Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter 08:23
In This Newsletter
1. Cath's Corner
2. From the Tip Store - Re-Using Your Master Shopping List; A Handy Picture of Your Shopping List; Groceries....Invest Your Time, Not Your Money
3. Share Your Tips
4. Join The Cheapskates Club
5. On the Menu - Honey Mustard Chicken
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Paper Towels & Plastic Bags
7. The Weekly MOO Challenge - MOO Fish Paste
8. Cheapskates Buzz
9. The Cheapskates Club Show
10. Handmade Christmas - Week 8
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,
Firstly, welcome to our new members, we are thrilled to have you join us in our journey to debt free, cashed up living.
Folks I need my head examined! Or I need to stop coming up with *bright* ideas, because sometimes they're just doozies.
I moved into my craft room last year. I was so excited, and it's been amazing, having a space dedicated to sewing, knitting, crochet, card making and yes, making videos. I love my space. But a few weeks ago I started looking around our home and thinking about where things are and how they work.
And I had a bright idea! I had to think about it for a few days, and then I mentioned it and let it ferment with my family for a few days. Then I mentioned it again and now my idea is taking shape and things are changing!
And there will be no cost to these changes - woo hoo! There will be lots of hard labour though, and this crazy weather we are having with blazing hot weekends when everyone is home to help with the work is slowing it down, but stay tuned, because I'll show you my bright idea in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, stay cool and hydrated and keep on Cheapskating.
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
Re-Using Your Master Shopping List
I use a master shopping list. I have also heard that printing ink is the most expensive liquid in the world (per litre). So, to save on printing costs I mark items I need in pencil on the shopping list. After shopping I simply erase the items I bought and reuse the same list next time. It saves printing 4 to 5 pages every time. I only print a new list if there are a lot of amendments. I’m not sure how much it saves but I don’t need to buy expensive printer cartridges very often.
Contributed by Edel
A Handy Picture of Your Shopping List
During the week I make a shopping list on my whiteboard that's in my kitchen. When about to leave I take a photo of this on my phone and whilst out refer to my list. It really works...forget searching for paper and pen only to leave it at home guessing what else was on that list.
Contributed by Helen
Groceries....Invest Your Time, Not Your Money
This is a tip probably most useful to newbie Cheapskaters. I find this the best way to budget for, and stick to spending a certain amount when shopping for the family groceries. Start with a menu plan (of course). Then I use an excel spreadsheet to list all the items I will need based on that menu plan. Have one column for each of the different options of store, i.e. one column for Woolies, one for Coles and one for Aldi. I complete the shopping list by taking advantage of Woolies and Coles online shopping (although I do not actually shop online) as their website allows you to get an accurate price for each item. Once armed with this info you can easily identify where to shop for different items. And by having the list in hand, when in store you can make sure you are getting the best deal and most importantly know that when you get to the checkout that the total amount will not be a shock. It's definitely working for me and although it takes that bit longer to prepare to shop I think it is definitely worth it in the end. And from week to week it gets easier to prepare the list as you do quickly learn which items do not really change in price (milk etc.).
Contributed by Jenni
There are more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
Add a Tip
3. Share Your Tips
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.
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
4. Join The Cheapskates Club
The Tip Sheet LibraryThis week in Join The Cheapskates Club, I thought I'd focus on the Tip Sheet library and all it contains. There's a lot of great money, time and energy saving information on this page, ready and waiting for all active Cheapskates Club members.
Firstly though, you'll need to be logged in to access the Tip Sheet page. If you're not logged in, you won't be able to view the page or download any of the tip sheets or ebooks or tools. So before you do anything else, make sure you're logged into the Member's Centre.
There is a huge library of tip sheets, ebooks, how tos and tools available to active Cheapskates Club members, and it is added to on a regular basis.
Right now there are 164 tip sheets, in 12 categories that you can download. All downloads are in .pdf, A4 size and ready for you to print. That's a long list, so I'll just list the categories - you'll need to login to see the index of Tip Sheets.
Tip Sheet Categories:
Babies & Children
Christmas
Cleaning
Cooking
Gardening
Health & Beauty
Home & Family
Money Matters
Pets
Shopping
Special Occasions
Travel & Holidays
There are also 15 ebooks covering a range of topics from preserving to cleaning to bare bones shopping.
EBOOKS
$2 Dinners - Budget Recipes from the Cheapskates Club Recipe File
31 Days Of MOO
52 Ways to Slash Your Petrol Costs
A Cheapskate's Castle
Bare Bones Groceries
Cheapskates Journal's Guide to Setting Up and Using a Price Book
Cleaning with the Super Six
Everybody's Gotta Eat Eggs
How I Saved $39,856 Just By Asking For A Deal...
Living Green in 2014
Make Our Own.....Mixes
Super Shopper
Super Saver Outlets
The Fruits of Your Labour - A Guide to Bottling and Freezing Food for Your Family
The How To section has 32 how to instruction sheets you can download. They all have step-by-step instructions showing you how to……well do whatever how to you've opened!
HOW TO.....
Create Your Pricebook
How to Blanch Vegetables for Freezing
How to Make Bath Bombs
How to Make Brown Sugar
How to Make Instant Pudding Mix
How to Make Miracle Spray
How to Make Peanut Butter
How to Make Pineapple Vinegar
How to Make Shoe Bags
How to Make Re-usable Veggie Bags
How to Cover School Books
How to Make a Towel Topper
How to Cook Perfect Scrambled Eggs
How to Make Fruit Leathers
How to Make a Groovy Library Bag
How to Make Homemade Egg Substitute
How to Make Homemade Ice Magic
How to Make Homemade Shake'n'Bake
How to Make Liquid Handwash
How to Make a Really Good Chicken Stock
How to Host a Clothing Swapmeet
How to Make Chocolate Spoons
How to Make a Cake in a Cup
How to Cut Up a Chicken
How to Make a Pullover Baby Bib
How to Make Vanilla Extract
How to Polish Shoes
How to Make Seasoned Breadcrumbs
How to Sterilise Jars for Preserving
How to Make a Christmas Tree from a Magazine
How to Make Waterless Hand Sanitizer
How to Turn Old Jeans into a Funky Backpack
To help you live the Cheapskates way, we have tools and guides you can just print and use. Easy. There are 19 different tools you can use to help you save money, time and energy.
TOOLS & GUIDES
Bill Paying System
Card Log
Freezer Inventory
Freezer Label Template
Fridge Inventory
Freezer Inventory
Grocery Tracking Spreadsheet
How Much Does It Cost Pocket Calculator
Keeping Them Fresh
Kids Saving Goal Record
Pantry Inventory
Pricebook Sheet A4
Pricebook Sheet A5
Savings Goal Record
Simple Monthly Spending Plan
Slash Expenses Worksheet
Stockpile Inventory
Wants v Needs List
What's for Dinner? Meal Planner
Then there are the Cheapskater creations. These handy guides have been created by Cheapskaters and shared for everyone to use. Want to buy a car? Check out Corinna's buying guide. Want a shopping list template - we have two Cheapskater creations for you to choose from. Then there's the Joyco Hamper and Nicole's Christmas Gift Budget Tracker. Just login and download one or all of them!
CHEAPSKATER CREATIONS
Catherine's Menu Planner & Shopping List
Joyofquilting's Joyco Hamper
Laurie's Shopping List
Nicole's Christmas Gift Budget Tracker
Corinna's Car Buying Checklist
Lastly, Saving Stories. These are real life stories from real Cheapskaters just like you. They've shared the ups and downs and failures and successes of living the Cheapskates way and they are inspiring. If you haven't read any of the Saving Stories yet, or you've forgotten them, I recommend making a cuppa and sitting down for some inspiring and encouraging stories, from real people, who have really lived their stories.
SAVING STORIES
Even Living in Remote Australia, I Can Still Save
How to Save $10,000 in 45 Weeks
Mindy's Story
My Successful Start to Cheapskating
Oh How Happy I Am
Pre-paying Bills Keeps a Tight Budget Under Control
Saving For Something Special
Singles Can Pay Down Debt - My Third Saving Story
Singles Can Pay Down Debt and Save
Singles Can Pay Down Debt and Save Part 2
The Cheapskates Way Pays Off
The Envelope System Really Works
We're All in This Together
There's a lot of great information, fantastic tips and useful hints in the Tip Store library, and it's included with your Cheapskates Club membership.
Not a member yet? What are you waiting for - click here to join now and start using the Tip Sheet library.
1. Cath's Corner
2. From the Tip Store - Re-Using Your Master Shopping List; A Handy Picture of Your Shopping List; Groceries....Invest Your Time, Not Your Money
3. Share Your Tips
4. Join The Cheapskates Club
5. On the Menu - Honey Mustard Chicken
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Paper Towels & Plastic Bags
7. The Weekly MOO Challenge - MOO Fish Paste
8. Cheapskates Buzz
9. The Cheapskates Club Show
10. Handmade Christmas - Week 8
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,
Firstly, welcome to our new members, we are thrilled to have you join us in our journey to debt free, cashed up living.
Folks I need my head examined! Or I need to stop coming up with *bright* ideas, because sometimes they're just doozies.
I moved into my craft room last year. I was so excited, and it's been amazing, having a space dedicated to sewing, knitting, crochet, card making and yes, making videos. I love my space. But a few weeks ago I started looking around our home and thinking about where things are and how they work.
And I had a bright idea! I had to think about it for a few days, and then I mentioned it and let it ferment with my family for a few days. Then I mentioned it again and now my idea is taking shape and things are changing!
And there will be no cost to these changes - woo hoo! There will be lots of hard labour though, and this crazy weather we are having with blazing hot weekends when everyone is home to help with the work is slowing it down, but stay tuned, because I'll show you my bright idea in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, stay cool and hydrated and keep on Cheapskating.
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
Re-Using Your Master Shopping List
I use a master shopping list. I have also heard that printing ink is the most expensive liquid in the world (per litre). So, to save on printing costs I mark items I need in pencil on the shopping list. After shopping I simply erase the items I bought and reuse the same list next time. It saves printing 4 to 5 pages every time. I only print a new list if there are a lot of amendments. I’m not sure how much it saves but I don’t need to buy expensive printer cartridges very often.
Contributed by Edel
A Handy Picture of Your Shopping List
During the week I make a shopping list on my whiteboard that's in my kitchen. When about to leave I take a photo of this on my phone and whilst out refer to my list. It really works...forget searching for paper and pen only to leave it at home guessing what else was on that list.
Contributed by Helen
Groceries....Invest Your Time, Not Your Money
This is a tip probably most useful to newbie Cheapskaters. I find this the best way to budget for, and stick to spending a certain amount when shopping for the family groceries. Start with a menu plan (of course). Then I use an excel spreadsheet to list all the items I will need based on that menu plan. Have one column for each of the different options of store, i.e. one column for Woolies, one for Coles and one for Aldi. I complete the shopping list by taking advantage of Woolies and Coles online shopping (although I do not actually shop online) as their website allows you to get an accurate price for each item. Once armed with this info you can easily identify where to shop for different items. And by having the list in hand, when in store you can make sure you are getting the best deal and most importantly know that when you get to the checkout that the total amount will not be a shock. It's definitely working for me and although it takes that bit longer to prepare to shop I think it is definitely worth it in the end. And from week to week it gets easier to prepare the list as you do quickly learn which items do not really change in price (milk etc.).
Contributed by Jenni
There are more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
Add a Tip
3. Share Your Tips
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.
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
4. Join The Cheapskates Club
The Tip Sheet LibraryThis week in Join The Cheapskates Club, I thought I'd focus on the Tip Sheet library and all it contains. There's a lot of great money, time and energy saving information on this page, ready and waiting for all active Cheapskates Club members.
Firstly though, you'll need to be logged in to access the Tip Sheet page. If you're not logged in, you won't be able to view the page or download any of the tip sheets or ebooks or tools. So before you do anything else, make sure you're logged into the Member's Centre.
There is a huge library of tip sheets, ebooks, how tos and tools available to active Cheapskates Club members, and it is added to on a regular basis.
Right now there are 164 tip sheets, in 12 categories that you can download. All downloads are in .pdf, A4 size and ready for you to print. That's a long list, so I'll just list the categories - you'll need to login to see the index of Tip Sheets.
Tip Sheet Categories:
Babies & Children
Christmas
Cleaning
Cooking
Gardening
Health & Beauty
Home & Family
Money Matters
Pets
Shopping
Special Occasions
Travel & Holidays
There are also 15 ebooks covering a range of topics from preserving to cleaning to bare bones shopping.
EBOOKS
$2 Dinners - Budget Recipes from the Cheapskates Club Recipe File
31 Days Of MOO
52 Ways to Slash Your Petrol Costs
A Cheapskate's Castle
Bare Bones Groceries
Cheapskates Journal's Guide to Setting Up and Using a Price Book
Cleaning with the Super Six
Everybody's Gotta Eat Eggs
How I Saved $39,856 Just By Asking For A Deal...
Living Green in 2014
Make Our Own.....Mixes
Super Shopper
Super Saver Outlets
The Fruits of Your Labour - A Guide to Bottling and Freezing Food for Your Family
The How To section has 32 how to instruction sheets you can download. They all have step-by-step instructions showing you how to……well do whatever how to you've opened!
HOW TO.....
Create Your Pricebook
How to Blanch Vegetables for Freezing
How to Make Bath Bombs
How to Make Brown Sugar
How to Make Instant Pudding Mix
How to Make Miracle Spray
How to Make Peanut Butter
How to Make Pineapple Vinegar
How to Make Shoe Bags
How to Make Re-usable Veggie Bags
How to Cover School Books
How to Make a Towel Topper
How to Cook Perfect Scrambled Eggs
How to Make Fruit Leathers
How to Make a Groovy Library Bag
How to Make Homemade Egg Substitute
How to Make Homemade Ice Magic
How to Make Homemade Shake'n'Bake
How to Make Liquid Handwash
How to Make a Really Good Chicken Stock
How to Host a Clothing Swapmeet
How to Make Chocolate Spoons
How to Make a Cake in a Cup
How to Cut Up a Chicken
How to Make a Pullover Baby Bib
How to Make Vanilla Extract
How to Polish Shoes
How to Make Seasoned Breadcrumbs
How to Sterilise Jars for Preserving
How to Make a Christmas Tree from a Magazine
How to Make Waterless Hand Sanitizer
How to Turn Old Jeans into a Funky Backpack
To help you live the Cheapskates way, we have tools and guides you can just print and use. Easy. There are 19 different tools you can use to help you save money, time and energy.
TOOLS & GUIDES
Bill Paying System
Card Log
Freezer Inventory
Freezer Label Template
Fridge Inventory
Freezer Inventory
Grocery Tracking Spreadsheet
How Much Does It Cost Pocket Calculator
Keeping Them Fresh
Kids Saving Goal Record
Pantry Inventory
Pricebook Sheet A4
Pricebook Sheet A5
Savings Goal Record
Simple Monthly Spending Plan
Slash Expenses Worksheet
Stockpile Inventory
Wants v Needs List
What's for Dinner? Meal Planner
Then there are the Cheapskater creations. These handy guides have been created by Cheapskaters and shared for everyone to use. Want to buy a car? Check out Corinna's buying guide. Want a shopping list template - we have two Cheapskater creations for you to choose from. Then there's the Joyco Hamper and Nicole's Christmas Gift Budget Tracker. Just login and download one or all of them!
CHEAPSKATER CREATIONS
Catherine's Menu Planner & Shopping List
Joyofquilting's Joyco Hamper
Laurie's Shopping List
Nicole's Christmas Gift Budget Tracker
Corinna's Car Buying Checklist
Lastly, Saving Stories. These are real life stories from real Cheapskaters just like you. They've shared the ups and downs and failures and successes of living the Cheapskates way and they are inspiring. If you haven't read any of the Saving Stories yet, or you've forgotten them, I recommend making a cuppa and sitting down for some inspiring and encouraging stories, from real people, who have really lived their stories.
SAVING STORIES
Even Living in Remote Australia, I Can Still Save
How to Save $10,000 in 45 Weeks
Mindy's Story
My Successful Start to Cheapskating
Oh How Happy I Am
Pre-paying Bills Keeps a Tight Budget Under Control
Saving For Something Special
Singles Can Pay Down Debt - My Third Saving Story
Singles Can Pay Down Debt and Save
Singles Can Pay Down Debt and Save Part 2
The Cheapskates Way Pays Off
The Envelope System Really Works
We're All in This Together
There's a lot of great information, fantastic tips and useful hints in the Tip Store library, and it's included with your Cheapskates Club membership.
Not a member yet? What are you waiting for - click here to join now and start using the Tip Sheet library.
5. On The Menu
Honey Mustard Chicken
For a long time, most of us probably used a jar of honey mustard sauce and thought it was delicious.
And then thankfully our cooking skills increased and our tastes matured and we discovered MOO honey mustard chicken and have never bought a jar of the sauce since.
If you haven't tried to MOO honey mustard sauce yet, try this recipe. It's simple, quick, easy, tasty and cheap.
Honey Mustard Chicken
Ingredients:
500g chicken fillets, diced (thigh or breast, skin off)
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
1/4 cup cream (or evaporated milk)
Method:
Brown chicken in a non-stick frypan. Combine honey, mustard and cream. Pour over chicken pieces. If the sauce is too thick, add a little chicken stock or cream to thin it. Simmer for 10 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
Cost:
Jar of Honey Mustard Simmer Sauce $4.50
MOO Honey Mustard Simmer Sauce $1.50
Saving to MOO: $3
Next week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: BBQ Meatloaf, salad
Tuesday: Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Fettucine, salad
Wednesday: Honey Mustard Chicken, mash, veggies
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Crispy Potato Cakes, salad
Saturday: Sausage sandwiches
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
Paper Towels and Plastic Bags
Do you have these things in your kitchen?
It's pretty hard to not have some type of paper towel or plastic bags, or clingwrap, in the kitchen. But do you spend a lot of money on them? Are they taking up a big chunk of your monthly grocery bill?
I don't use paper towel. A couple of years ago my friend Wendy gave me a packet of three rolls of paper towel for Christmas, it was before the pandemic, and I still have 1 full roll and about half another left.
Instead of paper towel I use clean dishcloths or cheesecloths or linen tea towels for draining food and mopping up spills. They go into the wash, get line dried and put back into rotation. I have made a set of unpaper towels for really messy clean-ups.
But plastic bags and clingwrap are different. I use the vacuum sealer so there are always plastic bags for that purpose. But when I make a new bag, I make it a little bigger so I can get more than one use out of it. And I stocked up last week when the vacuum sealer rolls were on special buy at Aldi (and yes, I know it's No Spending month).
I haven't bought plastic bags for ages, probably three years. I stocked up on a couple of boxes of ziplock bags from Ikea - they're nice and strong, cheap and reusable, and they're still going strong.
If you find that paper towel and plastic bags are always in your trolley, perhaps look for alternatives.
Before you reach for the clingwrap to store something in the fridge, use a plate or bowl to cover another plate, or a bread and butter plate to cover a bowl instead of clingwrap.
And plates, bowls and even mugs can be used to cover things in the microwave so they don't splatter everywhere. No risk of the plastic not being microwave safe and clean up is easy, just rinse, dry and put it away. And the microwave stays clean!
Save your bread bags - they can be used to cover things in the fridge or to package things for the freezer and yes, they're food safe - they had your bread in them. Just don't put them in the microwave. Bread bags also make great garbage bags too.
Get all that Tupperware and Lock'n'Lock and Décor out and match it up with lids and start using it to store leftovers in the fridge and freezer. No point having it if it's just going to sit in a drawer!
And it you do use plastic bags, wash them, dry them and reuse them until they fall apart! If you were to peek at our clothesline, most days you'd see at least one plastic or ziplock bag hanging to dry. If you don't have a clothesline, turn them inside out and pop them over a bottle or tall glass on the sink and let them dry that way.
We use lunchboxes for lunches. I know, it's commonsense. Sandwiches, rolls and wraps just go into the lunchbox, they're not wrapped. If I'm packing a salad, it goes into a sealed container that comes home to be washed and reused. You can use beewax wraps for sandwiches, but I'll fess up and say I haven't gone that route - the lunchboxes work just fine so far.
I've had to really think about this because I don't buy paper towel at all and rarely buy plastic bags or clingwrap, so if you have any other paper towel and/or plastic bag alternatives, please share them because they're not cheap, and they can use a good chunk of grocery budget if you're not careful.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge Forum
The Post that Started it All
7. The Weekly MOO Challenge
When I was a little girl, my mother would have fish paste on toast for her breakfast, or sometimes for supper. She'd butter the toast while it was hot, then spread on the fish paste, cut the toast into triangles and enjoy it. When I was a child, I didn't like fish paste at all.
Then I was introduced to it again, as an adult, and oh boy was it good. Of course the one I liked was homemade, and it tasted nothing like I remembered the fish paste in the jar. Being me, I asked for the recipe and have been making it ever since.
Fish Paste
Ingredients:
180g tin tuna in spring water, drained
2 eggs
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Method:
Drain tuna and flake with a fork (should be fine flakes). Beat eggs, add tuna and pepper and mix well. In a small saucepan melt the butter and vinegar until boiling. Add the tuna mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until eggs are cooked, about 3 - 4 minutes. Store in a clean jam jar in the fridge. This keeps for about two weeks in the fridge, if you can resist it that long!
Cost:
MOO recipe using tuna: $3.15 for 300g or $1.05 per 100g
Bought fish paste: $2.50 for 50g or $5 per 100gHeadline Text
Design best-practices suggest a large font size for easy readability both on desktop and mobile devices.
Get in on the fun and discussions here.
8. Cheapskates Buzz
From The Article Archive
How to Make Pancakes
Cooking for One or Two
Baking for the Weekend
This Week's Hot Forum Topics
Fill Up The Bin
Money Smart
2023 $300 a Month Food Challenge
Latest Tips
RinseAid in the Bathroom
For Inexpensive Dishwashing
9. The Cheapskates Club Show
Join Cath and Hannah live Tuesdays and Thursdays on You Tube at 7.30pm AET
Latest Shows
Honey Mustard Chicken
For a long time, most of us probably used a jar of honey mustard sauce and thought it was delicious.
And then thankfully our cooking skills increased and our tastes matured and we discovered MOO honey mustard chicken and have never bought a jar of the sauce since.
If you haven't tried to MOO honey mustard sauce yet, try this recipe. It's simple, quick, easy, tasty and cheap.
Honey Mustard Chicken
Ingredients:
500g chicken fillets, diced (thigh or breast, skin off)
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
1/4 cup cream (or evaporated milk)
Method:
Brown chicken in a non-stick frypan. Combine honey, mustard and cream. Pour over chicken pieces. If the sauce is too thick, add a little chicken stock or cream to thin it. Simmer for 10 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
Cost:
Jar of Honey Mustard Simmer Sauce $4.50
MOO Honey Mustard Simmer Sauce $1.50
Saving to MOO: $3
Next week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: BBQ Meatloaf, salad
Tuesday: Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Fettucine, salad
Wednesday: Honey Mustard Chicken, mash, veggies
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Crispy Potato Cakes, salad
Saturday: Sausage sandwiches
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
Paper Towels and Plastic Bags
Do you have these things in your kitchen?
It's pretty hard to not have some type of paper towel or plastic bags, or clingwrap, in the kitchen. But do you spend a lot of money on them? Are they taking up a big chunk of your monthly grocery bill?
I don't use paper towel. A couple of years ago my friend Wendy gave me a packet of three rolls of paper towel for Christmas, it was before the pandemic, and I still have 1 full roll and about half another left.
Instead of paper towel I use clean dishcloths or cheesecloths or linen tea towels for draining food and mopping up spills. They go into the wash, get line dried and put back into rotation. I have made a set of unpaper towels for really messy clean-ups.
But plastic bags and clingwrap are different. I use the vacuum sealer so there are always plastic bags for that purpose. But when I make a new bag, I make it a little bigger so I can get more than one use out of it. And I stocked up last week when the vacuum sealer rolls were on special buy at Aldi (and yes, I know it's No Spending month).
I haven't bought plastic bags for ages, probably three years. I stocked up on a couple of boxes of ziplock bags from Ikea - they're nice and strong, cheap and reusable, and they're still going strong.
If you find that paper towel and plastic bags are always in your trolley, perhaps look for alternatives.
Before you reach for the clingwrap to store something in the fridge, use a plate or bowl to cover another plate, or a bread and butter plate to cover a bowl instead of clingwrap.
And plates, bowls and even mugs can be used to cover things in the microwave so they don't splatter everywhere. No risk of the plastic not being microwave safe and clean up is easy, just rinse, dry and put it away. And the microwave stays clean!
Save your bread bags - they can be used to cover things in the fridge or to package things for the freezer and yes, they're food safe - they had your bread in them. Just don't put them in the microwave. Bread bags also make great garbage bags too.
Get all that Tupperware and Lock'n'Lock and Décor out and match it up with lids and start using it to store leftovers in the fridge and freezer. No point having it if it's just going to sit in a drawer!
And it you do use plastic bags, wash them, dry them and reuse them until they fall apart! If you were to peek at our clothesline, most days you'd see at least one plastic or ziplock bag hanging to dry. If you don't have a clothesline, turn them inside out and pop them over a bottle or tall glass on the sink and let them dry that way.
We use lunchboxes for lunches. I know, it's commonsense. Sandwiches, rolls and wraps just go into the lunchbox, they're not wrapped. If I'm packing a salad, it goes into a sealed container that comes home to be washed and reused. You can use beewax wraps for sandwiches, but I'll fess up and say I haven't gone that route - the lunchboxes work just fine so far.
I've had to really think about this because I don't buy paper towel at all and rarely buy plastic bags or clingwrap, so if you have any other paper towel and/or plastic bag alternatives, please share them because they're not cheap, and they can use a good chunk of grocery budget if you're not careful.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge Forum
The Post that Started it All
7. The Weekly MOO Challenge
When I was a little girl, my mother would have fish paste on toast for her breakfast, or sometimes for supper. She'd butter the toast while it was hot, then spread on the fish paste, cut the toast into triangles and enjoy it. When I was a child, I didn't like fish paste at all.
Then I was introduced to it again, as an adult, and oh boy was it good. Of course the one I liked was homemade, and it tasted nothing like I remembered the fish paste in the jar. Being me, I asked for the recipe and have been making it ever since.
Fish Paste
Ingredients:
180g tin tuna in spring water, drained
2 eggs
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Method:
Drain tuna and flake with a fork (should be fine flakes). Beat eggs, add tuna and pepper and mix well. In a small saucepan melt the butter and vinegar until boiling. Add the tuna mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until eggs are cooked, about 3 - 4 minutes. Store in a clean jam jar in the fridge. This keeps for about two weeks in the fridge, if you can resist it that long!
Cost:
MOO recipe using tuna: $3.15 for 300g or $1.05 per 100g
Bought fish paste: $2.50 for 50g or $5 per 100gHeadline Text
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8. Cheapskates Buzz
From The Article Archive
How to Make Pancakes
Cooking for One or Two
Baking for the Weekend
This Week's Hot Forum Topics
Fill Up The Bin
Money Smart
2023 $300 a Month Food Challenge
Latest Tips
RinseAid in the Bathroom
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10. Handmade Christmas Challenge
Week 8
This week I've been working on putting together kitchen sets.
I like to give things in sets, all matched or co-ordinated and pretty - and useful! I love useful gifts. Dust collectors aren't my thing, and I don't often give dust collectors; I much prefer to give something that is pretty and luxurious and extravagant and useful - that fits within my gift giving budget.
Kitchen sets tick all those boxes.
They are useful. Who doesn't use tea towels, hand towels, dish cloths, pot holders and scrubbies? Or tablecloths, placemats and serviettes? Or bread bags? Or potato bags and onion bags?
So this week I've worked on edging tea towels.
I've worked on making hanging kitchen towels.
I've worked on dishcloths and matching scrubbies.
I've worked on pot holders to match everything.
And I'm really pleased with the end result. I've been saving boxes of all sizes since Christmas to decorate and use as gift boxes, a saving on packaging and gift wrap.
The sets look so pretty, and there are two gifts crossed off my list.
How are you going with your handmade Christmas (or birthday or any other gifts)?
Don't forget to check in for our Make It Monday show and tell over at Cheapskates Chatter, we'd love to see what you've made.
Handmade Christmas Central
The Handmade Christmas Forum
11. Join The Cheapskates Club
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How do I change my email address?
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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
10. Handmade Christmas Challenge
Week 8
This week I've been working on putting together kitchen sets.
I like to give things in sets, all matched or co-ordinated and pretty - and useful! I love useful gifts. Dust collectors aren't my thing, and I don't often give dust collectors; I much prefer to give something that is pretty and luxurious and extravagant and useful - that fits within my gift giving budget.
Kitchen sets tick all those boxes.
They are useful. Who doesn't use tea towels, hand towels, dish cloths, pot holders and scrubbies? Or tablecloths, placemats and serviettes? Or bread bags? Or potato bags and onion bags?
So this week I've worked on edging tea towels.
I've worked on making hanging kitchen towels.
I've worked on dishcloths and matching scrubbies.
I've worked on pot holders to match everything.
And I'm really pleased with the end result. I've been saving boxes of all sizes since Christmas to decorate and use as gift boxes, a saving on packaging and gift wrap.
The sets look so pretty, and there are two gifts crossed off my list.
How are you going with your handmade Christmas (or birthday or any other gifts)?
Don't forget to check in for our Make It Monday show and tell over at Cheapskates Chatter, we'd love to see what you've made.
Handmade Christmas Central
The Handmade Christmas Forum
11. Join The Cheapskates Club
For just $20 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