Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter 05:18
In this Newsletter
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - Spring Clean Your Fans for More Cooling; An Accurate Grocery Budget for the Year; Pay it Forward
3. Share Your Tips
4. No Spending Month Week 1
5. On the Menu - Mock Fish
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy - Why Do We Overspend?
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. Member's Featured Blog - Doin' the Time Warp
9. Last Week's Question - Help with homemade pet food please
10. Ask Cath
11. Join the Cheapskates Club
12. Frequently Asked Questions
13. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
Tomorrow is February 1st and you know what that means - it's No Spending Month! I can't believe we've been doing this for seventeen years! That's a very long time, and a whole lot of money that hasn't been spent during February. This is the month to get budgets back on track and spending under control. Christmas has been and gone, the holidays are over, and school has gone back. All that beginning of the year spending has been done, so now is perfect time to stop spending and start building up those Peace of Mind accounts and Emergency Funds and paying down debt.
We are prepared and ready to get started. Wayne and AJ are on board and looking forward to seeing how much is left in their wallets and bank accounts at the end of the month. I'm hoping to have a nice little boost to add to our holiday fund by saving what we don't spend.
Are you going to join us?
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
Spring Clean Your Fans for More Cooling
We have floor fans in our bedrooms as we don't have ceiling fans and in summer I don't like to run the air conditioning all night, so we use floor fans. Problem is that they gather a lot of dust, particularly as they are not used during the cooler weather, and as I don't want the fans blowing dust all through the house I had to either clean or replace them. Rather than throwing them out and buying new ones, which I was considering doing, I tried this first to see if I could remove the bulk of the dust. Take your fan/s outside and connect to power. Turn the fan on full speed and while the fan is going (but not oscillating) use a dry dustpan brush to dislodge and flick the dust off from around the frame of the fan. The fan will blow the dust away and it only takes about 5 minutes saving you from having to buy new ones!
Contributed by Sara Law
An Accurate Grocery Budget for the Year
Sometimes working out a grocery budget is overwhelming and finding out how much you spend can be worse! In 2017 I devised a plan to simplify all of this. You need a small diary and a notebook, you should be able to pick these up for $1 each. The notebook must go with you when shopping. This book contains your prices for specials (found it invaluable at Costco and SPC). When you arrive home after putting groceries away, sit down with dockets and the two books. Update specials in the notebook. Write down where and total spend in the diary. Total up each month. This gives you the year in review. You know your total spend, how often you shop, even those little ones. It is a handy reference.
Contributed by Michelle Ferey
Note: This is exactly how I started my first price book, all those years ago, and how I created my monthly shopping lists. In an old notebook I listed everything I bought over a month - all groceries, meat, fruit and veg, pharmacy items, even stamps and newspapers and magazines. Then I ruled up a page with columns: Item, Quantity, Brand, Size, Price Last Month, Price This Month, Total. I still use this method to write a shopping list and track specials. Cath
Pay it Forward
Look on Facebook to see if you have a local pay it forward group. I originally joined my local group as I had a number of items that were too good to throw out. The feeling of giving to people is addictive, which helps with my decluttering and I have managed to pick up some amazing things that have been on my wish list, including a 6 person outdoor table and chairs set that my family love. The savings just from the outdoor setting would be $150 and that is assuming I bought one second-hand. I continually list items that we no longer need and keep an eye out for items I do need while saving my money, the environment and meeting some lovely people in the process.
Contributed by Kathleen Hurley
There are currently more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Share Your Tips
The Cheapskate's Club website is over 3,000 pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. 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. We publish a Winning Tip each Thursday, so enter your great money, time or energy saving idea now.
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!
Submit your tip
4. No Spending Month Wk 1
This is the seventeenth year we have had an official No Spending month, complete with guidelines and tools to help you survive a whole month of no spending (the very first Cheapskates Club No Spending Month was February 2002!).
By taking a break from spending, especially at the beginning of the year, right after the Christmas and back-to-school expenses you are setting yourself up with good spending habits for the rest of the year.
It takes 21 repetitions to develop a habit, so buy not spending for 28 days you have not only developed the habit but reinforced it too!
Of course, you'll need to spend some money during February. It would be unrealistic to expect you to not spend a cent. But the difference is you'll only be spending money you've budgeted for. Every cent you spend will be allocated in your Spending Plan, so you know exactly where it is to go.
What you won't be doing is spending without a purpose, or blind spending. You know the spending on the magazine while you stand at the checkout or the marked down donuts the kids asked for. You won't be spending on eating out because you have a meal plan in place so dinner every night is taken care of. You won't be buying new clothes because you have a wardrobe full of perfectly good clothes. What you will be doing is taking a couple of hours to go through that wardrobe and rediscover all the wonderful outfits you have. You'll be sewing on that missing button and fixing that hem, so you can wear that skirt.
You won't be going to the movies because you'll be borrowing DVDs from the library. And magazines - nope! You'll be reading them at the library and borrowing books by your favourite author. Instead of the local play centre you'll invite your Mums'n'Bubs group to the local park for a morning in the fresh air, and you'll take your thermos of coffee and a snack from home, so you won't need to stop at the bakery on the way.
You will be saving a lot of money. You may be shocked at just how much you have left at the end of the month simply from not spending.
The rules are simple:
In line with our spending freeze you can spend money on essential items such as:
• Rent/mortgage
• Utilities: gas, electricity, phone, water if the bill is due during the month (but look for ways to lower these bills during the month so the next bill is cheaper)
• Food: shop at home first. Check your pantry, fridge and freezer and menu plan with what you have. You may find, like me, that you really don't need to go grocery shopping this month.
• Medical/pharmacy: don't scrimp on your health – the future cost would be far too great
• Petrol and transport: unless you can walk everywhere you'll need your car. But try to limit how far you go and how often you use it. Carpool if you can, share the school run with another mother, make one trip and do all your errands. Ditto for bus, train and tram. If you have a bike now might be a good time to start riding to work or school.
• Other regular monthly bills you have
You can't spend money on:
• magazines
• takeaway meals
• movies
• new clothes
Wool, fabric, craft supplies, hobby supplies
• toys
• DVDs and CDs
or anything else that isn't essential to living for 28 days.
Here are some tips that will make your spending freeze easier:
Register
Register on the Spending Freeze forum and tell us how much you are hoping to not spend. Then keep us up to date with your progress. This is important, we all want to know how well you are doing and if you post regularly you'll be able to see how we are getting on too.
Have a Plan
Planning is the key to surviving and thriving during a spending freeze. Planning your day ensures you cover everything you need to get through: lunches, drinks, having enough petrol in the car. It also gives you time to prepare for those irregular things such as birthday parties and allow you to plan the spending. Planning what you are going to have for dinner the night before removes the takeaway temptation that comes with not having a plan. Planning and knowing what's happening will let you prepare ahead of time and find no spend alternatives to those "spend, spend, spend" situations.
Stop Spending
Seriously, stop spending money - no more clothes, magazines, toys, makeup, computer bits and bobs, shoes etc. For four weeks use your money to pay the essential living expenses (mortgage/rent, utilities, food - bare bones basics, fares/petrol) and see just how much is left over at the end of the month. Then use 50% of that money to pay down debt and 50% to increase (or start) your emergency fund. You must bank the leftover money – remember, it is not saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it is just not spent.
Track Your Spending
If you track your spending already, fantastic. Pat yourself on the back. If you don't, start today. Get a notebook (any notebook or piece of paper will do) and write down every cent you spend. Write down what you bought, how much it cost and how you paid for it i.e. cash, credit card, direct debit. Do this for at least the first week, preferably the whole 28 days, so you can see exactly what you are spending your money on.
Throughout the month I will be posting tools and guides in the Spending Freeze forum so remember to check in regularly to update your Challenge and see what's new.
Good luck with your spending freeze and I can't wait to hear how well you do.
5. On the Menu
Mock Fish
This recipe is a hand-me-down from my Mum, so quantities are approximate, or as Mum says, “by feel”.
To 1 cup of cooked macaroni add 1 cup of milk, grated cheese to taste, a knob of butter, onion salt to taste and bring to the boil. Thicken with plain flour. Mix to a stiff dough. Add chopped hard-boiled egg and parsley to taste. Mix well (you may have to use your hand). Press into a greased lamington tin and set in fridge overnight. Cut into fingers, squares or triangles, dip in egg and breadcrumbs and fry or bake until golden brown.
Delicious hot or cold.
We have Mock Fish as fish fingers, with salad. They're also delicious cold as a snack or finger food too.
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Lamb
Monday: Chicken fried rice, homemade spring rolls
Tuesday: Pasta bake
Wednesday: Mock fish, wedges, salad
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: BBQ sausages, salad
Saturday: Stuffed chicken legs & salad
In the fruit bowl: bananas, grapes
In the cake tin: Orange cake, Raspberry Coconut Slice
There are over 1,600 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy
From the Archives: Why Do We Overspend?
Hello frugal Cheapskaters and welcome to the food challenge.
Thank you to those who were brave enough to sign up for another year of saving lots of money with the food budget. If you haven't already put your name down, it's never too late. Please feel free to add your name to the post titled “2016 Food Challenge Begins ".
Thank you also to those who answered the questions about new topics to cover. This has been really helpful for me. After writing about this topic for over 5 years, I sometimes get writers block and no topic comes to mind. Please keep the ideas coming. They are greatly appreciated.
To begin our food challenge journey, I thought we'd talk about why we overspend in this area of our budget ( if you do ). We all need to eat, don't we? Putting food on the table is very important to feed our bodies, our souls and our minds. When everyone is fed, life just seems brighter.
Sometimes we can go too far with the ' need to feed " and before you know it the grocery budget is out of control. Reigning it back in can be a real challenge if you don't know why your overspending in the first place. Here are some reasons why it's easy to overspend -
*Won't buy generic brands.
*Just have to try the " new in store " grocery products.
*Shop on an empty stomach.
*Shop with husband / wife and or kids in tow.
*Buy too many of the one product then don't use.
*Buy take away instead of eating the food in the fridge / pantry / freezer.
*Feed family and friends who drop in for a free meal.
*Cook too much food that spoils in the back of the fridge.
*Cook recipes with expensive ingredients.
*Serving too much food on the plates.
*Serving two or three courses every night.
*Constant mindless snacking.
*Fussy eaters.
*Disorganised pantry / fridge / freezer.
*No shopping list/
*No menu plan.
*Buy convenience foods.
*Feel the need to serve a five star meal.
*Won't ask family and friends to bring a plate to help.
*Having meat with every main meal.
*Having meat for lunch AND dinner.
*Not shopping at home first.
*Not keeping track of expiry dates.
*Not having a budget at all.
*Giving in to the family's wants.
I'm sure there are a few more reasons but here is a good sized list to think over. Do any of these describe your spending and food shopping habits? I'm going to ask you to take a leap of faith, to step outside your comfort zone and identify the reason/s you overspend or feel you can't reach your food budget goal.
I'm quite prepared to lead the charge and name my problem areas.
*I sometimes spend more than I've planned when a family member asks for a different item to be bought.
*On rare occasions I've shopped with a family member and extra items get put into the trolley.
*Buying too many of a bargain special then not quite using it all up.
Who's prepared to reveal all (grocery wise)? Why do you spend more than you plan?
Have a great week and BE ENCOURAGED!!!!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
7. Cheapskates Buzz
Most popular forum posts this week
How Old are You and Your Cheapskate Experience
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?3244-How-old-are-you-and-your-cheapskate-experience
My Retirement Garden
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2581-My-Retirement-Garden
Decluttering Tally Game 2018
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?3692-Decluttering-Tally-Game-2018
Most popular blog posts this week
This is Your Year
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2009/01/this-is-your-year.html
Loathsome Firebugs
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2009/01/loathsome-firebugs.html
Staying Cool and Doing Chores
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2009/01/staying-cool-and-doing-chores.html
8. Members Featured Blog
Platinum Cheapskates Club members have their very own Cheapskating blogs, and they are wonderful and inspirational and encouraging and even funny. This week's featured blog is written by mumto5.
Doin' the Time Warp!
Hi folks,
It's been a 40+ degree day here, so I'm trying to be productive while hiding inside! Catching up on my Savings Revolution lessons seems a good use of my time.
And that leads me to...the time budget! I always find this super challenging. I love knowing what's on my agenda on any given day but having a few special needs kids means I also do a fair bit of "seat of your pants" living as well! Have to admit, now that they're getting older there is less of the chaos of their younger years, where it often felt like our days were spent lurching from one upheaval to the next!
No idea why I find assigning a chunk of time to the tasks I do day in, day out so challenging! I guess it's just something I've never really given much thought to, you just get it done.
I do write a daily "to do list" and tick things off as I go (and jot down new things as they crop up!). I admit to being a bit of a list maker...lists of reno's I'd like to get done one day, lists of gardening tasks, lists of jobs to be done around the house...and on it goes! But I have no idea how much time I spend on various tasks on any given day!
But that's what these lessons are about, right? Looking at everyday habits with new eyes? So, after a bit of thought I've come up with a rough idea of how I spend my time, and the things that are a must do/non-negotiable part of my day. And it is really interesting! And frankly, I should have a bit more time up my sleeve judging by the numbers I've come up with!
Task for this week.... I’m going to try and keep track of what I'm actually doing and how long I actually spend doing it!! And who knows, a bit of focus on this might even help with my tendency to get distracted (...hey look! A squirrel!!)
I hope everyone is having a win this week on their Cheapskates journey.
Login to read more Cheapskates Club Member blogs
9. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Rosemarie who wrote
"In the light of there being no real meat in pet food, has anyone made their own? As my cats dislike most brands, I am happy to buy their biscuits, but want something better for their main meals."
Ann Streeter answered
We no longer have any pets however for many years we had two cats. When visiting the vet for their regular injection the discussion came around to what they ate, and he recommended that we feed the cats raw meat as they are carnivores and suggested raw kangaroo meat from the pet food section in the supermarket. We switched over to the roo meat and the cats loved it, it was cheaper than canned food and their health improved. We still gave them cat biscuits to graze on during the day, along with fresh water but at night fed them the raw meat or any scraps of raw fish when we had fish (which was often in our house). After a couple of weeks, we noticed that we weren’t getting those little presents left on the door mat e.g. dead mice, lizards, or thankfully birds, as our cats were being well nourished with the roo meat. Win, win on all counts.
Jules Buxton answered
Homemade dinner for kitty
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/3 cup raw brown rice
2 tsp vegetable oil
2/3 cup ground turkey* or chicken
2 tbsp chopped liver (lambs fry)
Method:
Bring the water to the boil in a medium sized saucepan. Stir in the rice and oil and reduce the heat. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add the ground turkey and chopped liver and continue to cook for another 20 minutes. Cool before dishing up to your cat.
*Turkey is becoming more and more readily available in most supermarkets. Look for the purple trays in the poultry/meat cabinet. Also ask at the deli counter for any scraps, sometimes they will sell them in bags for around $2 each.
Jane Trainer answered
I recently took an animal nutrition class as part of my university studies and it taught me a lot about the importance of knowing what to look for when assessing foods for your animals. With cats, they naturally eat a very high protein diet of live prey, which contains all the nutrients and vitamins they need. When you keep a predator as a pet, it is important that the food you feed it is as high in protein as possible. When you buy your cat food, look for the nutritional table, it will be very small and likely hidden, but it is a legal requirement and must be on the packaging. You should feed your cat the highest crude protein content percentage you can and avoid any food with a high carbohydrate, fat or salt content. Supermarket cat foods will have a crude protein content of somewhere between 10% (inadequately low) to around 36-38% (ideal, cats require 30% protein, for contrast, dogs only require 18-20%). Check the crude protein content of the expensive food at your vet, you may very well find it is the same, or lower, than something you can find in the supermarket aisle.
Cats can go blind if they do not eat a diet rich in taurine, which is an amino acid that is essential for their eyesight, they get taurine from eating raw meat. Your cat's diet should include small portions of raw meat that is enriched with taurine to meet this need, most kangaroo minces for cats note on the packaging that they contain taurine. Ensure you get meat specifically for cats, as meat for dogs does not contain taurine.
Steer clear of anything containing carbohydrates, which is grains. Predators need protein, not carbohydrates, it's a form of nutrient that their digestive system cannot absorb so it just goes in one end and out the other and wastes your money.
Kate Crawford answered
I get 1 kilo kangaroo mince and 1 kilo whatever other mince is on special. I crush 6 human calcium tablets, and 1 multi b vitamin. You need to add the vitamins as cats in the wild would receive them from eating the organs and bones of small creatures...which obviously are not available in minced meat.
You can bulk this out with a mashed sweet potato that's been cooled, and some frozen peas and corn. This feeds three cats for a fortnight and costs less than buying tinned food. I freeze it in three-day batches, that way picky eaters can't complain it's not fresh. If you want to worm them at the same time put 2 teaspoons of dichotomous earth in one of the three-day freezer packs, each month.
They all have terrific shiny coats and as long as you get preservative free kangaroo, even the picky eaters don't turn their noses up at it.
10. Ask Cath
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 10 cents a day 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!
12. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. Members can update their email address or any other details by clicking on "Edit Profile" directly under their membership number after they have logged in to the Member's Centre. Subscribers to our free newsletter can use the Change Your Address form (under Customer Service in the menu) and fill it out. Once you've filled it in click the send button and we'll do the rest. Please remember to include your old email address so we can find it in the list as well as the new one.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
When you login to the Member's Centre you will be told how many days of membership you have left once you have 30 days left. Just click on the link to renew and your membership will just continue on, uninterrupted.
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 You Get on Our List?
You signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member
13. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
Contact Us
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - Spring Clean Your Fans for More Cooling; An Accurate Grocery Budget for the Year; Pay it Forward
3. Share Your Tips
4. No Spending Month Week 1
5. On the Menu - Mock Fish
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy - Why Do We Overspend?
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. Member's Featured Blog - Doin' the Time Warp
9. Last Week's Question - Help with homemade pet food please
10. Ask Cath
11. Join the Cheapskates Club
12. Frequently Asked Questions
13. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
Tomorrow is February 1st and you know what that means - it's No Spending Month! I can't believe we've been doing this for seventeen years! That's a very long time, and a whole lot of money that hasn't been spent during February. This is the month to get budgets back on track and spending under control. Christmas has been and gone, the holidays are over, and school has gone back. All that beginning of the year spending has been done, so now is perfect time to stop spending and start building up those Peace of Mind accounts and Emergency Funds and paying down debt.
We are prepared and ready to get started. Wayne and AJ are on board and looking forward to seeing how much is left in their wallets and bank accounts at the end of the month. I'm hoping to have a nice little boost to add to our holiday fund by saving what we don't spend.
Are you going to join us?
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
Spring Clean Your Fans for More Cooling
We have floor fans in our bedrooms as we don't have ceiling fans and in summer I don't like to run the air conditioning all night, so we use floor fans. Problem is that they gather a lot of dust, particularly as they are not used during the cooler weather, and as I don't want the fans blowing dust all through the house I had to either clean or replace them. Rather than throwing them out and buying new ones, which I was considering doing, I tried this first to see if I could remove the bulk of the dust. Take your fan/s outside and connect to power. Turn the fan on full speed and while the fan is going (but not oscillating) use a dry dustpan brush to dislodge and flick the dust off from around the frame of the fan. The fan will blow the dust away and it only takes about 5 minutes saving you from having to buy new ones!
Contributed by Sara Law
An Accurate Grocery Budget for the Year
Sometimes working out a grocery budget is overwhelming and finding out how much you spend can be worse! In 2017 I devised a plan to simplify all of this. You need a small diary and a notebook, you should be able to pick these up for $1 each. The notebook must go with you when shopping. This book contains your prices for specials (found it invaluable at Costco and SPC). When you arrive home after putting groceries away, sit down with dockets and the two books. Update specials in the notebook. Write down where and total spend in the diary. Total up each month. This gives you the year in review. You know your total spend, how often you shop, even those little ones. It is a handy reference.
Contributed by Michelle Ferey
Note: This is exactly how I started my first price book, all those years ago, and how I created my monthly shopping lists. In an old notebook I listed everything I bought over a month - all groceries, meat, fruit and veg, pharmacy items, even stamps and newspapers and magazines. Then I ruled up a page with columns: Item, Quantity, Brand, Size, Price Last Month, Price This Month, Total. I still use this method to write a shopping list and track specials. Cath
Pay it Forward
Look on Facebook to see if you have a local pay it forward group. I originally joined my local group as I had a number of items that were too good to throw out. The feeling of giving to people is addictive, which helps with my decluttering and I have managed to pick up some amazing things that have been on my wish list, including a 6 person outdoor table and chairs set that my family love. The savings just from the outdoor setting would be $150 and that is assuming I bought one second-hand. I continually list items that we no longer need and keep an eye out for items I do need while saving my money, the environment and meeting some lovely people in the process.
Contributed by Kathleen Hurley
There are currently more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Share Your Tips
The Cheapskate's Club website is over 3,000 pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. 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. We publish a Winning Tip each Thursday, so enter your great money, time or energy saving idea now.
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!
Submit your tip
4. No Spending Month Wk 1
This is the seventeenth year we have had an official No Spending month, complete with guidelines and tools to help you survive a whole month of no spending (the very first Cheapskates Club No Spending Month was February 2002!).
By taking a break from spending, especially at the beginning of the year, right after the Christmas and back-to-school expenses you are setting yourself up with good spending habits for the rest of the year.
It takes 21 repetitions to develop a habit, so buy not spending for 28 days you have not only developed the habit but reinforced it too!
Of course, you'll need to spend some money during February. It would be unrealistic to expect you to not spend a cent. But the difference is you'll only be spending money you've budgeted for. Every cent you spend will be allocated in your Spending Plan, so you know exactly where it is to go.
What you won't be doing is spending without a purpose, or blind spending. You know the spending on the magazine while you stand at the checkout or the marked down donuts the kids asked for. You won't be spending on eating out because you have a meal plan in place so dinner every night is taken care of. You won't be buying new clothes because you have a wardrobe full of perfectly good clothes. What you will be doing is taking a couple of hours to go through that wardrobe and rediscover all the wonderful outfits you have. You'll be sewing on that missing button and fixing that hem, so you can wear that skirt.
You won't be going to the movies because you'll be borrowing DVDs from the library. And magazines - nope! You'll be reading them at the library and borrowing books by your favourite author. Instead of the local play centre you'll invite your Mums'n'Bubs group to the local park for a morning in the fresh air, and you'll take your thermos of coffee and a snack from home, so you won't need to stop at the bakery on the way.
You will be saving a lot of money. You may be shocked at just how much you have left at the end of the month simply from not spending.
The rules are simple:
In line with our spending freeze you can spend money on essential items such as:
• Rent/mortgage
• Utilities: gas, electricity, phone, water if the bill is due during the month (but look for ways to lower these bills during the month so the next bill is cheaper)
• Food: shop at home first. Check your pantry, fridge and freezer and menu plan with what you have. You may find, like me, that you really don't need to go grocery shopping this month.
• Medical/pharmacy: don't scrimp on your health – the future cost would be far too great
• Petrol and transport: unless you can walk everywhere you'll need your car. But try to limit how far you go and how often you use it. Carpool if you can, share the school run with another mother, make one trip and do all your errands. Ditto for bus, train and tram. If you have a bike now might be a good time to start riding to work or school.
• Other regular monthly bills you have
You can't spend money on:
• magazines
• takeaway meals
• movies
• new clothes
Wool, fabric, craft supplies, hobby supplies
• toys
• DVDs and CDs
or anything else that isn't essential to living for 28 days.
Here are some tips that will make your spending freeze easier:
Register
Register on the Spending Freeze forum and tell us how much you are hoping to not spend. Then keep us up to date with your progress. This is important, we all want to know how well you are doing and if you post regularly you'll be able to see how we are getting on too.
Have a Plan
Planning is the key to surviving and thriving during a spending freeze. Planning your day ensures you cover everything you need to get through: lunches, drinks, having enough petrol in the car. It also gives you time to prepare for those irregular things such as birthday parties and allow you to plan the spending. Planning what you are going to have for dinner the night before removes the takeaway temptation that comes with not having a plan. Planning and knowing what's happening will let you prepare ahead of time and find no spend alternatives to those "spend, spend, spend" situations.
Stop Spending
Seriously, stop spending money - no more clothes, magazines, toys, makeup, computer bits and bobs, shoes etc. For four weeks use your money to pay the essential living expenses (mortgage/rent, utilities, food - bare bones basics, fares/petrol) and see just how much is left over at the end of the month. Then use 50% of that money to pay down debt and 50% to increase (or start) your emergency fund. You must bank the leftover money – remember, it is not saved until it is safely in the bank. Until then it is just not spent.
Track Your Spending
If you track your spending already, fantastic. Pat yourself on the back. If you don't, start today. Get a notebook (any notebook or piece of paper will do) and write down every cent you spend. Write down what you bought, how much it cost and how you paid for it i.e. cash, credit card, direct debit. Do this for at least the first week, preferably the whole 28 days, so you can see exactly what you are spending your money on.
Throughout the month I will be posting tools and guides in the Spending Freeze forum so remember to check in regularly to update your Challenge and see what's new.
Good luck with your spending freeze and I can't wait to hear how well you do.
5. On the Menu
Mock Fish
This recipe is a hand-me-down from my Mum, so quantities are approximate, or as Mum says, “by feel”.
To 1 cup of cooked macaroni add 1 cup of milk, grated cheese to taste, a knob of butter, onion salt to taste and bring to the boil. Thicken with plain flour. Mix to a stiff dough. Add chopped hard-boiled egg and parsley to taste. Mix well (you may have to use your hand). Press into a greased lamington tin and set in fridge overnight. Cut into fingers, squares or triangles, dip in egg and breadcrumbs and fry or bake until golden brown.
Delicious hot or cold.
We have Mock Fish as fish fingers, with salad. They're also delicious cold as a snack or finger food too.
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Lamb
Monday: Chicken fried rice, homemade spring rolls
Tuesday: Pasta bake
Wednesday: Mock fish, wedges, salad
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: BBQ sausages, salad
Saturday: Stuffed chicken legs & salad
In the fruit bowl: bananas, grapes
In the cake tin: Orange cake, Raspberry Coconut Slice
There are over 1,600 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy
From the Archives: Why Do We Overspend?
Hello frugal Cheapskaters and welcome to the food challenge.
Thank you to those who were brave enough to sign up for another year of saving lots of money with the food budget. If you haven't already put your name down, it's never too late. Please feel free to add your name to the post titled “2016 Food Challenge Begins ".
Thank you also to those who answered the questions about new topics to cover. This has been really helpful for me. After writing about this topic for over 5 years, I sometimes get writers block and no topic comes to mind. Please keep the ideas coming. They are greatly appreciated.
To begin our food challenge journey, I thought we'd talk about why we overspend in this area of our budget ( if you do ). We all need to eat, don't we? Putting food on the table is very important to feed our bodies, our souls and our minds. When everyone is fed, life just seems brighter.
Sometimes we can go too far with the ' need to feed " and before you know it the grocery budget is out of control. Reigning it back in can be a real challenge if you don't know why your overspending in the first place. Here are some reasons why it's easy to overspend -
*Won't buy generic brands.
*Just have to try the " new in store " grocery products.
*Shop on an empty stomach.
*Shop with husband / wife and or kids in tow.
*Buy too many of the one product then don't use.
*Buy take away instead of eating the food in the fridge / pantry / freezer.
*Feed family and friends who drop in for a free meal.
*Cook too much food that spoils in the back of the fridge.
*Cook recipes with expensive ingredients.
*Serving too much food on the plates.
*Serving two or three courses every night.
*Constant mindless snacking.
*Fussy eaters.
*Disorganised pantry / fridge / freezer.
*No shopping list/
*No menu plan.
*Buy convenience foods.
*Feel the need to serve a five star meal.
*Won't ask family and friends to bring a plate to help.
*Having meat with every main meal.
*Having meat for lunch AND dinner.
*Not shopping at home first.
*Not keeping track of expiry dates.
*Not having a budget at all.
*Giving in to the family's wants.
I'm sure there are a few more reasons but here is a good sized list to think over. Do any of these describe your spending and food shopping habits? I'm going to ask you to take a leap of faith, to step outside your comfort zone and identify the reason/s you overspend or feel you can't reach your food budget goal.
I'm quite prepared to lead the charge and name my problem areas.
*I sometimes spend more than I've planned when a family member asks for a different item to be bought.
*On rare occasions I've shopped with a family member and extra items get put into the trolley.
*Buying too many of a bargain special then not quite using it all up.
Who's prepared to reveal all (grocery wise)? Why do you spend more than you plan?
Have a great week and BE ENCOURAGED!!!!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
7. Cheapskates Buzz
Most popular forum posts this week
How Old are You and Your Cheapskate Experience
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?3244-How-old-are-you-and-your-cheapskate-experience
My Retirement Garden
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2581-My-Retirement-Garden
Decluttering Tally Game 2018
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?3692-Decluttering-Tally-Game-2018
Most popular blog posts this week
This is Your Year
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2009/01/this-is-your-year.html
Loathsome Firebugs
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2009/01/loathsome-firebugs.html
Staying Cool and Doing Chores
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2009/01/staying-cool-and-doing-chores.html
8. Members Featured Blog
Platinum Cheapskates Club members have their very own Cheapskating blogs, and they are wonderful and inspirational and encouraging and even funny. This week's featured blog is written by mumto5.
Doin' the Time Warp!
Hi folks,
It's been a 40+ degree day here, so I'm trying to be productive while hiding inside! Catching up on my Savings Revolution lessons seems a good use of my time.
And that leads me to...the time budget! I always find this super challenging. I love knowing what's on my agenda on any given day but having a few special needs kids means I also do a fair bit of "seat of your pants" living as well! Have to admit, now that they're getting older there is less of the chaos of their younger years, where it often felt like our days were spent lurching from one upheaval to the next!
No idea why I find assigning a chunk of time to the tasks I do day in, day out so challenging! I guess it's just something I've never really given much thought to, you just get it done.
I do write a daily "to do list" and tick things off as I go (and jot down new things as they crop up!). I admit to being a bit of a list maker...lists of reno's I'd like to get done one day, lists of gardening tasks, lists of jobs to be done around the house...and on it goes! But I have no idea how much time I spend on various tasks on any given day!
But that's what these lessons are about, right? Looking at everyday habits with new eyes? So, after a bit of thought I've come up with a rough idea of how I spend my time, and the things that are a must do/non-negotiable part of my day. And it is really interesting! And frankly, I should have a bit more time up my sleeve judging by the numbers I've come up with!
Task for this week.... I’m going to try and keep track of what I'm actually doing and how long I actually spend doing it!! And who knows, a bit of focus on this might even help with my tendency to get distracted (...hey look! A squirrel!!)
I hope everyone is having a win this week on their Cheapskates journey.
Login to read more Cheapskates Club Member blogs
9. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Rosemarie who wrote
"In the light of there being no real meat in pet food, has anyone made their own? As my cats dislike most brands, I am happy to buy their biscuits, but want something better for their main meals."
Ann Streeter answered
We no longer have any pets however for many years we had two cats. When visiting the vet for their regular injection the discussion came around to what they ate, and he recommended that we feed the cats raw meat as they are carnivores and suggested raw kangaroo meat from the pet food section in the supermarket. We switched over to the roo meat and the cats loved it, it was cheaper than canned food and their health improved. We still gave them cat biscuits to graze on during the day, along with fresh water but at night fed them the raw meat or any scraps of raw fish when we had fish (which was often in our house). After a couple of weeks, we noticed that we weren’t getting those little presents left on the door mat e.g. dead mice, lizards, or thankfully birds, as our cats were being well nourished with the roo meat. Win, win on all counts.
Jules Buxton answered
Homemade dinner for kitty
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/3 cup raw brown rice
2 tsp vegetable oil
2/3 cup ground turkey* or chicken
2 tbsp chopped liver (lambs fry)
Method:
Bring the water to the boil in a medium sized saucepan. Stir in the rice and oil and reduce the heat. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add the ground turkey and chopped liver and continue to cook for another 20 minutes. Cool before dishing up to your cat.
*Turkey is becoming more and more readily available in most supermarkets. Look for the purple trays in the poultry/meat cabinet. Also ask at the deli counter for any scraps, sometimes they will sell them in bags for around $2 each.
Jane Trainer answered
I recently took an animal nutrition class as part of my university studies and it taught me a lot about the importance of knowing what to look for when assessing foods for your animals. With cats, they naturally eat a very high protein diet of live prey, which contains all the nutrients and vitamins they need. When you keep a predator as a pet, it is important that the food you feed it is as high in protein as possible. When you buy your cat food, look for the nutritional table, it will be very small and likely hidden, but it is a legal requirement and must be on the packaging. You should feed your cat the highest crude protein content percentage you can and avoid any food with a high carbohydrate, fat or salt content. Supermarket cat foods will have a crude protein content of somewhere between 10% (inadequately low) to around 36-38% (ideal, cats require 30% protein, for contrast, dogs only require 18-20%). Check the crude protein content of the expensive food at your vet, you may very well find it is the same, or lower, than something you can find in the supermarket aisle.
Cats can go blind if they do not eat a diet rich in taurine, which is an amino acid that is essential for their eyesight, they get taurine from eating raw meat. Your cat's diet should include small portions of raw meat that is enriched with taurine to meet this need, most kangaroo minces for cats note on the packaging that they contain taurine. Ensure you get meat specifically for cats, as meat for dogs does not contain taurine.
Steer clear of anything containing carbohydrates, which is grains. Predators need protein, not carbohydrates, it's a form of nutrient that their digestive system cannot absorb so it just goes in one end and out the other and wastes your money.
Kate Crawford answered
I get 1 kilo kangaroo mince and 1 kilo whatever other mince is on special. I crush 6 human calcium tablets, and 1 multi b vitamin. You need to add the vitamins as cats in the wild would receive them from eating the organs and bones of small creatures...which obviously are not available in minced meat.
You can bulk this out with a mashed sweet potato that's been cooled, and some frozen peas and corn. This feeds three cats for a fortnight and costs less than buying tinned food. I freeze it in three-day batches, that way picky eaters can't complain it's not fresh. If you want to worm them at the same time put 2 teaspoons of dichotomous earth in one of the three-day freezer packs, each month.
They all have terrific shiny coats and as long as you get preservative free kangaroo, even the picky eaters don't turn their noses up at it.
10. Ask Cath
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 10 cents a day 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!
12. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. Members can update their email address or any other details by clicking on "Edit Profile" directly under their membership number after they have logged in to the Member's Centre. Subscribers to our free newsletter can use the Change Your Address form (under Customer Service in the menu) and fill it out. Once you've filled it in click the send button and we'll do the rest. Please remember to include your old email address so we can find it in the list as well as the new one.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
When you login to the Member's Centre you will be told how many days of membership you have left once you have 30 days left. Just click on the link to renew and your membership will just continue on, uninterrupted.
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 You Get on Our List?
You signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member
13. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
Contact Us