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Mountain Bread

25/5/2017

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This topic came up again a few days ago, so I thought I'd revisit it here.

Mountain Bread (that thin, flat wrap stuff) can be bought direct from Mountain Bread for 33% less than you buy it at Coles or Woolworths.

If you order more than 8 packets (and no reason you can't - it lasts for just about ever, no preservatives and very little in actual ingredients, and it freezes) then delivery is free.

There are a lot of different varieties.

I buy wholemeal and corn.

I use them for wraps, as lasagne sheets when I'm too lazy to make them, for quesadillas, to make "pita" chips and to make Australian sushi.

We take them with us when we go camping, as fresh bread is hard to get in the bush. Being light and flat packed they store easily in the food drawer.

They make great strudels when you don't have filo. I use three sheets, spread with melted butter, sprinkled with almond meal, and stacked. On the last layer i put stewed apple and sultanas, or apple and rhubarb, sprinkle with a little cinnamon and brown sugar, roll up and bake 30 minutes. Delicious with ice-cream.

Use them as pastry sheets in the pie makers or quiche tins.

Two sheets layered is great for sausage rolls when you don't have pastry.

You'll find ordering info here

You'll find the order form here (with prices and varieties).

Lots of uses - if you have another one, please share it.

This post has been shared from Debt Free, Cashed Up and Laughing

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Putting a Dollar Value on Blessings

17/5/2017

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I used to faithfully document the money we saved and/or didn't spend in a little notebook. I’d write down what I did and how much it would have cost if we had to buy it i.e. make a loaf of bread, saved 90 cents; repaired the hem on Wayne's work pants, saved $7.50; cut the boys' hair, saved $13 and so on. At the end of each day I'd move the "savings" from the particular spending plan categories into our Emergency Fund so that it was really saved.

I stopped jotting down back in 2007. I'm not sure why; life became busy when Debt Free, Cashed Up and Laughing was published, the kids needed more attention (teenagers are such a lot of work - fun, but a lot of work) and I'm sure there are a dozen other reasons excuses I could find.

I still shift money from spending plan categories to our Emergency Fund, only these days I do it at the end of each month.

My lovely friend Annabel over at The Bluebirds are Nesting started the Vicky Challenge last year. It's pretty much doing what I used to do - giving every task a dollar value and calculating the savings when it is MOOed instead of outsourced or bought.

I was thinking about this yesterday when I was in NQR (a discount grocery clearance store we have here in Victoria). A couple of months ago Wendy blessed us with some gravy sachets. Now, I normally make gravy from scratch using the pan juices, stock and plain flour, so I had no idea just how much these sachets cost. Hannah used them one Sunday when she cooked dinner and again when she prepared a meal with rissoles and it was very nice tasting gravy. So, when I saw them in NQR today I thought I'd get a couple as a treat. Until I saw the price! The discounted price at NQR was $1.89! I haven't been able to find them at Coles or Woolworths to see how much they are regularly.

Even so, at $1.89 each that's expensive gravy. Pan juices and stock are free, 2 tablespoons of plain flour costs approximately 5 cents. Add another 2 cents for salt and pepper and a jug of gravy costs 7 cents. That's a $1.82 saving! Just on gravy.

And that's a $3.78 blessing we received, and $3.64 I can move from my grocery budget to our Emergency Fund (I deducted the 14 cent cost of two lots of gravy).

In January Carol blessed me with beautiful papers and cardstock I can use to make cards and other gifts. I used the Kaisercraft price of 12 sheets for $5 to calculate this as I have no idea what the original retail value was I moved $15 from my spending money to our holiday fund.

It may sound crass to put a dollar value on blessings you receive, but I believe we receive blessings to fill a need. Sometimes we don't know we have that need when we are blessed, but it always pops up.

Making sure you use those blessings wisely is a part of being a good steward. And being a good steward means using our resources, including money, wisely. Saving the value of blessings is another form of good stewardship and financial wisdom.

Remember: money isn't saved until it is safely in the bank in your Emergency Fund, PoM Account or a specific savings account. Until then it just isn't spent; that's why I make sure I move the savings from the many blessings we receive into one of our savings accounts, ready to meet that need when it pops up.

This post has been shared from Debt Free, Cashed up and Laughing

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A Dilemma of Ethics

15/5/2017

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When is it wrong to live the Cheapskates way?

Obviously breaking the law and engaging in illegal practices is wrong and unethical. But what about bending the law a little? If you were to just walk in to a coffee shop and take three packets of sugar then that would be considered stealing. But what about when you buy a coffee and take an extra packet to keep in your bag or add to the picnic stash? Or when you buy a coffee and take the sugar even though you don't have sugar in your coffee? Is that stealing? Is that unethical?

What would you do if you were given too much change at the checkout and realised it as soon as it was given to you? Would you just put it in your purse and say nothing? Or would you point out the mistake and hand it back? After all, the checkout operator made the mistake, not you. They should have been paying more attention to what they were doing, shouldn't they?

How about when you are shopping for prices. Is it ethical to go from store to store, asking prices and playing each store off against the other to get that rock bottom price?

It is a dilemma isn't it?

To me living the Cheapskates way comes with responsibility. The responsibility to do my very best to live within our means, to be generous with our excess, to be able to maintain our lifestyle ethically and to be a good role model to my children in all things, including living honestly, morally and ethically.

At the end of the day we have to account for the choices and decisions we make, no matter how small and insignificant they may seem.

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