Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter 03:22
In This Newsletter
1. Cath's Corner
2. From the Tip Store - Party Activity to Dye For; Include Back-to-School as a Budget Category; Re-vamping Last Year's School Bag
3. Tip of the Week - Learn Your Limits
4. Share Your Tips
5. On the Menu - Easy Peasy No Fail Pav
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Grocery Tracking to Stay on Budget
7. The Weekly MOO Challenge - Veggie Wash
8. Cheapskates Buzz
9. The Cheapskates Club Show
10. Ask A Question - Have a question? Ask it here
11. Join the Cheapskates Club
12. Frequently Asked Questions
13. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
Welcome to our new members, we are excited to have you join us!
The summer holidays seem to be flying by; the summer holidays are almost over, and so, it seems, is my garden. The tomatoes are almost done, I'll be pulling them all out this coming weekend.
But the zucchini have been producing well. So far I've made zucchini pickle, grated and dehydrated some and grated some for the freezer (for chocolate zucchini cake). Cucumbers are starting too, and the strawberries have been delicious.
The peaches are almost ready to pick, and the orange and lime trees are full of tiny little fruit.
Over the weekend 15 kilos of potatoes were canned up and added to our pantry. They will be perfect for soups and casseroles, potato salad and hash over the winter. They were a bargain at 35c a kilo, too good to pass up.
This weekend I'll be cooking up onions for caramelised onions; Hannah's greengrocer has 10 kilo bags for $7, much cheaper than they've been here lately.
Do you take advantage of bulk produce specials? How do you store them? How do you use them? How do you preserve them? I'd love to know, I'm always looking for a better way to fill the pantry.
Have a great week everyone.
Happy Cheapskating,
Cath
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!
2. From The Tip Store
Party Activity to Dye For
Approximate $ Savings: $5-$10 per child
Save money and teach kids new tricks by hosting a tie-dye activity at your kid's next party. Buy some old singlets at Vinnies or your local op shop, usually for about 50c-$1 each, and a pot of clothes dye ($10-15). To be even more economical use coffee or brewed tea. Show the kids how to fasten elastics around the singlet, or on separate spots of the singlet, so that when you dye the top white rings will remain. Use a big pot for the dye so you can fit up to 10 small-medium singlets. Once dry, each child can take their creation home. If you have 10 kids, this will cost you about $2 per child. Better than a party bag any day!
Contributed by Bronwyn
Include Back-to-School as a Budget Category
We added "back to school" to our budget as a separate category and deposit money into that category each pay period, just as we do for the school fees, rates, insurance and other once-a-year- expenses. Now when January comes around and the back-to-school sales are on, I can comfortably and happily shop for what our four children need, knowing that the money is there and I don't have to run another category into the red. This really takes the pressure off back to school shopping, especially as it comes right on the heels of Christmas and holidays.
Contributed by Peter
Re-vamping Last Year's School Bag
Often last years backpack just needs a good clean and it is ready to go for another year. Our kids kept their backpacks through primary school, and then had new, bigger school bags for high school. At the end of each school year, I collected them to clean. I sprayed any stains with a spot remover like Miracle Spray, or covered them with a paste of bicarb and water and left them overnight. Then I just popped the backpack into the washing machine with some Cheapskates Washing Powder and washed it on the gentle cycle. To dry, I hung it upside down over a broom handle in the sun. Brings them up as good as new. Note: I only did one at a time in the washing machine.
Contributed by Cath
There are more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
Add a Tip
3. This Week's Winning Tip
This week's winning tip is from Tee-na Apted. Tee-na has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
Learn Your Limits
My son is a junior ‘elite’ level athlete, who is currently on a high protein/low carb eating plan. He requests oven chicken breast a lot and I would do one for him and one for me, until I was able to read the finer details of the plan when I realise he had to have 150 gm (uncooked) which shrinks once done. I was surprised at how little his actual meat portion was. He trains a minimum of 2 hours a day, and is eating less than 150 gm of chicken a day, and regular serving of porridge in the morning and that’s considered HIGH. Which got me thinking, are set serving sizes correct? My mothers tip was always ‘the size of your palm’ . Could reducing your serving to what you need, instead of what you see, change your grocery bill?
Congratulations Tee-na, 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.
Add a Tip
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
Easy Peasy No Fail Pav
This is a really easy pav to make, quick to cook and yummy to eat. Even if you've never made a pavlova before you'll have success with this recipe.
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp boiling water
Method:
Beat egg whites, vinegar, vanilla, cornflour and boiling water until stiff. Slowly add the sugar, beating until it is dissolved. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (this is important, the oven must be at temperature when you put the pav in so it starts to cook immediately). Prepare a pavlova plate or baking sheet by covering the base with baking paper. Spread the pavlova mixture onto the baking paper in either a circle or rectangle, it's up to you. Bake for 45 minutes until slightly browned. Turn the oven off and leave the pav in the oven, with the door closed, until it is cold.
To make a larger pav, double the recipe and extend baking time by 10 minutes.
Do you have a favourite dessert recipe? We can't wait to try it and add it to the Recipe File. Share it with us here. https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/add-a-recipe.html
Next week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Beef
Monday: BBQ Chicken Wings & salad
Tuesday: Spag Bol
Wednesday: Enchiladas
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Sausages & salad
Saturday: Haystacks
There are over 1,800 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
Grocery Tracking to Stay on Budget
Hello Cheapskaters,
This week I'd like to chat with you about tracking your groceries. That means your spending and inventory.
Inventory is just another word for what you have in your pantry, fridge and freezer (including your stockpile).
I'm sure you all know the importance of tracking spending; how it helps to keep you on track and show you where you are perhaps over-spending, or perhaps not spending enough.
Your grocery tracking spreadsheet is like a mini grocery spending plan. You know how much you have allocated each week/fortnight/month or whatever. Using the tracking spreadsheet shows you how much you spend in each grocery category. https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/tip-sheets.html
I've been using the spreadsheet for years - twenty? Or pretty close to it. I love it. It shows me at a glance how much is going on fruit and veg, how much I'm spending on drinks or cleaning supplies. And it tallies up automatically - no need for me to rely on my brain or a calculator. The auto tally is really just convenient, but I love it.
If you haven't tracked your grocery spending in detail before, I suggest you give it a go. You may be surprised - at how much you spend on things you didn't think you spent a lot on, or where you could cut back to increase another category.
The spreadsheet is set up to mimic my pantry. You can change the category names to work best with your pantry and shopping, it's flexible!
The categories are across the top of the sheet, the days of the month are down the side. Use a new sheet for each month, even if you shop weekly or fortnightly.
After shopping just enter the amounts in the relevant fields. For example, if I shopped today, I'd scroll down the date column to 13 and enter amounts in the right categories along that line. The amount in the Total column for that date should equal the amount on your docket/s.
At the end of the month, the totals along the bottom will show how much you've spent in each category, and the last total will be the total spend for the month. Easy!
When you're on a tight budget, knowing what you spend, where and on what is vital, for peace of mind and to ensure you don't go over budget.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge Forum
The Post that Started it All
7. The Weekly MOO Challenge
Veggie Wash
Are you aware that it is recommended that all fruits and vegetables, even the ones we peel, should be scrubbed under running water to clean them of dirt, bugs, pesticides and waxes? Of course if you buy fruit and veg, this makes sense. But it also makes sense to wash homegrown produce, even if you don't use pesticides and chemicals in your garden.
Why? Well because they get splashed with soil when you water. They could be hiding bugs - who wants to find half a worm in their cucumber? You might be feeding them with worm tea or compost tea. All these things need to be washed off the produce before you even think about eating it.
Washing under running water is a waste of water. Instead this Veggie Spray will clean them safely and cheaply, without wasting water.
You will need:
1 cup water
1 cup white vinegar
1 tbsp bicarbonate soda
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Step 1. Combine all ingredients in a tall jug or very deep bowl. The mixture will fizz and froth - remember mixing bicarb and vinegar to make volcanoes as a child?
Step 2. When the mixture has settled down, pour into a spray bottle. Shake well before each use.
To use: Spray fruit and veggies all over with spray. Let sit 2 minutes. Rinse in clean water.
The lemon is acts as an antibacterial, the vinegar kills bacteria and helps to dissolve the wax and pesticide residues found on the skins of many fruits and vegetables.
Get in on the fun and discussions here.
8. Cheapskates Buzz
From The Article Archive
How I Buy Fruit and Vegetables Once a Month (and they last)
A Back-to-School Budget
Is It Worth the Time to Pack Lunches?
This Week's Hot Forum Topics
Waist Watchers 2022
Adding to the Stockpile
Forever Foods - What to add to your stockpile for long-term ...
Newest Recipes
Potato & Bacon Salad
Pasta Delight
Latest Tips
Recyling Wrapping Paper
Don't Waste the Oil, it Adds Flavour
Tuff Scrubbies for Nix
Learn Your Limits
Always Getting a Refund on Spoiled Fruit
9. The Cheapskates Club Show
Join us live on YouTube every Tuesday 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.
Latest Shows
1. Cath's Corner
2. From the Tip Store - Party Activity to Dye For; Include Back-to-School as a Budget Category; Re-vamping Last Year's School Bag
3. Tip of the Week - Learn Your Limits
4. Share Your Tips
5. On the Menu - Easy Peasy No Fail Pav
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Grocery Tracking to Stay on Budget
7. The Weekly MOO Challenge - Veggie Wash
8. Cheapskates Buzz
9. The Cheapskates Club Show
10. Ask A Question - Have a question? Ask it here
11. Join the Cheapskates Club
12. Frequently Asked Questions
13. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
Welcome to our new members, we are excited to have you join us!
The summer holidays seem to be flying by; the summer holidays are almost over, and so, it seems, is my garden. The tomatoes are almost done, I'll be pulling them all out this coming weekend.
But the zucchini have been producing well. So far I've made zucchini pickle, grated and dehydrated some and grated some for the freezer (for chocolate zucchini cake). Cucumbers are starting too, and the strawberries have been delicious.
The peaches are almost ready to pick, and the orange and lime trees are full of tiny little fruit.
Over the weekend 15 kilos of potatoes were canned up and added to our pantry. They will be perfect for soups and casseroles, potato salad and hash over the winter. They were a bargain at 35c a kilo, too good to pass up.
This weekend I'll be cooking up onions for caramelised onions; Hannah's greengrocer has 10 kilo bags for $7, much cheaper than they've been here lately.
Do you take advantage of bulk produce specials? How do you store them? How do you use them? How do you preserve them? I'd love to know, I'm always looking for a better way to fill the pantry.
Have a great week everyone.
Happy Cheapskating,
Cath
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!
2. From The Tip Store
Party Activity to Dye For
Approximate $ Savings: $5-$10 per child
Save money and teach kids new tricks by hosting a tie-dye activity at your kid's next party. Buy some old singlets at Vinnies or your local op shop, usually for about 50c-$1 each, and a pot of clothes dye ($10-15). To be even more economical use coffee or brewed tea. Show the kids how to fasten elastics around the singlet, or on separate spots of the singlet, so that when you dye the top white rings will remain. Use a big pot for the dye so you can fit up to 10 small-medium singlets. Once dry, each child can take their creation home. If you have 10 kids, this will cost you about $2 per child. Better than a party bag any day!
Contributed by Bronwyn
Include Back-to-School as a Budget Category
We added "back to school" to our budget as a separate category and deposit money into that category each pay period, just as we do for the school fees, rates, insurance and other once-a-year- expenses. Now when January comes around and the back-to-school sales are on, I can comfortably and happily shop for what our four children need, knowing that the money is there and I don't have to run another category into the red. This really takes the pressure off back to school shopping, especially as it comes right on the heels of Christmas and holidays.
Contributed by Peter
Re-vamping Last Year's School Bag
Often last years backpack just needs a good clean and it is ready to go for another year. Our kids kept their backpacks through primary school, and then had new, bigger school bags for high school. At the end of each school year, I collected them to clean. I sprayed any stains with a spot remover like Miracle Spray, or covered them with a paste of bicarb and water and left them overnight. Then I just popped the backpack into the washing machine with some Cheapskates Washing Powder and washed it on the gentle cycle. To dry, I hung it upside down over a broom handle in the sun. Brings them up as good as new. Note: I only did one at a time in the washing machine.
Contributed by Cath
There are more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
Add a Tip
3. This Week's Winning Tip
This week's winning tip is from Tee-na Apted. Tee-na has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
Learn Your Limits
My son is a junior ‘elite’ level athlete, who is currently on a high protein/low carb eating plan. He requests oven chicken breast a lot and I would do one for him and one for me, until I was able to read the finer details of the plan when I realise he had to have 150 gm (uncooked) which shrinks once done. I was surprised at how little his actual meat portion was. He trains a minimum of 2 hours a day, and is eating less than 150 gm of chicken a day, and regular serving of porridge in the morning and that’s considered HIGH. Which got me thinking, are set serving sizes correct? My mothers tip was always ‘the size of your palm’ . Could reducing your serving to what you need, instead of what you see, change your grocery bill?
Congratulations Tee-na, 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.
Add a Tip
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
Easy Peasy No Fail Pav
This is a really easy pav to make, quick to cook and yummy to eat. Even if you've never made a pavlova before you'll have success with this recipe.
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp boiling water
Method:
Beat egg whites, vinegar, vanilla, cornflour and boiling water until stiff. Slowly add the sugar, beating until it is dissolved. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (this is important, the oven must be at temperature when you put the pav in so it starts to cook immediately). Prepare a pavlova plate or baking sheet by covering the base with baking paper. Spread the pavlova mixture onto the baking paper in either a circle or rectangle, it's up to you. Bake for 45 minutes until slightly browned. Turn the oven off and leave the pav in the oven, with the door closed, until it is cold.
To make a larger pav, double the recipe and extend baking time by 10 minutes.
Do you have a favourite dessert recipe? We can't wait to try it and add it to the Recipe File. Share it with us here. https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/add-a-recipe.html
Next week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Beef
Monday: BBQ Chicken Wings & salad
Tuesday: Spag Bol
Wednesday: Enchiladas
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Sausages & salad
Saturday: Haystacks
There are over 1,800 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
Grocery Tracking to Stay on Budget
Hello Cheapskaters,
This week I'd like to chat with you about tracking your groceries. That means your spending and inventory.
Inventory is just another word for what you have in your pantry, fridge and freezer (including your stockpile).
I'm sure you all know the importance of tracking spending; how it helps to keep you on track and show you where you are perhaps over-spending, or perhaps not spending enough.
Your grocery tracking spreadsheet is like a mini grocery spending plan. You know how much you have allocated each week/fortnight/month or whatever. Using the tracking spreadsheet shows you how much you spend in each grocery category. https://www.cheapskatesclub.net/tip-sheets.html
I've been using the spreadsheet for years - twenty? Or pretty close to it. I love it. It shows me at a glance how much is going on fruit and veg, how much I'm spending on drinks or cleaning supplies. And it tallies up automatically - no need for me to rely on my brain or a calculator. The auto tally is really just convenient, but I love it.
If you haven't tracked your grocery spending in detail before, I suggest you give it a go. You may be surprised - at how much you spend on things you didn't think you spent a lot on, or where you could cut back to increase another category.
The spreadsheet is set up to mimic my pantry. You can change the category names to work best with your pantry and shopping, it's flexible!
The categories are across the top of the sheet, the days of the month are down the side. Use a new sheet for each month, even if you shop weekly or fortnightly.
After shopping just enter the amounts in the relevant fields. For example, if I shopped today, I'd scroll down the date column to 13 and enter amounts in the right categories along that line. The amount in the Total column for that date should equal the amount on your docket/s.
At the end of the month, the totals along the bottom will show how much you've spent in each category, and the last total will be the total spend for the month. Easy!
When you're on a tight budget, knowing what you spend, where and on what is vital, for peace of mind and to ensure you don't go over budget.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge Forum
The Post that Started it All
7. The Weekly MOO Challenge
Veggie Wash
Are you aware that it is recommended that all fruits and vegetables, even the ones we peel, should be scrubbed under running water to clean them of dirt, bugs, pesticides and waxes? Of course if you buy fruit and veg, this makes sense. But it also makes sense to wash homegrown produce, even if you don't use pesticides and chemicals in your garden.
Why? Well because they get splashed with soil when you water. They could be hiding bugs - who wants to find half a worm in their cucumber? You might be feeding them with worm tea or compost tea. All these things need to be washed off the produce before you even think about eating it.
Washing under running water is a waste of water. Instead this Veggie Spray will clean them safely and cheaply, without wasting water.
You will need:
1 cup water
1 cup white vinegar
1 tbsp bicarbonate soda
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Step 1. Combine all ingredients in a tall jug or very deep bowl. The mixture will fizz and froth - remember mixing bicarb and vinegar to make volcanoes as a child?
Step 2. When the mixture has settled down, pour into a spray bottle. Shake well before each use.
To use: Spray fruit and veggies all over with spray. Let sit 2 minutes. Rinse in clean water.
The lemon is acts as an antibacterial, the vinegar kills bacteria and helps to dissolve the wax and pesticide residues found on the skins of many fruits and vegetables.
Get in on the fun and discussions here.
8. Cheapskates Buzz
From The Article Archive
How I Buy Fruit and Vegetables Once a Month (and they last)
A Back-to-School Budget
Is It Worth the Time to Pack Lunches?
This Week's Hot Forum Topics
Waist Watchers 2022
Adding to the Stockpile
Forever Foods - What to add to your stockpile for long-term ...
Newest Recipes
Potato & Bacon Salad
Pasta Delight
Latest Tips
Recyling Wrapping Paper
Don't Waste the Oil, it Adds Flavour
Tuff Scrubbies for Nix
Learn Your Limits
Always Getting a Refund on Spoiled Fruit
9. The Cheapskates Club Show
Join us live on YouTube every Tuesday 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.
Latest Shows
10. 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
11. Join The Cheapskates Club
For just $25 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 for a full year.
That's unlimited 24/7 access to EVERYTHING in the Member's Centre!
Click here to join the Cheapskates Club today!
12. 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 either signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member.
13. 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
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
11. Join The Cheapskates Club
For just $25 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 for a full year.
That's unlimited 24/7 access to EVERYTHING in the Member's Centre!
Click here to join the Cheapskates Club today!
12. 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 either signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member.
13. 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