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My Favourite Cheapskating Habits
- JUNE 2018
Some of my frugal habits will make you go "erkkk", others you'll wonder why you didn't think of them and most of them you probably already do and just don't realise they are really frugal habits.
Making washing powder. It was one of the first truly frugal habits I developed and I love it. Twenty minutes and I have enough washing powder for at least 3 months, and it costs under $4. Best of all, for our allergy and dermatitis affected family, our skin doesn't itch or break out in a rash - a real bonus, as we were spending a fortune on "friendly" laundry detergent before I created the Cheapskates Washing Powder formula. And 26 years on, it is still doing a great job,
My next favourite frugal habit is MOO pizzas. My family love, love, love pizza but they are so expensive and really not that nice, at least when they're compared to mine. I use the Penny Pinching Pizza base recipe and make up about a dozen pizza bases at a time. We use three each Thursday night, because it's MOO Pizza Night in our house (and boy doesn't that make meal planning easy) and freeze the rest, in packets of three. But before I freeze them I dust them with a little plain flour and par-bake them, just 10 minutes in a 160 degree oven. Let them cool, wrap and freeze. Takes about 10 minutes of actual work time, OK, 15 with the clean-up. The rest of the time is the resting, baking and cooling. And I get 12 pizza bases from it. Fresh pizza bases cost $2.20 each from Coles, or $1.50 each from Aldi. I make 12 for $7.00 - that's 58 cents each - so is it worth it? Oh yes!
I wash and re-use plastic bags, ziplock bags, foil, those plastic trays bought biscuits come in. My mother always did, and I just carried it on when I began making my own home. They are then used to store leftovers in the fridge, pack picnic foods, to keep things organised when we're travelling and camping, to keep things clean and tidy when they're stored in the shed and a gazillion other uses. Disposable plastics in our house are used until they fall apart - no single uses if at all possible.
Foil trays are used for baking veggies, on the barbecue, in the camp oven. And they are very carefully washed, dried and put away to use again. Sheets of foil are wiped over, dried and put away to re-use over casseroles, to heat wraps and garlic bread in the oven, even to scrunch up and use as scrubbers on the barbecue plate (they do a better job than scrub buds and don't rip your nails).
I freeze bread ends to make breadcrumbs. I just toss them in a bread bag in the freezer and when I have a dozen or so I whizz them in the food processor to make fresh breadcrumbs. Have you ever had a schnitzel made with fresh breadcrumbs? They are to die for - so good, the crumbs are so crispy and delicious. But I digress. You can use them as fresh crumbs for stuffings and coatings or you can dry them for a more commercial looking crumb. I usually do this when the oven has been on. Just spread your breadcrumbs over a non-stick or lined baking sheet and cook them on 150 for about 20 minutes. Give them a bit of a shuffle around after 10 minutes or so. They need to be really, really dry, so depending on your oven it may take a few minutes longer, or they may dry out faster. Then whizz them again in the food processor to make fine crumbs. I know breadcrumbs are cheap - about $1.20 for 500g at Aldi, but if you MOO them you're not only saving your$1.20, you're not throwing bread ends away, or rather you're not composting or tossing your money.
I squash toilet rolls too. It stops them spinning when the kids give them a tug, saving on TP. Personally, while I won't even think about wee wipes, I also won't spend a fortune on toilet paper. I mean seriously: think about what you use it for. I've much better ways to spend my money than to flush it down the sewer.
Meal planning. If nothing else, it saves the five o'clock "what's for dinner" debate. Meal planning ensures there are no wasted ingredients, no spontaneous take-away dinners and no grocery budget busters. I do a meal plan for a year, just dinners (and I share it with you each month, and yes, we pretty much stick to it, although it does sometimes get shifted around). Our breakfasts and lunches are pretty much the same every day so I don't write them down, but if you like different breakfasts and lunches then include them in your meal plan. The What's for Dinner planner will help you with this.
Shopping with a list and sticking to it. I can't stress enough just how much this will save you, in time as well as money. When you have a shopping list you are in and out, with everything you need for the week or fortnight or month (depending on how often you shop). Use your meal plan to start your shopping list, then add the extras: fruit, toiletries, cleaning supplies, pet needs etc. Once it's done, hit the shops and markets, stick to the list and come home smiling. And if you forget something, don't go back to the store. Add it to the list for next time and find a substitute you already have.
But my most favourite frugal habit is paying myself first.
Without fail every week we have a direct deposit made into our savings account. It wasn't a lot in the beginning, $10 a week. And it stayed at that for a long time. Then when our circumstances changed so did the amount we were saving.
It's done automatically, we don't even notice it going. I check the balance on the account each month, and watch it go up and up and up. We're not that far off retirement and the latest figures suggest that we need 67% of the income* we are living on at retirement to maintain that same standard of living through our retirement! And that's only with a 20 year life expectancy after you retire!
It's never too late to start saving, and of course the earlier you start, the easier it is and the more you'll be able to save, especially with the benefits of compounding interest.
Making washing powder. It was one of the first truly frugal habits I developed and I love it. Twenty minutes and I have enough washing powder for at least 3 months, and it costs under $4. Best of all, for our allergy and dermatitis affected family, our skin doesn't itch or break out in a rash - a real bonus, as we were spending a fortune on "friendly" laundry detergent before I created the Cheapskates Washing Powder formula. And 26 years on, it is still doing a great job,
My next favourite frugal habit is MOO pizzas. My family love, love, love pizza but they are so expensive and really not that nice, at least when they're compared to mine. I use the Penny Pinching Pizza base recipe and make up about a dozen pizza bases at a time. We use three each Thursday night, because it's MOO Pizza Night in our house (and boy doesn't that make meal planning easy) and freeze the rest, in packets of three. But before I freeze them I dust them with a little plain flour and par-bake them, just 10 minutes in a 160 degree oven. Let them cool, wrap and freeze. Takes about 10 minutes of actual work time, OK, 15 with the clean-up. The rest of the time is the resting, baking and cooling. And I get 12 pizza bases from it. Fresh pizza bases cost $2.20 each from Coles, or $1.50 each from Aldi. I make 12 for $7.00 - that's 58 cents each - so is it worth it? Oh yes!
I wash and re-use plastic bags, ziplock bags, foil, those plastic trays bought biscuits come in. My mother always did, and I just carried it on when I began making my own home. They are then used to store leftovers in the fridge, pack picnic foods, to keep things organised when we're travelling and camping, to keep things clean and tidy when they're stored in the shed and a gazillion other uses. Disposable plastics in our house are used until they fall apart - no single uses if at all possible.
Foil trays are used for baking veggies, on the barbecue, in the camp oven. And they are very carefully washed, dried and put away to use again. Sheets of foil are wiped over, dried and put away to re-use over casseroles, to heat wraps and garlic bread in the oven, even to scrunch up and use as scrubbers on the barbecue plate (they do a better job than scrub buds and don't rip your nails).
I freeze bread ends to make breadcrumbs. I just toss them in a bread bag in the freezer and when I have a dozen or so I whizz them in the food processor to make fresh breadcrumbs. Have you ever had a schnitzel made with fresh breadcrumbs? They are to die for - so good, the crumbs are so crispy and delicious. But I digress. You can use them as fresh crumbs for stuffings and coatings or you can dry them for a more commercial looking crumb. I usually do this when the oven has been on. Just spread your breadcrumbs over a non-stick or lined baking sheet and cook them on 150 for about 20 minutes. Give them a bit of a shuffle around after 10 minutes or so. They need to be really, really dry, so depending on your oven it may take a few minutes longer, or they may dry out faster. Then whizz them again in the food processor to make fine crumbs. I know breadcrumbs are cheap - about $1.20 for 500g at Aldi, but if you MOO them you're not only saving your$1.20, you're not throwing bread ends away, or rather you're not composting or tossing your money.
I squash toilet rolls too. It stops them spinning when the kids give them a tug, saving on TP. Personally, while I won't even think about wee wipes, I also won't spend a fortune on toilet paper. I mean seriously: think about what you use it for. I've much better ways to spend my money than to flush it down the sewer.
Meal planning. If nothing else, it saves the five o'clock "what's for dinner" debate. Meal planning ensures there are no wasted ingredients, no spontaneous take-away dinners and no grocery budget busters. I do a meal plan for a year, just dinners (and I share it with you each month, and yes, we pretty much stick to it, although it does sometimes get shifted around). Our breakfasts and lunches are pretty much the same every day so I don't write them down, but if you like different breakfasts and lunches then include them in your meal plan. The What's for Dinner planner will help you with this.
Shopping with a list and sticking to it. I can't stress enough just how much this will save you, in time as well as money. When you have a shopping list you are in and out, with everything you need for the week or fortnight or month (depending on how often you shop). Use your meal plan to start your shopping list, then add the extras: fruit, toiletries, cleaning supplies, pet needs etc. Once it's done, hit the shops and markets, stick to the list and come home smiling. And if you forget something, don't go back to the store. Add it to the list for next time and find a substitute you already have.
But my most favourite frugal habit is paying myself first.
Without fail every week we have a direct deposit made into our savings account. It wasn't a lot in the beginning, $10 a week. And it stayed at that for a long time. Then when our circumstances changed so did the amount we were saving.
It's done automatically, we don't even notice it going. I check the balance on the account each month, and watch it go up and up and up. We're not that far off retirement and the latest figures suggest that we need 67% of the income* we are living on at retirement to maintain that same standard of living through our retirement! And that's only with a 20 year life expectancy after you retire!
It's never too late to start saving, and of course the earlier you start, the easier it is and the more you'll be able to save, especially with the benefits of compounding interest.
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