Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter 02:21
In This Newsletter
1. Cath's Corner
2. From the Tip Store - Catching Cooler Water for the Garden; Cash v Credit; Recycling a Household Appliance Creates a Planter Box
3. Tip of the Week - Amazing Mobile Savings
4. Share Your Tips
5. On the Menu - Australia Day Lamington Cup Cakes
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Pantry and Stockpile Tidy Up
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. The Cheapskates Club Show
9. The Weekly MOO Challenge - MOO Buttermilk
10. 2021 Saving Revolution
11. Ask A Question - Have a question? Ask it here
12. Join the Cheapskates Club
13. Frequently Asked Questions
14. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
I hope everyone is enjoying summer. This year it may be a little different, and holiday plans may have changed, but we live in a great country and really, holidaying and playing tourist at home isn't a hardship; it's loads of fun to see what you can find to do locally that doesn't cost much or even better is free. Best of all you get to go home and sleep in your own bed, with your own pillow!
If you're not holidaying, away or at home, now is also a great time to do a check on all those regular bills you just pay. Things like phone, Internet, gas, electricity, insurances (all of them - house, contents, cars, boats, caravans, health, pet - anything you have insured) all need an annual check-up to make sure you are getting value for your money, and not paying more than you need to. An afternoon spent on the phone or even online using the company chat has the potential to cut costs by hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars this year. And that's money you can use to pay down debt, build and emergency fund, or put into a splurge fund or just save for a rainy day. If you haven't already done the annual utility check-up, or have never done one before, think about doing it now and starting the year off with some great money saving.
Have a great week everyone.
Happy Cheapskating,
Cath
2. From The Tip Store
Catching Cooler Water for the Garden
For those who have evaporative air conditioning systems, or any air conditioner system that disperses water, place a bucket under the air conditioners overflow hose/pipe area and use the water on the garden. I sometimes add some Seasol into the bucket to help give the plants a boost.
Contributed by Natalie
Editor's note: An oldie, but this came to mind this week when we put the cooler on for the first time this summer. I quickly went out and made sure there was a bucket to catch the drips. Water is a precious resource, and an expensive one, so I'd rather not waste it on a path. The pot plants were grateful for the little drink the next morning. Cath.
Cash v Credit
One of the easiest ways to cut your spending and end the debt cycle is to use cash for all your purchases. Obviously there will be times when you will need to use a credit card (but a debit card is a better option) or have direct debits from your bank account (mortgage, utilities etc.) but those things are generally not impulse buys. You will find that you become less and less reliant on credit cards and cards in general, be less inclined to overspend, not be tempted by impulse buys and have total control over where your money goes and how much of it goes when you have a cash budget.
Make it a rule of your wallet - if you don't have the cash, you don't buy it.
Editor's note: This tip came to mind on Tuesday night when I was listening to the radio and they were talking about ways to improve financial literacy. One of the ways mentioned was cash - and I have to say I wholeheartedly agree for many reasons, but forcing you to stick to your spending plan is the main one. Cath
Recycling a Household Appliance Creates a Planter Box
Use your old upright fridge or freezer for a garden box. Have it degassed, put some holes in the underside and take the door off. Then lift it up off the ground and fill with soil. Add your plants and you have done something wonderful for the environment and saved a bit of money, as the planter boxes cost anywhere upward of $150. Not only that, you are being kind to your knees.
Contributed by Cara
Editors Note: With a little creative thinking you can use all manner of old whitegoods for planters. We pulled the drum out of an old, useless washing machine to use as a strawberry planter. We painted the outside green and lined it with mesh to hold the soil. It works beautifully and is the perfect size for strawberries. Cath
Add a Tip
3. This Week's Winning Tip
This week's winning tip is from Sharon M. Sharon has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
Amazing Mobile Savings
I have started purchasing our mobile phones outright rather than signing up for a month by month plan. This saves us thousands of dollars each year as we can sign up for cheap pre-paid phone plans. I was paying $10 a month for 2 gig of data and unlimited calls, totaling $120 a year. Because you’re not locked into any contracts you can shop around and change to better deals when they come up. Just before Christmas Coles mobile had their $120 sim on sale for $99. This gives unlimited calls within Australia as well as unlimited calls to 15 countries and 60 gig of data for the year - 5 gig per month which is more than enough if you use your Wi-Fi when you’re at home. This plan comes to just $8.55 a month and it was easy to keep my existing number - it took less than 5 minutes for Coles mobile to bring my number over from my other provider. Most people who sign up for mobile plans spend between $40-100 a month! Between my husband, son and I we are literally savings thousands of dollars a year!
Congratulations Sharon, I hope you enjoy your Cheapskates Club membership.
The Cheapskate's Club website is thousands of pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. There are over 12,000 tips to save you money, time and energy; 1,600 budget and family friendly recipes, hundreds of printable tip sheets and ebooks.
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.
4. Share Your Tips
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!
Share Your Tip
5. On The Menu
Australia Day Lamington Cup Cakes
There are still a couple of weeks to go, but before we know it Australia Day will be here. These cup cakes are good any time of year, but I make them for Australia Day because, well, what is a more Australian cake than a lamington? And because lamingtons are my favourite cake.
Just in case you are wondering why cup cakes, I make them in cupcakes because I'm lazy - cup cakes are much eaiser to ice and dredge in coconut than lamingtons.
Ingredients:
1 cake mix or your favourite made from scratch patty cake recipe (I've put mine below)
1/2 cup choc chips
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1 tbsp boiling water
1 cup icing sugar
3 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp milk
Method:
Make the cake mix according to packet directions. Add the choc chips and the coconut. Scoop into cupcake papers. Bake 15 - 20 minutes at temperature on packet or until a skewer in the centre of a cup cake comes out clean. Place onto cake rack to cool completely.
Stir water into jam. It needs to be thinned, but not runny. Put jam in a sauce bottle or an icing bottle. Place nozzle in the centre of cupcake and squeeze a little jam into the cupcake, like you would a jam donut.
Ice with chocolate icing. Sprinkle with coconut.
Chocolate Icing:
Beat the icing sugar, cocoa, butter and 2 tablespoons of milk together until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add the other tablespoon of milk and beat well.
Cath's Basic Cake Mix:
Ingredients:
1 cup SR Flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp butter, melted
Method:
Beat everything together until smooth.
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Round cake: bake 25 - 30 minutes or until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean
Square cake: bake 20 - 25 minutes or until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean
Loaf cake: bake 40 - 45 minutes or until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean
Patty cakes: bake 15 - 20 minutes or until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean
Variations:
Chocolate: add 3 tbsp cocoa
Coffee: omit vanilla, dissolve 3 teaspoons instant coffee in milk
Sultana/Cherry: add 1 cup sultanas or 1 cup glace cherries, halved
Tea cake: bake, then brush top with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar while still warm
Next week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: Rissoles & Salad
Tuesday: Ravioli
Wednesday: Corned Beef, mash, greens
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Cream Cheese Patties, salad
Saturday: Muffin Surprise
In the fruit bowl: lemons, mandarins, strawberries, rockmelon, kiwi fruit
In the cake tin: shortbread
There are over 1,700 budget and family friendly recipes in the Cheapskates Club Recipe File, all contributed by your fellow Cheapskates, so you know they're good.
Add A Recipe
Recipe File Index
6. The $300 A Month Food Challenge
Hello Cheapskaters,
This weekend I did a complete pantry overhaul and inventory. Boy was it a big job, especially as we didn't come home until Thursday. We all worked like crazy on Thursday afternoon, Friday and yesterday. It's done now and I'm confident that the inventory is accurate (for now!). It would have been more fun to relax and knit and sew, but those things don't put food on our table or keep the grocery budget under control.
There have been a few good sales on things we use this week. If something was on half-price I bought four to build the pantry. I picked up coffee for Wayne, he has enough for the year now and the BBD is well into 2022 so it will keep on the shelf.
Buying on half-price is one of the easiest and fastest ways to build a pantry stockpile.
Some of the things were treats. January and February are busy celebration months in our house. We have nine family birthdays, New Year's Day, Australia Day, our wedding anniversary and Valentine's Day as well as summer holidays in the space of six weeks. It can be a bit hectic! When the treats we like are on half-price they are bought and put away for the various celebrations.
There is a box in our wardrobe they get put in, just so they don't accidentally get eaten (those fridge fairies can sniff out even a well-hidden treat).
If you're buying treats ahead, always check the best before or use by date - they nearly always have months on them, but sometimes if they are very cheap they'll be close to date. That's not a problem for most things, but sometimes crackers, chips and the like can get stale before you use them. You can freshen stale crackers in the oven, chips and corn chips don't freshen up as easily though I've found.
Thinking ahead to Easter (Good Friday is 2nd April this year), it's not too early to start putting chocolate away, and will save you some money and time too. The Christmas gift packs are being marked down now, and they are great to put away. Get them on half-price (or better, sometimes 80% off) and break them down, they don't need to stay a gift pack. If you're buying chocolate, try to keep it cool, at an even temperature. Not easy in Australia in summer, but it will stop the bloom, the white film chocolate sometimes gets. It's OK to eat, it just looks ugly. That's another reason I keep it in our wardrobe. Being in the middle of the house, it's the coolest, most temperature stable area in the whole house.
We're not big on soft drink (Wayne and the kids buy their own if they want it) but we do have it for parties, so I'm always looking for it on sale. It's one of those things that is always on sale at one supermarket or the other, especially if you buy the branded drinks. This time of year I stock up on the tins of fruit juice to make punch. For camping I buy the Kirks cans - usually $5 a box at Coles, on sale they are $4.50 a box. Not a huge saving, but every cent not spent leaves it to be used for something else. Cans aren't my favourite way to buy soft drink, but for camping, they pack and travel and store well, better than bottles, especially if we are going remote for a few weeks.
In the treat box I try to keep:
Chips
Corn Chips
Chocolate
Soft drink
Lollies - snakes are my favourite, but party mix or similar
Crackers
Sweet biscuits - Lemon Crisp are my favourite bought biscuit, but I try to keep Choc Royals (Wayne's favourite so he gets a packet for our anniversary, Easter, Father's Day, his birthday and Christmas) and Tim Tams because I'm Australian and every now and then I need a Tim Tam
Salsa - right now it has jars of Coles Chilli & Lime salsa I picked up on clearance for 80c a jar and it is delicious and still has 18 months on the BBD.
You can still have treats, without breaking the budget, if you plan and shop with your grocery budget in mind.
Think about when you need treats, and keep an eye out for the specials. Stores like NQR and Reject Shop often have branded products on sale (check they're the real thing!) for 80% off RRP, but the main supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths, IGA, Foodworks) occasionally come up with great specials too.
Look for treats on special around and after Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Grand Final Day, check the BBDs and stock up with what you need.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge Forum
The Post that Started it All
7. Cheapskates Buzz
From The Article Archive
The Just In Case Picnic Basket
The Simplest Way to Save Money on Fresh Produce: Grow Your Own
Building Your Emergency Fund
This Week's Hot Forum Topics
Dehydrate, How We All Use It
The $5 Pantry Challenge
Glasses Sinking Fund or Not?
This Week's Latest Tips
Use a Small Spoon
Freezing in the Tin
Generic Wrapping
Newest Recipes
French Toast Omelette
Easy Two Egg Pavlova
Rhubarb Relish
8. The Cheapskates Club Show
Join Cath and Hannah live Tuesdays and Thursdays on You Tube at 7.30pm AET
Join us live on YouTube every Tuesday and Thursday and see how we are living debt free, cashed up and laughing - and find out how you can too!
Show Schedule
Tuesday: Around the Kitchen Table - join Cath and Hannah for a cuppa and a chat around the kitchen table as they talk about living the Cheapskates way.
Thursday: Cheapskates in the Kitchen - want to know how to cook delicious, healthy and cheap meals? Watch Cath and Hannah as they create cheapskates style cuisine and share their favourite recipes.
Popular Shows
1. Cath's Corner
2. From the Tip Store - Catching Cooler Water for the Garden; Cash v Credit; Recycling a Household Appliance Creates a Planter Box
3. Tip of the Week - Amazing Mobile Savings
4. Share Your Tips
5. On the Menu - Australia Day Lamington Cup Cakes
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Pantry and Stockpile Tidy Up
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. The Cheapskates Club Show
9. The Weekly MOO Challenge - MOO Buttermilk
10. 2021 Saving Revolution
11. Ask A Question - Have a question? Ask it here
12. Join the Cheapskates Club
13. Frequently Asked Questions
14. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
I hope everyone is enjoying summer. This year it may be a little different, and holiday plans may have changed, but we live in a great country and really, holidaying and playing tourist at home isn't a hardship; it's loads of fun to see what you can find to do locally that doesn't cost much or even better is free. Best of all you get to go home and sleep in your own bed, with your own pillow!
If you're not holidaying, away or at home, now is also a great time to do a check on all those regular bills you just pay. Things like phone, Internet, gas, electricity, insurances (all of them - house, contents, cars, boats, caravans, health, pet - anything you have insured) all need an annual check-up to make sure you are getting value for your money, and not paying more than you need to. An afternoon spent on the phone or even online using the company chat has the potential to cut costs by hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars this year. And that's money you can use to pay down debt, build and emergency fund, or put into a splurge fund or just save for a rainy day. If you haven't already done the annual utility check-up, or have never done one before, think about doing it now and starting the year off with some great money saving.
Have a great week everyone.
Happy Cheapskating,
Cath
2. From The Tip Store
Catching Cooler Water for the Garden
For those who have evaporative air conditioning systems, or any air conditioner system that disperses water, place a bucket under the air conditioners overflow hose/pipe area and use the water on the garden. I sometimes add some Seasol into the bucket to help give the plants a boost.
Contributed by Natalie
Editor's note: An oldie, but this came to mind this week when we put the cooler on for the first time this summer. I quickly went out and made sure there was a bucket to catch the drips. Water is a precious resource, and an expensive one, so I'd rather not waste it on a path. The pot plants were grateful for the little drink the next morning. Cath.
Cash v Credit
One of the easiest ways to cut your spending and end the debt cycle is to use cash for all your purchases. Obviously there will be times when you will need to use a credit card (but a debit card is a better option) or have direct debits from your bank account (mortgage, utilities etc.) but those things are generally not impulse buys. You will find that you become less and less reliant on credit cards and cards in general, be less inclined to overspend, not be tempted by impulse buys and have total control over where your money goes and how much of it goes when you have a cash budget.
Make it a rule of your wallet - if you don't have the cash, you don't buy it.
Editor's note: This tip came to mind on Tuesday night when I was listening to the radio and they were talking about ways to improve financial literacy. One of the ways mentioned was cash - and I have to say I wholeheartedly agree for many reasons, but forcing you to stick to your spending plan is the main one. Cath
Recycling a Household Appliance Creates a Planter Box
Use your old upright fridge or freezer for a garden box. Have it degassed, put some holes in the underside and take the door off. Then lift it up off the ground and fill with soil. Add your plants and you have done something wonderful for the environment and saved a bit of money, as the planter boxes cost anywhere upward of $150. Not only that, you are being kind to your knees.
Contributed by Cara
Editors Note: With a little creative thinking you can use all manner of old whitegoods for planters. We pulled the drum out of an old, useless washing machine to use as a strawberry planter. We painted the outside green and lined it with mesh to hold the soil. It works beautifully and is the perfect size for strawberries. Cath
Add a Tip
3. This Week's Winning Tip
This week's winning tip is from Sharon M. Sharon has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
Amazing Mobile Savings
I have started purchasing our mobile phones outright rather than signing up for a month by month plan. This saves us thousands of dollars each year as we can sign up for cheap pre-paid phone plans. I was paying $10 a month for 2 gig of data and unlimited calls, totaling $120 a year. Because you’re not locked into any contracts you can shop around and change to better deals when they come up. Just before Christmas Coles mobile had their $120 sim on sale for $99. This gives unlimited calls within Australia as well as unlimited calls to 15 countries and 60 gig of data for the year - 5 gig per month which is more than enough if you use your Wi-Fi when you’re at home. This plan comes to just $8.55 a month and it was easy to keep my existing number - it took less than 5 minutes for Coles mobile to bring my number over from my other provider. Most people who sign up for mobile plans spend between $40-100 a month! Between my husband, son and I we are literally savings thousands of dollars a year!
Congratulations Sharon, I hope you enjoy your Cheapskates Club membership.
The Cheapskate's Club website is thousands of pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. There are over 12,000 tips to save you money, time and energy; 1,600 budget and family friendly recipes, hundreds of printable tip sheets and ebooks.
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.
4. Share Your Tips
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!
Share Your Tip
5. On The Menu
Australia Day Lamington Cup Cakes
There are still a couple of weeks to go, but before we know it Australia Day will be here. These cup cakes are good any time of year, but I make them for Australia Day because, well, what is a more Australian cake than a lamington? And because lamingtons are my favourite cake.
Just in case you are wondering why cup cakes, I make them in cupcakes because I'm lazy - cup cakes are much eaiser to ice and dredge in coconut than lamingtons.
Ingredients:
1 cake mix or your favourite made from scratch patty cake recipe (I've put mine below)
1/2 cup choc chips
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1 tbsp boiling water
1 cup icing sugar
3 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp milk
Method:
Make the cake mix according to packet directions. Add the choc chips and the coconut. Scoop into cupcake papers. Bake 15 - 20 minutes at temperature on packet or until a skewer in the centre of a cup cake comes out clean. Place onto cake rack to cool completely.
Stir water into jam. It needs to be thinned, but not runny. Put jam in a sauce bottle or an icing bottle. Place nozzle in the centre of cupcake and squeeze a little jam into the cupcake, like you would a jam donut.
Ice with chocolate icing. Sprinkle with coconut.
Chocolate Icing:
Beat the icing sugar, cocoa, butter and 2 tablespoons of milk together until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add the other tablespoon of milk and beat well.
Cath's Basic Cake Mix:
Ingredients:
1 cup SR Flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp butter, melted
Method:
Beat everything together until smooth.
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Round cake: bake 25 - 30 minutes or until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean
Square cake: bake 20 - 25 minutes or until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean
Loaf cake: bake 40 - 45 minutes or until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean
Patty cakes: bake 15 - 20 minutes or until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean
Variations:
Chocolate: add 3 tbsp cocoa
Coffee: omit vanilla, dissolve 3 teaspoons instant coffee in milk
Sultana/Cherry: add 1 cup sultanas or 1 cup glace cherries, halved
Tea cake: bake, then brush top with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar while still warm
Next week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: Rissoles & Salad
Tuesday: Ravioli
Wednesday: Corned Beef, mash, greens
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Cream Cheese Patties, salad
Saturday: Muffin Surprise
In the fruit bowl: lemons, mandarins, strawberries, rockmelon, kiwi fruit
In the cake tin: shortbread
There are over 1,700 budget and family friendly recipes in the Cheapskates Club Recipe File, all contributed by your fellow Cheapskates, so you know they're good.
Add A Recipe
Recipe File Index
6. The $300 A Month Food Challenge
Hello Cheapskaters,
This weekend I did a complete pantry overhaul and inventory. Boy was it a big job, especially as we didn't come home until Thursday. We all worked like crazy on Thursday afternoon, Friday and yesterday. It's done now and I'm confident that the inventory is accurate (for now!). It would have been more fun to relax and knit and sew, but those things don't put food on our table or keep the grocery budget under control.
There have been a few good sales on things we use this week. If something was on half-price I bought four to build the pantry. I picked up coffee for Wayne, he has enough for the year now and the BBD is well into 2022 so it will keep on the shelf.
Buying on half-price is one of the easiest and fastest ways to build a pantry stockpile.
Some of the things were treats. January and February are busy celebration months in our house. We have nine family birthdays, New Year's Day, Australia Day, our wedding anniversary and Valentine's Day as well as summer holidays in the space of six weeks. It can be a bit hectic! When the treats we like are on half-price they are bought and put away for the various celebrations.
There is a box in our wardrobe they get put in, just so they don't accidentally get eaten (those fridge fairies can sniff out even a well-hidden treat).
If you're buying treats ahead, always check the best before or use by date - they nearly always have months on them, but sometimes if they are very cheap they'll be close to date. That's not a problem for most things, but sometimes crackers, chips and the like can get stale before you use them. You can freshen stale crackers in the oven, chips and corn chips don't freshen up as easily though I've found.
Thinking ahead to Easter (Good Friday is 2nd April this year), it's not too early to start putting chocolate away, and will save you some money and time too. The Christmas gift packs are being marked down now, and they are great to put away. Get them on half-price (or better, sometimes 80% off) and break them down, they don't need to stay a gift pack. If you're buying chocolate, try to keep it cool, at an even temperature. Not easy in Australia in summer, but it will stop the bloom, the white film chocolate sometimes gets. It's OK to eat, it just looks ugly. That's another reason I keep it in our wardrobe. Being in the middle of the house, it's the coolest, most temperature stable area in the whole house.
We're not big on soft drink (Wayne and the kids buy their own if they want it) but we do have it for parties, so I'm always looking for it on sale. It's one of those things that is always on sale at one supermarket or the other, especially if you buy the branded drinks. This time of year I stock up on the tins of fruit juice to make punch. For camping I buy the Kirks cans - usually $5 a box at Coles, on sale they are $4.50 a box. Not a huge saving, but every cent not spent leaves it to be used for something else. Cans aren't my favourite way to buy soft drink, but for camping, they pack and travel and store well, better than bottles, especially if we are going remote for a few weeks.
In the treat box I try to keep:
Chips
Corn Chips
Chocolate
Soft drink
Lollies - snakes are my favourite, but party mix or similar
Crackers
Sweet biscuits - Lemon Crisp are my favourite bought biscuit, but I try to keep Choc Royals (Wayne's favourite so he gets a packet for our anniversary, Easter, Father's Day, his birthday and Christmas) and Tim Tams because I'm Australian and every now and then I need a Tim Tam
Salsa - right now it has jars of Coles Chilli & Lime salsa I picked up on clearance for 80c a jar and it is delicious and still has 18 months on the BBD.
You can still have treats, without breaking the budget, if you plan and shop with your grocery budget in mind.
Think about when you need treats, and keep an eye out for the specials. Stores like NQR and Reject Shop often have branded products on sale (check they're the real thing!) for 80% off RRP, but the main supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths, IGA, Foodworks) occasionally come up with great specials too.
Look for treats on special around and after Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Grand Final Day, check the BBDs and stock up with what you need.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge Forum
The Post that Started it All
7. Cheapskates Buzz
From The Article Archive
The Just In Case Picnic Basket
The Simplest Way to Save Money on Fresh Produce: Grow Your Own
Building Your Emergency Fund
This Week's Hot Forum Topics
Dehydrate, How We All Use It
The $5 Pantry Challenge
Glasses Sinking Fund or Not?
This Week's Latest Tips
Use a Small Spoon
Freezing in the Tin
Generic Wrapping
Newest Recipes
French Toast Omelette
Easy Two Egg Pavlova
Rhubarb Relish
8. The Cheapskates Club Show
Join Cath and Hannah live Tuesdays and Thursdays on You Tube at 7.30pm AET
Join us live on YouTube every Tuesday and Thursday and see how we are living debt free, cashed up and laughing - and find out how you can too!
Show Schedule
Tuesday: Around the Kitchen Table - join Cath and Hannah for a cuppa and a chat around the kitchen table as they talk about living the Cheapskates way.
Thursday: Cheapskates in the Kitchen - want to know how to cook delicious, healthy and cheap meals? Watch Cath and Hannah as they create cheapskates style cuisine and share their favourite recipes.
Popular Shows
9. The Weekly MOO Challenge
This week's MOO challenge is a really simple, but very useful, one: buttermilk.
I use homemade to replace regular milk in baking, and for marinating meat and chicken (a buttermilk marinade makes meat mouthwateringly tender) and of course for buttermilk dressing for green salads.
Buttermilk is so easy to MOO, even easier than it is to MOO yoghurt, that I make it all the time to use in baking. MOO buttermilk can be made with fresh milk or milk that has gone sour. It literally takes me two minutes to throw it together, let it sit overnight and then in the morning I have fresh buttermilk for pancakes (buttermilk makes the lightest pancakes).
Best of all, you can make it as you need it, in the quantity you need. Just halve or double (or whatever) the ingredients. Easy!
MOO BUTTERMILK NO. 1
This is great for when you need a small quantity of buttermilk for pancakes or marinating. It's not true cultured buttermilk but it does just as good a job for a fraction of the price.
Ingredients:
1 cup milk (fresh or made from powdered milk)
1 tsp white vinegar or lemon juice
Method:
Stir the vinegar into the cup of milk. Let the milk sit for 10 minutes to curdle, it's ready to use.
You'll find the recipe for a cultured buttermilk here.
Get in on the fun and discussions here.
10. 2021 Saving Revolution
Lesson Two has gone out. If you haven't received it yet, check your email folders to make sure it hasn't been filtered off. If you still can't find it, let me know.
How are you going with the sorting and the filing and the tossing and the organising?
By now you should be well on the way to the organising part.
Don't get sidetracked with this lesson. Stick to the steps. Use what you have for organising, no need to rush out and buy anything.
Oh, now we supply our own shopping bags, I do have a small make-up style purse in my handbag that holds about 6 carefully folded plastic grocery bags. I had to do this - I was forever jumping out of the car, racing into a shop and forgetting to pick up a couple of bags from the car. Then I'd either have to spend the 15 cents on a new bag (stupid waste when there are about 100 in the car) or juggle carrying what I bought back to the car.
Now as soon as I get home I empty the bags, fold them and put them back in the purse in my handbag.
Yes, it is another thing to carry, but this one saves me so much angst, and 15 cents or so every time I head into a shop, so it's worth it to me. If you have this problem, keeping the bags together in your handbag or satchel or whatever you use might help. A ziplock bag or even a smaller plastic bag will do the same job, the make-up purse just looks prettier and just because I live a frugal life doesn't meant I can't have pretties.
Remember, Cheapskates Club members can jump over to the 2021 Saving Revolution forum to join the discussions (password for forum is Debtfree2021). You'll need to be logged in, then log into the forum).
11. Ask A Question
We have lots of resources to help you as you live the Cheapskates way but if you didn't find the answer to your question in our extensive archives please just drop me a note with your question.
I read and answer all questions, either in an email to you, in my weekly newsletter, the monthly Journal or by creating blog posts and other resources to help you (and other Cheapskaters).
Ask Your Question
12. Join The Cheapskates Club
For just $25 a year, 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!
13. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. When you login to the Member's Centre just click on your name at the top of the page to go straight to your profile page where you can update your details, change your password and find your subscription details.
Not a Cheapskates Club member? Then please use the Changing Details form found here to update your email address.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
Memberships are active for one year from the date of joining. You will be sent a renewal reminder before your subscription is due to renew. You can also find your membership expiry date on your profile page.
When you login to the Member's Centre just click on your name to go straight to your profile page where you can will find your join date and your expiry date.
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.
How did I get on this list?
The only way you can get onto our newsletter mailing list is to subscribe yourself. You signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member.
14. Contact Cheapskates
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
PO Box 5077 Studfield Vic 3152
Contact Cheapskates
This week's MOO challenge is a really simple, but very useful, one: buttermilk.
I use homemade to replace regular milk in baking, and for marinating meat and chicken (a buttermilk marinade makes meat mouthwateringly tender) and of course for buttermilk dressing for green salads.
Buttermilk is so easy to MOO, even easier than it is to MOO yoghurt, that I make it all the time to use in baking. MOO buttermilk can be made with fresh milk or milk that has gone sour. It literally takes me two minutes to throw it together, let it sit overnight and then in the morning I have fresh buttermilk for pancakes (buttermilk makes the lightest pancakes).
Best of all, you can make it as you need it, in the quantity you need. Just halve or double (or whatever) the ingredients. Easy!
MOO BUTTERMILK NO. 1
This is great for when you need a small quantity of buttermilk for pancakes or marinating. It's not true cultured buttermilk but it does just as good a job for a fraction of the price.
Ingredients:
1 cup milk (fresh or made from powdered milk)
1 tsp white vinegar or lemon juice
Method:
Stir the vinegar into the cup of milk. Let the milk sit for 10 minutes to curdle, it's ready to use.
You'll find the recipe for a cultured buttermilk here.
Get in on the fun and discussions here.
10. 2021 Saving Revolution
Lesson Two has gone out. If you haven't received it yet, check your email folders to make sure it hasn't been filtered off. If you still can't find it, let me know.
How are you going with the sorting and the filing and the tossing and the organising?
By now you should be well on the way to the organising part.
Don't get sidetracked with this lesson. Stick to the steps. Use what you have for organising, no need to rush out and buy anything.
Oh, now we supply our own shopping bags, I do have a small make-up style purse in my handbag that holds about 6 carefully folded plastic grocery bags. I had to do this - I was forever jumping out of the car, racing into a shop and forgetting to pick up a couple of bags from the car. Then I'd either have to spend the 15 cents on a new bag (stupid waste when there are about 100 in the car) or juggle carrying what I bought back to the car.
Now as soon as I get home I empty the bags, fold them and put them back in the purse in my handbag.
Yes, it is another thing to carry, but this one saves me so much angst, and 15 cents or so every time I head into a shop, so it's worth it to me. If you have this problem, keeping the bags together in your handbag or satchel or whatever you use might help. A ziplock bag or even a smaller plastic bag will do the same job, the make-up purse just looks prettier and just because I live a frugal life doesn't meant I can't have pretties.
Remember, Cheapskates Club members can jump over to the 2021 Saving Revolution forum to join the discussions (password for forum is Debtfree2021). You'll need to be logged in, then log into the forum).
11. Ask A Question
We have lots of resources to help you as you live the Cheapskates way but if you didn't find the answer to your question in our extensive archives please just drop me a note with your question.
I read and answer all questions, either in an email to you, in my weekly newsletter, the monthly Journal or by creating blog posts and other resources to help you (and other Cheapskaters).
Ask Your Question
12. Join The Cheapskates Club
For just $25 a year, 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!
13. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. When you login to the Member's Centre just click on your name at the top of the page to go straight to your profile page where you can update your details, change your password and find your subscription details.
Not a Cheapskates Club member? Then please use the Changing Details form found here to update your email address.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
Memberships are active for one year from the date of joining. You will be sent a renewal reminder before your subscription is due to renew. You can also find your membership expiry date on your profile page.
When you login to the Member's Centre just click on your name to go straight to your profile page where you can will find your join date and your expiry date.
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.
How did I get on this list?
The only way you can get onto our newsletter mailing list is to subscribe yourself. You signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member.
14. Contact Cheapskates
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
PO Box 5077 Studfield Vic 3152
Contact Cheapskates