Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter: 23:14 Bright ideas to save you money
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - Medicine with a Longer Expiry Date, Sparkling Spa Filters, Start Now to Build a Christmas Stockpile
3. Cheapskate's Winning Tip - The 52 Week Debt Reduction Plan
4. Submit Your Tip - Your best money, time and energy saver could be a winner!
5. Living Green in 2014 - Composting, a Great Way to Go Green
6. On the Menu with Anne - Australia's Favourite Cake
7. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy - Inventory Time
8. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
9. Member's Featured Blog - Responsibility by Bluebell234
10. Last Week's Question - Tips for Sticking to the $300 a Month Food Challenge when you work full time
11. This Week's Question - My citrus trees are sick!
12. Join the Cheapskates Club
13. Gift Memberships
14. Frequently Asked Questions
15. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
Welcome to winter! I love winter. It can be the cheapest time of the year for Cheapskates, heating bills and all. It is easy to spend time indoors, you don't need to go out for entertainment.
Drag out the board games and cards; put your photos in order; watch your favourite DVDs again (and enjoy a hot chocolate at the same time), try new recipes and become an expert at using your slow cooker, learn to knit or crochet and use recycled yarn from old jumpers to make a cosy knee rug - the possibilities are endless.
Eating in winter is much cheaper than in summer. A big pot of soup can cost as little as $2, casseroles and stews are very frugal meals, homemade pies cost around 65 cents each to make, baking muffins, cakes, slices and breads is much cheaper than buying them.
Staying warm might seem expensive but it doesn't have to be. Dress appropriately, in layers. And don't forget the socks and slippers! Drag out the quilts and rugs, enjoy lots of hot drinks (tea, hot chocolate, milk and honey), keep the blinds on north facing windows open during the day and remember to close blinds and curtains at night to keep the warmth in. Use door snakes to keep drafts out.
These are just a few ideas you can use to keep winter affordable. What do you do to keep the bills down in winter?
Have a great week everyone, and enjoy the newsletter.
PS: Love our site? We love referrals! Send a note to your favourite newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations, friends and relatives, and tell them about us!
PPS: You can read this newsletter and past copies on the website in the Newsletter Archive.
2. From The Tip Store
Lined and Punched Printing Paper
Approximate $ Savings: $3-$10
My children have long finished school but I still had a ream of lined, hole punched paper left. It fits in the printer and you can copy your recipes onto it and put them directly into a folder. Saves your other printer paper for when you really need it and uses up whatever is left.
Contributed by Sharon Larsen
Smile Saver
Dentist appointments are necessary but they can be costly, particularly for problematic teeth. When I was told I would need a root canal procedure and was quoted nearly $2,000. I knew I needed to seek out alternatives. I did find an alternative that is applicable to those who have private health insurance, and to those who don't. It's www.smile.com.au. Essentially, you pay the membership fee (I paid $89.95 for 2 years), and then you receive a minimum of 15% off your dental fees. The dentist must be a participant of the www.smile.com.au program, but I was happy to switch given the outstanding savings. I saved $640 on the initial root canal procedure and since then have saved much more than that. I also like that you can look up your costs prior to your appointment. So if you're quoted for a procedure by your dentist, you can go here: http://www.smile.com.au/dental-dentist-fees-prices-costs and see what you would be charged as a member. This can apply to cosmetic dentistry and periodontics work if carried out by a participating dentist.
Contributed by Alisha Duncan
Websites:
http://www.smile.com.au
http://www.smile.com.au/dental-dentist-fees-prices-costs
Canning Tomato Soup for Winter
Approximate $ Savings: 4 litres for $3
I received some ripe tomatoes for free, approximately 5 kilos. Currently tomatoes are up to $9 per kilo! I have been learning the art of pressure canning so today was the day. I made fresh tomato soup with carrot, basil, onion, garlic and salt, pepper and sugar. Following directions, I successfully canned 4 litres of fresh tomato soup ready for winter. With pressure canning you can preserve a lot more vegetables, meat and even fish. It is a great skill to have and I love making my own food for my family.
Contributed by Louise Bailey
There are more than 11,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Cheapskates Winning tip
This week's winning tip is from Melody Francia. There's been a lot of talk on the forum and our Facebook page about drying washing in wet weather. I use clotheshorses and hooks in the ceiling, others use rails in the bathroom and still others have outdoor undercover drying areas. Melody's solution is cheap and could be done in any laundry. Melody has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
A Handy Hanging Area
Our laundry is currently getting a makeover and I'm insisting on an inside hanging area for drying shirts on hangers. I've bought an extendable curtain rod and fittings from Ikea for under $10 and will have them attached to either a strong section of ceiling that has a length of wood above it or as we're in an old high set Queenslander it will go along the side of an overhead floor beam. It won't be noticeable unless it is in use and it is strong and cheaper than towel rails or wardrobe rails. Can't wait for my new laundry!
Congratulations Melody, I hope you enjoy your Cheapskates Club membership.
4. Submit your tip
The Cheapskate's Club website is over 3,000 pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. Let's get together and make the Cheapskates Club Australia's largest online hint, tip and idea library. Share your favourite money saving, time saving or energy saving hint and be in the running to win a one-year membership to The Cheapskate Club. We publish a Winning Tip each Thursday, so enter your great money, time or energy saving idea now.
Share your favourite hint or tip that saves money, time and energy and be in the running to win a one-year subscription to The Cheapskate Journal.
Remember, you have to be in it to win it!
Submit your tip
5. Living Green in 2014
The Zero Waste Challenge
June is zero waste month. Every week this month Living Green in 2014 will focus on a common area of waste, and how we can all improve the amount of waste we generate.
Australians waste over $5 billion in edible food a year. That's edible food, perfectly good food that you or I could eat, food that we could serve to our families. Not rotten food, not burnt, over-seasoned inedible food - that's another waste altogether. Five billion dollars, more than it costs to run the Australian Army for a year, is thrown out of Australian kitchens. Just dumped and left to rot and create greenhouse gases.
In this disposable world we live in, throwing away food seems normal. But it's not. During the Great Depression, not really that many years ago, absolutely nothing was wasted, certainly not food.
With groceries being the biggest cost for Australian families next to their mortgages, stopping the waste will make a huge difference to the budget.
With these thoughts in mind, I am challenging you to a zero waste month. Each week this month we'll focus on a different area to practice zero waste.
This week is Zero Kitchen Waste Week. You are not going to waste a single thing. There'll be no putting food in the rubbish bin. Zero waste. No buying anything with excess, non-recyclable packaging. No wasting resources - if the oven is on, you'll be cooking more than one meal and utilizing low energy cooking methods.
Click here to continue…..
6. On the Menu with Anne
Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding
What could be better for a winter dessert than something warm, saucy and full of chocolate! This is the easiest self-saucing chocolate pudding you could ever make. It's so easy Cath has had all three of her kids making it without any help from her since they were 12! We love it with ice-cream (when we have ice-cream) or MOO vanilla custard and a drizzle of cream (not too much, just a drizzle).
Chocolate Self-saucing Pudding
Ingredients:
1 cup S.R flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
30g butter
½ cup milk
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup cocoa, extra
1-¾ cups hot water
Method:
Sift flour and cocoa. Add sugar, mix well. Stir in milk, vanilla and melted butter, mix until smooth. Spread evenly into greased ovenproof dish. Combine brown sugar and extra sifted cocoa, sprinkle over top of pudding. Pour hot water carefully over the top. Bake in moderate oven 50 to 60 minutes.
This week we will be eating:
Friday: Hamburgers
Saturday: Soup and MOO crumpets
Sunday: Roast beef, baked vegetables, beans, gravy
Monday: Chicken fried rice
Tuesday: Spaghetti bolognese
Wednesday: Chicken parmas, wedges, salad
Thursday: Mushroom pizza, salad, garlic bread
In the fruit bowl: apples, mandarins, bananas, kiwi fruit
In the cake tin: Gingerbread, choc chip biscuits, boiled fruit cake
There are over 1,300 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File
7. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy
Welcome to a new week of saving money.
The fridge would have to be the most used item in my kitchen. In fact I could compare it to a train station - trains come in, stop for a while, then trains go out again. Over and over again. My fridge is much the same except it's food that goes in and out all the time.
I use my fridge to temporarily store food ready for use. Meat is defrosted in there for a day or so then used for tea at night. Leftovers are stored until cold then frozen for future free meals. Fruit and veg is eaten within a week or two. I have two big crispers at the bottom of my fridge. The fruit crisper can hold up to 60 pieces of fruit. The veg crisper holds an abundance of vegetables.
The door holds enough fresh milk for the week as well as butter for the month. The other two door shelves hold a small selection of sauces. Cheese, marg, cream and a two litre bottle of tomato sauce ( for refilling the standard bottle ) are on the top shelf of the fridge. Eggs and tinned cat food are on the second shelf.
Shelf three, four and five in the main part of the fridge are generally empty unless the defrosting meat or leftovers are there. We don't have a need to fill up these shelves. I wouldn't know what to put there. We have everything we need on the other shelves to cook an abundance of food from scratch.
Cleaning my fridge is a breeze with all this spare space. The fridge gets wiped out about once a week or more often if something is spilled. It's also wiped out the night before I do my monthly food shop.
An advantage of having space in the fridge is I can see everything in there. Nothing is hidden, nothing is rotting at the back and nothing mysteriously runs out without me knowing. Another advantage is that when I'm catering for a job or a family occasion I have plenty of shelf space to store the goodies on.
Having a clean, tidy and well organise fridge can save you a fortune on groceries. If you can clearly see what you have, you know what you need to use.
How does your fridge look?
Do you have shelf space?
Is it time for a clean and sort out?
Have a great week and BE ENCOURAGED!!!!!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2026-300-a-month-food-challenge-10-06-13
The Post that Started it All
http://www.cheapskates.com.au/pages/default.cfm?page_id=44265
8.Cheapskates Buzz
This week's hot forum topics
It's called saying "No!"
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?546-It-s-called-saying-quot-No!-quot
Soup - to Warm the Soul
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2139-Soup-to-warm-the-soul&highlight=keren
It's a Family Affair!!!!
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?1987-It-s-a-family-affair!!!!&highlight=keren
Most popular blog posts this week
Do You Use Coupons?
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/01/do-you-use-coupons.html
When to Buy Small Appliances
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2012/10/when-to-buy-small-appliances.html
Braised Brussels Sprouts in Dijon Butter Sauce
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2012/09/braised-brussels-sprouts-in-dijon.html
9. Member's Featured Blog
Platinum Cheapskates Club members have their very own Cheapskating blogs, and they are wonderful and inspirational and encouraging and even funny. This week's featured blog is written by Coates776.
Bread Success after 30 Years
Was looking at home made bread on Pinterest and said to myself "lets get that bread machine out and give it another go." I found a post stating to use the machine on the dough setting and then bake in oven.
First try: Used wholemeal flour and the yeast from pantry. Mixed the dough, shoved in oven and baked for 30 minutes. The recipe is just water, flour, yeast and salt. Cooked it, rubbish! Thick, didn't rise. My thought is the yeast was in the pantry opened for 2 years so stale.
Second try: Used fresh yeast same flour but wanted raisin toast so added cinnamon and sultanas cooked in the bread machine Rubbish! Magpies liked it
Third try: After work used white flour Wendy told me too freeze and this time added 3 teaspoons of sugar. Mixed in the bread machine on the dough cycle and then put in oven, my DS had just cooked meat pie so oven was a tad warm. Had to cook dinner so left it there for an hour. Came back and got the shock of my life; it was three times its size.
Cooked it then on 140 for 30 minutes (I bought an oven temperature gauge and found out the oven is 40 degrees hotter than setting!).
Looked at oven just then and l have a monstrous, oval shaped, crusty bread that actually tastes and looks like bread.
When l use the machine to cook l get a hard, crusty, yucky thing!
I will be hooked now on playing with my new found skill.
Login to read more Cheapskates Club member blogs
10. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Karen who wrote
"I have been buying bulk chicken from Steggles and I grow my own veggies but I would like to buy my beef and lamb from the farm in bulk but I don't know of any. I live in the Hunter Valley just out of Newcastle. Can any one help with where to go?
Do you have a question that needs an answer?
Send us your question and receive the combined knowledge of your fellow Cheapskates to solve your problem!
Ask Your Question
11. This Week's Question
Cass writes
"I'd love to MOO scented drawer liners, like the paper ones you can buy. Does have any tips on the paper to use and how to fragrance it?"
Do you have the answer?
If you have a suggestion or idea for Cass let us know. We'll enter your answer into our Tip of the Week competition, with a one-year membership to the Cheapskates Club as the prize too.
Send your answer
12. Join the Cheapskates Club
For just 10 cents a day you can join the Cheapskates Club and get exclusive access to the Cheapskate Journal, the monthly e-journal that shows you how to cut the costs of everyday living and still have fun.
Joining the Cheapskates Club gives you 24/7 access to the Members Centre with 1000's of money saving tips and articles.
Click here to join the Cheapskates Club today!
http://www.cheapskates.com.au/members/join_form.cfm?item_id=2271
13. Gift Memberships
Your family and friends will thank you for a whole year when you give them a Platinum Cheapskates Club membership as a gift.
It's so simple: just select the number of gift memberships required, click the Buy Now button and complete the Gift Membership order form (you must use this form to order gift memberships) and we'll get in touch with you to confirm the gift subscriptions.
Click here to order a gift membership right now!
14. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. Members can update their email address or any other details by clicking on "Edit Profile" directly under their membership number after they have logged in to the Member's Centre. Subscribers to our free newsletter can use the Change Your Address form (under Customer Service in the menu) and fill it out. Once you've filled it in click the send button and we'll do the rest. Please remember to include your old email address so we can find it in the list as well as the new one.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
When you login to the Member's Centre you will be told how many days of membership you have left once you have 30 days left. Just click on the link to renew and your membership will just continue on, uninterrupted.
What will you do with my email address?
We never rent, trade or sell our email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever. You'll never get an unsolicited email from a stranger as a result of joining this list.
Read our privacy policy
How Did You Get on Our List?
You signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member
15. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
PO Box 5077 Studfield Vic 3152
www.cheapskates.com.au
info@cheapskates.com.au
2. In the Tip Store - Medicine with a Longer Expiry Date, Sparkling Spa Filters, Start Now to Build a Christmas Stockpile
3. Cheapskate's Winning Tip - The 52 Week Debt Reduction Plan
4. Submit Your Tip - Your best money, time and energy saver could be a winner!
5. Living Green in 2014 - Composting, a Great Way to Go Green
6. On the Menu with Anne - Australia's Favourite Cake
7. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy - Inventory Time
8. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
9. Member's Featured Blog - Responsibility by Bluebell234
10. Last Week's Question - Tips for Sticking to the $300 a Month Food Challenge when you work full time
11. This Week's Question - My citrus trees are sick!
12. Join the Cheapskates Club
13. Gift Memberships
14. Frequently Asked Questions
15. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
Welcome to winter! I love winter. It can be the cheapest time of the year for Cheapskates, heating bills and all. It is easy to spend time indoors, you don't need to go out for entertainment.
Drag out the board games and cards; put your photos in order; watch your favourite DVDs again (and enjoy a hot chocolate at the same time), try new recipes and become an expert at using your slow cooker, learn to knit or crochet and use recycled yarn from old jumpers to make a cosy knee rug - the possibilities are endless.
Eating in winter is much cheaper than in summer. A big pot of soup can cost as little as $2, casseroles and stews are very frugal meals, homemade pies cost around 65 cents each to make, baking muffins, cakes, slices and breads is much cheaper than buying them.
Staying warm might seem expensive but it doesn't have to be. Dress appropriately, in layers. And don't forget the socks and slippers! Drag out the quilts and rugs, enjoy lots of hot drinks (tea, hot chocolate, milk and honey), keep the blinds on north facing windows open during the day and remember to close blinds and curtains at night to keep the warmth in. Use door snakes to keep drafts out.
These are just a few ideas you can use to keep winter affordable. What do you do to keep the bills down in winter?
Have a great week everyone, and enjoy the newsletter.
PS: Love our site? We love referrals! Send a note to your favourite newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations, friends and relatives, and tell them about us!
PPS: You can read this newsletter and past copies on the website in the Newsletter Archive.
2. From The Tip Store
Lined and Punched Printing Paper
Approximate $ Savings: $3-$10
My children have long finished school but I still had a ream of lined, hole punched paper left. It fits in the printer and you can copy your recipes onto it and put them directly into a folder. Saves your other printer paper for when you really need it and uses up whatever is left.
Contributed by Sharon Larsen
Smile Saver
Dentist appointments are necessary but they can be costly, particularly for problematic teeth. When I was told I would need a root canal procedure and was quoted nearly $2,000. I knew I needed to seek out alternatives. I did find an alternative that is applicable to those who have private health insurance, and to those who don't. It's www.smile.com.au. Essentially, you pay the membership fee (I paid $89.95 for 2 years), and then you receive a minimum of 15% off your dental fees. The dentist must be a participant of the www.smile.com.au program, but I was happy to switch given the outstanding savings. I saved $640 on the initial root canal procedure and since then have saved much more than that. I also like that you can look up your costs prior to your appointment. So if you're quoted for a procedure by your dentist, you can go here: http://www.smile.com.au/dental-dentist-fees-prices-costs and see what you would be charged as a member. This can apply to cosmetic dentistry and periodontics work if carried out by a participating dentist.
Contributed by Alisha Duncan
Websites:
http://www.smile.com.au
http://www.smile.com.au/dental-dentist-fees-prices-costs
Canning Tomato Soup for Winter
Approximate $ Savings: 4 litres for $3
I received some ripe tomatoes for free, approximately 5 kilos. Currently tomatoes are up to $9 per kilo! I have been learning the art of pressure canning so today was the day. I made fresh tomato soup with carrot, basil, onion, garlic and salt, pepper and sugar. Following directions, I successfully canned 4 litres of fresh tomato soup ready for winter. With pressure canning you can preserve a lot more vegetables, meat and even fish. It is a great skill to have and I love making my own food for my family.
Contributed by Louise Bailey
There are more than 11,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Cheapskates Winning tip
This week's winning tip is from Melody Francia. There's been a lot of talk on the forum and our Facebook page about drying washing in wet weather. I use clotheshorses and hooks in the ceiling, others use rails in the bathroom and still others have outdoor undercover drying areas. Melody's solution is cheap and could be done in any laundry. Melody has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
A Handy Hanging Area
Our laundry is currently getting a makeover and I'm insisting on an inside hanging area for drying shirts on hangers. I've bought an extendable curtain rod and fittings from Ikea for under $10 and will have them attached to either a strong section of ceiling that has a length of wood above it or as we're in an old high set Queenslander it will go along the side of an overhead floor beam. It won't be noticeable unless it is in use and it is strong and cheaper than towel rails or wardrobe rails. Can't wait for my new laundry!
Congratulations Melody, I hope you enjoy your Cheapskates Club membership.
4. Submit your tip
The Cheapskate's Club website is over 3,000 pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. Let's get together and make the Cheapskates Club Australia's largest online hint, tip and idea library. Share your favourite money saving, time saving or energy saving hint and be in the running to win a one-year membership to The Cheapskate Club. We publish a Winning Tip each Thursday, so enter your great money, time or energy saving idea now.
Share your favourite hint or tip that saves money, time and energy and be in the running to win a one-year subscription to The Cheapskate Journal.
Remember, you have to be in it to win it!
Submit your tip
5. Living Green in 2014
The Zero Waste Challenge
June is zero waste month. Every week this month Living Green in 2014 will focus on a common area of waste, and how we can all improve the amount of waste we generate.
Australians waste over $5 billion in edible food a year. That's edible food, perfectly good food that you or I could eat, food that we could serve to our families. Not rotten food, not burnt, over-seasoned inedible food - that's another waste altogether. Five billion dollars, more than it costs to run the Australian Army for a year, is thrown out of Australian kitchens. Just dumped and left to rot and create greenhouse gases.
In this disposable world we live in, throwing away food seems normal. But it's not. During the Great Depression, not really that many years ago, absolutely nothing was wasted, certainly not food.
With groceries being the biggest cost for Australian families next to their mortgages, stopping the waste will make a huge difference to the budget.
With these thoughts in mind, I am challenging you to a zero waste month. Each week this month we'll focus on a different area to practice zero waste.
This week is Zero Kitchen Waste Week. You are not going to waste a single thing. There'll be no putting food in the rubbish bin. Zero waste. No buying anything with excess, non-recyclable packaging. No wasting resources - if the oven is on, you'll be cooking more than one meal and utilizing low energy cooking methods.
Click here to continue…..
6. On the Menu with Anne
Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding
What could be better for a winter dessert than something warm, saucy and full of chocolate! This is the easiest self-saucing chocolate pudding you could ever make. It's so easy Cath has had all three of her kids making it without any help from her since they were 12! We love it with ice-cream (when we have ice-cream) or MOO vanilla custard and a drizzle of cream (not too much, just a drizzle).
Chocolate Self-saucing Pudding
Ingredients:
1 cup S.R flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
30g butter
½ cup milk
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup cocoa, extra
1-¾ cups hot water
Method:
Sift flour and cocoa. Add sugar, mix well. Stir in milk, vanilla and melted butter, mix until smooth. Spread evenly into greased ovenproof dish. Combine brown sugar and extra sifted cocoa, sprinkle over top of pudding. Pour hot water carefully over the top. Bake in moderate oven 50 to 60 minutes.
This week we will be eating:
Friday: Hamburgers
Saturday: Soup and MOO crumpets
Sunday: Roast beef, baked vegetables, beans, gravy
Monday: Chicken fried rice
Tuesday: Spaghetti bolognese
Wednesday: Chicken parmas, wedges, salad
Thursday: Mushroom pizza, salad, garlic bread
In the fruit bowl: apples, mandarins, bananas, kiwi fruit
In the cake tin: Gingerbread, choc chip biscuits, boiled fruit cake
There are over 1,300 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File
7. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy
Welcome to a new week of saving money.
The fridge would have to be the most used item in my kitchen. In fact I could compare it to a train station - trains come in, stop for a while, then trains go out again. Over and over again. My fridge is much the same except it's food that goes in and out all the time.
I use my fridge to temporarily store food ready for use. Meat is defrosted in there for a day or so then used for tea at night. Leftovers are stored until cold then frozen for future free meals. Fruit and veg is eaten within a week or two. I have two big crispers at the bottom of my fridge. The fruit crisper can hold up to 60 pieces of fruit. The veg crisper holds an abundance of vegetables.
The door holds enough fresh milk for the week as well as butter for the month. The other two door shelves hold a small selection of sauces. Cheese, marg, cream and a two litre bottle of tomato sauce ( for refilling the standard bottle ) are on the top shelf of the fridge. Eggs and tinned cat food are on the second shelf.
Shelf three, four and five in the main part of the fridge are generally empty unless the defrosting meat or leftovers are there. We don't have a need to fill up these shelves. I wouldn't know what to put there. We have everything we need on the other shelves to cook an abundance of food from scratch.
Cleaning my fridge is a breeze with all this spare space. The fridge gets wiped out about once a week or more often if something is spilled. It's also wiped out the night before I do my monthly food shop.
An advantage of having space in the fridge is I can see everything in there. Nothing is hidden, nothing is rotting at the back and nothing mysteriously runs out without me knowing. Another advantage is that when I'm catering for a job or a family occasion I have plenty of shelf space to store the goodies on.
Having a clean, tidy and well organise fridge can save you a fortune on groceries. If you can clearly see what you have, you know what you need to use.
How does your fridge look?
Do you have shelf space?
Is it time for a clean and sort out?
Have a great week and BE ENCOURAGED!!!!!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2026-300-a-month-food-challenge-10-06-13
The Post that Started it All
http://www.cheapskates.com.au/pages/default.cfm?page_id=44265
8.Cheapskates Buzz
This week's hot forum topics
It's called saying "No!"
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?546-It-s-called-saying-quot-No!-quot
Soup - to Warm the Soul
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2139-Soup-to-warm-the-soul&highlight=keren
It's a Family Affair!!!!
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?1987-It-s-a-family-affair!!!!&highlight=keren
Most popular blog posts this week
Do You Use Coupons?
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/01/do-you-use-coupons.html
When to Buy Small Appliances
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2012/10/when-to-buy-small-appliances.html
Braised Brussels Sprouts in Dijon Butter Sauce
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2012/09/braised-brussels-sprouts-in-dijon.html
9. Member's Featured Blog
Platinum Cheapskates Club members have their very own Cheapskating blogs, and they are wonderful and inspirational and encouraging and even funny. This week's featured blog is written by Coates776.
Bread Success after 30 Years
Was looking at home made bread on Pinterest and said to myself "lets get that bread machine out and give it another go." I found a post stating to use the machine on the dough setting and then bake in oven.
First try: Used wholemeal flour and the yeast from pantry. Mixed the dough, shoved in oven and baked for 30 minutes. The recipe is just water, flour, yeast and salt. Cooked it, rubbish! Thick, didn't rise. My thought is the yeast was in the pantry opened for 2 years so stale.
Second try: Used fresh yeast same flour but wanted raisin toast so added cinnamon and sultanas cooked in the bread machine Rubbish! Magpies liked it
Third try: After work used white flour Wendy told me too freeze and this time added 3 teaspoons of sugar. Mixed in the bread machine on the dough cycle and then put in oven, my DS had just cooked meat pie so oven was a tad warm. Had to cook dinner so left it there for an hour. Came back and got the shock of my life; it was three times its size.
Cooked it then on 140 for 30 minutes (I bought an oven temperature gauge and found out the oven is 40 degrees hotter than setting!).
Looked at oven just then and l have a monstrous, oval shaped, crusty bread that actually tastes and looks like bread.
When l use the machine to cook l get a hard, crusty, yucky thing!
I will be hooked now on playing with my new found skill.
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10. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Karen who wrote
"I have been buying bulk chicken from Steggles and I grow my own veggies but I would like to buy my beef and lamb from the farm in bulk but I don't know of any. I live in the Hunter Valley just out of Newcastle. Can any one help with where to go?
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11. This Week's Question
Cass writes
"I'd love to MOO scented drawer liners, like the paper ones you can buy. Does have any tips on the paper to use and how to fragrance it?"
Do you have the answer?
If you have a suggestion or idea for Cass let us know. We'll enter your answer into our Tip of the Week competition, with a one-year membership to the Cheapskates Club as the prize too.
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12. Join the Cheapskates Club
For just 10 cents a day you can join the Cheapskates Club and get exclusive access to the Cheapskate Journal, the monthly e-journal that shows you how to cut the costs of everyday living and still have fun.
Joining the Cheapskates Club gives you 24/7 access to the Members Centre with 1000's of money saving tips and articles.
Click here to join the Cheapskates Club today!
http://www.cheapskates.com.au/members/join_form.cfm?item_id=2271
13. Gift Memberships
Your family and friends will thank you for a whole year when you give them a Platinum Cheapskates Club membership as a gift.
It's so simple: just select the number of gift memberships required, click the Buy Now button and complete the Gift Membership order form (you must use this form to order gift memberships) and we'll get in touch with you to confirm the gift subscriptions.
Click here to order a gift membership right now!
14. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. Members can update their email address or any other details by clicking on "Edit Profile" directly under their membership number after they have logged in to the Member's Centre. Subscribers to our free newsletter can use the Change Your Address form (under Customer Service in the menu) and fill it out. Once you've filled it in click the send button and we'll do the rest. Please remember to include your old email address so we can find it in the list as well as the new one.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
When you login to the Member's Centre you will be told how many days of membership you have left once you have 30 days left. Just click on the link to renew and your membership will just continue on, uninterrupted.
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15. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
PO Box 5077 Studfield Vic 3152
www.cheapskates.com.au
info@cheapskates.com.au