My Frugal Tasks- 17/7/16

Homemade cupcakes, brownies and a pot of tea

-Ordered some vanilla beans from Ebay. These normally cost around $2.50 each at shops, I got mine for $1 a pod from Vanilla and Co. I also bought the cheapest bottle of vodka I could find and some small bottles from Kmart and made 3 bottles of vanilla extract.

-Took Mr 10 to some free school holiday activities. Our entertainment budget minimal so anything free is a bonus! This week he went to an art class, recycling activity, Lego workshop, made an emoji pillow and went on a snow slide.

-While Mr 10 and I were in the city for the snow slide, we had lunch at a cheap vegetarian cafe, stopped into Kakulas Bros and bought some TVP and  white pepper for the pantry and also piece of turkish delight each. We also visited the art gallery and bought some donuts. Total cost for the day was under $20. If you're in Perth, Kakulas is the cheapest place I've found for buying spices, legumes, dried fruit, herbal teas etc.We also picked some herbs and calendula flowers from the city's Urban Orchard.

-Picked more kale and silverbeet from our garden. We've been enjoying this as a salad with most meals.

-My stepson came over for a birthday dinner at our house. We made TVP bolognaise, garlic bread and vanilla cake.

-Shopped around for our home insurance which is due this month and by changing companies I saved $200.

-Did lots of washing and hung it out to dry on sunny days. It is forecast to rain all of next week so it was important I get it all done.

-Started making a solar oven using cardboard boxes, foil, newspaper and perspex. All items we already had. We get quite a lot of sun up by our pool so hopefully when it's finished we can cook some yummy food in it for free!

-Used up some meals from the freezer. We had pasta bake and pumpkin soup. There was also a night where we all ate different leftovers for dinner.

-Received some icpoles, icecream and a few bags of frozen mixed berries from our neighbours.

-Used the heated blanket to keep warm in the evenings.

-Baked some cupcakes and brownies with Mr 10 and had fancy afternoon tea at home.

-While at the library with Mr 10 I checked the discard pile and got 6 Australian Country magazines for free. If bought new, these would be worth over $40 worth.

Hope you have had a great week! x

In a few months the vanilla extract will be ready.

Mr 10 on the free snow slide

With his newspaper seedling pot.

And practicing his icing skills

Homemade brownies