Being Thrifty is Nifty: Ways to Repurpose Everyday Household Items

Even if you are not a creative soul, there are so many ways to repurpose everyday items found around your home. Chances are that once you start, you won't want to stop. Once you see the things you can create and the money you will save, you will discover a win/win situation in the art of repurposing.

More than likely, you are like everyone else who has followed many a fad while decorating and then redecorating your home over the years. This probably has resulted in a garage full of miscellaneous items from your colourful art deco phase to your stainless steel era. Many of these items can be successfully repurposed.

Stainless Steel Paper Towel Holder – An old stainless steel paper towel holder may not fit into your new black and white only kitchen theme and is sitting helplessly in your garage. You can find many uses for a stand up paper towel holder. For one, you can use this once-adored kitchen item to hold all of your bracelets. For another, you can use these stand up paper towel holders to stock your craft tape and ribbons.

Preserving Jars – If you went through your home preserving phase and can't seem to find the time to continue this process, those preserving jars sitting in a box in the garden shed are useful for many things. You can store your sewing materials such as buttons, bows and spools of thread in a colourful array on top of your sewing machine. Your sewing materials will be organized while looking good at the same time. Preserving jars are also great for storing half-open packets of pasta. We all open up various types of pasta for different recipes and find ourselves with a ripped open packet of pasta on in the pantry. The preserving jars filled with that pasta will look great and be accessible and handy when you need to use them.

Champagne Buckets – Every one of us probably received a champagne bucket as a wedding gift decades ago. These champagne buckets are wonderful for making centerpieces for special occasions and the during the holiday season. Rather than let them sit in our china cabinet, why not fill them with fresh flowers or seasonal picks from the craft store and have them be the focal point of your next occasion.

Wicker baskets – There is probably not a soul around that has not bought an overabundance of wicker baskets that are just sitting around the house. These are great for placing miniature soaps and initialed hand towels in your bathroom. These can also serve as napkin holders on an end table if you are hosting a party. Placed on top of your entry table, wicker baskets make a great catchall for your keys and your mail. Gloves and scarves will never be lost again (hopefully) if you place a wicker basket by the front door for everyone to grab a pair and go.

These are just a few ideas for repurposing household items. If you look around, you will be sure to come up with many of your own.

Honey and Lemon Cough Syrup

I've had a dreadful cough for the last ten days. What I thought last Monday was just a summer cold became progressively worse until finally I gave in on Wednesday and saw our family doctor.

The diagnosis: pleurisy. Well no wonder I'm coughing and struggling to breathe. The cough is the worst; once it starts it just goes on and on and on.

I have medicine to take, and I was sent to bed until yesterday. The doctor suggested an anti-bacterial decongestant to soothe my sore throat and ease the coughing so I made a batch of Honey Lemon cough syrup.

This syrup is easy to make (it had to be, I can hardly take two steps without gasping for breath) and because it's completely natural, made with everyday food items, I can sip a spoonful as often as I need to. I'm not limited to 10mls every six hours as I would be with the chemist's mixture.

This syrup has coconut oil in it. I love coconut oil and use it for all sorts of things. I substitute it for oil or butter in baking. I use it as a spread on bread or crackers (try it with a little raspberry jam on fresh bread - yum!). I use it as moisturiser and a cleanser. And for the last three winters I've been adding it to my cough syrup. Coconut oil is rich in antioxidants and contains lauric acid, which is anti-bacterial and anti-viral. Coconut oil can be used to help prevent colds by boosting the immune system, speeding recovery.

The lemons I use are home grown and so organic. No pesticides used in my garden. Lemon is full of Vitamin C, but did you know it's also full of anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties? That's why lemon juice makes a great ingredient in cleaning products. It's also why it's an essential ingredient in my honey lemon cough syrup.

I use Manuka honey in this cough syrup. Ideally if you don't have Manuka, you'd use raw, local honey. Local honey will ease allergies too - a teaspoon or two a day for a week before the start of the Spring pollen/hayfever/allergy season will boost your immune system and ease, if not completely alleviate, your symptoms. But it must be local honey to combat local pollens. Honey is also antibacterial and very soothing for sore, dry throats. Clinical studies have shown honey to be just as effective a cough remedy as any over-the-counter cough medicine.

Honey Lemon Cough Syrup

Ingredients:
100ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup local raw honey (or Manuka honey if you have it)
2 tablespoons coconut oil

Method:
Mix all the ingredients together in a small saucepan. Heat over a low flame until coconut oil is melted, stirring all the time. This doesn't take long - just a couple of minutes. Stir to combine everything into a syrup. Pour into a clean jar. When the syrup cools the coconut oil will solidify again. Just warm the syrup over boiling water before using it. Keep it in the fridge for up to a month.

To use, take warm syrup by the teaspoonful as often as you need to. There's no fear of overdosing, there's nothing in it that will cause you any harm.

What Survived, What Thrived and What Died During the Heat Wave

The heat of the last week was fierce. Temperatures over 41 degrees Celsius for four straight days, with Friday being the hottest at 42.3. And it was a dry heat, fed by a strong north wind. Step outside the house and the air wasn't only hot, it burnt; no need to stand in the sun.

So how did my garden fare? So-so. I was too sick to really care, although I did remind the family every morning to give it all a drink.

I've just come in from an inspection and for the most part everything is fine.

The climbing beans have a few burnt leaves, but their tendrils are still clinging to the posts and the beans are looking good.

The egg plant are going great guns. The heat seems to have given them a spurt, they've been a little slow this summer.

The beetroot are another matter, out of 2 dozen plants there are only 9 left. I'll put some more in over the weekend. They'll be a little late but beetroot will grow all year round here in Melbourne, they're just a little slower when it's cooler. We love slow roasted baby beetroot in winter with our roast. If I get them in now they'll be ready for the start of the cooler weather (they'll need about 12 weeks in the ground).

The cucumbers - well I just picked two huge cucumbers that will become pickled cucumber, I think they're too big to be nice for salads. The large leaves are singed on the edges but they did a great job of protecting the flowers and the tiny fruits. We'll have plenty of cucumbers in the next week or so and I've earmarked most of them for bread and butter cucumbers for winter.

The pumpkins are going great guns too. Not a singed leaf or fruit on any of the vines. They're in a sheltered spot that doesn't get the wind or the fierce late afternoon sun and that spot seems to suit them.

I was a little concerned about the lettuce. I'd just planted a dozen babies out into bags (no room in the garden). The bags seem to have given them the shelter they needed from the wind and the sun, they have grown a lot, almost double in size and I'll start picking a few leaves from each plant from tomorrow.

The bush beans didn't fare quite as well. Burnt leaves and wind blown, but I think they'll come back. There are flowers on all of them again, a good sign I'll get more beans from them.

The strawberries. Well I am amazed. They are big, red, sweet and juicy. I filled a pasta bowl this morning. I was sure that the extreme heat would slow them down. I was wrong.

My orange tree didn't take the heat very well, dropping more than half it's tiny fruit. The lemon and lime trees have a few singed leaves otherwise they look healthy enough and the mandarin trees look better than ever.

The biggest disappointment is the tomatoes. This summer has been shocking enough weather wise, with a cold start and then such a strong heat wave. The tomatoes are still green! Tomatoes need sun and heat to ripen on the vine. We had plenty of that last week and all I could find this morning was one slightly orange tomato. There are hundreds of green tomatoes on those plants, and I'm waiting for them to ripen to make sauce for the winter. If they don't ripen soon we'll be eating green tomato chutney and fried green tomatoes and skipping the sauce.

Why did the garden fare so well? I think because of the soil. It's well composted. Every time it gets planted it's composted and well turned over. And mulch. Lots of mulch. Mulching keeps the weeds down and the moisture in the soil. You can use just about anything to mulch but I use pea straw. It does a great job and stays put. It also breaks down really well when it's dug into the soil at the end of each summer.

My gardens get a double mulching. I mulch in spring, digging it in at the end of summer. Then I mulch again for the winter garden. It works like a nice warm blanket over the soil in winter, keeping it a little warmer for those plant roots and giving them a growth boost. And that gets dug in at the end of winter.

It's almost time to get the winter veggie seedlings started. That's on my list of jobs for next week as long as the weather stays reasonably nice. I've started collecting toilet rolls (empty ones of course!) to use as pots and sorting out the seeds.

I have cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, bok choy, beans, beetroot (again) and silverbeet seeds ready to plant. That should get the winter veggies started and keep me busy for a day or two.

How to Haggle, a Guide for Newbies

Know what you want. Research your item and the price at different stores. Use catalogues, flyers, the internet and don’t forget to ask other people where they get their best deals.

Know how much you are prepared to spend. Set your budget and stick to it. Take into account delivery time and delivery charges.

Start with the question “What’s your best price?” Don’t get tricked into telling them what you can afford or how much you want to pay first, let the salesperson give you a price. With that, you have bargaining power.

 Always be polite and friendly.

Be prepared to haggle. Ask another question “How much for cash?”  if you are paying cash. Wait for their response and then ask for  Seniors discount if it applies, or if they would throw in delivery, installation, etc. Always be appreciative of a discount; a dollar in your pocket is better than a dollar in someone else’s!

Value Add. Ask how much if you buy another item e.g. a lounge suite and a flat screen TV, a washing machine and a dryer, a TV and a DVD player, a dress and a pair of earrings, shoes and a handbag, etc.

Zesty Parmesan Fried Tomatoes

The tomatoes have been slow in ripening this summer and I have a glut of green tomatoes. This recipe is a delicious way to use them up. Serve them as a snack or with a salad for a main meal.

Ingredients:
4 green tomatoes, sliced 6mm thick
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp chilli flakes, crushed
2 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil

Method:
Sprinkle both sides of the tomato slices evenly with the salt. Let the tomatoes stand undisturbed for 10 minutes. Place the cornmeal into a shallow mixing bowl. Add the Parmesan cheese and toss to combine. Sprinkle in the garlic salt, oregano, ginger and chilli flakes blending all the ingredients together well. Break the eggs into another shallow bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Pour the olive oil into a fry pan and place the pan over medium heat. Pat the tomato slices dry with paper towel. Dip the slices into the eggs allowing any excess to drip off.  Coat the slices in the Parmesan mixture. Place the tomato slices into the oil and fry, a few at a time, for 3 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown. Turn the tomatoes and continue frying for 3 minutes or until completely browned. Remove and drain on paper towel.

Filing Spare Buttons Keeps the Button Box Tidy

Approximate $ Savings: $1.00 - $100.00

When your old shirt or other clothing item finally wears out, and you are about to cut it up for rag rugs (of course!), carefully snip those buttons off, and with a needle and thread, just tack them to an old birthday card or similar. Not only can you easily choose the size and colour of button you need for your next project, but you can see at a glance whether you have enough of that particular button for the job, without spending ages sorting through the button box. Now you can 'file' your buttons according to size, or colour or whatever in a filing box (that's an old shoe box). When the kids are bored, you can set them to sorting out the buttons already mixed up in the button box, and tacking them to cards, too.
Contributed by Wendy, Macgregor

How to Cover School Books

It is every parent's back to school nightmare but it's a good idea to help protect your kids' school books from a year of abuse by making covers out of a durable material, such as brown paper covered with clear contact or patterned or coloured contact. Follow these easy steps and it will be a breeze, rather than the traumatic experience of the past.

Step 1.  Measure the height of the book you want to cover.

Then measure the distance from the front to back covers.

Add 15cm to the two measurements (to create the inside flaps), and cut a piece of paper to this size.

Step 2.  Open the book, and place it face down in the centre of the paper.

To accommodate the spine, make two vertical cuts on the excess paper at the top and bottom of the book, creating a flap.

Fold the flap down and behind the spine, creating two notches. If this isn't possible, carefully trim the flap level with the edge of the spine.

Step 3.  Wrap the paper around the book, making sure the inside flaps are equal sizes. Tape in place.

Fold top and bottom flaps over the side flaps and tape in place.

Take One Doona, a Sunny Day and a Pair of Feet

Today is sunny, very, very sunny. And so very hot - expected to reach 41 degrees C here in Melbourne today.

Which makes it the perfect day for washing doonas.  You could, if you wanted, take your quilts and doonas to the laundromat but that costs money, around $8 to wash and partially dry, so why bother when you can do it so easily yourself?

Here's my step-by-step to seasonally cleaning doonas (and they are synthetic, hypoallergenic, not down - down doonas require a completely different treatment).

1.  Strip the cover off the quilt and launder it with the sheets, pillowcases, pillow protectors and mattress protector.

2.  Fill the bathtub with the hottest water available. Add a half a cup of Cheapskates Washing Powder. Swish it around to dissolve. Now add the doona. Squash it down so it's all submerged. Allow to soak for an hour.

3.  Drain the bath and refill with more hot water and another half a cup of Cheapskates Washing Powder. Let the whole thing soak for another hour.

4.  Make sure your feet are clean - if they're not, wash them. Climb into the bath and walk up and down on the quilt. Twist. Shuffle. Jump up and down. Run on the spot. Do whatever you like but make sure you squash the daylights out of the quilt and any little dust mites that might have taken up residence. Do this for at least 5 minutes.  Let it all soak for another half an hour.

5.  Now empty the bath and re-fill it with hot water and swirl the quilt around in the water to rinse it. Drain and re-fill, then add ten drops of your favourite essential oil and leave to soak for another hour.

6.  Drain and roll the quilt up and squeeze as much water as possible out of it.  Take it outside and hang it over the line to drip dry...preferably on a very hot, sunny day just like today!

7.  Go out in an hour and turn the quilt over. This will help it to dry right through  quickly and evenly.

8.  Once the quilt is completely dry take it off the line and give it a good shake. Put a clean cover on it and put it back on your bed that has been made up with the freshly laundered linens.

Plan an early night - you've earned it after washing your quilt.

Living with a Spendaholic Spouse

It's not easy when you and your spouse are on different pages, especially when it comes to finances.

Getting your spendthrift to change their ways isn't easy. Often they don’t like to take advice from their spouses, and it may be difficult to “make” him or her change.  Actions speak louder than words, it might be clichéd but it's true, and what you do and how you handle your finances might help him (or her) see the reality of the situation.

A dose of reality is often all that's needed to get someone's attention. Perhaps an appointment for the both of you with a financial advisor helps to put financial realities into perspective.   A good financial advisor can give realistic tips on how to achieve these goals without making anyone feel financially incompetent.

Credit cards make it way too easy to overspend.  Work on paying down the balances, and then cancel them.  Watching the balance shrink each month is a great motivator, perhaps keeping a record of the shrinking debt will keep your spendthrift focused.

If frivolous spending is a problem, agree on a fixed amount of “fun money” for any extras each month.  Each person can spend it how he or she wishes, but can’t go over that amount.  Pretty soon, it will be clear how quickly taxis and lunches out can make that money disappear.

It can’t hurt to model the behaviour you would like to see emulated.  Continue to demonstrate thoughtful spending.  Suggest eating at home sometimes to save some extra cash, for instance.

And don’t forget the value of an honest, heart-to-heart conversation.  Try to get at the root of spending behaviours, and work together to find a solution.  Spending and budgeting are family issues and as a family you need to work on them together.

Balsamic Bean and Tomato Salad

The beans in my garden are just gorgeous. Every morning I pick about a handful of long, crisp Lazy Housewife beans and gently carry them inside to prep them for my family.

Sometimes I use them as a vegetable the same night. Really garden fresh green beans have so much flavour, they just don't compare to anything you can buy at the greengrocer's.

Sometimes I wash and dry them and then flash freeze them - either whole or cut into pieces. Once they are frozen I pack them into containers to use in winter when fresh beans are scarce (and expensive!).

And other times, like today, I turn them into this delicious salad. We're at the start of a week-long heat wave so salads are very appealing and this one is particularly fresh, crisp and cool. It's also quick and easy, and if you use your own homegrown produce, very, very cheap.

Balsamic Bean and Tomato Salad

Ingredients:
500g fresh green beans
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1 onion, diced
2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tsp capers, drained
1 hard boiled egg, chopped

Method:
Place the beans in a saucepan and just cover with water. Place the pan over medium heat and bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, cook the beans for 8 minutes or until tender.
Drain the beans and immediately place them in ice water to quickly cool. Drain the beans again, pat dry and place in a serving bowl. Place the oil, vinegar and mustard into a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add the salt and pepper and whisk to blend in well. Pour the mixture over the beans and toss to coat them well. Fold in the tomato and onion until well combined. Stir in the parsley and capers. Cover the bowl and chill for 2 hours or more.
Just before serving stir the salad and sprinkle the egg over the top.

Makes 6 servings

Coping with a Heatwave

It is hot in Australia at the moment. Now that's not unusual bearing in mind that we are in the middle of our summer. But it is not just normal summer hot, it is higher than usual temperatures for longer than usual hot.

Some areas have seen temperatures above 50 degrees, and that's Celsius for my overseas readers. Fifty degrees Celsius is around 122 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hot.

We are in the middle of a heatwave. According to the Bureau of Meteorology a heatwave is a weather system of continual above average daytime temperatures with overnight temperatures that remain in the mid to high twenties. Yuk!

I can almost manage hot days but hot, steamy nights are just miserable.

So how do you keep cool during a heat wave?

We don't have air-conditioning in our house. We do have ceiling fans in the living areas and fans in all the other rooms. They go on early, before the sun comes up.

We have outside awnings on the north and west facing windows and they come down early, again before the sun comes up.

While I'm up doing the fans and awnings I make sure all the windows get closed tight, pull the blinds and draw the drapes. I even pull the blinds down in the laundry. The house is almost pitch black, but it certainly helps to keep the heat out.

Another thing I do is freeze bottles that are half filled with water. Then one comes out of the freezer and gets topped up with cold water from the fridge and it sits on a dish on the sink - ready for anyone who needs a cold drink. Depending on the day it stays frozen for anything up to 2 hours and cold for at least an hour after that. It just stops the continual opening of the fridge for cold water.

I've also made up panels of bubble wrap that fit across the windows. It may seem extreme but extreme heat calls for extreme measures. These panels tape to the sides of the window frames, forming a mock double glazed window.  The gap between the glass and the bubble wrap traps the hot air and the bubble wrap stops it getting into the house. It looks a little weird from the outside but it really does help to keep the interior temperature down. My calculations show it makes about a 5 degree Celsius difference between the room before bubble wrap and after bubble wrapping the windows. That's a significant difference. My neighbours already think I'm a little odd so it doesn't really surprise them. And it comes off once the heat ends.

I had to buy the bubble wrap. It came from our local Officeworks in a 50 metre roll and cost $24. It's carefully rolled and re-used over and over - I am a firm believer in buy once and re-use.

We also have an ice box we usually use when we go camping. I've made up ice packs that fit it perfectly and vac packed them so they can be re-used. On days of extreme heat we use the ice box to keep drinks cool too.

On that note I freeze chunks of fruit. Orange, mandarin and mango segments, small clusters of grapes, whole bananas (just like banana ice cream) and strawberries all freeze into delicious ice blocks. They're far more nutritious than frozen cordial and do a better of job of cooling too. To do this I cut the fruit up, stick in a toothpick and flash freeze it. Once it's frozen it gets put into an air tight container. I put the toothpicks into the fruit to use as little handles - stops fingers from getting sticky - but of course you don't have to.

During summer we always cook outside. I very rarely use the oven or the stove, our barbecue has a side burner and a rotisserie and it gets used just about all year round. I also use the slowcooker, but sit it out on the verandah. They don't generate a lot of heat but any heat is too much when the temperature is in the forties. That means I can cook a roast or a piece of corned beef without heating up the kitchen.

I also use the side burner on the barbecue to steam veggie or to stir fry. And if I'm making a pasta or potato salad then I have the pot on the barbecue early in the morning so the food has time to chill before dinner.

When it's so hot getting up is an effort, but staying in bed is worse. You'll often find me up, coffee in one hand, hose in the other, watering the vegetable garden before daylight. It's actually a beautiful time of day; usually still, quiet and peaceful just before the sun comes up.

Keeping personally cool on very hot days is tricky. You can try wearing a damp sarong or nightie (and pray you don't get visitors). Wet face washers on the back of your neck are an excellent way to cool your body. As is a tub of cool water you can sit your feet in. We have neckties that are filled with water saving crystals. I just soak them for a few minutes and then tie or drape one across the back of my neck. It's not exactly a fashionable look but it really does help to keep me cool and the crystals stop it from drying out so quickly. I made some a few years ago and then last summer I found them in a $2 shop for $1 each! I also take them camping with us.

When the kids were little I'd fill the bath and let them play to their hearts content. I'd sit on the floor and read while they splashed and cooled down, then out they'd hop. The water stayed, ready for their next cool down session. It didn't cost a lot, we didn't have to leave the house and it kept everyone cool and happy - hot kidlets usually mean frazzled kidlets and of course frazzled kidlets cause miserable mummys. Keeping cool just worked.


However you manage it, I hope that you can be comfortable. And I'm so looking forward to that predicted change on Friday night!

Craft in a Jar/Basket/Bag

It's not too early to start planning and collecting gifts for birthdays and Christmas 2014 and  using this idea you could give beautiful gifts that haven't cost you a cent, especially if you live by the motto “she who dies with the most fabric wins” and have a huge stash of fabric and other craft supplies that you never use.

Go through your stash and make up Craft in a Basket (or box/jar/bag - whatever you have on hand) kits to give as gifts.

You've already bought the materials for these gifts so you're saving by not buying a gift and you're going to feel so good when that craft stash has been sorted out. If you have friends and family that are crafters they'll love this gift.

Some ideas would be a pattern, threads and cloth for a cross-stitch basket.

Fabric squares, thread and instructions for a mini-quilt kit.

Papers, stencils, layout guides and gel pens for a scrapbooking kit.

Knitting needles, yarn and a pattern for a knitted dishcloth/soap sack/scarf/coat hanger/tea cosy or whatever.

Beading kits – beads, wire or thread, needle, clasps, small pliers, instructions.

A Radio Interview from a While Back

Something a little different today, an audio of a radio interview I did with Richard Baillie from 2MCE about feeding the feeding the family on a tight budget - actually it was about the launch of Eat Well, Save More.

Enjoy!

Cath's Guide to Carpet Care

After living with tiles, polished timber and carpet on our floors, my floorcovering of choice is carpet. It may not be the most fashionable choice at the moment, but it suits me and my family the best.

I've been told I'm silly, that carpet is too much work, that it is hard to look after and keep clean. Well I don't think it is.

Tiles and polished floors on the other hand are. The disadvantages outweigh carpet. Bare floors are noisy. They are cold. They are slippery when they get wet. They are hard. Anything that is dropped breaks. They show every speck of dust and dirt.  They must be swept every day and washed regularly to stay looking nice. Polished timber floors scratch easily.They are a lot of hard work.

Carpet on the other hand is warm and soft. It doesn't show dust and you don't need to vacuum every day. Yes, you do need to care for it, but it's easier to care for than boards or tiles.

Keeping your expensive carpets looking good and clean doesn't take a lot of effort or time, just regular maintenance, just as you do for tiles and floorboards, only not as often.

We have a rule: no shoes indoors. Did you know that the average family carries in an average of 2 kilos of dust and dirt on the souls of their shoes each week? So regardless of your floor type, a no shoes rule should be mandatory in all households.

Once your carpet is past the brand new stage, about a month after it has been laid, you should only need to vacuum once a week, twice at the most, with straight suction to keep it clean.  That's it for regular maintenance.  Easy.

Now there are a couple of extra things you can do to keep your carpets spic'n'span, just little things that make a lot of difference in how your carpet looks and feels.

Most modern vacuum cleaners come with turbo heads or power brushes, which sound like they will do a great job cleaning your carpet.  Try to resist using them. The brushes will brush the fibre from your carpet, weakening it. You may already be aware of this - when you empty your vacuum cleaner how much is actual dirt and how much is fluff?  Chances are most of the fluff is actually your expensive carpet being vacuumed away.

If your vacuum cleaner has a straight suction head, and you vacuum regularly, then you won't need to use the "turbo" brush.

Accidents happen. Things will be dropped and walked in or spilt. As soon as you see a spot on your carpet clean it up. The longer it sits, the harder it will be to shift.

1. To clean up spills and spots,  use the carpet cleaner (recipe below) and clean rags.

If there is any residue, scrape it off, from the outside in, with a butter knife or a spatula.

2. Using clean rags folded in four, blot any excess liquid from the stain, moving the rag around as it becomes soaked. Do not rub, it will cause your carpet to fuzz and pill. Instead press down firmly until the liquid is absorbed.

3. Lightly spritz the spot with the carpet cleaner and working from the outside in, so you don't spread the stain, press and blot with a clean rag. Use another clean rag to blot up any moisture. Continue in this manner until the stain is gone. Remember to lightly spritz the spot, you don't want to soak the carpet. Soaking the carpet can cause the dye from the backing or even the underlay to leach through, making the stain worse and almost impossible to shift.   

Best Ever Carpet Cleaner

Ingredients:

1 quart of water

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 Tablespoons shampoo

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle and clean those carpets! Spray on a spot, blot with a damp cloth or mop, spray again if needed.

Dry Clean, Shampoo or Steam Clean?

That is the question. Pure wool carpets should never be steamed or wet cleaned, it removes the lanolin, which is a natural stain repellent, from the wool. There is also the possibility, although the manufacturer may deny it, that your wool carpet could shrink.

Before you clean or get your carpets cleaned, check with the manufacturer.

Depending on the style of carpet - loop, cut pile or twist pile - steam cleaning could be contra-indicated. Some twist pile carpets are heat set, so the heat from the steam will "untwist" the twist, causing your carpet to turn into a fuzzy, knotted mess.  

Ditto shampooing - some carpets are chemically set, so wet shampooing will ruin it.

Check first, it's worth the phone call.

And after all that, I still think carpet is easier to live with and care for than any other type of floorcovering. 

Magic Honey - From Crystals to Liquid in One Easy Step!

We love honey in our house. It is my favourite sweetener. We always have honey in the pantry and on the stockpile shelves. The problem is that it tends to crystallize before we can use it, and sometimes very quickly - that depends on the type of honey and how much there is of it.

I tend to buy honey whenever I see it at a great price, mainly because we like honey as a part of our real food diet. That means when I see it I buy it.

I'd love to be able to use raw honey all the time. Unfortunately the cost and the difficulty in sourcing it makes that a tad hard.

By the way do you know the difference between raw honey and the honey you buy in the supermarket?

Raw honey is simply that: raw honey that has been filtered to remove the odd bee part or lump of beeswax or other unappetizing additions.

Commercial honey - the kind you buy at the supermarket, has usually been ultra-filtered, heated and often blended with other honeys. These honeys tend to last longer on the shelf, taking longer to crystallize, than raw honey, which makes them ideal for supermarket sales.

Back to my crystallized honey. Crystallization is natural. Your honey isn't "off" or "bad" when it crystallizes. It has something to do with the natural glucose in the honey turning the liquid honey into semi-solid crystals.  It's a naturally occurring chemical reaction, nothing to worry about and, as I'm about to show you, it's easily remedied.

When you have crystallized honey, don't throw it out. Instead warm it very gently in hot (not boiling) water and like magic it will melt back into it's natural, golden, liquid glory.

Step 1. Put your jar of crystallized honey into a small saucepan. Pour in cool water, up to the level of honey in the honey pot.

Step 2. Very gently (especially if the honey jar is plastic) heat the water over a VERY low heat on the stove. Don't let the honey boil, you don't want to cook it.  Let the jar sit in the hot water until the honey miraculously melts into a thin liquid. It will take up to half an hour, but it will happen.

Step 3.  When the honey has turned into that beautiful golden liquid, carefully pour it into a clean GLASS jar with a tight fitting lid. For some reason honey takes longer to crystallize when it's stored in glass jars - could be something to do with the tighter fitting lids.  Keeping the air out will help to stop crystals forming too.

It's that easy. No need for special equipment. No complicated cooking process. Just gentle heating in some hot water.

I'm sure someone is going to let me know that this could have been done in seconds in the microwave. Perhaps it could. But the plastic jars honey comes in are not microwave safe. You run the risk of not only melting the plastic, but having it release toxins into the honey - yuk! Microwaving the honey may be fast, but it isn't a safe option.

And now I again have a jar of lovely liquid honey in the pantry, ready to use, I'm going to make a honey roll to use up the last of the cream leftover from my Ripple Cake.

Basic Ripple Cake

There was chatter in the forum before Christmas about Chocolate Ripple cakes, and then a friend brought one for dessert on Christmas night. My kids thought Santa had come again, they love Chocolate Ripple cake.  Hannah made one last night, which we'll have for dessert tonight, my choice for my birthday dinner.  I can hardly wait - yum!

Every now and then you need a spectacular dessert but if you are anything like me spectacular usually ends up being time consuming and expensive. This dessert is quick, easy, cheap and very, very spectacular.

Basic Ripple Cake

Ingredients: 
1 pkt plain, round biscuits (see variations for biscuits to use)
1 large bottle thickened cream
1 chocolate Flake

Method: 
Beat the cream until very thick, almost butter. Then get a oval shaped plate/platter as you need  to make this cake directly onto the serving dish. Take each biscuit and spread a generous amount of cream onto it (flat side) . Stand each biscuit on it's side and push the next biscuit up against the first one on the platter firmly (but taking care not to squash all the cream out between them) and continue on doing this, one behind the other.

When you've used all biscuits, spread the remaining cream all over the entire biscuit log shape until the biscuits cannot be seen. Keep spreading it all over generously using up all the cream. Make sure you use a flat spatula and keep patting at the cream so that the cream forms peaks all over for a bit of a fancy finish. Now break the Flake up with your fingers and sprinkle it all over the cream.

Once finished, place the entire biscuit/cake into the fridge and leave it overnight. The biscuit goes really soft and absorbs the moisture from the cream. Then it's ready to serve.  To serve, cut the first slice on an angle. Eat this slice. Then cut each slice on an angle, showing stripes of biscuit and cream.


Variation 1: Chocolate Ripple Cake - use Chocolate Ripple biscuits

Variation 2: Black Forest Ripple Cake - use Chocolate Ripple Biscuits. Drain a can of cherries well and stir through half the cream. Use this mixture to join the biscuits. Spread the outside with remaining cream, sprinkle with broken Flake.

Variation 3: Ginger Ripple Cake - use Gingernut biscuits

Variation 4:  Aussie Ripple Cake - use Anzac biscuits. Drain a small can of crushed pineapple well. Stir through half the cream. Use this mixture to join the biscuits. Spread the remaining cream over the outside of the cake.

Variation 5: Butternut Ripple Cake - use Butternut Snap biscuits.

Variation 6: Yule Log - use Chocolate Ripple biscuits. Reserve one of each colour and then roughly chop the remaining packet of mixed colour glace cherries and stir through half the whipped cream with 1/4 cup fruit mince. Use this mixture to join the biscuits. Spread the outside of the log with the remaining cream. Sprinkle the top and sides with the crumbled Flake. Arrange the whole glace cherries on the top of the Yule Log.

Note:  Generic versions of all biscuits can be used successfully.  This cake is very rich so cut into thin slices.

One is Enough

Back in the eighties there was a show on television called Eight is Enough. Now the eight referred to in the title was children. And I guess for most families eight children would be enough.

But what about eight pairs sheets? Or eight outdoor chairs? How about eight handbags? Or eight pairs of jeans? Eight pairs of shoes? Or even more!

Living the Cheapskates way is about saving money, yes, but it's also about living simply and sustainably, living contentedly with what we have, and having enough. When we have enough we don't need any more.

So how much is enough? Is one enough? Or do we need eight to have enough?

In all honesty when we go camping one is enough, and sometimes more than enough.

We have one towel each.
We have one green bag of clothes each.
We have one cup each.
One plate each.
One bowl each.
One knife each.
One fork each.
One spoon each.
One multipurpose pot/pan/griddle.
One chair each.

And it works. We have everything we need. We can camp for weeks and have enough.

So why do we surround ourselves by more than one at home? What is it that causes us to have so much stuff? Stuff that we may never use, stuff that is forgotten about, lost in the back of a cupboard? How many is enough?

How many pens do you have in your handbag right now? I just counted mine - four. I can only use one at a time so why do I feel it necessary to carry three spares? If the one pen I have doesn't work I am sure there will be someone who can lend me a pen if I need it. If that fails I can always buy one. I don't need to carry the other three. One is enough.

Clothes are another thing we tend to have more than enough of. Ready-made clothes are cheap, it's easy to buy multiples. I'm sure we all know someone who buys the same shirt in every colour just because they're available. They an only wear one at a time. Gone are the days of having one set of work clothes on, with one in the wash and a set for Sunday. We can only wear one outfit at a time, do we really need to fill wardrobes so tight they won't take another coat hanger?

Just because we can buy multiples (and warehouse stores like Officeworks and Costco and big buy department stores like Big W and Kmart, even supermarkets encourage multiple buys) doesn't mean we should. Or need to. Pens are cheap, but that's no reason to carry three more than I need in my handbag.

I still have a stack of 1c exercise books I bought at Officeworks years ago. So many years ago that I can't remember when exactly. Now I'll use them up, because they are there. But did I need to buy the hundreds that I did, just because they were 1c each? No.

This year as you strive to reduce, reuse and recycle look at what you have. You may realize, like me, that you have more than enough. You may also realize that having enough will make you happy, that you don't need more than enough to find contentment.

By realizing what enough means to you (and it will mean different things for different people and that's OK) you may find that you don't need to work full-time to be happy. By understanding what enough means to you, you could find you have more time to do the things you love instead of taking care of all the clutter of more than enough.

You may even find that you can be really, truly happy and content with less.

Used versus New

When you need something do you automatically buy new or do you look for a used item that will do the job first?  Many people struggle with the concept of buying used, because, well it's used. There is a misconception that used is second best, but that's just not true.

Used items can be just as good, sometimes better, than brand new. They are almost always cheaper and because they cost less you can afford to buy better quality items. For example just before Christmas Mrs Sparkle (remember Mrs Sparkle of Budget Reno fame?)  asked for my help to find a "new" three piece lounge suite for her home. It took a week of searching eBay, Gumtree and Facebook but we found one, and only a few minutes from her home too.

For $150 Mrs Sparkle is now the proud owner of a beautiful lounge suite, just three years old. It's a classic suite, made by a well-known Australian furniture manufacturer and they are selling for $3,999 today. There's not a mark on this suite. I don't think it's ever been used - it came from a pet free, smoke free home and was well looked after. Secondhand was certainly the best buy.

Buying used doesn't just apply to furniture. Clothing can be picked up at garage sales, off Facebook, from op shops for a fraction of the new price. If you have a stigma about used clothing think of this: as soon as a garment has been worn once it's used. Actually if it's been tried on in the store it is used. If you're squeamish about wearing clothes someone else has worn, choose carefully and launder them before you wear them. The best thing about pre-loved clothes is that they have been laundered, so you're getting garments without the chemicals and starches of new clothes.

My camera cost $200. It was almost brand new, they were still selling that particular model in stores. The fellow who bought it new decided it wasn't quite good enough for what he wanted. We saved $860 on the camera and $60 on the bag (he threw it in free!).  My used camera is working just fine and it has definitely helped improve my photos.

Make it a habit to look for gently used before you buy. You'll save money and reduce waste.