Savings Sunday

This week I feel like more things were accomplished than last week and I remembered to take photos! I made myself a study schedule and have been sticking to that. I've had a couple of meetings with my lecturers and peers via Zoom, which took some getting used too but it was enjoyable to connect with others. I mostly stayed home this week, which I'm quite happy to do. Hubby gets itchy feet so I give him the shopping list and prescriptions and off he will go! 

He went to the Foodbank truck which visits our local community centre once a week. You can buy meat and fruit and veg packs there instead of travelling 20 minutes to the Foodbank. We are aiming to save time and petrol as well as work around my schedule and go to the Foodbank once a fortnight and the truck for a meat on the opposite week.

This week the truck was great! Sometimes they have freebies, this week it was the pantry box which inside had weetbix, rice, pasta, pasta sauce, canned items like tomato, soup, peaches, creamed rice, tuna, spaghetti and baked beans and muesli bars. Whats inside sometimes varies, once we got a box of coco pops instead of weetbix, that was exciting! There was also a free pasta pack which had 3 packs of fresh lasagne sheets, 2 packs of beef ravioli and 2 tubs of ready made sauce. 1 dozen eggs, 2 dozen easter eggs, a bottle of orange juice and some strawberry milk. Hubby bought a meat pack which had salmon, beef mince, sausages, steak, chicken and diced beef for $15! 

Hubby also got some free bread, rolls, choc-chip biscuits and sourdough which we had with soup, bananas and capsicums. So my mission was to find a recipe to use up these capsicums! I made stuffed capsicums for dinner- these were a hit and will be a regular if i have an excess. There was also enough of the turkey mince and rice filling to make a couple of small pies for lunch. I also froze 3 bags of diced capsicums. 

I got ahead by making some muffins in my pie maker. I made choc-chip banana, cranberry orange and savoury flavours. I had milk kefir to use so this went in the mix instead of milk. Even though we did eat quite a few when they were hot for afternoon tea, there was enough left for the weeks snacks.

We still have some of the butternut pumpkins from our garden, so I made a batch of pumpkin soup in the slow cooker. Mr 18 is home on break and will happily eat this. 

Thursday we had to go to Kmart to buy some comfortable shoes for Mr 14 to wear on his camping trip. We managed to find a nice pair with good soles which were $25, reduced to $15. 

On Friday Mr 14 left for a 6-day school "camping" trip, they call it a wilderness trek. There are no tents, they walk 10 km a day carrying all their belongings in a hiking pack and do various challenges to earn points. Attendance is compulsory for those who are going due to bad behaviour- my Mr 18 had to go twice when he was at this school! Then there's a couple of kids who have volunteered to go for fun, this Mr 14. It is winter here and quite cold, it will be a few degrees colder in the Jarrahdale bush! I said to hubby last night I wonder at what point our boy regrets putting his hand up and volunteering for trek? He has a sleeping bag, warm clothes etc but it doesn't sound like my idea of fun at all! 

Friday I also woke up feeling unwell. Headache, sore throat, body aches and exhaustion. I got up to say goodbye to Mr 14 and make sure he was all packed, I settled down to study and was feeling worse. I decided that wasn't going to happen and went back to bed. I slept on and off all day, sipping on chamomile tea to help my throat and slept through ladt night until 10 am this morning! My body must have needed the rest. Nobody else in the house has been sick so I'm wondering if I caught something out at the shops the day before? Dang my low immune system! Because I was sick I stayed home last night and missed out drinks with our friends. However, my lovely friend send hubby home with some goodies! a bag of oranges, sugar-free marshmallows, lollies and chocolate, tinned soup and some fluffy warm pyjamas. I am blessed to have such a thoughtful and generous friend! 

I rested a bit today as well, and am trying not to do too much and wear myself out. I'll make a quick frittata and vegetables for dinner and maybe watch a movie tonight. 

How was your week? 

Savings Sunday

This week I started back at uni. This is all done online now due to COVID including exams. This works out fine for me because I allocate time to do my readings and activities and in my study breaks I put on a load of washing or get something done around the house. Today in my break, I ate lunch, packed away some groceries, hung the washing outside, paid some bills, put dinner in the slow cooker, got my prescriptions, mail to post and shopping list ready for tomorrow. 

I have a friend in Victoria and she told me masks are mandatory starting on Wednesday. They are in lockdown due to the amount of cases there. If you are in public and not wearing a mask one you risk a $200 fine. I am sending her a couple that I made when I run errands tomorrow.

Back to the uni stuff, I had to buy some text books for my course but was able to save some money by purchasing ebooks which are around half the price. My goodness, text books cost so much. No wonder students are broke!

Hubby and I did a small grocery shop at the Foodbank, they had mostly dry goods due to a fridge and freezer being broken. We bought soap and a $5 fruit/vegetable/dairy box which gave us enough fresh food for the next fortnight. They are also still giving away free pantry boxes, so more pasta, rice, tined spaghetti, beans and fruit was added to our supply.

A friend upgraded her fridge, so gave us her old one. This is bigger than the one we have in our kitchen! Our old one will go outside as a spare. Now we have a big fridge, this is really wonderful because there is 4-6 adults in the house. She also gave us a DVD player and a bag of oranges.

I had some apples to use up so I baked an tarte tatin. It didn't look like the picture in the recipe but it was tasty! I also stewed some apples and added frozen blueberries and made some pies in my pie maker. I joined a FB pie maker group which has loads of recipes and suggestions for food you can make. I also had wonton wrappers to use so these were used instead of pastry as quiche bases. Then I made some banana muffins in there as well! I turned leftover mash potato and vegetables into bubble and squeak patties, these were also cooked in the pie maker. I'll just keep experimenting for a bit if fun!

I bought a set of queen sized flannelette sheets on sale for $14, these were normally $30. I also had a $10 off code for Catch and ordered a carton of beer and bottle if vodka. This worked out to be cheaper than buying it at Dan Murphy's. 

I forgot to take photos this week, I'll aim for more next week! I hope everyone I'd doing well and staying safe x

Savings Sunday

During this week I finally finished tidying my study/doll/spare room. It didn't take too long to actually do, it was more of a motivation thing. Just looking at the mess made me feel overwhelmed! Here's the before and after pictures.

I sorted my bedroom built in robe and went through my gift stash. There were a few things in there which I forgot about, so I also made a list of people we give birthday and Christmas gifts to and wrote some ideas of what to buy, make or if I already had something. That way I can acquire things gradually. I added some labels and toppers to the marmalade I made a few weeks ago and these have gone in the gift stash too.

I used my slow cooker to make tomato sauce- for adding to recipes instead of tinned tomatoes and not the ketchup type!  I just dice the tomatoes with an onion, garlic, herbs and a bit of tomato paste then leave until it is cooked and mash up a bit. This was used in a tray of enchiladas and the rest was frozen.

Our neighbours had an old fridge sitting out the front of their house which they said we could have. It needed a really good clean but is much bigger than our indoor one. The freezer part freezes OK, but only on the bottom, so the top part we are just using for bread. This is fine until we can upgrade! 

I used up some bananas and made banana bread. As well as large pot of pumpkin and sweet potato soup. There was marscapone from Foodbank which I used to make a tiramisu. Hubby defrosted some cream and made butter, the buttermilk went into the banana bread, some was used instead of egg to crumb chicken and the rest was given to the dogs.

We did a grocery shop at the Foodbank and they had large bags of about 5kg of chicken for $5! Meat is normally $15 a pack so this is tremendous value. I only got one because i wasn't sure what cut of chicken it was and because our freezers are pretty full. It ended up being chicken tenderloins. I wish I had of grabbed another bag! 

There was also yoghurt, tofu, milk kefir and flavoured milk which we froze and gave some to our neighbours. We also got another free pantry box and bread corn cobs, capsicum, apples, potatoes and spinach.

We caught up with friends on Friday night for drinks and she sent us home with a bag of tinned corn, chickpeas, icecream topping and biscuits that they won't use. 

We sorted out the freezers and defrosted some things to eat up immediately. One of the items was a large catering bag of chilli con carne. I used this a couple of nights ago in the enchiladas and we will have some tonight with rice. I'm just trying to use up any cooked food that we have. 

On a serious note, Ive been talking to hubby about what Annabel and the Bluebirds have said about maintaining a stocked pantry. We have both felt strongly that the events of this year have been a "trial" to prepare for what is to come. There is now a second wave of COVID in Victoria and lockdowns. We all know how quickly stores can run out of supplies, so in my mind it is sensible to have enough of what my family uses on hand. 

I'm not sure whether to expect an economic depression, inflation or a New World Order but things will get worse and we want to be as prepared as we can be. If nothing come of it, good. We just won't have to go shopping for a while! 

Thrifty Thursday

Here's my op shop bargains that I found last week but forgot to post! Hubby and I took a drive about 30 minutes away to a suburb which is meant to have some really good thrift stores. Well we packed lunch and drinks and visited 8 shops and found nothing until the last one which was a little church run one. The clothes in my second picture is what I bought from there. All the other shops were really over priced. The items in the first and last pic are from our local oppies. Hubby and I agreed that we find the best things at the stores close to home!

 I picked up a really warm large cardigan for 50c which I use more like a dressing gown. Its 11 degrees here and I'm wearing it now! I also got a  miniature zen garden $3 I've always wanted one of these! A pack of 8 bamboo coasters $1 and a pottery garlic jar for 50c.

 

3 pairs of PJ bottoms, a bra and Christmas nightie for me, 2 pairs of warm socks and jeans for Mr 14 came to $9. The nightie I'll put away for our Christmas Eve box. I always buy the kids and I a new pair of pyjamas for Christmas. 

 

An Easter wreath $2 I already have a wreath but thought this would look pretty as a table arrangement, wooden candle holder $3, hand towel $1 and Christmas cup 50c because we use plastic cups in Summer in our pool area. 

Savings Sunday

It has been raining here for most of the week. Hubby and I went for a day trip to visit some op-shops, we packed lunch and drinks. We found a couple of things but not very much. Most items were too expensive. 

We went to the Foodbank and bought a $15 meatpack which had a big pack of crumbed chicken fillets, sausages, mince, chicken breast and frozen vegetables. We also got a $5 fruit and veg box, I got corn, capsicum, tomatoes, apples, yoghurt, marscapone, tofu and cream, as well as a $10 cleaning pack. I dont normally buy a cleaning pack because it has things that I don't need or use, but this week it was really good value and I like having a bit of store bought laundry powder or liquid in case I run out of homemade. Plus it also had some fancy Pears and Imperial Leather soap! These are expensive brands here.The dish liquid I'll keep aside to make some pink Miracle Spray!

I received our power bill in the mail and it is $270 in credit. This was really great! In the summer I started up a direct debit payment each fortnight so I could run the air-conditioning and pool pump without stressing too much when the bill came in. It worked well so i just kept it up and am glad i did! 

Around the house, I made a batch of homemade laundry liquid because I had run out. I also cleaned out my laundry cupboards. One contains first aid supplies and the other has our cleaning and toiletries. This was a good chance to see what we have. 

I cleaned the shower and bathroom and refilled our pump soap dispenser. I also needed to make up some more of the soap mixture in a 1.25 litre bottle for next time. 

I made an easy dinner one night with some rice, papadums, Dahl and the flavoured tofu packs. I baked a sour cream and apple slice to use up last weeks sour cream. The slice has a nice shortbread type base, cooked apples in the middle and a baked sour cream and cinnamon top. I also made a bread and butter pudding to use up some cream and some pumpkin scones because we still have our homegrown pumpkins. These didn't turn out as good as the first time I made them. They didnt rise much. I think I rolled the dough out too flat before cutting. Anyway they were more like soft biscuits and were still tasty! 

Oh, and I baked a banana bread to use up the last 2 sad looking bananas in my fruit bowl. I didn't get a pic of it cooked, but took one of my CPK Delilah "helping" me. I've mentioned before that I have about 30 of these dolls in my collection. On this day I was in the kitchen and feeling lonely despite not being alone in the house. Mr 14 was watching YouTube in the games room and Miss 21 was in her room. Hubby was across the road. I thought I'd bring out a doll to keep me company. Their smiling faces always seem to cheer me up! 

When I was a girl I loved dolls. They were like my babies and I would dress them up, take them outside for picnics and walks in a pram. I always wanted a Cabbage Patch Kid but they were expensive at the time-and still are. About a year ago I came across one on eBay which was very cute and cheap. That's when the collection started! I have got some really good bargains and a couple have come from America, when the conversion rate was good. I hope you have had a good week xx