My Frugal Tasks 21/05/16

Our free produce from the op shop

 The last couple of weeks have been a juggling act with our finances and extra expenses- I don't normally have an entertainment budget! So I've enjoyed getting back on track with our finances this week and have done quite a few things to help make our money stretch too. Here is what I got up to this week:



- A friend asked me to make 60 soy candles for her son's wedding. I've never made so many candles before! My house smelled amazing. The extra money I made went straight towards our debt.

-I refilled our liquid soap dispenser using Wendy's method

-Made a new batch of homemade stain remover and natural face scrub for my teens.

-Cut Mr 14's hair at home, saving around $20.

-I made a double batch of lentil soup for dinner and put half in the freezer for another meal.

 -Baked a double batch of banana bread, again one loaf went into the freezer for later. I also made a big apple crumble with stewed apples I had in the freezer and a carrot cake. I make a cake each time the oven is already on while cooking dinner.

-Picked some baby silverbeet, rocket and kale from our garden.

-Made more soy candles and melts for the gift cupboard.

-Refilled my container of homemade hot chocolate mix and made a small jar as a gift. I also made a jar of relaxing herbal tea blend for gifts.

-Ran out of yoghurt but made some milk jelly for snacks instead.

-Saved rain water in large tubs to use on our vegie garden.

-We were set to have a big storm on the weekend so on Friday I did all our washing and hung it out. A few things didn't dry so I put those items on airers and brought them inside to dry. I really miss the smell of sun dried washing in the wet months!

-Cooked pikelets for a weekend breakfast. 

-Bought some new pillows for $1 each at the op shop. Hubby sleeps with a special orthopedic pillow so didn't need one, but the rest of us were excited about new pillows!

-Did our fortnightly grocery shopping and only spent $75 out of my $100 budget. I could have spent less but I like having a good supply of pantry staples like tinned tomatoes, flour, sugar etc and also buy our carrots onions and potatoes in 10kg bags. The surplus money I save up and use to buy items on sale.

-Picked up some free reclaimed bread from the op shop. I got 2 loaves of sourdough, 1 loaf of cheese bread, 2 loaves of wholemeal bread and some rolls. This week they also had free vegetables that a lovely person had brought in. We brought home silverbeet, potatoes, lemons and mandarins.

-I also picked up a skirt style apron, some doilies and a sewing pouch with a built in pin cushion, that you hang over the couch. All for $3! 

-Visited a friend and she gave me a huge bag of lemons, a packet of chicken and a large bag of fish. She gets the fish from her neighbour and because it is only her and her son at home they cant eat it all.

-Its been cold and stormy here so we have been using blankets when sitting on the couch and also putting on extra layers like socks and warm jumpers instead of turning on the heater which is expensive to run. I also put our flannel sheets on the bed.



I'll include my dinner list here too, because I thought some of you might like some meat free meal suggestions. We are now eating primarily vegetarian with a meat meal maybe once a week or on a special occasion.

Steamed potatoes with  broccoli and cheese sauce
Vegetarian lasagne
Vegetable fritatta with salad and cheese bread
Roast vegetables
Lentil and vegie soup with sourdough
Sauteed cabbage and onion with fried potatoes
Spanish eggs

How was your week?

Banana bread and apple crumble.

Free reclaimed bread

Soy candles in vintage teacups-ready for gifting. 

Spanish eggs and sourdough for dinner.

Lemons, chicken and fish from a friend.

My op shop finds.

Hot chocolate and herbal tea mixes for the gift cupboard.