Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter: 10:14 Bright ideas to save you money
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - Sue's Secret Cleaning Stuff, Re-purposed Towels Make Great MOO Baby Wipes, Safe Christmas Decoration Storage in a MOO Box
3. Cheapskate's Winning Tip - Saving on Herbs and Spices
4. Submit Your Tip - Enter your favourite tip for a chance to win
5. Living Green in 2014 - MOO Green Cleaning Products for Your Home
6. On the Menu with Anne - Chicken Fried Rice
7. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy - Quick and Easy Meals
8. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
9. Member's Featured Blog - Spending Freeze Done, MOO Month Ahead
10. Last Week's Question - Can you help me restore a favourite handbag?
11. This Week's Question - Please help with a pattern!
12. Join the Cheapskates Club
13. Gift Memberships
14. Frequently Asked Questions
15. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Thank you all for your get well wishes and emails, they've really made me feel better. I'm still coughing, spluttering and wheezing but getting better every day.
Now the school is back and most of us have finished our summer holidays you know what it means don't you - time for a spending freeze. We officially start No Spend February on Saturday, so if you think you need to put a hold on spending or would just like to save a little extra cash this month, please join us. Of course I'll put more info on this challenge in the February Journal (and it will be ready for you on Saturday, it's a huge Journal this month), but in the meantime you can find out more about our annual No Spend Challenge here.
Have a great week everyone,
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!
PPS: You can read this newsletter and past copies on the website in the Newsletter Archive.
2. From The Tip Store
Sues Secret Cleaning Stuff
One thing I came up with years ago is to buy 3 x 250 ml bottles of Home brand concentrate detergent and one bottle of Cloudy Ammonia. I have a 2 litre plastic bottle which I put the concentrate detergent into, then wash the 250 ml bottle with water to get all the detergent out, then fill the 250 ml bottle with Cloudy Ammonia and add into the bottle with the detergent, then fill the 2 litre bottle with water. This is just the very best cleaning fluid for floors, bench tops, washing dog blankets and really dirty clothes. One lady I had as a Home Care Lady called it Sue's Secret Cleaning Stuff. When I started to make it, the concentrate detergent was 39 cents a bottle and the Cloudy Ammonia was $1.36 a bottle. Now the concentrate is 75 cents a bottle and the ammonia seems to stay the same, but it does make 6 litres of cleaning fluid, which I think is pretty good value.
Aileen Susan Jeffery
Re-purposed Towels Make Great MOO Baby Wipes
Approximate $ Savings: $20 per month
With a second baby on the way we need to find ways to save money. Although we buy cheap baby wipes the cost does add up. After a recent clean up of the linen cupboard, I realised I could make dozens of re-useable baby wipes out of my threadbare towels and torn sheets. Nothing fancy, just cut them into small squares using pinking shears. I keep a container of water with a sealed lid next to the change table with enough wipes in it for the day, and another container to pop the dirty ones into to be rinsed out and washed. They're so small they don't add much to the normal washing. They do a much better job too! Packaged wipes are strictly for outings now.
Contributed by Kerry L'Estrange
Safe Christmas Decoration Storage in a MOO Box
I wanted a special box to store my precious Christmas decorations like the ones you see on sale in the department stores...the ones with a compartment for each bauble. My natty husband decided to make one for me and with cardboard from empty boxes readily at hand left over from Christmas presents and a glue gun from the garage he was off and running. He patiently crafted two egg-crate like layers for my decoration storage box which fit snuggly one on top of the other with different size compartments for the varying size baubles. No more broken decorations and all at a cost of exactly zero! What a clever husband I have.
Contributed by Diane Webb
There are more than 11,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Cheapskates Winning tip
This week's winning tip is from Kaylene Kurtzer. Kaylene has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
Saving on Herbs and Spices
Approximate $ Savings: $3.27 per refill
I recently did an overhaul on my spice cupboard and found some herbs and spices were out of date. As these were in glass bottles/jars (the well known brand type you find in most supermarkets), I discarded the contents but kept the jars. I had some other herbs and spices I'd purchased in packets so I soaked the empty glass jars to remove the labels then put the contents of the packet herbs/spices into the jars. I cut out the name of the product from the packet and slipped it into each corresponding jar. Voila! No more packets of herbs and spices cluttering my cupboard and I've recycled my existing bottles. (You could of course keep the original label if you already have a packet of the same item).
Savings:
1 x 10g bottle of dried herbs (well known brand) = $2.47 v 1 x 25g packet of the same dried herb = $1.67. You'd have to buy two bottles to get the same amount as in one packet so the difference saved is approximately $3.27 for each one you buy.
Paprika: 1 x 35g bottle (well known brand) = $2.58 v one 100g packet = $2.42. You would have to buy three 35g bottles to equal the same amount in one 100g packet which would cost you $7.74. Difference in savings would be $7.74 - $2.42 = $5.32.
Online prices are correct as at 20.02.14.
NB: These are not items you need to buy regularly (depending on how much cooking you do of course) however, the savings are still worth it as you are not only recycling the jars but also saving each time you do need to buy these items.
Congratulations Kaylene, I hope you enjoy your Cheapskates Club membership.
4. Submit your tip
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
5. Living Green in 2014
MOO Green Cleaning Products for Your Home
You can save hundreds of dollars a year by making not just washing powder, but all your cleaning products at home and you don't need a whole lot of chemicals either.
It is possible to clean your whole house, from top to bottom with just six everyday household products:
1. white vinegar
2. bicarb soda
3. eucalyptus oil
4. borax
5. washing soda
6. laundry soap or dishwashing detergent
Throw in a few knitted cleaning cloths or some $2 shop microfibre cloths and you have a cleaning kit to rival any chemical cleaners you can buy.
There's something to be said for using simple products to clean your home. Apart from the pride I feel in having a clean home for my family there's the pride in knowing that the products used are as safe as can possibly be for them, for our furnishings and for our environment. It's also the feeling of satisfaction that comes from knowing I haven't washed hundreds of dollars down the drain.
Click here to download your copy of the Cheapskates Style Green Cleaners tip sheet.
6. On the Menu with Anne
Chicken Fried Rice
This is a great way to use leftover rice and it stretches a small amount of chicken into a delicious family meal, making it perfect for stretching your food budget. If you don't have leftover rice, cook some the night before, spread it on a baking sheet, cover and put it in the fridge until you are ready to use it. The rice will dry and the grains will stay nice and fluffy when you fry it.
Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups cooked rice
2 cups cooked, diced chicken
2 rashers bacon, diced
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
6 spring onions, sliced
1 cup bean sprouts
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup light soy sauce
Method:
Heat half the oil in a wok or a large fry pan. Cook the egg over medium heat, swirling it around to form a thin layer. Remove from wok, cool, roll egg up tightly and cut into thin strips. Heat remaining oil in wok, stir-fry bacon, garlic and ginger until bacon is crisp. Add chicken, stir-fry 1 minute. Add rice, vegetables and soy sauce. Stir-fry until hot. Add sprouts, spring onion and egg, stir-fry 1 minute until heated through. Serve immediately.
Leftovers can be frozen although this is even better the next day.
This week we will be eating:
Friday: Chicken schnitzels, MOO wedges, steamed greens
Saturday: Stuffed potatoes
Sunday: Roast Lamb, baked veggies, steamed peas, gravy
Monday: Spaghetti bolognese
Tuesday: Roast lamb in gravy, mash, steamed broccoli, carrots, corn
Wednesday: Meat pie, sweet potato mash, beans, carrots, cauliflower and gravy
Thursday: Hamburgers
In the fruit bowl: grapes, apples, mandarins
In the cake tin: Chocolate fruit cake, blueberry muffins, ANZAC slice
There are over 1,300 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File
7. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy
Welcome everyone to this week's post of the $300 food challenge.
I quite often get asked about how I find the time to cook a meal for my family from scratch every night. In fact, a few of weeks ago my husband was working in the church office when a couple of ladies said that they needed quick and easy meals to cook after a long day.
Although I love to cook and bake, I don't like fussy, time consuming meals. The trick to preparing a meal is to have a menu plan, to have ingredients defrosted and ready for the menu plan and to find the time.
This week I thought I'd give you a quick and easy recipe that takes just 10 minutes in the morning to get it all in the slow cooker. When you get home from work in the evening you just need to cook the sausages, cut them up and place in the slow cooker. While the sausages are cooking you could get the potatoes cooking for mash.
Curried Sausage Casserole
Ingredients:
1 tin of diced tomatoes
1/2 packet of French onion soup mix
1 teaspoon of curry powder
1 stick of celery, finely diced (can be from the freezer)
1 - 2 carrots peeled and sliced thinly
1-1/2 cups of frozen beans
6 small mushrooms sliced
season to taste with salt, pepper, onion flakes (or fresh), dried parsley (or fresh)
1 - 2 cups of water
6 sausages
cornflour and 1/4 cup of water
Method:
Place tomatoes, veggies, curry, soup mix and seasonings into the slow cooker.
Cover ingredients with 1 - 2 cups of water and mix together.
Cook on high for 4 - 6 hours or medium for 6 - 10.
Half an hour before serving, cook the sausages under the grill, in a fry pan or on the barbecue until dark brown (good flavour).
Cut the sausages into 1 - 2 cm pieces and place in the slow cooker.
In a cup mix 1 tablespoon of cornflour with 1/4 cup of cold water.
Pour into slow cooker and stir immediately.
Serve with mash or on toast.
Serves 4 - 6.
Casserole can be frozen.
How do you feed your family after a busy day?
Have a great week and BE ENCOURAGED!!!!!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2380-300-a-month-food-challenge-3-03-14&p=38897
The Post that Started it All
http://www.cheapskates.com.au/pages/default.cfm?page_id=44265
8.Cheapskates Buzz
This week's hot forum topics
The 31 Days of MOO
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2376-The-31-Days-of-MOO
Soaker
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2378-Soaker
The Clear the Clutter Thread - Week 10
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2379-The-Clear-the-Clutter-Thread-Week-10
Most popular blog posts this week
Two-in-One Crockpot Chicken
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/06/two-in-one-crockpot-chicken.html
Carrot Cake Jam - Oh My It Is Good!
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/07/carrot-cake-jam-oh-my-it-is-good.html
Good Gravy
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/04/good-gravy.html
9. Member's 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 Buebell234.
Spending Freeze Done, MOO Month Ahead
Well on the 26th of February I let my emotions rule my budget again and purchased a toy each for the GC at a total cost of $31.00.
Although I tried to tell myself it was the end of the month anyway, nevertheless I still spent it. Everything else was essential spending only. When I did my utility review I save $215.00 by asking for pensioner rebates.
I really enjoyed the spending freeze and as well as MOOing I will be using the spending freeze principals in March.
So Happy Cheapskating all and say a prayer for me that I will handle my emotions with love and compassion and not by spending money.
Login to read more Cheapskates Club member blogs
10. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Angela who wrote
"I have an expensive black leather handbag that I use everyday. It is looking very worn and the colour faded. I have tried leather creams and even black shoe polish to get the colour back with no success. Even bag shops cannot advise me (they want me to buy a new bag of course!). Any ideas?"
Jan Heinrich answered
Try a shoe repair store. I had a much loved pair of ankle boots which were looking very worn, faded and ready for the bin. I watched as the shoe repairer coated the leather with a special liquid black dye/polish which was dried with ultraviolet light. The leather was completely restored to black and looks good as new. Well worth asking if they could use the same process with your handbag. Shoe repairers will likely be cheaper than a specialist handbag repairer, but you could ring around to get quotes. I was only charged for new soles and heels - he did the dye for free.
B. Thorley answered
Hi Angela, have you tried a black leather dye as opposed to a leather cream/polish? The dye can be messy but it doesn't rub off like a polish/cream does as it seeps into the leather. You can usually buy it in small bottles for about $10-$15 at shoe or key cut places. Just apply the liquid carefully and let it dry. It's worked for me.
Peggy Huntley answered
When I was working I had a couple of pairs of very expensive leather shoes (we had to wear high heels part of uniform), and as they became a little scuffed, I used to dye white shoes beige, then chocolate and finally black and they always look glossy and new. Saved a fortune.
Paula Rae answered
Raven oil will restore the colour to the bag, it will help disguise some scratching but will most likely require a polish afterwards. I don't bother to strip the finish especially with black, as it should blend in anyway.
Tanya Herriot answered
I make baby and kids leather shoes and found a great product last year: Angelus acrylic leather paint. It's great for decorating, there is an included small applicator brush attached to the lid and I've used it successfully to cover up scuff marks on my children's and my own shoes. It comes in many colours, including black, and if you want, fancy glitter paint (for over top of the standard paint). It's available from Lefflers here in Melbourne for $5-$8 and available to the general public.
Do you have a question that needs an answer?
Send us your question and receive the combined knowledge of your fellow Cheapskates to solve your problem!
Ask Your Question
11. This Week's Question
Karen writes
"Can anyone help with a knitted or crocheted pattern to make a water bottle cover such as the plastic freezable 'Smash' brand types? I recently saw a multicoloured one on someone's bottle and it looked so cool!"
Do you have the answer?
If you have a suggestion or pattern for Karen let us know. We'll enter your answer into our Tip of the Week competition, with a one-year membership to the Cheapskates Club as the prize too.
Send your answer
12. 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!
http://www.cheapskates.com.au/members/join_form.cfm?item_id=2271
13. Gift Memberships
Your family and friends will thank you for a whole year when you give them a Platinum Cheapskates Club membership as a gift.
It's so simple: just select the number of gift memberships required, click the Buy Now button and complete the Gift Membership order form (you must use this form to order gift memberships) and we'll get in touch with you to confirm the gift subscriptions.
Click here to order a gift membership right now!
14. 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.
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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.
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15. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
PO Box 5077 Studfield Vic 3152
www.cheapskates.com.au
[email protected]
2. In the Tip Store - Sue's Secret Cleaning Stuff, Re-purposed Towels Make Great MOO Baby Wipes, Safe Christmas Decoration Storage in a MOO Box
3. Cheapskate's Winning Tip - Saving on Herbs and Spices
4. Submit Your Tip - Enter your favourite tip for a chance to win
5. Living Green in 2014 - MOO Green Cleaning Products for Your Home
6. On the Menu with Anne - Chicken Fried Rice
7. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy - Quick and Easy Meals
8. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
9. Member's Featured Blog - Spending Freeze Done, MOO Month Ahead
10. Last Week's Question - Can you help me restore a favourite handbag?
11. This Week's Question - Please help with a pattern!
12. Join the Cheapskates Club
13. Gift Memberships
14. Frequently Asked Questions
15. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Thank you all for your get well wishes and emails, they've really made me feel better. I'm still coughing, spluttering and wheezing but getting better every day.
Now the school is back and most of us have finished our summer holidays you know what it means don't you - time for a spending freeze. We officially start No Spend February on Saturday, so if you think you need to put a hold on spending or would just like to save a little extra cash this month, please join us. Of course I'll put more info on this challenge in the February Journal (and it will be ready for you on Saturday, it's a huge Journal this month), but in the meantime you can find out more about our annual No Spend Challenge here.
Have a great week everyone,
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!
PPS: You can read this newsletter and past copies on the website in the Newsletter Archive.
2. From The Tip Store
Sues Secret Cleaning Stuff
One thing I came up with years ago is to buy 3 x 250 ml bottles of Home brand concentrate detergent and one bottle of Cloudy Ammonia. I have a 2 litre plastic bottle which I put the concentrate detergent into, then wash the 250 ml bottle with water to get all the detergent out, then fill the 250 ml bottle with Cloudy Ammonia and add into the bottle with the detergent, then fill the 2 litre bottle with water. This is just the very best cleaning fluid for floors, bench tops, washing dog blankets and really dirty clothes. One lady I had as a Home Care Lady called it Sue's Secret Cleaning Stuff. When I started to make it, the concentrate detergent was 39 cents a bottle and the Cloudy Ammonia was $1.36 a bottle. Now the concentrate is 75 cents a bottle and the ammonia seems to stay the same, but it does make 6 litres of cleaning fluid, which I think is pretty good value.
Aileen Susan Jeffery
Re-purposed Towels Make Great MOO Baby Wipes
Approximate $ Savings: $20 per month
With a second baby on the way we need to find ways to save money. Although we buy cheap baby wipes the cost does add up. After a recent clean up of the linen cupboard, I realised I could make dozens of re-useable baby wipes out of my threadbare towels and torn sheets. Nothing fancy, just cut them into small squares using pinking shears. I keep a container of water with a sealed lid next to the change table with enough wipes in it for the day, and another container to pop the dirty ones into to be rinsed out and washed. They're so small they don't add much to the normal washing. They do a much better job too! Packaged wipes are strictly for outings now.
Contributed by Kerry L'Estrange
Safe Christmas Decoration Storage in a MOO Box
I wanted a special box to store my precious Christmas decorations like the ones you see on sale in the department stores...the ones with a compartment for each bauble. My natty husband decided to make one for me and with cardboard from empty boxes readily at hand left over from Christmas presents and a glue gun from the garage he was off and running. He patiently crafted two egg-crate like layers for my decoration storage box which fit snuggly one on top of the other with different size compartments for the varying size baubles. No more broken decorations and all at a cost of exactly zero! What a clever husband I have.
Contributed by Diane Webb
There are more than 11,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Cheapskates Winning tip
This week's winning tip is from Kaylene Kurtzer. Kaylene has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
Saving on Herbs and Spices
Approximate $ Savings: $3.27 per refill
I recently did an overhaul on my spice cupboard and found some herbs and spices were out of date. As these were in glass bottles/jars (the well known brand type you find in most supermarkets), I discarded the contents but kept the jars. I had some other herbs and spices I'd purchased in packets so I soaked the empty glass jars to remove the labels then put the contents of the packet herbs/spices into the jars. I cut out the name of the product from the packet and slipped it into each corresponding jar. Voila! No more packets of herbs and spices cluttering my cupboard and I've recycled my existing bottles. (You could of course keep the original label if you already have a packet of the same item).
Savings:
1 x 10g bottle of dried herbs (well known brand) = $2.47 v 1 x 25g packet of the same dried herb = $1.67. You'd have to buy two bottles to get the same amount as in one packet so the difference saved is approximately $3.27 for each one you buy.
Paprika: 1 x 35g bottle (well known brand) = $2.58 v one 100g packet = $2.42. You would have to buy three 35g bottles to equal the same amount in one 100g packet which would cost you $7.74. Difference in savings would be $7.74 - $2.42 = $5.32.
Online prices are correct as at 20.02.14.
NB: These are not items you need to buy regularly (depending on how much cooking you do of course) however, the savings are still worth it as you are not only recycling the jars but also saving each time you do need to buy these items.
Congratulations Kaylene, I hope you enjoy your Cheapskates Club membership.
4. Submit your tip
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
5. Living Green in 2014
MOO Green Cleaning Products for Your Home
You can save hundreds of dollars a year by making not just washing powder, but all your cleaning products at home and you don't need a whole lot of chemicals either.
It is possible to clean your whole house, from top to bottom with just six everyday household products:
1. white vinegar
2. bicarb soda
3. eucalyptus oil
4. borax
5. washing soda
6. laundry soap or dishwashing detergent
Throw in a few knitted cleaning cloths or some $2 shop microfibre cloths and you have a cleaning kit to rival any chemical cleaners you can buy.
There's something to be said for using simple products to clean your home. Apart from the pride I feel in having a clean home for my family there's the pride in knowing that the products used are as safe as can possibly be for them, for our furnishings and for our environment. It's also the feeling of satisfaction that comes from knowing I haven't washed hundreds of dollars down the drain.
Click here to download your copy of the Cheapskates Style Green Cleaners tip sheet.
6. On the Menu with Anne
Chicken Fried Rice
This is a great way to use leftover rice and it stretches a small amount of chicken into a delicious family meal, making it perfect for stretching your food budget. If you don't have leftover rice, cook some the night before, spread it on a baking sheet, cover and put it in the fridge until you are ready to use it. The rice will dry and the grains will stay nice and fluffy when you fry it.
Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups cooked rice
2 cups cooked, diced chicken
2 rashers bacon, diced
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
6 spring onions, sliced
1 cup bean sprouts
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup light soy sauce
Method:
Heat half the oil in a wok or a large fry pan. Cook the egg over medium heat, swirling it around to form a thin layer. Remove from wok, cool, roll egg up tightly and cut into thin strips. Heat remaining oil in wok, stir-fry bacon, garlic and ginger until bacon is crisp. Add chicken, stir-fry 1 minute. Add rice, vegetables and soy sauce. Stir-fry until hot. Add sprouts, spring onion and egg, stir-fry 1 minute until heated through. Serve immediately.
Leftovers can be frozen although this is even better the next day.
This week we will be eating:
Friday: Chicken schnitzels, MOO wedges, steamed greens
Saturday: Stuffed potatoes
Sunday: Roast Lamb, baked veggies, steamed peas, gravy
Monday: Spaghetti bolognese
Tuesday: Roast lamb in gravy, mash, steamed broccoli, carrots, corn
Wednesday: Meat pie, sweet potato mash, beans, carrots, cauliflower and gravy
Thursday: Hamburgers
In the fruit bowl: grapes, apples, mandarins
In the cake tin: Chocolate fruit cake, blueberry muffins, ANZAC slice
There are over 1,300 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File
7. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy
Welcome everyone to this week's post of the $300 food challenge.
I quite often get asked about how I find the time to cook a meal for my family from scratch every night. In fact, a few of weeks ago my husband was working in the church office when a couple of ladies said that they needed quick and easy meals to cook after a long day.
Although I love to cook and bake, I don't like fussy, time consuming meals. The trick to preparing a meal is to have a menu plan, to have ingredients defrosted and ready for the menu plan and to find the time.
This week I thought I'd give you a quick and easy recipe that takes just 10 minutes in the morning to get it all in the slow cooker. When you get home from work in the evening you just need to cook the sausages, cut them up and place in the slow cooker. While the sausages are cooking you could get the potatoes cooking for mash.
Curried Sausage Casserole
Ingredients:
1 tin of diced tomatoes
1/2 packet of French onion soup mix
1 teaspoon of curry powder
1 stick of celery, finely diced (can be from the freezer)
1 - 2 carrots peeled and sliced thinly
1-1/2 cups of frozen beans
6 small mushrooms sliced
season to taste with salt, pepper, onion flakes (or fresh), dried parsley (or fresh)
1 - 2 cups of water
6 sausages
cornflour and 1/4 cup of water
Method:
Place tomatoes, veggies, curry, soup mix and seasonings into the slow cooker.
Cover ingredients with 1 - 2 cups of water and mix together.
Cook on high for 4 - 6 hours or medium for 6 - 10.
Half an hour before serving, cook the sausages under the grill, in a fry pan or on the barbecue until dark brown (good flavour).
Cut the sausages into 1 - 2 cm pieces and place in the slow cooker.
In a cup mix 1 tablespoon of cornflour with 1/4 cup of cold water.
Pour into slow cooker and stir immediately.
Serve with mash or on toast.
Serves 4 - 6.
Casserole can be frozen.
How do you feed your family after a busy day?
Have a great week and BE ENCOURAGED!!!!!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2380-300-a-month-food-challenge-3-03-14&p=38897
The Post that Started it All
http://www.cheapskates.com.au/pages/default.cfm?page_id=44265
8.Cheapskates Buzz
This week's hot forum topics
The 31 Days of MOO
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2376-The-31-Days-of-MOO
Soaker
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2378-Soaker
The Clear the Clutter Thread - Week 10
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2379-The-Clear-the-Clutter-Thread-Week-10
Most popular blog posts this week
Two-in-One Crockpot Chicken
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/06/two-in-one-crockpot-chicken.html
Carrot Cake Jam - Oh My It Is Good!
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/07/carrot-cake-jam-oh-my-it-is-good.html
Good Gravy
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/04/good-gravy.html
9. Member's 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 Buebell234.
Spending Freeze Done, MOO Month Ahead
Well on the 26th of February I let my emotions rule my budget again and purchased a toy each for the GC at a total cost of $31.00.
Although I tried to tell myself it was the end of the month anyway, nevertheless I still spent it. Everything else was essential spending only. When I did my utility review I save $215.00 by asking for pensioner rebates.
I really enjoyed the spending freeze and as well as MOOing I will be using the spending freeze principals in March.
So Happy Cheapskating all and say a prayer for me that I will handle my emotions with love and compassion and not by spending money.
Login to read more Cheapskates Club member blogs
10. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Angela who wrote
"I have an expensive black leather handbag that I use everyday. It is looking very worn and the colour faded. I have tried leather creams and even black shoe polish to get the colour back with no success. Even bag shops cannot advise me (they want me to buy a new bag of course!). Any ideas?"
Jan Heinrich answered
Try a shoe repair store. I had a much loved pair of ankle boots which were looking very worn, faded and ready for the bin. I watched as the shoe repairer coated the leather with a special liquid black dye/polish which was dried with ultraviolet light. The leather was completely restored to black and looks good as new. Well worth asking if they could use the same process with your handbag. Shoe repairers will likely be cheaper than a specialist handbag repairer, but you could ring around to get quotes. I was only charged for new soles and heels - he did the dye for free.
B. Thorley answered
Hi Angela, have you tried a black leather dye as opposed to a leather cream/polish? The dye can be messy but it doesn't rub off like a polish/cream does as it seeps into the leather. You can usually buy it in small bottles for about $10-$15 at shoe or key cut places. Just apply the liquid carefully and let it dry. It's worked for me.
Peggy Huntley answered
When I was working I had a couple of pairs of very expensive leather shoes (we had to wear high heels part of uniform), and as they became a little scuffed, I used to dye white shoes beige, then chocolate and finally black and they always look glossy and new. Saved a fortune.
Paula Rae answered
Raven oil will restore the colour to the bag, it will help disguise some scratching but will most likely require a polish afterwards. I don't bother to strip the finish especially with black, as it should blend in anyway.
Tanya Herriot answered
I make baby and kids leather shoes and found a great product last year: Angelus acrylic leather paint. It's great for decorating, there is an included small applicator brush attached to the lid and I've used it successfully to cover up scuff marks on my children's and my own shoes. It comes in many colours, including black, and if you want, fancy glitter paint (for over top of the standard paint). It's available from Lefflers here in Melbourne for $5-$8 and available to the general public.
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11. This Week's Question
Karen writes
"Can anyone help with a knitted or crocheted pattern to make a water bottle cover such as the plastic freezable 'Smash' brand types? I recently saw a multicoloured one on someone's bottle and it looked so cool!"
Do you have the answer?
If you have a suggestion or pattern for Karen let us know. We'll enter your answer into our Tip of the Week competition, with a one-year membership to the Cheapskates Club as the prize too.
Send your answer
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15. Contact Details
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