My Frugal Tasks 3/7/16

This week was an exciting one because an Aldi store opened up near us. We have shopped at Aldi in the past when we holidayed in Victoria, and found the prices and quality of products to be great and hoped they would soon open up stores in WA. Well finally some years later they have! There was a grand opening and we went and had a look around the store, with me jotting down prices on staple items for comparing.

There were loads of freebies too like a sausage sizzle lunch, Baskin Robbins ice cream, chocolate samples, 3 car wash tokens (we used these to vacuum the car) water bottles, and bags with goodies like face wash, fibre powder, lip gloss, lip and cheek tint, pens and Aldi trolley tokens which was awesome!

Here are some other ways I saved this week:


-It was our 18th wedding anniversary on Monday so I cooked a special meal of gourmet hamburgers and chips which was delicious! Hubby made some brownies and we ate this for dessert with ice cream. We much prefer eating at home rather than going out for dinner, I enjoy cooking plus hate the noise and crowds at a restaurant. I estimate that this meal including drinks and sweets cost around $12 to make for the 5 of us, with brownies left over. A similar meal like this would have cost us $135 if we went to a restaurant like Hogs Breath. 

-Mr 10 and I made our first batch of dandelion healing balm. Hubby has been using this for his neck pain and I had a sore wrist and used some for that too. Dandelions petals have natural anti inflammatory properties so this balm has helped us a lot this week and I am grateful to have learned a new skill.

-Picked some Hong Kong broccoli from our garden for a stir fry and also some kale and silverbeet to make a salad with.

- I've been using a heated blanket in the evenings to keep warm instead of using the heater. So far the heater has not been turned on.

-Another frugal trick I use in the winter to save on power is when I boil the kettle to make a hot drink, I pour the leftover water into a thermos. Then the next time we make a drink, we don't need to boil the kettle. With hubby and I home during the day, we drink a lot of tea so this save on power. I've been doing this for years after having an energy audit and learning that a boiling an electric kettle uses heaps of power.

-I came down with a cold over the past few days so have been drinking lots of honey and lemon tea with the free lemons I got a few weeks ago.

-On the days when the sun was out I did heaps of washing and hung it out on airers and coat hangers. I find in the winter if I keep up with the washing, even if it means a load a day and can hang it outside, it saves the laundry basket getting full otherwise then I have to dry it on the airers inside if the weather is bad and it just takes days to dry.

-Baked a banana cake, more brownies and some chocolate pudding. Mr 10 made some more hot chocolate mix.

-Defrosted some of the fish a friend gave me. We had a piece each for lunch with  potatoes and the rest I shredded, made a white sauce and pored over the top for another meal.

-There was a couple of portions of leftovers, that were only enough for 1 person so I put these into zip lock bags for the freezer. When there is a few, we can all choose a freezer meal and I get a night off cooking. 

-I made up a batch of miracle spray and cleaned my shower with it. It does work wonders! I only had my kombucha vinegar on hand so my spray is an amber colour. It does look odd but I keep telling myself so does the fake colouring they put in other household cleaning products!

-Got some bread and a pack of 6 jars from a friend. She knows I am always making preserves so this was a very appreciated gift.

-Tidied up my wardrobe and my gift shelves. I wanted to reassess what I have and what I need to make for the rest of the year. 

My burger with grilled onions, cheese, spinach and garlic aioli. Delicious!

Homemade brownies and icecream.

Freebies from the Aldi grand opening.

Hong Kong broccoli from our garden.