Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter: 30:14 Bright ideas to save you money
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - Collecting and Saving Seeds from Your Garden, MOO a Simple Seedling Hot House, Cheaper Subscription TV
3. Cheapskate's Winning Tip - Negotiate for Car Servicing and Save Hundreds
4. Submit Your Tip - Share your favourite Cheapskates style tip for a chance to win
6. On the Menu with Anne - Quick Beef Stroganoff
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy - What to do when you have no food
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. Last Week's Question - How do I get the best from the toy sales?
9. This Week's Question - What's a fair rate for room and board?
10. Join the Cheapskates Club
11. Gift Memberships
12. Frequently Asked Questions
13. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
"The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don't know my story... " Maya Angelou
That quote from Maya Angelou is one I've said over and over to myself the last few weeks so I thought it time you all heard my story, if you haven't already.
Let me tell you a little about myself. I'm fifth generation Australian, dinky-di Aussie through and through. I was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales (just a few years ago). I've lived in Australia all my life and apart from a couple of overseas trips in my early twenties, I've never left and I have no intention of leaving. I'm married to an Australian (and his family has been here longer than mine!) and we have three Australian (grown-up) children.
In 1990, in the space of just five days, we both lost our jobs and found out we were having our third baby. We had a half renovated house. We lived in a town where my husband had just been put off from the only business in his trade. The recession was at its peak. Interest rates were officially nudging 18 per cent. Unemployment was nudging 11 per cent. Things were grim, and the "recession we had to have" was taking its toll.
We had a choice: give up and lose everything we had worked for, or smarten up and keep it. I didn't want to give up our lifestyle, I liked the way we lived, so for me there was no choice. I became a cheapskate and began living the Cheapskates way.
Over time our family and friends noticed that in spite of our change in circumstances our lifestyle hadn't really changed. We finished the renovations. We still had holidays. Our children started private school. We were always nicely dressed. We still celebrated holidays with parties and barbecues. We were still hospitable and regularly had visitors and overnight guests.
We lived very well on what was even for those days a very, very tight budget. We paid our bills on time, cleared our debts and built savings, including an Emergency Fund. And we did it without depriving ourselves. How did we do it? We ditched the stuff that wasn't important to us so we had the cash to enjoy the things that were.
The newsletter you are reading now came about because those family and friends wanted to know how we did it. Until recently it was put together by me; nowadays Hannah helps out. It's put together using contributions from you, Cheapskates Club newsletter subscribers and members. It is as Australian as I am.
Why am I telling you this? Because I want to be sure that you know the Cheapskates Club is Australian. That it was created for Australians by an Australian and that it will always be Australian.
I want you to be confident that when you read your newsletter, visit the Cheapskates Club or log in to the Member's Centre you will find what you need, no matter where you are in your journey towards a debt free, cashed up life and that your future can be full of laughter.
Have an absolutely fabulous week everyone and enjoy your journey towards a debt free, cashed up life full of laughter, love and joy.
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
Collecting and Saving Seeds from Your Garden
Cabbage, lettuce, basil etc. all go to seed if you leave them long enough in the ground. When the seed pods are ready, the seeds inside are black tiny dots. Get a plastic bag and put it over the plant and shake it vigorously. You will have many hundreds of seeds which you can keep and plant for years to come. When you have finished harvesting lettuce and cabbage leave them and they will grow tall and have seed pods on the top. You can leave a couple of pods on the plant and pick the other flowers off. It is when you leave the purple flowers on that they go into a seed pod and the seeds develop. If you don't get all the seeds from the pods in the first day, leave for a day or two and redo the shaking of the plant into the plastic bag again. Once you've collected your seeds keep them in an air tight container and label.
Contributed by Lynette Jakovich
MOO a Simple Seedling Hot House
Use bulk meat trays as mini hot houses to help seeds germinate. Poke some drainage holes in the bottom then fill with seed raising mix and add your seeds. Then use pegs to attach another meat tray to the top, making sure you have some side ventilation holes so you don't cook them, though!
Contributed by Sharima Atkinson
Cheaper Subscription TV
We have had a satellite contract for many years and enjoy the alternative to bland TV - however, the price crept up and up to $90 per month, while our provider was offering new members extraordinary deals - I rang and had the fee cut to $50 per month - that lasted only three months - so rang again and it seems that as a senior I am entitled to $55 per month - loss of a few channels but still saving me money
Contributed by Lorraine Costigan
There are more than 11,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Cheapskates Winning tip
This week's winning tip is from Andrea Hewett. Andrea has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
Negotiate for Car Servicing and Save Hundreds
Approximate $ Savings: $200 per Service
As a single lady who is mechanically challenged, I prefer to get my Dualis (still in warranty) serviced at the dealer which specialises in my make of car, however I know I pay a premium for the trouble. I was recently reminded by the dealership that my capped price 6 monthly service was coming up at a cost of $350. I explained to the Service Manager that I had only done 4000km since the last service, and he agreed to do it for $150. I have to get my car serviced to validate my warranty, but I saved $200 by negotiating on the price and suggesting I might be forced to go to a third-party mechanic.
Congratulations Andrea, 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. On the Menu with Anne
Quick Beef Stroganoff
Sometimes life gets in the way of even the most flexible of meal plans and you just need to put something on the table in a hurry. Toasted sandwiches, beans on toast, omelets and spag bol are a few quick dishes that spring to mind. They are all quick and tasty.
Occasionally though you need something with a bit of pizzaz and Quick Beef Stroganoff fits the bill perfectly. This is a quick dish so it uses a can of mushroom soup for convenience and speed. Canned soups are not a staple in my kitchen. They are expensive and homemade soups are always nicer. But when push comes to shove they serve a purpose in an emergency and can be very handy.
If you have plenty of time you can slice 100g mushrooms and reduce them in a little butter while you make a cream sauce. Then you can use your MOO mushroom soup in place of the tin.
Quick Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients:
500g steak, cut into 2cm chunks and browned
2 cups water
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small onion, finely sliced
1tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Worstershire sauce
300ml sour cream
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
Method:
Cook beef in water until fork tender. Stir in remaining ingredients except for sour cream and warm over medium high heat until bubbly. Stir in sour cream and parsley. Serve over cooked noodles or steamed rice.
This week we will be eating:
Friday: MOO fish and chips
Saturday: MOO Hamburgers
Sunday: Roast chicken, baked vegetables
Monday: Sausages, mash, broccoli, corn, onion gravy
Tuesday: Pasta bake and salad
Wednesday: Vegetable soup and toast
Thursday: MOO Pizza
In the fruit bowl: mandarins, apples, bananas
In the cake tin: Lunchbox Cookies, ANZAC slice, fruit cake
There are over 1,300 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy
Welcome to a new week of talking about all things food, budgets and shopping. There has been a fair bit of talk on the forum lately about running out of food or grocery money.
Running out of food can be a scary situation to be faced with. What to do? What to do? I guess the first question you need to ask yourself is “Have I really run out of food or do I have food but don't know what to cook?” If you have run out of food just because you didn't buy enough then it's time for a new plan of attack. Writing a menu plan for the week might be a good place to start. Then write your shopping list from the menu plan. Don't forget to include breakfasts, lunches and snacks as well as the main meal. Once you've mastered shopping for a week then you could try fortnightly or monthly shopping.
You might be in the situation where you haven't run out of food but feel like the food you do have isn't going to make great meals. This is the perfect time for experimentation. Grab your cookbooks or use the internet to try something different. There are websites where you can search for recipes with certain ingredients. This could be the making of a new family favourite recipe.
If you have run out of grocery money for whatever reason, you have a few options. Can you make meals out of the food you DO have? Can you find some extra money from another area of your budget? I'm not talking about hundreds of dollars. $20 or $30 could last a week or two with a carefully planned shopping list if you have basic ingredients on hand like herbs, spices and a few baking ingredients.
Once again a menu plan will help you through a tough time until money becomes available again. A packet of quick oats will give you a filling breakfast for a week. Two loaves of bread will be enough for lunches. Buying one piece of the cheapest fruit available per person could be a snack. In winter apples, pears and citrus fruits are very cheap. In summer it could be stone fruit or grapes.
Dinner doesn't have to be fancy if money is tight. Here are some cheap meal ideas -
*Boiled potato with steamed vegies and seasonings on top is very yummy and cheap.
* 300 grams of mince can be bulked out with rice and cheaper vegetables like beans, cabbage or carrots.
* Eggs, baked beans or spaghetti on toast
* Pasta with tomato sauce and cheese
* Pasta with a tin of tomatoes and grated vegetables
* Fried rice without any meat.
* Pancakes
The Bare Bones Grocery Budget is also worth looking at. It gives you a shopping list and a menu plan for tough times. When your money situation looks brighter gradually build up your stockpile again.
Have you faced times of little food or money?
How did you handle the situation?
Have a great week and BE ENCOURAGED!!!!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?24-Take-up-the-challenge-!!!!
The Post that Started it All
http://www.cheapskates.com.au/pages/default.cfm?page_id=44265
7.Cheapskates Buzz
This week's hot forum topics
Organised Family
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?99-organised-family&highlight=margaret+melbourne
$150 Clothing Challenge
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?83-150-clothing-challenge&highlight=yellowlyn
Shopping - Love it or Hate it!
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?651-Shopping-Love-it-or-hate-it!&highlight=yellowlyn
Most popular blog posts this week
Spending Too Much Money on Weekends?
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2012/05/spending-too-much-money-on-weekends.html
How to Add Colour to Your Work Wardrobe
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2012/09/how-to-add-colour-to-your-work-wardrobe.html
Easy Peasy No Fail Pavlova
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/01/easy-peasy-no-fail-pavlova.html
8. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Roseanne who wrote
"The mid-year toy sales have started, and they seem to have bargains. I have gone to them in the past but there seems to be more hype than bargains. How do you get good deals at the mid-year toy sales and know they really are good deals? I hate getting to December and finding what I queued up to buy cheaper."
Seana Morr answered
There is a lot of hype about the July sales. I don't buy major Christmas presents for my two kids in July as in December they will be asking for something else. However you can get some smaller gifts for nieces, nephews, and little extra surprises. I wouldn't buy unless it was 45% off or more.
Beverley Leeson answered
My issue was that by the time Christmas arrived, there had been so many new toy releases, that what my children had wanted mid year when the sales started, they were no longer interested in. I then started to skip the mid year sales but still put away the fortnightly payment (back then into an envelope). Then, around late November, armed with the cash to pay for them I would go off to one of the last toy sales and get them what they wanted at that time. I saved not only money but the hassle of having to return most of the original lay by for a refund and start all over again.
Maria Athanas answered
I refuse to shop during December for toys. Now I shop all year round. After January I make a list of who I need to shop for and roughly how much I want to spend. I keep the notebook with me and whenever I go to the shops and see things in special that I want for someone I buy it add it in my book so I know I have bought the gift and also I keep track on what I've spent. This way I also don't get one big shock at the register, it's broken up throughout the year.
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
9. This Week's Question
Cheapskates Club member Cutegroomz writes
"My middle son started his apprenticeship and I am wondering what parents consider acceptable for their kids to pay for board. Just a quick run down, Centrelink won't pay child support for him any more which is fair enough, he is earning a very good wage for a 17 year old. He leaves from 6 in the morning and gets home about 5.30 - 6.00 at night, 5 days a week. I do the cooking, washing etc. as it's easier for running the household. I have told him that he has to buy his own clothes and toiletries as he has certain brands he likes that aren't the cheapest. Thanks for any advice given."
Do you have the answer?
If you have a suggestion or idea for Cutegroomz 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
10. 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
11. 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!
12. 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
13. 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 - Collecting and Saving Seeds from Your Garden, MOO a Simple Seedling Hot House, Cheaper Subscription TV
3. Cheapskate's Winning Tip - Negotiate for Car Servicing and Save Hundreds
4. Submit Your Tip - Share your favourite Cheapskates style tip for a chance to win
6. On the Menu with Anne - Quick Beef Stroganoff
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy - What to do when you have no food
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. Last Week's Question - How do I get the best from the toy sales?
9. This Week's Question - What's a fair rate for room and board?
10. Join the Cheapskates Club
11. Gift Memberships
12. Frequently Asked Questions
13. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
"The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don't know my story... " Maya Angelou
That quote from Maya Angelou is one I've said over and over to myself the last few weeks so I thought it time you all heard my story, if you haven't already.
Let me tell you a little about myself. I'm fifth generation Australian, dinky-di Aussie through and through. I was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales (just a few years ago). I've lived in Australia all my life and apart from a couple of overseas trips in my early twenties, I've never left and I have no intention of leaving. I'm married to an Australian (and his family has been here longer than mine!) and we have three Australian (grown-up) children.
In 1990, in the space of just five days, we both lost our jobs and found out we were having our third baby. We had a half renovated house. We lived in a town where my husband had just been put off from the only business in his trade. The recession was at its peak. Interest rates were officially nudging 18 per cent. Unemployment was nudging 11 per cent. Things were grim, and the "recession we had to have" was taking its toll.
We had a choice: give up and lose everything we had worked for, or smarten up and keep it. I didn't want to give up our lifestyle, I liked the way we lived, so for me there was no choice. I became a cheapskate and began living the Cheapskates way.
Over time our family and friends noticed that in spite of our change in circumstances our lifestyle hadn't really changed. We finished the renovations. We still had holidays. Our children started private school. We were always nicely dressed. We still celebrated holidays with parties and barbecues. We were still hospitable and regularly had visitors and overnight guests.
We lived very well on what was even for those days a very, very tight budget. We paid our bills on time, cleared our debts and built savings, including an Emergency Fund. And we did it without depriving ourselves. How did we do it? We ditched the stuff that wasn't important to us so we had the cash to enjoy the things that were.
The newsletter you are reading now came about because those family and friends wanted to know how we did it. Until recently it was put together by me; nowadays Hannah helps out. It's put together using contributions from you, Cheapskates Club newsletter subscribers and members. It is as Australian as I am.
Why am I telling you this? Because I want to be sure that you know the Cheapskates Club is Australian. That it was created for Australians by an Australian and that it will always be Australian.
I want you to be confident that when you read your newsletter, visit the Cheapskates Club or log in to the Member's Centre you will find what you need, no matter where you are in your journey towards a debt free, cashed up life and that your future can be full of laughter.
Have an absolutely fabulous week everyone and enjoy your journey towards a debt free, cashed up life full of laughter, love and joy.
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
Collecting and Saving Seeds from Your Garden
Cabbage, lettuce, basil etc. all go to seed if you leave them long enough in the ground. When the seed pods are ready, the seeds inside are black tiny dots. Get a plastic bag and put it over the plant and shake it vigorously. You will have many hundreds of seeds which you can keep and plant for years to come. When you have finished harvesting lettuce and cabbage leave them and they will grow tall and have seed pods on the top. You can leave a couple of pods on the plant and pick the other flowers off. It is when you leave the purple flowers on that they go into a seed pod and the seeds develop. If you don't get all the seeds from the pods in the first day, leave for a day or two and redo the shaking of the plant into the plastic bag again. Once you've collected your seeds keep them in an air tight container and label.
Contributed by Lynette Jakovich
MOO a Simple Seedling Hot House
Use bulk meat trays as mini hot houses to help seeds germinate. Poke some drainage holes in the bottom then fill with seed raising mix and add your seeds. Then use pegs to attach another meat tray to the top, making sure you have some side ventilation holes so you don't cook them, though!
Contributed by Sharima Atkinson
Cheaper Subscription TV
We have had a satellite contract for many years and enjoy the alternative to bland TV - however, the price crept up and up to $90 per month, while our provider was offering new members extraordinary deals - I rang and had the fee cut to $50 per month - that lasted only three months - so rang again and it seems that as a senior I am entitled to $55 per month - loss of a few channels but still saving me money
Contributed by Lorraine Costigan
There are more than 11,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Cheapskates Winning tip
This week's winning tip is from Andrea Hewett. Andrea has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
Negotiate for Car Servicing and Save Hundreds
Approximate $ Savings: $200 per Service
As a single lady who is mechanically challenged, I prefer to get my Dualis (still in warranty) serviced at the dealer which specialises in my make of car, however I know I pay a premium for the trouble. I was recently reminded by the dealership that my capped price 6 monthly service was coming up at a cost of $350. I explained to the Service Manager that I had only done 4000km since the last service, and he agreed to do it for $150. I have to get my car serviced to validate my warranty, but I saved $200 by negotiating on the price and suggesting I might be forced to go to a third-party mechanic.
Congratulations Andrea, 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. On the Menu with Anne
Quick Beef Stroganoff
Sometimes life gets in the way of even the most flexible of meal plans and you just need to put something on the table in a hurry. Toasted sandwiches, beans on toast, omelets and spag bol are a few quick dishes that spring to mind. They are all quick and tasty.
Occasionally though you need something with a bit of pizzaz and Quick Beef Stroganoff fits the bill perfectly. This is a quick dish so it uses a can of mushroom soup for convenience and speed. Canned soups are not a staple in my kitchen. They are expensive and homemade soups are always nicer. But when push comes to shove they serve a purpose in an emergency and can be very handy.
If you have plenty of time you can slice 100g mushrooms and reduce them in a little butter while you make a cream sauce. Then you can use your MOO mushroom soup in place of the tin.
Quick Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients:
500g steak, cut into 2cm chunks and browned
2 cups water
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small onion, finely sliced
1tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Worstershire sauce
300ml sour cream
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
Method:
Cook beef in water until fork tender. Stir in remaining ingredients except for sour cream and warm over medium high heat until bubbly. Stir in sour cream and parsley. Serve over cooked noodles or steamed rice.
This week we will be eating:
Friday: MOO fish and chips
Saturday: MOO Hamburgers
Sunday: Roast chicken, baked vegetables
Monday: Sausages, mash, broccoli, corn, onion gravy
Tuesday: Pasta bake and salad
Wednesday: Vegetable soup and toast
Thursday: MOO Pizza
In the fruit bowl: mandarins, apples, bananas
In the cake tin: Lunchbox Cookies, ANZAC slice, fruit cake
There are over 1,300 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy
Welcome to a new week of talking about all things food, budgets and shopping. There has been a fair bit of talk on the forum lately about running out of food or grocery money.
Running out of food can be a scary situation to be faced with. What to do? What to do? I guess the first question you need to ask yourself is “Have I really run out of food or do I have food but don't know what to cook?” If you have run out of food just because you didn't buy enough then it's time for a new plan of attack. Writing a menu plan for the week might be a good place to start. Then write your shopping list from the menu plan. Don't forget to include breakfasts, lunches and snacks as well as the main meal. Once you've mastered shopping for a week then you could try fortnightly or monthly shopping.
You might be in the situation where you haven't run out of food but feel like the food you do have isn't going to make great meals. This is the perfect time for experimentation. Grab your cookbooks or use the internet to try something different. There are websites where you can search for recipes with certain ingredients. This could be the making of a new family favourite recipe.
If you have run out of grocery money for whatever reason, you have a few options. Can you make meals out of the food you DO have? Can you find some extra money from another area of your budget? I'm not talking about hundreds of dollars. $20 or $30 could last a week or two with a carefully planned shopping list if you have basic ingredients on hand like herbs, spices and a few baking ingredients.
Once again a menu plan will help you through a tough time until money becomes available again. A packet of quick oats will give you a filling breakfast for a week. Two loaves of bread will be enough for lunches. Buying one piece of the cheapest fruit available per person could be a snack. In winter apples, pears and citrus fruits are very cheap. In summer it could be stone fruit or grapes.
Dinner doesn't have to be fancy if money is tight. Here are some cheap meal ideas -
*Boiled potato with steamed vegies and seasonings on top is very yummy and cheap.
* 300 grams of mince can be bulked out with rice and cheaper vegetables like beans, cabbage or carrots.
* Eggs, baked beans or spaghetti on toast
* Pasta with tomato sauce and cheese
* Pasta with a tin of tomatoes and grated vegetables
* Fried rice without any meat.
* Pancakes
The Bare Bones Grocery Budget is also worth looking at. It gives you a shopping list and a menu plan for tough times. When your money situation looks brighter gradually build up your stockpile again.
Have you faced times of little food or money?
How did you handle the situation?
Have a great week and BE ENCOURAGED!!!!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?24-Take-up-the-challenge-!!!!
The Post that Started it All
http://www.cheapskates.com.au/pages/default.cfm?page_id=44265
7.Cheapskates Buzz
This week's hot forum topics
Organised Family
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?99-organised-family&highlight=margaret+melbourne
$150 Clothing Challenge
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?83-150-clothing-challenge&highlight=yellowlyn
Shopping - Love it or Hate it!
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?651-Shopping-Love-it-or-hate-it!&highlight=yellowlyn
Most popular blog posts this week
Spending Too Much Money on Weekends?
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2012/05/spending-too-much-money-on-weekends.html
How to Add Colour to Your Work Wardrobe
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2012/09/how-to-add-colour-to-your-work-wardrobe.html
Easy Peasy No Fail Pavlova
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/01/easy-peasy-no-fail-pavlova.html
8. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Roseanne who wrote
"The mid-year toy sales have started, and they seem to have bargains. I have gone to them in the past but there seems to be more hype than bargains. How do you get good deals at the mid-year toy sales and know they really are good deals? I hate getting to December and finding what I queued up to buy cheaper."
Seana Morr answered
There is a lot of hype about the July sales. I don't buy major Christmas presents for my two kids in July as in December they will be asking for something else. However you can get some smaller gifts for nieces, nephews, and little extra surprises. I wouldn't buy unless it was 45% off or more.
Beverley Leeson answered
My issue was that by the time Christmas arrived, there had been so many new toy releases, that what my children had wanted mid year when the sales started, they were no longer interested in. I then started to skip the mid year sales but still put away the fortnightly payment (back then into an envelope). Then, around late November, armed with the cash to pay for them I would go off to one of the last toy sales and get them what they wanted at that time. I saved not only money but the hassle of having to return most of the original lay by for a refund and start all over again.
Maria Athanas answered
I refuse to shop during December for toys. Now I shop all year round. After January I make a list of who I need to shop for and roughly how much I want to spend. I keep the notebook with me and whenever I go to the shops and see things in special that I want for someone I buy it add it in my book so I know I have bought the gift and also I keep track on what I've spent. This way I also don't get one big shock at the register, it's broken up throughout the year.
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"My middle son started his apprenticeship and I am wondering what parents consider acceptable for their kids to pay for board. Just a quick run down, Centrelink won't pay child support for him any more which is fair enough, he is earning a very good wage for a 17 year old. He leaves from 6 in the morning and gets home about 5.30 - 6.00 at night, 5 days a week. I do the cooking, washing etc. as it's easier for running the household. I have told him that he has to buy his own clothes and toiletries as he has certain brands he likes that aren't the cheapest. Thanks for any advice given."
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