31 Days of MOO
Cheapskaters just love to save money, time and energy and one of the best ways to do that is to MOO!
What is MOOing (Making Our Own)?
There are so many things we buy that can just as easily be made at home, often for much less than the cost of buying them. Since the end of WWII, and especially since the mid-sixties, when supermarkets began to take the place of corner grocers, we have been coerced into thinking that buying is better than making. This is especially true of foods, cleaning products and clothing.
When we began living the Cheapskates way many so called "convenience" products had to be cut from our shopping list because our budget would no longer accommodate such luxuries as ironing spray, liquid hand soap, home delivered pizzas, ice blocks, biscuits and cakes and other snack foods, snack pack yoghurts and desserts, soft drink and the list went on and on. Unfortunately we liked all these things and didn't want to miss out on them and so finding ways to have these things without paying the supermarket prices became a hobby.
The easiest and cheapest way was to make our own, or MOO. And so I began MOOing as many things as I could.
Some of the things that are on my MOO list are:
Shake'n'Bake - so easy to make, lasts almost indefinitely in the fridge and is so versatile - it's used on chicken pieces, sausages, fish cakes and rissoles, can be sprinkled on top of mac'n'cheese (also homemade) and other casseroles. Cost is approximately $2.70 for 1.5kg
Hotcakes/Pancakes - my recipe rivals any fast food joint and is so much cheaper
Pancake syrup - As pure maple syrup is so expensive, homemade pancake syrup is much nicer than the bought bottled imitation syrups and costs less than 1/4 of the price to make.
Breads, scones, cakes, biscuits, muesli bars etc - Making our own we know exactly what goes into them. I will admit to being stunned at just how easy it is to make scones or a batch of Lunchbox Cookies and I always thought cakes took special skill. These days I make all manner of baked goods without blinking an eye. Cost for a batch of Lunchbox Cookies is around $5 for approximately 100 cookies or $3 for a large, family sized chocolate cake.
Sauces, jams, spreads - Mayonnaise, marinades, salad dressings, tomato sauce, bbq sauce, lemon butter, marmalade, jams, fish paste etc are all really easy to make and cost a fraction of the bought ones. Best of all homemade preserves are so much nicer than bought.
Yoghurt, yogos, custards - It costs around $1.10 to make a kilo of the thickest, creamiest yoghurt ever and best of all it takes less than 5 minutes to prepare it! Yogos and custards are so easy to make, once you've made your own you'll never buy them again.
Ice blocks - You can use cordial, fruit juice, water, flat softdrink, milk (pour milk into an almost empty jam jar, shake around and then freeze in moulds) or the juice from canned fruit all make delicious icy poles for just a few cents.
Pizza - three can be made for less than the price of one bought one and in less time than it takes to ring up and have one delivered!
Pastries - Pies, sausage rolls, quiches can all be made at home in just a few minutes.
Pita crisps - We make our own pita crisps for dips and nibbling on instead of buying potato chips. Cost is $1.99 (or less if the pita bread is on sale) for 500g crisps. Because they are oven dried they are lower in fat than crisps too, another benefit of MOOing.
Washing powder - I've been making my own for years. It takes about 5 minutes and costs under $3 to make enough to do 90 loads of washing. That's just about 3.5 cents per load, much cheaper than buying even generic detergent.
Fabric softener - I don't really make this, I simply add 1/3 cup white vinegar to the final rinse on towels and jeans. It has the added benefit of giving the washing machine a mini clean too. Cost is around 4 cents a load.
Ironing spray - If you were to take a peek in the linen cupboard you'd see a Fabulon spray bottle sitting on the shelf and think I was cheating. I'm not. The bottle holds plain water and 2 tablespoons fabric softener concentrate. Cost is around 20 cents for 500ml and it does a great job.
Window/glass cleaner - I don't buy it or make it anymore. I use two microfibre cloths - one to wet and wash and the other to polish. The cloths were $2 each from GoLo and I've been using the same ones for about three years.
Spray and wipe cleaner - for really stubborn marks and heavy duty cleaning I make one up that costs around 80 cents for a 500ml bottle. It's strong enough to give any of the commercial spray cleaners a run.
Drain cleaner - bicarb, washing soda, vinegar and boiling water down the drains once a month keeps them clean and fresh smelling and best of all unblocked. Much cheaper and safer than buying Draino each month.
Dishwasher detergent - homemade beats even the most expensive of the bought products for a fraction of the price. And the dishwasher smells cleaner and fresher too.
Liquid hand soap - if the kids want to go beserk in the bathroom it's not a problem. Making our own costs a fraction buying refills.
When we started making our own it was out of necessity. Now we make our own because it's better for my family and our budget.
And guess what....it's not hard! I was under the impression that making any of these things myself, at home, would be really hard and take a long time. It's not hard and it doesn't take very long to make any of them!
We have been trained by some really clever marketing to think that we can't make these things ourselves. That buying them from supermarkets, department stores or hardware shops is the easiest and best way for us to have these things and it's just not true.
When we began living the Cheapskates way many so called "convenience" products had to be cut from our shopping list because our budget would no longer accommodate such luxuries as ironing spray, liquid hand soap, home delivered pizzas, ice blocks, biscuits and cakes and other snack foods, snack pack yoghurts and desserts, soft drink and the list went on and on. Unfortunately we liked all these things and didn't want to miss out on them and so finding ways to have these things without paying the supermarket prices became a hobby.
The easiest and cheapest way was to make our own, or MOO. And so I began MOOing as many things as I could.
Some of the things that are on my MOO list are:
Shake'n'Bake - so easy to make, lasts almost indefinitely in the fridge and is so versatile - it's used on chicken pieces, sausages, fish cakes and rissoles, can be sprinkled on top of mac'n'cheese (also homemade) and other casseroles. Cost is approximately $2.70 for 1.5kg
Hotcakes/Pancakes - my recipe rivals any fast food joint and is so much cheaper
Pancake syrup - As pure maple syrup is so expensive, homemade pancake syrup is much nicer than the bought bottled imitation syrups and costs less than 1/4 of the price to make.
Breads, scones, cakes, biscuits, muesli bars etc - Making our own we know exactly what goes into them. I will admit to being stunned at just how easy it is to make scones or a batch of Lunchbox Cookies and I always thought cakes took special skill. These days I make all manner of baked goods without blinking an eye. Cost for a batch of Lunchbox Cookies is around $5 for approximately 100 cookies or $3 for a large, family sized chocolate cake.
Sauces, jams, spreads - Mayonnaise, marinades, salad dressings, tomato sauce, bbq sauce, lemon butter, marmalade, jams, fish paste etc are all really easy to make and cost a fraction of the bought ones. Best of all homemade preserves are so much nicer than bought.
Yoghurt, yogos, custards - It costs around $1.10 to make a kilo of the thickest, creamiest yoghurt ever and best of all it takes less than 5 minutes to prepare it! Yogos and custards are so easy to make, once you've made your own you'll never buy them again.
Ice blocks - You can use cordial, fruit juice, water, flat softdrink, milk (pour milk into an almost empty jam jar, shake around and then freeze in moulds) or the juice from canned fruit all make delicious icy poles for just a few cents.
Pizza - three can be made for less than the price of one bought one and in less time than it takes to ring up and have one delivered!
Pastries - Pies, sausage rolls, quiches can all be made at home in just a few minutes.
Pita crisps - We make our own pita crisps for dips and nibbling on instead of buying potato chips. Cost is $1.99 (or less if the pita bread is on sale) for 500g crisps. Because they are oven dried they are lower in fat than crisps too, another benefit of MOOing.
Washing powder - I've been making my own for years. It takes about 5 minutes and costs under $3 to make enough to do 90 loads of washing. That's just about 3.5 cents per load, much cheaper than buying even generic detergent.
Fabric softener - I don't really make this, I simply add 1/3 cup white vinegar to the final rinse on towels and jeans. It has the added benefit of giving the washing machine a mini clean too. Cost is around 4 cents a load.
Ironing spray - If you were to take a peek in the linen cupboard you'd see a Fabulon spray bottle sitting on the shelf and think I was cheating. I'm not. The bottle holds plain water and 2 tablespoons fabric softener concentrate. Cost is around 20 cents for 500ml and it does a great job.
Window/glass cleaner - I don't buy it or make it anymore. I use two microfibre cloths - one to wet and wash and the other to polish. The cloths were $2 each from GoLo and I've been using the same ones for about three years.
Spray and wipe cleaner - for really stubborn marks and heavy duty cleaning I make one up that costs around 80 cents for a 500ml bottle. It's strong enough to give any of the commercial spray cleaners a run.
Drain cleaner - bicarb, washing soda, vinegar and boiling water down the drains once a month keeps them clean and fresh smelling and best of all unblocked. Much cheaper and safer than buying Draino each month.
Dishwasher detergent - homemade beats even the most expensive of the bought products for a fraction of the price. And the dishwasher smells cleaner and fresher too.
Liquid hand soap - if the kids want to go beserk in the bathroom it's not a problem. Making our own costs a fraction buying refills.
When we started making our own it was out of necessity. Now we make our own because it's better for my family and our budget.
And guess what....it's not hard! I was under the impression that making any of these things myself, at home, would be really hard and take a long time. It's not hard and it doesn't take very long to make any of them!
We have been trained by some really clever marketing to think that we can't make these things ourselves. That buying them from supermarkets, department stores or hardware shops is the easiest and best way for us to have these things and it's just not true.
31 Days of MOO
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