How To Do Just About Anything

I have found a useful website www.ehow.com This website gives information and opinions about many different issues, you just need to type in the key words e.g. how to make dishwasher powder, how to make powder laundry detergent, how to make liquid laundry detergent, how to make a cold frame etc., how to save money on children etc. They also have some Q & A that can be useful in sorting out problems.

Contributed by Cynthia

Sunday Night Ritual Saves Money at Dinnertime

Approximate $ Savings: $40 per week

Menu planning saves me about $40 per week on groceries and even more on takeaway. I write out a plan of weekly meals on a Sunday night, checking what I have in the freezer and pantry whilst I go. This enables me to make use of what I have and saves on groceries as I usually only need to grab bread or milk through the week. By having a menu plan and making a habit of taking the meat out the night before I am rarely lazy enough to buy take away anymore. I can also mix the meals around if I did forget to take something out of the freezer.

Contributed by Dayna

Salt Scrubs the Stains Away

Cups used for say milk drinks and then for black tea always stain. A wash using a pinch or two of salt with a wet cloth will shift the stains.

The $16 Birthday Dinner

Yesterday my baby turned fifteen! Don't ask me how that is possible, I just don't know.  She wasn't even born when Disaster Struck and we started living the Cheapskates way.  And she was only six weeks old when I wrote my first Cheapskates newsletter!  She has grown up with Cheapskates, and really knows no other lifestyle.

She is growing up, she wanted money for her birthday rather than presents. Hmmm. I know she won't waste it, she's a Cheapskate through and through. But I was lost, not getting to plan and look for and choose a gift for her.

With that in mind I was determined to find the perfect birthday card for her. It took a while and I had to visit a few different card shops and newsagencies, but I found it. I had tears pouring down my face as I read it, so I knew it was the right card. After all, if a card doesn't make you laugh out loud it has to make you cry or it just doesn't make the grade.

Because it was her fifteenth birthday she was given the first part of a beautiful crazy tea set from her Granny and Grandad. She'll get a cup, saucer and plate set for each birthday until she's twenty-one. Then, to finish the set, Granny has chosen a cake plate, sugar and creamer to complete the set.  I think this present was her favourite. In fact I know it, she had me re-arranging the dresser at 7am yesterday morning to make room for it.

Hannah loves birthdays, they don't have to be her own, she just loves the presents and the cards and the cake and the special dinner. Because in our family, the birthday boy or girl gets to choose dinner. They can have whatever they like. It can be takeaway, or a restaurant or a special home cooked meal or a picnic or whatever they like.

Little Miss Frugal chose home cooked. Chicken, chips and gravy. With a chocolate birthday cake covered in sprinkles and Smarties for dessert.  So I roasted chicken pieces, made some homestyle oven chips and gravy from the pan juices, added a salad for those of us who believe in having at least one healthy option each meal and made a chocolate cake.  Total cost for this birthday dinner $16!  Gotta love a birthday girl with simple tastes :)

Our next birthday is Tom's in September - it's his eighteenth.  He still hasn't decided if he wants a party or not, if he doesn't hurry and make up his mind it will have been and gone.

Find savings in spending habits

These challenging economic times have forced our family to examine everything we spend to see where savings can be made. For instance:

1. Instead of buying meat from the supermarket every week, we're making a monthly trip to Victoria Market, about an hour before closing time, to snaffle the best bargains and the best quality meat.

2. Instead of buying coffee and a muffin every day, we're using the coffee machines at the office and baking our own muffins.

3. I carry a reusable water bottle with me everywhere I go (it stays in the work fridge during the day), to avoid buying drinks as I wait for the trains.

4. Before leaving home for work, we turn all appliances off at the wall except for the fridge/freezer.

5. I avoid taking my purse with me if I'm going for a walk at lunchtime or popping out to a meeting - I can't be tempted to buy anything if I don't have any money orcards on me!

Challenge yourself to examine every way you spend money to find savings. As Cath says, we don't have to go without if we implement practical changes and plan ahead! :o)

Contributed by Kate Ashmore

Corned Beef Pie

This was one of my favourite meals when I was growing up. Little did I know that it was made from leftovers.

Ingredients:
3 – 4 cups of cold corned beef, diced
½ cup sliced green beans
½ cup corn
½ cup pickles
4 cups mashed potato
2tsp butter, melted

Method:
Mix diced corned beef, beans, corn and pickles. Place in a greased pie dish. Mash the potatoes but don't add milk or butter. Spread over the top of the mixture in the pie dish. Brush the top with melted butter. Cook in a moderate oven (180 degrees) for 20 minutes until potato is golden and it is warmed through.

Try a UFO to find out if you like a new craft

When you want to try a new craft, but don't want to waste your money if you find it's not for you, look for an unfinished one and complete it.  You'll find tons of unfinished craft projects at garage sales and trash'n'treasure markets.  I've bought jewellery making kits, cross stitch kits, folk art projects and stamping materials that people have bought, started, and left. For just a couple of dollars you have a new craft to try and if it doesn't suit you haven't wasted a lot of money.

Rust free garden tools

Keep your garden tools rust free by spraying with WD40 after cleaning them. Repeat periodically to keep them in tip top shape. 

Start Cooking

Cooking at home has become the fastest growing activity in the country, thanks largely to Master Chef, but not everyone knows where to start. This is for all those budding Master Chefs out there who just don't have a clue, even after watching the Master Class segments faithfully.   Go to www.startcooking.com to learn the basics. The 'how to' videos are excellent and there is a large recipe collection, including quick and easy beginner dishes.  So now there's no excuse you can start cooking!

Hooray - My veggies are going hairy!

The price of fresh fruit and vegetables has sky rocketed in the last few weeks. Lemons are 80c each! Cauliflower the size of a small saucer are $3 each! Apples are between $5 - $8 a kilo! Pumpkin is $1.25 a kilo, potatoes have been $1.66 a kilo - and that was on sale!

I think that by now every one who reads this blog, or the Cheapskates Club newsletter, or logs in to the Member's Centre would know that I love growing our own food. I grin from ear to ear with every turnip I pull, bunch of silverbeet or celery I cut and every cauliflower I blanch and freeze.

Growing our food saves us a fortune - easily $60 a week - and it means that we eat far better and a much wider variety of fresh fruits and vegetables than we would if I had to buy them from the supermarket. Not only that, but they taste so much better. And they don't last forever either.

I thought it was just me, that the fruit and veg I was buying from the supermarket was lasting forever. Then I thought it was my Tupperware, doing an even better job than I thought possible. Until my friend Debbie mentioned the carrots that had been in a bag in the bottom of her fridge for over two months and they weren't even slightly limp or hairy. Ewww! What is with vegetables that last two months!

For the things I do have to buy, I try to buy as close as possible to the grower as I can. Thankfully we have two amazing orchards just five minutes away, so apples and pears are not only fresh, but cheap when they are in season. And we visit with friends in Mildura and come home with boxes of orchard fresh fruit.

I still have to buy some things. Potatoes and onions for instance. I have both planted but of course they're not ready yet. If I can't get them from the farmer, I go to the market. I just love going to the market. I drag my "granny trolley" behind me, filling it up with all sorts of yummy fruit and veg at rock bottom prices. I take my time picking and choosing, reading the cartons to see where everything has come from, and buying as close to the farm gate as possible.

Food doesn't often last long in our house, but I can tell you that when I find the occasional hairy carrot or zucchini I just add it to the Bokashi bucket and smile. There's no preservatives in the veggies I grow. They may not last for months, but they taste great.

Freeze the beasties

There is nothing quite as frustrating as find weevils in a packet of flour, pasta, rice and other dry goods.  They are often already in the packets when you pick them up off the supermarket shelf. To stop them in their tracks and keep the infestation out of your pantry, keep your dry goods in the freezer. This kills the eggs and weevils and breaks the breeding cycle. If you don't have freezer room for long term storage, freeze everything for at least five days before putting into the pantry.

Keeping Cut Flowers

I love having flowers in the house and just lately I have had some beautiful bouquets given to me. Unfortunately, cut flowers don't last long unless you show them a little TLC. To make them last, cut off the ends of the stems, and add a dash of salt to the water to keep your flowers fresher longer. When your flowers start to droop, give them a second life by cutting the stems off near the blossoms and floating them in a bowl of warm water into which you have mixed a crushed aspirin tablet. It must be aspirin, not paracetamol.

Do you pre-cycle?

We are all familiar with the concept of recycling - reusing items for other purposes rather than adding them to landfill.  But are you familiar with the concept of pre-cycling?  This is the idea of only buying something if you can recycle it when it's original purpose is complete.  An example of pre-cycling would be to buy concentrated products to save on packaging. Another example is taking green bags with you when you shop. Not only are you saying no to plastic bags, but you are recycling a bag you already have. When you pick up that packet of biscuits, think about the packaging - can it be used for another purpose or recycled? If it can't then you choose not to buy them. Obviously there will be times when pre-cycling is not practical. The trick is to limit the amount of non-recyclable items you buy by thinking ahead.

Twice Cooked Veggie Quiche

This is the perfect dish for "clean out the fridge" day, the day before garbage day, or the day before shopping day, when you need to use up all those odd leftovers lurking in the fridge.

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
425g can creamed corn
1 1/2 cups grated cheese
2 cups of chopped leftover vegetables - potatoes, broccoli, zucchini, pumpkin, carrot, cauliflower etc.

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Butter a large quiche or pie dish. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, flour and salt. Stir in corn and grated cheese, add the chopped veggies and pour into buttered dish. Bake for 20-30 minutes until centre is firm. Let rest 10-15 minutes before slicing to serve.

Handy Jewellery Cleaner

Here's a nifty use for those tiny refresher towelettes  that come with some fast food meals. Use them to wipe over your jewellery. It will sparkle as though it has been professionally cleaned.

Make a Cheapskates style frost cover

Those big striped bags from $2 shops make great frost covers for your precious plants. Simply cut a hole in the base of the bag, large enough to slip it over the plant. At night and when frosts are expected zip the bag up.  During the day, unzip, roll the sides down and let the sun shine in on the plant.  If you think the bag needs support, put a stake into the ground, next to the plant, and zip the bag up over it.  The plant will be safe from cold winter winds and those damaging frosts.

Neat fishing bag

Keen fishermen often have more than one rod and the associated paraphernalia that goes with them. They can be awkward to carry so make fishing easier by using an old golf bag to hold the rods. The tackle can be carried in the pockets to keep everything together. You can go one step further and use a golf cart to carry the bag, and if you are clever you'll find one that converts to a stool so you'll have somewhere to sit too.  Look on Freecycle or keep an eye out at garage sales and you're sure to find one to suit your budget.

Skip the egg wash

Instead of using an egg wash when crumbing sausages, rissoles and so on, try this instead.  Mix a tablespoon of custard powder into about a half cup of water to make a thin paste. Use this instead of beaten egg for dipping before crumbing. You can't taste the custard powder, the crumbs stick better and of course it is cheaper than using fresh eggs.

Wipe it clean

Baby wipes come in very handy for baby, but they are also very handy around the house. They make quick cleaning easy and can be used to wipe over white good, light switches, walls, door knobs, remote controls etc. Keep a container in the cleaning cupboard for when those little cleaning jobs crop up.

Never forget the details of an appliance purchase

When you buy a new appliance, write the date, the price and where you bought it from on the cover of the instruction manual. Then staple the warranty and receipt to the inside cover too and file it away. Then, if you ever need that information, you will have it. Always keep receipts, but write the details down too, as register and printed receipts often fade very quickly, making it hard to read the details.If you have work done on the item, staple the details to the instruction manual too, in case a follow-up is needed.