenge. We are in the process of nutting out the finer details so watch this space. Good things are happening!

The fuel gauge in my car is stuck. On full. I thought I was doing so well, driving very carefully, smooth takeoffs and stops, checking the tyres, keeping the boot empty. I was so thrilled with myself for a couple of days last week. Then I realised the gauge hadn't moved at all. Not even a fraction of a centimetre. Ooops. I quickly pushed the trip metre and yes, I had travelled 308km. That gauge should have moved at least a little. So I'm not quite so smug right now. But the fuel economy has improved since I started this challenge, even with increase in petrol prices.

That 308km has been a fair bit of freeway and highway driving so the cruise control has come in handy. It does improve efficiency and certainly makes driving easier. If you have cruise, then use it. But only on the open highway or freeway please. I really don't think it's safe to use in city traffic, even in the middle of the day. There's only one day to go till I fill up again, I'll have to be sure and write all the figures down carefully. I can't wait until the end of the month to see just how much money and fuel has been saved.

The five year cycle

I've had to replace face washers, bath mats and towels recently. And the sheets for our bed are almost see-through in spots so they'll be next on the agenda. It can't possibly be five years since all the linen was replaced but if we've been married almost 20 years then the fourth round of the five year cycle is almost over so they are due.

The five year cycle was described to me by my sister-in-law just after we were married. She told me that every five years tea towels, bed linen, face washers, towels etc would need to be replaced because they just wear out. I scoffed at the time but five years later as I was cutting bath towels into hand towels I remembered what she had said. It’s true, I can't get any linen or manchester to last more than five years before it needs to be recycled into something else.

This week 15 face washers have been turned into dusters and laundry rags and 15 nice new face washers have replaced them in the bathrooms. This means of course that for the last four nights crochet has been the TV watching task of choice. A crocheted edge around the face washers looks pretty. It also extends the life of the flannel by preventing the edges from fraying and getting scraggy. A ball of crochet cotton costs around $3.50 and I can usually stretch it out to 6 or 7 flannels if I don't get too fancy and do lacy edges. I buy packs of 10 face washers for $5 on sale so they end up costing about 85 cents each and take about an hour each to do. They make good gifts for fetes and stalls too if you need an easy idea. And we have started our fifth five year cycle! Where does time go?

Wayne cooked the leg of lamb on the bbq tonight and it was superb. He's getting quite adventurous with his cooking. With this leg he cut slits into it and then pushed in slivers of garlic, rubbed it over with olive oil and lemon juice and then rubbed in rosemary. Then he basted it with lemon juice while it was cooking. The backyard smelled incredible while it was cooking and it tasted even better with the vegetables. It was a huge joint, over 2 kilos, so there is plenty left for lunches. The boys are off to a train exhibition at Sandown racecourse tomorrow and they requested lamb sandwiches for lunch so I've just put a loaf of bread in the bread maker for them. Fresh bread and cold roast lamb - costs almost nothing, compared to $8 for a hamburger from the kiosk. I kid you not, a hamburger is really $8 at this exhibition! Thankfully my Cheapskate family are more than happy to pack an esky with sandwiches, fruit and drinks from home and keep their hard earned money for more worthwhile purchases.

Those haggling skills have paid off

All that honing has paid off. We've lashed out and bought a new lounge suite - a brand new lounge suite. We did take a couple of afternoons and shopped around, going to anywhere that was advertising a sale and ending up at the clearance centres. The suite we decided on was at a clearance centre and was already discounted $500 (according to the price tag) because it was the end of that particular design. After a little haggling the price came down another $50 and they threw in the Scotchguard treatment and delivery (another $210). I think they were glad to get us out of the place. So sometime next week a brand, spanking new three piece lounge suite will be delivered. I'm kind of excited simply because we have only bought a couple of things new in the last 20 years - our bed, the lounge suite in the loungeroom and our new fridge. Everything else we own has been a gift, bought second hand, given to us second hand or scrounged from hard rubbish. Now the kids are older I'm seriously hoping that the risk of accidental spills and marks will be almost nil. I may have to instigate some new rules for the family room.

Next job is to list find a home for the sofas we have at the moment. Thinking of donating them to the Year 12 common room at school. They are sturdy and strong, just look untidy with the loose covers. I don't think teenagers are going to worry too much about how they look. I'll ask at school tomorrow and if the answer is yes Wayne can drop them off next week on his day off. I'm handing them on rather than sending them to the tip because I actually feel a little guilty at spending money on new furniture just because I don't like the look of what we have. I know I shouldn't feel guilty at moving something that doesn't make me smile on, it's just that I'm still in Essential Spending mode and struggling to spend any money at the moment. I dare say this moment will pass :)

At lunchtime today I met some Cheapskates Club members for a chat and 3 hours later I left, and the only reason I left then was to pick the kids up from school. Boy can those girls talk! We had an absolute blast getting to know each other and sharing ideas and best of all it didn't cost us anything. We all took our lunch and drinks and happily sat and gossiped and compared sandwich fillings. Thanks so much for your time Sandra and Debbie and for inviting me to have lunch with you both, I love that I can read your tips and forum messages and be able to put a face to them. If there are any members in Melbourne who'd like to get together just let me know, I'm always ready for a coffee and a natter as Keren knows too and I'd really like to meet every single one of you if I could.

Thankfully dinner was organized before I left to meet the ladies. Potatoes were cooked and cooling in the fridge for potato salad, coleslaw just needed the dressing and the slice was made early this morning before the kitchen became too hot to bear so even though we were late home from school, I wasn't even tempted to order pizza or chips much to the kids' disgust.

It's time to retire the sofas

Our family room sofas have had it. They've had a hard life but it's really time to retire them. Not only have they stood up to the daily abuse handed out by three boisterous children (and at times various other kids) for 15 years but they were second hand when they were given to us. The covers have been washed and dried and washed and dried until they are now so faded the pattern is a different colour and the fabric is so thin it has begun to split.

This time last year I lashed out and bought two of those loose throw over covers from Target during a sale simply because they were getting me down they looked so old and horrible. The covers have been an ok stop gap but they are loose and so they always look messy (can you tell my perfectionism is showing here) and I spend all day straightening them up and begging the kids not to sit on them. Not a nice way for any of us to live so I looked into getting them recovered and it's going to cost more than it will to buy two new sofas!

So the options are:
getting them reupholstered
putting up with the slip covers
buying a new loungesuite or two new sofas

Keeping the slip covers is the cheapest option, then new sofas then re-upholstering. The constant straightening up will drive me nuts so now that Essential Spending month is over (how did you go by the way?) we are off to look at new furniture tomorrow. Brand new furniture! Although I have a couple of outlets to look at so it may well end up being a brand new discontinued/seconds/cancelled order :) Either way we are looking for a good deal so I've been honing my haggling skills this week :)

Today's bits and bobs

We didn’t tell Hannah what we'd done to her bedroom, just picked up one very tired girl and brought her home. She walked down the hall and went straight past her room without even a glance to tell the boys about her weekend. They were in on the surprise so in true brotherly fashion Tom told her to get away and have a shower because she smelled! I'm sure he was only trying to be helpful but obviously diplomacy is something he hasn't acquired yet. My little girl was not impressed, to say the very least, and stomped back down to her room. There was silence for a few seconds and then I was almost knocked over she flew at me so fast. Lots of hugs, kisses and thank you's later I just had to ask her if she liked it. Can you guess what she said? :)

It was the kid's swimming carnival today and normally it's an expensive day out because they buy their lunch from the pool kiosk. This morning I suggested that they take their lunch, snacks and drinks with them and I'd split the savings between then and put it into their bank accounts. They were all happy to do that and their bank balances have grown by $5 each. I was happy to do that because I'm sure it would have cost more than $5 each for the day.

Filled up with petrol on this morning, all figures dutifully recorded in the notebook. I was so annoyed with myself, I drove past one petrol station to go to my usual and when I put the nozzle in the hole I noticed that the fuel was 2c a litre more expensive. Same brand - Shell - just 2 kilometres further down the road. I mentioned it to the girl when I paid and let her know that next time if I get there and they are more expensive I will be turning around and going back to the other one.

I've noticed this happening with milk and bread too lately. We live about 2 minutes from a large Coles supermarket in one direction but it gets very busy so occasionally I'll go the other way, about 5 minutes drive, to another large Coles. Only difference is the second supermarket is always more expensive than the closer one. I noticed it with bread - 18c a loaf more expensive than the closer store, and with milk - 20c more expensive than the closer store. When I asked why the difference no one could tell me so I went to the Coles website and filled out a feedback form. I received an email to say that someone would call me but I'm still waiting. These two stores are only 3 kilometres apart so surely they're not going to tell me delivery charges are the reason!

We dropped Hannah at church on Friday night to go on a waterski camp with the youth club. She was so excited to be going I thought she was going to push me out the door. We only live about 5 minutes from the church and she didn't have to be there until 6pm but from 5.30 on she was asking if it was time to leave so I finally gave in and we left home at 5.40. We were the first ones there of course and then she had to sit and wait. Waiting can be agony for a 12 year old, especially one who can't wait to get together with her friends. After all it had been 2 1/2 hours since they'd seen each other!

I had to really think about letting her go on the camp. After all it wasn't an essential expense but we did have to pay for it. As it turned out she had some Christmas money left that she was happy to use and as they were all contributing to the food she only had to take a bottle of tomato sauce for a pasta dish. That was easy, it came out of the store cupboard and I'm pretty sure we had the cheapest contribution to the menu. The pasta sauce was bought on sale for just 99c/750ml bottle last year. I stocked up at that price and bought 4 cartons of the stuff. I make pasta sauce during summer when we have a glut of tomatoes but towards the end of each year we run out and we are back to the bought product so getting it on such a special was perfect timing.

While the girl was away I had a lovely time in her room. I spent a couple of hours in there this morning, sorting out clothes, tidying books and toys and changing things around for her. I even washed the curtains and windows and wiped over all the woodwork. All in all the room had a really good "summer" clean (it's way to late to be called a spring clean) and it looked so nice and smelled so fresh. The best part was a little surprise I've had for her: an new quilt cover and valance with matching cushions and a gorgeous fluffy throw to go on the end of the bed. It's bright pink with purple and blue butterflies on it and has splashes of lime green to break it up. Very girly without being babyish - just right for a 12 year old who has started high school. Best of all was the price - $17.99 at a Target sale in January. I found it on the clearance shelf and couldn't find anything wrong with it and it's so cute I knew she'd love it.

I had to go looking for another lamp for the bedside table. The lamp that was there was apricot with an apricot shade and it looked wrong. I didn’t want to spend any money on a new lamp and it is still Essential Spending month so in the end I found some butterfly and flower stickers and stuck them all over the base. Then I used a piece of white sheeting and some pink crystal organza I found in the material stash to cover the lamp shade. I hot glued a length of beads around the top and bottom of the shade and it looks quite nice. Total cost absolutely nothing , everything I used was leftover from other projects. Gotta love free decorating.

I just know my girl is going to be so surprised and so excited to have a nice new bedroom and it's been so much fun doing it. Even Wayne likes the way it's turned out, even if he did huff and puff when I had him moving furniture around for me. I'll try to take some photos in the daylight and you can see just how pretty it's turned out.

We had a lovely piece of roast beef tonight, I know it's not what was on the menu, but I found it lurking at the bottom of the freezer and decided to cook it instead. I made a crust from plain flour, mustard, ground pepper and garlic and spread it over the meat. Then Wayne put it on the spit and cooked it over the bbq for me. The crust keeps the meat so moist and the mustard and garlic flavour it beautifully. Considering it was only a small piece of bolar it was delicious and there were no leftovers! Best of all was no cleaning up for me. Wayne and I have a deal, he cooks outside, he cleans up. If I cook inside then I clean up. I love barbecues, we have them all summer long and if I could figure out how to convince him that winter is the ideal time to be barbecuing then he'd be cooking outside all year round.

With all the roadworks going on around us at the moment the dust is just terrible and my poor car was looking particularly sad and uncared for this morning so I took the micro fibre glass cloth and a bucket of water and washed all the windows inside and out and the mirrors and it looks much better. It will be safer to drive too now I can see where I'm going. When I was finished I used the water to wipe down the sidelights at the front door and they're sparkly again too. Then it went onto the garden. It's still so dry it just disappeared. I sure wish some of that rain up north would find it's way down south.

Love is in the air

Happy Valentine's day!

We don’t do expensive Valentine's gifts at all, just something fun and a bit special so I surprised everyone with yummy pink pancakes this morning :) We had raspberry jam to have on them and Hannah took some of the leftovers to school to share at lunchtime. I also bought Wayne a packet of Chocolate Royals (they are his very favourite biscuit) and slipped them onto his bedside table as a surprise. I found a block of Lindt Coffee Intense under my pillow when I made the bed this morning. Neither gift was expensive, under $3 each, but worth so much more than that because we both thought about what the other really loved and went with that.

The kids were in stitches telling me about the school fundraiser. The Year 12 class were selling roses for $2.50 each to raise money for their end of year formal. Apparently kids were going crazy trying to decide who they'd buy a rose for or how many they'd need to buy. One group of girls cornered a poor, defenceless young man and demanded he buy them one each, which he did! Obviously he has more pocket money than my kids because not one of them bought one. As Hannah said, if she wanted to give anyone a rose she'd just take one from the garden because they are bigger and nicer than the ones from school and they're free.

Day to day happenings

The car was filled with petrol on Tuesday afternoon. I almost died of shock as I was watching the bowser tick over. Normally an expensive week for me would be between $75-$78. The bowser reached $75 and kept going. I was sure it was going to stop soon. $78. I just looked at it. $80. I started shaking my head. $82.37. A week's worth of groceries. Ouch. Mind you I've never bought petrol at 130.9 cents per litre before. I put off buying it until Wednesday morning in the hope that it would drop a little more. No such luck and I am glad I didn't wait because by the time I was on my way home it had jumped up again. All the figures have been entered into my little notebook so I can keep track of this challenge.

I have noticed that driving to keep the revs under 2000 seems slower but I'm still getting to where I want to be in around the same time. I've been laughing this week at the rev heads who sit at the traffic lights and creep forward every few seconds and then take off in a burst of speed, only to arrive at the next red light with me right behind them. Then they start the process all over again. The only thing they are gaining is a bigger petrol bill and a whole lot of stress. All that impatience can't be good for them.

I think I'm all pickled out at the moment. The store cupboard is full of zucchini pickles and pickled cucumbers and now the apple tree is starting to drop apples so it's time to stock the freezer with stewed apple for winter. Just the thought of homemade apple pies and yummy apple sponge is making me long for cold weather. And free fruit is always a good thing :)

With the weather cooling down a little we haven't been going through quite so much drink but the ginger beer is almost at an end and the lemonade is finished. I made some lemon barley water up the other day, mainly because it is quick and I had the lemons and pearl barley on hand. It's ages since I've made it and I had forgotten just how refreshing it is. And easy and cheap too.

Thomas is feeling very flush at the moment. He has been doing some surveys for an educational study and they sent him a $50 Coles gift voucher last week as a thank you. He's really excited because there are some wii games he's been hoping will come on sale and now he has an extra $50 he's hoping they'll come on sale and he won't need to add too much of his savings to buy them. All junk mail is being pored through at the moment in anticipation. He's so determined to get the best value for his dollar that he doesn’t mind waiting and Cheapskate that he is he's worked a deal with me where if they come on sale somewhere he can't use the gift card I'll give him the cash for the card.

Goal: cut petrol consumption by 7%

Still no spending in the Armstrong household. We didn't even get the Sunday paper this week and that is one thing I would have thought Wayne believed an absolute essential :) I will need petrol sometime this week so as today is Tuesday and petrol is cheap I'll fill up on my way to pick the kids up after school. I do need to get petrol. We only have the one car and as we live 11km from school and there's no public transport close by I have to fill it up to get the kids to and from school each day. I'm going to try an experiment and keep the revs under 2,000 and see if I do actually get more mileage from a tank of petrol. According to the experts I should increase fuel efficiency by at least 7% and that equates to around $7.22 on a tank or $375.65 a year (based on 80 litres/week @128.9c/litre). I can't wait to see if it really works.

I've gone back through the Tip Store and the Article Archive and read up on all the tips to save petrol. The boot has been emptied of everything bar the spare tyre and the jack. The tyres have been checked to make sure they are properly inflated. I've been practicing smooth take-offs and braking and anticipating the traffic ahead. All these things should help increase fuel efficiency. Now if only I could arrange to get the kids to school after peak hour the fuel used sitting in traffic would disappear.

Hannah has ruled up an old notebook for us to use to track petrol consumption, cost and savings. She has put a bulldog clip in the car to put the receipts on so they don't get lost and to keep track of any petrol discount vouchers we get. As this is going to be a low spend month we may do trolley crawl and see if we can find any lying around. That could be job to keep the boys busy while I'm getting essentials if they come with me.

So my goal for this week is to reduce petrol consumption by 7% and not spend any non-essential money.

Essential Spending February

Way, way back in 2002 it struck me that for most of December and January all I did was spend. There was Christmas to cover, umpteen birthdays (we have 14 birthdays in December/January) and then to top it all off the back to school costs. Two solid months of money just leaping out of my purse and bank account. While it was all budgeted for it sure did make our bank balance look poor.

I put a challenge in the Newsletter to make February a month of essential spending only. I knew Cheapskates would rise to the challenge. That very first Essential Spending February Cheapskaters shared their successes and so February became our annual essential spending only month. Since then it's grown and grown and now it's time to take control of our spending and saving with the 2008 Essential Spending February.

I will admit to doing some shopping yesterday after I picked the kids up from school in anticipation of not shopping for the next 29 days (it's a leap year!). I found chocolate on sale and as coffee and chocolate are my indulgences I kinda stocked up on a few blocks. Luckily I still had some flutter money left.

For this year's challenge I am hoping to only have to buy fresh milk, fruit and veg and then pay the phone bill. All the others have been paid and there isn't anything else that we should need that can't be found at home. I hope. Anyway today is the first day and so far so good. No spending, either essential or non-essential :)

You can join the challenge here, the more who join in the bigger the savings will be so just jump in, we'd love to have you.

I had a tear in my eye as I waved them off...

After eight glorious weeks of holiday school went back today. I had a tear in my eye as I waved the kids off this morning, they never even looked back!

It is Hannah's first day of high school and it was a most definite NO when I suggested I help her carry her backpack and the extra bag to her locker. Miss Independent didn't realise it was for my benefit and not hers. That I needed to hang on to my baby for just a few minutes longer because I know that when I pick her up at 3.20pm today she will have grown a little more and need her mum a little less. Don't worry, I was just as soppy when the boys started high school too.

I was amazed to see just how much all three had grown over the summer. Poor Thomas put on his school pants and I just burst out laughing. My tall, skinny boy was about 15cm taller than he was in December! He looked so comical with his lovely grey wool three-quarter pants. He didn't see the funny side at all. Thankfully there was enough of a hem to let them down. Did you know you can iron out a hem mark if you use an pressing cloth and white vinegar? Dampen the pressing cloth with the vinegar and then iron it dry over the hem mark. The crease should disappear like magic.

Left to my own devices for the day I'm going to finish off the February Journal and get it uploaded and then I'm going to look into specific savings accounts. Number One son is saving madly for a car and all related costs for when he turns 18. I've found a Bankwest account that pays 8% interest and yet still gives him access to his money if he needs it as long as deposits are between $50 and $500 a month. At the end of they year they transfer the balance to a nominated account. Sounds a bit like a Christmas club type of thing, only the year starts from when you open the account. At the moment this is my pick, for ease of setting up, use and a reasonable interest rate.

Mum has given me more zucchini too. There's only so many zucchini slices, pies, quiche and breads my lot will eat so it looks like pickles it will be for this lot. I like zucchini pickles, they are quick to make and have a nice tang to them. And with only a couple of ingredients they are very economical too.

That lot should keep me busy and out of mischief for the day.

I make no apologies

Yes Marion B., I do feed my kids gelatine sometimes. And yes, I do know what it's made from. I also sometimes feed them white rice, chocolate cake, saturated fats and if they are really sick and need them, antibiotics!

What I don’t feed them is artificial colourings, preservatives that have been banned in other countries because they are known carcinogens, or greasy, salt and fat laden convenience meals and takeaway foods and a myriad of other things that are not good for them.

Gelatine is found in a variety of foods, from yoghurts, sour cream, some cream cheeses, marshmallows, jelly/jube type lollies through to tinned meats and soups, even sausages. While I try very hard to stick to a grocery budget, I don't compromise on the quality of the food that I serve to my family. If it's at all possible to make it myself I do. I am fussy about what my kids eat.

If you are wondering if there is a substitute for gelatine, yes there is. Agar Agar is derived from seaweed and you can get it from a health food shop. I use Agar too, depending on what I'm making.

So Marion B, I make no apologies for the occasional use of 3 teaspoons of gelatine in a dish that they absolutely love. There are many worse things I could be feeding them!

Homemade deli delicacies

There's a forum thread going at the moment about cheap deli meats and it made me stop and think about what I buy from the deli. Not much really: olives, feta, occasionally cocktail franks but not much else really because I can make most of our deli desires. Yes, I know it's unbelievable but I can and do and for the most part it doesn't take any longer than it does to take a number and stand in the crowd!
Most of you know that I had to learn to cook when Disaster Struck. I could cook a steak or sausages and veg of course but I wasn't a great cake, jam, pickle, pastry type of cook. I had to learn how to make these things and believe me I was blown away when I realised just how easy it was to put a piece of corned beef in the crockpot for a few hours and have sliced silverside for sandwiches for less than half the price of the deli silverside. Ditto with roast beef.
I buy a piece of beef or a largish chicken and roast it and then slice it with the electric knife once it's cold and use this for lunches, ditto with corned beef, especially if I can get it on sale.

You can smoke your own fish and chicken too and save a fortune on what you pay at the deli. It's another one of those things that is so easy I don't know why I haven't always been doing it.
You can make your own seasoned chicken loaf for about half the price/kg of the bought one and it's so much nicer and you know you've used real chicken in it. For ham lovers buy a leg or half leg and slice it yourself. Even taking into account the weight of the bone you are still paying about half the price of the pre-sliced or shaved stuff you can buy.
Make a brawn with your leftover meats and you can have it with salads or on sandwiches. It's another old fashioned meat but it's really easy to make. Trust me, homemade brawn is so much nicer than the stuff you buy from the deli, there really is no comparison.
The thing I've found with preparing these foods myself is that it doesn't take a long time and you don’t need to be a gourmet genius and it doesn't cost a fortune. I think that the last 40 years or so homemakers have been brainwashed into believing that cooking, baking and preserving are really hard and time consuming and require extra special skills and that it is easier and better for them to just buy what they need ready made. It's not.
If I can do it anyone can. I'll add the recipes and instructions to the Recipe File so you can try them out. I bet you'll be a convert too.
And as soon as I perfect homemade cocktail franks I'll let you know. That will be one less thing I will be buying from the deli and one more thing I can cross off my shopping list.

The week that was

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted. This week I've done two magazine interviews, one newspaper interview and two radio interviews! As well as tried to keep up with emails (I'm sorry if you're still waiting for a reply, I will get to you) and keeping the website working and keep my gorgeous family at least fed and with clean clothes.

If there is one thing I love doing it's talking abut the Cheapskates way of life. As a result of all the publicity the Cheapskates Club has lots and lots of new members (welcome everyone, I'll be in touch soon), proving our point: Australians are becoming more and more aware of the need to save money, time and energy to have a life and they are finding the benefits of living the Cheapskates way really does pay off. I'll shout it from the rooftops (or talk to more journalists) as long as the message gets out: you can be debt free, cashed up and laughing if you live the Cheapskates way!

Last week was quite busy and if I'd only stuck to the plan on Friday I would still have my beautiful Bendigo Pottery teapot! I reached into the cupboard Friday night to get the food cover out and because I was in a hurry I just gave it a gentle tug. Ok, well it wasn't quite a gently tug, I was in a hurry, and as it came tumbling out of the cupboard it pulled my beautiful teapot with it. Smashing, spout end down, onto the floor. I just stood there and stared at it. Wayne has it on his desk hopefully to glue it back together again. At least it will look nice with flowers in it, even if I can't use it.

If only I had stuck to the menu plan then I wouldn't have been in a hurry to grab the food cover and it would never have pulled the teapot out of the cupboard. I changed the menu plan because I just couldn't be bothered making fritters, peeling vegetables and then making a gravy. I wouldn't have been in a hurry if I had started to prepare dinner as soon as I changed the menu, instead of 20 minutes after dinner should have been on the table. The burgers were nice but I'm not sure they were worth my beautiful teapot.

Remember last week I told you about the laundry disaster? Well that leak under the laundry sink spread further than I originally thought.

I had two boxes of Duo under the sink, at the back under a roll of plastic bags. They were there for emergencies or when I was just to frazzled to whiz up some more detergent. Unfortunately they were soaked by the leak. I can tell you now that I was so annoyed with myself for putting them under there instead of in the store cupboard that I could have jumped with frustration. Just the thought of having to put two kilos of bought detergent in the rubbish bin was enough to annoy me, so much so that I left them sitting outside on the verandah.

There those two boxes have sat for a week. We've had some really hot weather this week and the soap powder had dried to a solid lump so when I walked past it again this morning I had a brainwave and decided I'd just whiz it in the food processor and make soap powder again. Unfortunately the stuff had set harder than cement and not even dropping it on the floor broke it up enough to whiz. BUT the solid block was perfect for grating, on the finest side of the grater. The result: 10 minutes grating and 2 kilos of washing powder and $3.58 saved (I bought it on sale for $1.79/kg) and one happy Cheapskate.

On a much cheerier note the cool change arrived about noon Friday. We even had a few minutes of rain to damp down the dust and freshen up the grass. I raced around opening the curtains and blinds and winding windows out to let the breeze through. The weekend has been lovely and cool so it was a goo opportunity to catch up with some household chores I'd let slip during the heatwave. Now everything is spic and span again, the house looks lovely and that has really put a smile on my face.

Let's hope this week isn't quite as hectic.

Well that cool change was short lived….

The cool change I've been waiting for since Thursday hasn't arrived. I must be getting old because I really don't like this hot weather at all. I like cold days, where I can take a jumper off if I get too hot. I could apply that same thinking in reverse to manage hot weather but I'm not sure the neighbours could cope with me going topless in the heat.

Keeping the house cool enough to stay in has been a trial. Thank goodness we only have two north facing and two west facing windows, it really helps to keep the heat out. I've been getting up early every morning and closing the doors and windows and pulling the blinds and drapes shut to keep the sun out. The ceiling fans have been turned on early too to keep the cooler air circulating. Another thing that has helped has been closing the doors to rooms we aren't using. So bedroom, bathroom and laundry doors have been closed during the day and it's made a big difference to the temperature in the house. At night I've opened up all the windows and doors and kept the fans on until we've gone to bed and the house has cooled down beautifully, enough for us all to sleep.

There has been a musty odour in the laundry for a couple of days. At first I put it down to the pile of beach towels that never seemed to shrink so I put Hannah in charge of getting them all washed and onto the line. Still the odour lingered. I cleaned the inside of the washing machine with washing soda and vinegar. I wiped over the outside of the washing machine with white vinegar. I checked the freezer was still working (one of my greatest fears is that the freezer will die) and wiped it over too. I washed the floor with water and some eucalyptus oil. I could still smell that musty odour and it was really annoying me. This morning I bent down to get the container of washing powder out from under the trough and I found the cause of the musty smell.

Apparently the join from the washing machine hose to the drain wasn't quite water tight anymore. All the cleaning rags were damp and mildewy (yuk) and the cartons of laundry soap were a soggy mess. Luckily the ice cream container was away from the direct drip or I would be making washing gloop right now.

Thank goodness it was easily fixed. Wayne took his tool box and worked his magic with it. Well not really magic, he tightened the screw around the bracket that was holding it into the drain pipe and then wrapped it with waterproof plumbing tape. Problem solved and odour gone (I put the cleaning rags through a wash cycle with some vinegar and bi-carb).

The back to school frenzy has started, with flyers being dropped in the letterbox a couple of times a week. We've gone over the stationery lists and the flyers and there were only two things we needed to buy.

The first was a set of watercolour pencils. At Officeworks a set of 24 costs $19.95. Campion Books (an educational book shop) sells packs of 24 for $11.95. Our local $2 shop sells a pack of 36 for $6.00 so that's where we bought them, saving at least $5.95.

The other thing we need to buy is a scientific calculator. Again, Officeworks was the most expensive at $19.95. Kmart had a cheaper one at $16.95. Aldi has scientific calculators for $7 starting this coming Thursday so we'll get one of those and save $9.95. We'll spend some time this week re-vamping pencil cases, rulers and folders that we have and everyone will be set for the start of the school year. And I won't be battling the shops the week before school starts either.

There are some really cute school book labels available online. Hannah has been busy printing them out and using her new watercolour pencils to personalize them. She's also made some new labels for her pens and pencils too.

Today's Savings
I haven't been out in the car since Friday, so no petrol used for two days. In fact I haven't filled the car up since 11th December. I didn't believe it had been that long, I had to check the receipts to be sure. That's almost 4 weeks and I still have half a tank! That's $320 still in the fuel budget, just from walking to the shops and planning our trips. That's amazing.

I'm part of the January Grocery Challenge (it's in the Forum) and thoroughly enjoying it. This week so far I've only spent $16.65 of the grocery money, so a savings of $128.35 for the grocery budget.

We ran out of the orange cordial I made on Tuesday, it's been so hot. This morning I made some Magic Cordial instead of putting it on the shopping list. Saving of $1.69 on not buying cordial and using what we have at hand. And it's better for the kids too.

I found some carrots hiding in the back of the fridge so I washed them and cut them into straws and put them in the freezer. Have you noticed that carrots have been quite expensive lately?

Added 3 tsp gelatine and an extra 500ml water to the jelly to make 1 litre from 1 pack. Only saves about 30c but the jelly isn't as sweet and everyone can have a reasonable serve for dessert.

Took the shirts off the line as soon as they were dry and put them away immediately. No creases in them so no need to iron. Saving on electricity and my legs.

It's amazing how little things can save so much and without any extra effort involved.

It's taken a few days but I've come up with a New Years resolution

I am inclined to find New Years resolutions a waste of time. Most resolutions made are worthless, they are simply empty words either spoken or scribbled down and then promptly forgotten so I don't "make" them.

I would rather make goals. The potential is so exciting.

Something I'd like to do this year is actually write down the Cheapskate ways I do things. For instance using things on hand rather than rushing out and buying more stuff, getting three meals from one chicken by using up every part, saving water by catching it in a bucket and using it in the washing machine and then re-cycling it onto the grass are all Cheapskate ways to live.

I can't guarantee that I'll post every day, I get busy with the website and of course my family. But at least once a week I'll post my Cheapskates ways and the calculated savings.

Maybe by the end of the year I will have saved $5,000 just by living the Cheapskates way.

Today's savings:

Not enough of any washing to do a full load. Will wait until tomorrow – saving electricity, water and detergent. Saving possibly $1.20

Needed cream for the pav. Stretched the half bottle I had by whipping with gelatine to increase the volume. Worked a treat and a side benefit – the whipped cream didn't fall. Saving $0.99 (the cost of a bottle of cream).

No chips or crackers for the dip. The oven was already on so cut the crusts off bread slices, cut each slice into four, sprayed with olive oil, sprinkled with herbs and baked them until they were dry and crisp. They were delicious; I'll do this again. Saving $1.69 by not buying a packet of chips.

Had lunch at Mums. Saving $4 here.

Brought the leftover salad, lamb and corned beef home. Used them for dinner. Saving $5.

Total savings today $12.88

Make a promise to yourself......

.....that no matter what, if you have chosen to live the Cheapskates way, you will no matter who says what to you.
Often in our journey through frugality our lifestyle, our sense of pride, responsibility and even our ethics are questioned by people who don't understand the choice we have made. The Cheapskates way of life isn't the lazy choice by any means. Nor is it hard.
Cheapskates have made a conscious choice to focus their money, time and energy on the things that are important to them, not the things that the Jones' think are important.
For some of us paying off a mortgage in double quick time is the top priority, for others it could be having the money to buy a new car every two years or take the family on an overseas trip every Christmas. The difference is that Cheapskates are prepared to forgo things that aren't essential or important to them (pizza on Friday nights, cappuccino every day, designer clothes on a whim, magazines, movies etc ) so they can enjoy the things that are.
We don't feel deprived at all. If we want pizza we can make it (try my fanstastic pizza dough) or buy frozen on special and add our own gourmet touches and still be saving money. Looking good is easy, clothes don't have to cost a fortune. Shopping wisely keeps us well-dressed and within our budget and it doesn't take any longer that traipsing through the shopping centres looking for full-priced clothes.
Whatever your reason for living the Cheapskates way be proud of the choices you have made and stay focused on your goal. In the end you will be the one who's debt free, cashed up and laughing!

First Grocery Challenge for 2008

We've started the first Cheapskates Club grocery challenge for 2008 today and I've posted the list of challengers in the Forum. It's not to late to join in, it's never too late to join a Cheapskates Club challenge. You can sign up here to start 2008 off with a savings bonanza, we'd love to have you.

I actually started yesterday. We needed milk and cheese (can't live without our cheese in this house) so off I went to Aldi and spend a grand total of $16.65 for milk, cheese and a lettuce. I'm hoping this will be the last of the grocery spending until next Monday.

If I can stay away from the supermarket, butcher, green grocer and of course my favourite market then will have $63.65 left from this week's grocery money. Maybe if I'm careful I can find school shoes for under $63.65 for one of the kids and then I won't need to spend the money in the school budget on shoes which means that I can add it to the school camp fund and have head start. This is a big year for school camps for us, all three kids have camps this year and they are not cheap!

Well that's a plan - not quite the original but I think it's a better one. Now I really want to not buy any more food this week. Nothing like a good incentive for motivation is there?

I posted in the Grocery Challenge Forum about the huge bag of oranges I had in the freezer. I took them out after breakfast and would you believe the boys have eaten two each frozen. If I had given them frozen oranges and told them to eat them they'd have looked at me like I was nuts. Teenagers!

Anyway the cordial is made and in the fridge and I've saved the pulp and skins to make some muffins and an orange cake this afternoon after it cools down. I've put a huge bowl of orange jelly in the fridge so we'll have a nice cool dessert tonight. I know it won't last long, jelly is Thomas' favourite food. He'd live on it if I'd let him :)

I'd best get off this computer, the family awaits. We're off to the beach for a picnic, meeting my brother and his family and looking forward to a fun day. Lucky this is a grocery challenge and not a petrol one!

Welcome

I have a brand new blog and I am so excited. I love to be able to share my thoughts and blogging is the perfect way for me to get them out really quickly. My new blog ties in so well with the Cheapskates website and for a complete technological nincompoop like me it is a dream to use too. I can add the posts whenever I feel like it. Can you hear Julie cheering? She is our ever so patient tech guru and now she has one less job to do.

I expect that I'll be blogging about anything and everything to do with living the Cheapskates way. If it will save you (or me) money, time or energy I'll be blogging about it. If it helps you to be debt free, cashed up and laughing I'll be blogging about it.

On this blog you can leave comments too, so I'll be able to hear what you have to say. While this is a blog and not a chat group, you may find that I'll be commenting on your comments from time to time so if you add me to your Favourites list you can check back easily to see the latest entries.

And welcome again to my blog.

Blog Action Day

Today is the day when bloggers around the world (and the web) unite to focus on just one very important and relevant issue: the environment.

When it comes to the environment I try to do my bit. I recycle, have a compost heap and a worm farm, use companion planting rather than pesticides in the garden, walk or cycle whenever possible, we have switched all our light globes over and I've finally nagged the children enough that they know to turn lights off when they leave a room and to turn all appliances (except the fridge and freezer - go on, ask me how I know this) off at the wall rather than using the remote.

But I am sure that there is a lot more that I and my family could be doing. Nothing groundbreaking, but simple, everyday things that can become habit. I know that the "green" habits I have developed have and will continue to save us money, just the thing for a Cheapskate.

Using environmentally friendly cleaners used to sound expensive and hard work (to me anyway). Guess what? I use environmentally friendly cleaners and the work is no harder than it was with the smelly, dangerous chemical cleaners. You know the ones with the "pine forest fresh" scents and the "no scrub" action.

Commercially made, chemical-based household cleaners can eat up a large chunk of your household budget. There are cleaners for windows, mirrors, bench tops, cupboard doors, walls, sinks, enamel cook tops, ceramic cook tops, ovens, stainless steel appliances, wooden floors, vinyl floors, ceramic tiles, carpet, bathrooms, toilets, kitchens and laundries. You could almost fill a small supermarket with just cleaning items.

These days I use bi-carb, white vinegar, washing soda and pure soap to clean everything in our home, from the kitchen sink to the floors, bathroom and windows. I even use these ingredients to make my own washing powder to clean our clothes. Instead of spending $1,000 a year on cleaners, I spend around $60 and I'm not adding to landfill, or water pollution and I'm saving plenty of money.

Instead of spending your hard-earned dollars on these things, just a few simple, safe and cheap everyday items will clean your whole house.

The environmentally friendly and cheap ingredients I use are:

Bicarbonate soda a gentle, moderately alkaline, non-toxic abrasive which cuts through grease and oil because it reacts with the fatty acids to form a mild detergent. Use it to clean, deodorize and buffer (you can even clean your teeth with it).

Lemon juice is a natural bleach which can be used for stain removal, deodorizing and mould inhibiting. And lemons are free if you have a lemon tree or if you know someone who does!

Salt is a natural and gentle abrasive and disinfectant, that's useful for clearing drains and scouring utensils. It is very cheap and readily available.

White vinegar is a moderately strong acid that can remove bathroom scum and hard water deposits as well as discolouration from metals such as aluminium, brass, bronze and copper. It can also remove rust stains on iron. White vinegar will clean moss off bricks and concrete, just remember they are porous and it is an acid. Rinse well with water after cleaning.

Eucalyptus oil removes stains on carpet. Simply put eucalyptus oil in a spray atomizer, spray generously on the stain, and wipe with a clean absorbent cloth. It is also very useful for getting sticky stuff off almost anything.

I use these ingredients to make up these cleaning products for use in our home:

Window and Mirror Cleaner
1 part vinegar, 3 parts water

Put vinegar in a spray bottle and fill to top with water. Spray on surface. Rub with an old cloth nappy, lint-free rag, or sheets of newspaper. For outdoor windows use a sponge and wash with warm water mixed with a few drops of liquid soap. Rinse well and squeegee dry.

Vinyl Floor Cleaner
½ cup vinegar, bucket of warm water

Mop with a mixture of ½ cup vinegar in a bucket of warm water. The vinegar odour will go away shortly after the floor dries.

Copper Cleaner
1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt, water, vegetable
oil (optional)

Mix vinegar and salt (a tablespoon of each) and apply to surface with a rag. Rinse thoroughly with water to prevent corrosion. Apply a little vegetable oil with a cloth and rub for a shiny appearance. Do not use this cleaner on lacquered finishes.

Drain Cleaner
½ cup bicarbonate soda, ½ cup vinegar, boiling water

This recipe will free minor clogs and help prevent future clogs. Pour bicarbonate soda down the drain first, then the vinegar. Let it fizz for a few minutes. Pour a teakettle full of boiling water down the drain to clear it. Repeat if needed. If the clog is stubborn, use a plunger.

Washing Powder
This has to be the cheapest and best value laundry detergent around.

Ingredients:
1 bar soap, grated
1 cup washing soda (Lectric Soda)
1/2 cup borax

Mix together and store in a sealed container. Use 3 scant teaspoons per load for a top-loader and 1 scant teaspoon per load for a front loader. You can use up the small slivers of toilet soap you collect if you like, ordinary bath soap or laundry soap. This recipe is ideal for using up all the leftovers you collect in the family bathroom. This detergent won’t produce masses of suds, but it will get your clothes clean.

Optional:
Give the washing powder an extra boost if you wash really dirty or greasy clothes by adding one small box of bi-carb soda to the mix.

All Purpose Cleaner

Combine in a clean spray bottle:
Two teaspoons of borax,
Two teaspoons baking soda,
1 quart water

Spray on, wait a few seconds and then wipe off with a damp cloth.

So Long, Farewell

At 7.30am yesterday morning I said goodbye to my best friends and their two gorgeous babies as they walked into the Customs hall at Melbourne Airport to fly out to live in America. I am going to miss them like crazy. Even if we didn't see each other every week we still talked almost every day about everything going on in our lives. The last words I heard were "We'll be on Skype in about 24 hours" and they cheered me up no end. We have used Skype to chat for ages and it is just brilliant and free so I'm looking forward to chatting to them as they settle in their new home. Just have to remember the time difference (and I hope they do too, I'm not the most lucid in the middle of the night!). One good thing about the rise in the Aussie dollar is that visiting them won't be quite so expensive (I hope). The Internet will be very handy when it comes to researching cheap airfares, accommodation and car hire and I already have the specials page at www.disneyworld.com bookmarked :)

It was another early start this morning too, 5.45am, to get Hannah up and ready for her school trip to Canberra. Thank goodness I organized breakfast and her lunch last night. We were told that there would be no eating on the bus (fair enough too) and only one stop before lunch so I wanted her to have a really decent breakfast because of the early start and the long wait until she could eat. Crockpot porridge, and pancakes with peaches and yoghurt should have filled her up. Freshly squeezed orange juice (I used the left-overs in an orange cake)finished off her huge breakfast. Actually the boys had exactly the same as they had to get up at the same time. There was no way I was going to make two trips to school this morning, so the boys had to come with me at 6.30. There's a Golden Arches close by so we sat there reading the paper until it was time for them to walk to school.

I'm planning on getting her room spring cleaned this week. It will be so much easier without Miss Hannah putting things back as fast as I put them in the op shop pile. She has a favourite shirt, miles too small for her, that must be part boomerang. I put it out at least twice a year and next time I open the drawer it's back! Anyway the op shop pile will be huge this time, she's had a growth spurt that seems to have lasted for 3 months and nothing fits anymore. Thank goodness for friends with daughters a year or so older and their spendthrift ways. Hand me downs are fine and it's a bonus if they are recognized brand names and labels according to my fashion conscious almost a teenage daughter. Good thing I say.

The mending pile didn't go away while I was away unfortunately so I still have pants to hem, buttons to replace and even a necktie to re-stitch. It seems the only fairies that visited during our holiday were the dust ones. Did you know that you can remove a hem mark with white vinegar? The tip is in the Tip Store. Another great idea is nail polish to keep buttons on - this is one I will definitely be using when I tackle the mending tonight.

Fish & Chips

I've been slack about blogging the last few days. I seem to be well and truly in holiday mode at the moment and thoroughly enjoying it. It's hard to believe that we've been away a week already and have hardly put a dent in the holiday budget! There are so many fun things to do in Sydney that don't cost an arm and a leg. Our biggest expenses so far have been petrol (duh, it's school holidays here now and it's reflected in the price of petrol) and the motel in Cowra (and we found that on wotif.com.au and saved a bundle too).

I don't care what the oil companies say, petrol prices go up for the weekend and then up again for any holidays and school holidays are no exception. I am so glad I have been saving the fuel dockets - even an extra $2.80 in my pocket is something. Shopping at Aldi and the markets fuel dockets are hard to come by but Wayne's mum shops at BiLo (I miss BiLo) and Coles every week and she has very generously passed a half dozen on to us. Wayne still checks out the price at each service station and buys it where it's cheapest. Even on holidays he's a Cheapskater.

Today was glorious, sunny and hot, really hot! Our excursion today was up to Brooklyn, on the Hawkesbury for fish and chips - yummy. Because it was going to be so hot we packed extra bottles of water and took a second cooler bag with us and we were all grateful by mid-afternoon. My legs are a little sore from all the walking we did. Hannah, Mum and I followed the path around the water's edge for an hour or so and then back again while the boys went off to take photos and look for some trains.

They were waiting on a particular freight train to come through, apparently Wayne doesn't have a photo of the loco in his collection and it's one he needs to complete it. Another 67 photos taken today, thank goodness for digital cameras and only printing what you want. I shudder to think how much it would cost us in film processing. We buy the most amazing photo paper from a $2 Shop at Kmart Plaza in East Burwood and it's only - you guessed it - $2 a pack of 24 A4 sheets. After spending up to $30 a packet while we were working out which paper was the best I can tell you that the $2 is brilliant and we have even converted a couple of avid photographers over to it.

We had our fish and chips for lunch and boy were they nice. The fish was expensive but the chips were reasonable - a huge box for $5.80 and the 7 of us had some with plenty leftover. I'd buttered a loaf of bread and packed tomato sauce and tartare sauce (homemade of course) and some fruit so we had a feast under the palms until the wind came up and made it unpleasant. We took the old Pacific Highway home and stopped at Pie in the Sky for pies for dinner. They were delicious and I picked up some ideas for different pies to try in the pie maker. I'm pretty sure I could make 4 pies for the price of 1 from this very busy pie shop but we're on holidays and treats are part of the fun and what holiday budgets are for.

On the road again…..

Wow it gets daylight so early in Cowra! We had the sun peeping through the curtains at 5.30am! Wayne was up and off before 6am with camera at the ready to take photos of the station and the view across the valley. With the sun on the frosty fields the pictures are stunning.

An hour later he was back and we were all waiting for breakfast before we hit the road. The boys could hardly wait to get to Bathurst – Mt. Panorama here we come! The Mt. Panorama circuit is much more interesting in person. Television really doesn't do the hills and curves any justice.

As we drove around the track we had a running commentary from Wayne. “We camped up there in 1987”, “this is the bend that Dick Johnson missed. He went straight over the edge”, “these concrete barriers haven't always been here, loads of cars would drive off the road” and so on all the way around.

I feel sorry for the residents. For most of the year they have peace and incredible views but I'm not sure that they are worth the three weeks of mayhem, madness and incredible noise that is Bathurst.

Next stop Lithgow with all its history. More photos of bridges and a visit to the rail museum. The highlight of our visit to Lithgow was finding some old diesel locos hidden away in a paddock on the Bells Line of Road. Allan and Wayne were in heaven!

We had lunch at Clarence at the Zig Zag Railway (of course!), picnicking in the sun. No steam trains running today, the train was being pulled by a rail motor. Pity, I love steam trains. We were talking a few days ago about how in the not to distant future young people and children won't know what a full size steam train is. They'll be able to see scaled down models (there are plenty around, Diamond Valley Railway, Wagga Wagga Society of Model Engineers etc) and ride on the back of them, but they won't see the majesty and feel the power of those huge steam locomotives.

From Clarence we went back across to Mt. Victoria and on to Katoomba. Echo Point is the place to see the Three Sisters. It was chockers with tourists and we were more than happy to blend in with the camera carrying crowds, lining up to take pictures of everyone with the main attraction in the background. Parking there is the killer - $3.50 an hour! We made sure we only stayed the hour, doing the short walk and avoiding the information centre and gift shop all together. Looking out off the point it was easy to see why the mountains were given their name. They really did look blue through the haze. I'm just not sure if it was from the eucalypts or if it was pollution! I'm hoping it was the eucaplypts.

Wayne gave the kids another history lesson as we made our way down the mountain. Wentworth Falls, Lawson, Blaxland and Springwood, the first settlement in the mountains. I'm not sure if it's because we're living in Victoria or not, but they didn't really know much about the history of the mountains and their exploration at all. Thomas is a bit of a history buff and he lapped it up, loving that Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson defied the thinking of the day and followed the ridges rather than the valleys and succeeded where others had failed.

It was a very easy day travelling wise, with lots of stops and plenty of sightseeing but I was very happy to reach Sydney and be able to sit down in a comfy chair with a cuppa. Tomorrow will be here soon enough.

On the road

It's 5am and the alarm has gone off – ALREADY! It feels like I've just gone to bed. Wayne has jumped up and into the shower and the kids have all thrown themselves out of bed (I know because I heard the thumps as they hit the floor). Why can't they get up this quickly on a school day?

We are off on our holiday this morning. Up the Hume Highway, stopping at Glenrowan (this is a tradition, we stop here and have our breakfast), then onto Albury, Wagga Wagga, Junee, Young and overnight in Cowra.

We had a small break with tradition and decided to stop at the Golden Arches for breakfast. Hmm… It was a nice treat for the kids but I think we all prefer our own picnic breakfast. The queues were long and we had to wait for half our order,while the other half went cold. Not to worry, we were all making jokes about it and it was a good break and a chance to stretch those legs.

I haven't been along the Hume since the Albury bypass opened – what a joy to not have to stop and start at all those traffic lights. The only thing I'm going to miss is the stop at the park to watch the paddle steamer. Turning off at Gerogery, we followed the Olympic Highway (I'm old enough to remember when it was the Olympic Way) through to Wagga. We giggled over the sign stating 107kms to Wagga – we didn't know it had moved!

Of course all along this particular route we had followed the train line much to Wayne and Allan's delight. Every now and then we stopped so they could jump out and take a photo. Thank goodness for digital cameras, between them they took 143 photos! Lunch in Cootamundra, at the station of course, while they waited for the down-line XPT. The train was running 40 minutes late so we had a very lazy picnic in the sun and the wind. It was blowing such a gale the picnic basket blew over and milk and coffee went everywhere! Fortunately we keep a couple of old towels in the boot of the car, they came in very handy to mop up the mess.

A petrol stop made me very glad that we live in suburbia these days. At 135.9c per litre my heart bleeds for country motorists, especially when they have no choice but to travel such long distances. We continued on our journey, through Young, the cherry capital of New South Wales, and I thoroughly enjoyed the hill sides covered in cherry blossom. It was so pretty and a sure sign of spring time. And yes, we did get some photos.

Finally, much to Hannah's relief we arrived in Cowra. What a lovely town and there is so much for visitors to do. The Steam Museum kept the boys happy for an hour, and the Japanese gardens are amazing and well worth the visit but we had the most fun at the Fun Museum. This museum incorporates Railway, War and local memorabilia and it is so interesting. We were given a sheet with 32 things to find around the museum and it was the best thing for keeping the kids interested in the displays. They had to find things like an Irish teaspoon, a Kangaroo butter churn, a model of a steam train made from charcoal as well as other things and they had to search the information on the exhibits to get the answers. Even I had fun on this treasure hunt and it was educational to boot!

We can also recommend a visit to the Country Music Museum (you should have seen the looks on the kids' faces when I told them we were going there!). Even if you're not a country music fan (we're not particularly) it is interesting and quite interactive too.

Tthe Alabaster motel, the only one we could find with a family room that actually slept 5. was our overnight accommodation. I wonder who decided that families were limited to 4 members? It was lovely, spotlessly clean and the cheapest we could find too. It was booked it before we left on wotif.com.au and saved $34 off the rack rate. made me very happy and it was so easy.

We all fell into bed exhausted at 9 o'clock. Day one of our holiday was great!

Back to winter

It is absolutely freezing here this afternoon. Gusty winds, showers (yay!) and dark, brooding skies all encouraged me to bring in some wood and light the fire. It's so cold I've made some hot chocolate mix ready for when the kids get home from school. Hannah has swimming this afternoon so she will be cold and damp and looking for something to warm her up. A hot chocolate and then into the shower will do wonders for her. Luckily this is a bulk mix because my boys love hot chocolate and they'll have two each. Thank goodness it's cheap and easy to make. Hannah has a camp next weekend too so I've bagged some up for her to take with her. I'll make some marshamallows for her to take too. Funnily enough these are cheap and easy to make as well.

I love living the Cheapskates way. There are so many things that are easy to make at home, from scratch that are much, much cheaper than buying them. This week I've made pizzas, bread, steak and mushroom and apple pies, yoghurt, seasoned wedges, double choc chip muffins and shortbread. Goodness when I see that list I feel exhausted but it was really easy to do and didn't take long. With two children that have allergies and food intolerances reading food labels is a priority in our home. I love that by spending time cooking instead of shopping I know exactly what my family are eating.

Sunday we will be celebrating Thomas' birthday with the family and I'm hoping for a nice warm day because I've planned a bbq. When I did the shopping last month I made up a bbq pack and put it at the back of the freezer just for the party. There's a reason I planned a bbq :) Somehow cooking it all inside just won't be the same, especially as it will be me doing the cooking and not Wayne!

Not so budget friendly bikkies

Our school Home and School committee does a lot of fundraising throughout the year so that the kids have great playground equipment, extra tools in the classroom, fantastic excursions and incursions and incredible Interest Group activities and I love to support them in their endeavours, I really do.

When Hannah brought home her newsletter folder and neatly tucked inside it was an order form for the latest fundraiser – biscuit dough in a bucket, ready to use or freeze, I was happy to have a look at it, all ready to tick some boxes and buy some to support the Home and School. Ho hum!
The selection sounds lovely: Golden Light, Chocolate Chunk, Oatmeal Raisin, Ginger, White Chunk Macadamia and ANZACs. For $13 ($14 if I order ANZACs) I'll get enough cookie dough to make 50 – yes 50 – biscuits!

Ok, maybe I really am a mean Cheapskate but even for a good cause I cannot see the value in paying $13 or $14 for 50 biscuits, especially when the Member's Centre has recipes for the same biscuits and for a lot less than $13 (Lunchbox cookies run about 100 cookies for under $5).

I'm still trying to figure out how to tell them diplomatically that this isn't a fundraiser, it's highway robbery with a bikkie sweetener at the end and I prefer to make my own thank you very much.

Billycarts and blisters

We spent yesterday at the annual Weetbix Billycart Grandprix. The kids each enter a school team and they have an absolute ball. I'm sure it's the best $9 we spend all year. To see hundreds and hundreds of kids (of all ages, including some who should probably know better) having fun the old-fashioned way is fantastic.

These are real billycarts. No motors to make pushing easy. This is real, physical work and those little legs must really ache the next day. And don't think the driver gets off easy, they don't. In fact I think the driver has the most dangerous job – some of the stacks around the course yesterday were quite spectacular.

The weather was fabulous, sunny and warm and the crowd was so well behaved. We ate our picnic (homemade rolls, cream cheese spread, crisp lettuce and slice smoked chicken – yum) and drank our thermos of coffee while everyone else lined up to pay $2.50 for a bucket of chips or $5 for a small plate of pancakes! With some nice fresh ginger kisses for dessert we were sitting pretty, up in the grandstand right opposite the start/finish line.

Hannah's team came second in the Leader Dash for the grade 5/6 age group so they were very excited. They didn't fare quite so well in the actual race, a huge crash put them second last but they still had fun and after all that was the point of the day. Every one of them was at school today, tired and sore and blistered though they were.

It was a great day, cost hardly anything and we all had so much fun. I can hardly wait til next year.

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Spring is early

Today I feel like spring has come early it's so sunny and bright. Sunshine is such a mood lifter isn't it? I get so energised on sunny days and today is no exception.

So far I've whipped through our usual morning routine, dusted and tidied through (amazing how sunshine shows up dust on furniture), tidied the linen cupboard (this was a job I've been putting off for ages), hung out three loads of washing (yay – sheets and towels all out in the sun) and put some muffins in the oven for snacks and lunchbox treats.

We had a frost this morning and the backyard looked stunning with the fence and grass all silvery and shimmering in the sunlight. Aren't we blessed that we can admire the beauty nature provides us free? Can you imagine how much that picture through the kitchen window would have cost me this morning if someone could figure out a way to charge for it?

This last lot of wintry weather encouraged the boys to ask for warmies for watching TV and doing homework so this afternoon I'll be cutting and tying fringes around two new fleece blankets. I'll post a picture of the finished warmies later on.

Anne Ferrier emailed about the apple slinkies, with a question about the gadget. I'll post a picture of this too so you can see what it looks like. We are still going through apples at a great rate of knots, the novelty hasn't worn off. I even caught Wayne making one last night!

Julie and I have been busy working on new features for the Member's Centre including the Article Archive and the Recipe File. I can't wait to get them finished, especially the recipe file and I know you'll love them.

If you have any suggestions for the website please let us know. We've created a Suggestion Box and I can't wait to see what you come up with. You'll find it in the Menu (on the left hand side of this page) so please, whenever you think of something, add a suggestion and we'll see what we can do.

Frugal Friday

Friday is usually my day out with Mum. I really look forward to it (actually I really look forward to morning tea). Today I am at home. Thomas is sick, not really, really sick, just sick. You know when your kids are too quiet, too still and just don't look right? Well that's Thomas at the moment. I'm keeping an eye on him just in case he is coming down with the flu, especially as it's particularly nasty this year.

With a sick boy I wasn't too keen on going out and leaving him at home so I have spend the day here. It has been rather nice. Two loads of washing done, out and dried (thank goodness for such strong winds), floors swept, mopped and vacuumed, lounge has been dusted and the bathrooms have been cleaned. A sparkly clean house is such a nice way to start a weekend.

Hannah asked for potato pie for dinner tonight, so it's been made and is ready to pop in the oven. The ratatouille is simmering on the stove and I have even put a loaf of bread on. Fresh baked bread is so nice with this dinner and really easy with the bread maker.

I found some “senior” veggies in the crispers so they are in the crockpot with some stock from the freezer and a tin of tomatoes and we will have soup for lunch tomorrow. I may even get another loaf of bread made.

Instead of going out just for milk I made some powdered milk up and added it to the half a bottle of fresh in the fridge. That will see us through until Monday if I use powdered milk for cooking.

Because the kids have been eating apples this week there were a few oranges left in the bowl, starting to look a little sad. They were perfect to use in an orange cake and this recipe is one of our favourites.

Orange Cake
1 Orange
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs 1
1/4 cups oil*
2 cups SR flour

Place the whole orange, sugar, eggs and oil in a food processor and blend well. Add sifted flour. Whizz until flour is mixed into orange mixture. Bake in a greased and lined loaf tin at 180 degrees for 45 min until cooked.

*Olive oil gives a very moist cake but can leave a “taste”. I like to use half vegetable oil, half olive oil. The result is a lovely moist cake without the taste of the olive oil.

It has been a very frugal Friday with no money spent today and only minimal petrol used (just to get AJ and Hannah to and from school). The house is clean and tidy and smells lovely with the soup cooking away and the aroma of fresh baked bread. It's Friday and we have the whole weekend ahead of us. I am feeling very contented.

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I forgot to get the groceries!

I have had a particularly busy couple of week, what with one thing and another but really HOW could I forget to do the grocery shopping? I do our big food stock up every fourth Friday without fail, much to the family's relief. This month I forgot that it had been four weeks since I'd stocked up.

I was so busy running in and out that I only half noticed that the pantry and freezer were getting low. I did notice that we were out of Weet-bix and had a chat with the boys about eating them as a snack and perhaps cutting back. My boys are so loving, they just agreed with me and promised to cut back on their “cereal” snacking. It honestly never occurred to me that we were out of breakfast cereal because I hadn't been to the shops.

If I hadn't done some banking and wondered why the house account had so much money in it I would probably still be living and wandering around in sweet oblivion . I panicked for a moment and wondered what bills hadn't been paid. Then I realised the date and as they say the light went on.

So the shopping has been done. Supplies were picked up at Aldi, the fruit market and the butcher and everything on the list was bought. Just the same as I would have if I had done it last week. I spent exactly what I had budgeted for four weeks of food and household and my secret plan is to stretch it to five weeks again! August has five Fridays this year so if I'm “forgetful” again then my grocery budget will be looking quite healthy.

As we are planning on taking the kids away for a couple of weeks during the September holidays this money will come in really handy for some extra treats. If I keep stretching the shopping by a week until the end of the year I will have saved enough money to buy the school books and new uniforms and I can then put the money that's been allocated in our budget for this purpose straight into savings.

Hmmm thinking… thinking…