Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter 15:21
In This Newsletter
1. Cath's Corner
2. From the Tip Store - Get the Soil Ready; Stop Your Plants from Rusting; Composting for Beginners
3. Tip of the Week - No Weed Winter Gardening Using Waste Materials
4. Share Your Tips - What's your best packed lunch idea?
5. On the Menu - Blended Veggie Soup
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Budget Friendly Meals - Soup
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. The Cheapskates Club Show
9. The Weekly MOO Challenge - Seasoning Salt
10. 2021 Saving Revolution -
11.This Week's Question - We're moving to Tassie!
12. Ask A Question - Have a question? Ask it here
13. Join the Cheapskates Club
14. Frequently Asked Questions
15. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
Welcome to another newsletter full of fun ways to live the Cheapskates way.
This week it's still all about the garden in our house. I've been busy pulling out plants, adding to the soil in the beds, working on the compost heap, emptying the trays in the worm farm and starting seeds. Oh, and starting lavender and rose cuttings so they'll be ready to plant out, the lavender into pots in the spring, and the roses next autumn into the garden. The particular garden beds in my imagination are standard roses with lavender underneath - hope I can turn my imagined garden to reality and all without having to buy a plant!
Have a great week everyone.
Happy Cheapskating,
Cath
2. From The Tip Store
Get the Soil Ready
If you've grown a garden over summer, now is the time to think about what to plant for autumn and winter. It may mean you need to pull out the summer plants that have slowed down, and give the soil a rest and a boost, ready for late autumn or winter planting. Start by turning the soil over, then adding 3cm or so of compost where you are planting peas and beans; for root veggies add some blood and bone to the compost (mix it through before spreading over the garden); for brassicas, well they are the hungriest in the autumn/winter garden so they need the lot - compost, blood and bone and a high nitrogen fertiliser. Let the soil rest for a couple of weeks before planting.
Stop Your Plants from Rusting
Rust affects a wide range of veggies including silverbeet, rhubarb, mint, spinach, asparagus, beans and beetroot. It's easily identified by the orange, brown or red pustules on leaves or stems, which break open and release spores. It's worse in wet weather (and we've finally had some rain) and it's spread by splashing water or rain, so avoid overhead watering. Remove infected leaves to prevent its spread and trim plants. Check that there is enough air circulating, especially around silverbeet and rhubarb. You can spray plants with a suitable fungicide but you must then wait at least 7 days before harvesting again. You'll also need to spray regularly, especially in humid or wet weather. Some organic gardeners use a seaweed spray to keep rust at bay. And remember to put any cuttings in the green waste bin and not the compost bin to prevent re-infecting your garden.
Contributed by Harry
Composting for Beginners
To make a cheap but effective beginner's compost heap, I used the old plastic garbage bin which we had before the Council brought in the huge green wheelie bins. I merely cut a large hole in the bottom, making sure not to cut it off entirely so it gave some stability, then dug this down into the garden earth about 15cm. I then placed layers of kitchen scraps, paper/cardboard shredded and torn, leaves and thin twigs all mixed up as I got them. Add a tiny smidge of water..not much though is needed and put the lid on. I even talked my rellies who had their bins lying around into 'donating' theirs to my venture. You can still buy these bins relatively cheaply. Don't put in too much of any one thing is the key...just as with our eating, 'everything in moderation' is the key to good composting health. As the compost breaks down, move the bin to a new location in the garden...great way to get the natural worms working all over the garden in the cool compost you have given their soil. Mine has lasted for years!
Contributed by Julie
Add a Tip
3. This Week's Winning Tip
This week's winning tip is from Trixy. Trixy has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
No Weed Winter Gardening Using Waste Materials
Throughout the year I save any newspapers, magazines, sale catalogues and cardboard boxes to use as a weed barrier in my garden. Lay down a layer of newspaper or cardboard and cover with mulch (garden straw, grass clippings, Autumn leaves, palm fronds, bark mulch or pebbles - whatever you prefer) to hold it in place and look more attractive. Over time any weeds beneath will die off as they have no access to sunlight, so you won't have to pull them out. Autumn and Winter is the perfect time to do this while the weather is cooler and in preparation for new growth in the garden during Spring, without the need to constantly weed. If a weed does pop up here and there throughout the year, lay some more newspaper on it and cover with mulch again. You've reused something which would usually have to be recycled and saved yourself a lot of energy in not weeding your garden throughout the year, and all for free! And of course throw down some of the compost you've made from household, garden and kitchen waste, beneath the newspaper layer as a free fertilizer and soil improving food for worms - then let the worms dig and condition the soil for you, with no extra effort or expense.
Congratulations Trixy, I hope you enjoy your Cheapskates Club membership.
The Cheapskate's Club website is thousands of pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. There are over 12,000 tips to save you money, time and energy; 1,800 budget and family friendly recipes, hundreds of printable tip sheets and ebooks.
Let's get together and make the Cheapskates Club Australia's largest online hint, tip and idea library. Share your favourite money saving, time saving or energy saving hint and be in the running to win a one-year membership to The Cheapskate Club.
4. Share Your Tips
The school holidays are almost over, time to think about packed lunches again. What's your best school lunch idea? What's the best way to pack a lunch the kids will eat? How do you keep packed lunches fresh? How do you keep packed lunches interesting, without going overboard?
Share your favourite hint or tip that saves money, time and energy on packed lunches and be in the running to win a one-year subscription to The Cheapskate Journal.
Remember, you have to be in it to win it!
Share Your Tip
5. On The Menu
Blended Veggie Soup
Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 tbsp curry powder
250g carrots, scrubbed and diced
250g zucchini, washed, sliced lengthwise, seeds removed, and diced
250g sweet potatoes, peeled, diced
1 medium Bartlett pear, cored, and coarse chopped
1 small Granny Smith apple, cored, and coarsely diced
3 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup fresh parsley
Method:
In a large soup pot heat the oil over medium heat until it sizzles when a drop of water is added. Add the celery to the pot and cook until just starting to soften. Add the onion to the pot and continue to cook until both the celery and onion have become transparent. Add the curry powder and stir to combine. Add the vegetables, fruit and parsley, stir to combine, and then pour in the broth. Bring the soup to a boil, then immediately turn heat down to low, cover the pot, and allow soup to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and watching so it doesn't boil. To create a smooth, blended soup, allow soup to cool slightly, then transfer soup in small batches to blender and blend until desired texture is reached or use a stick blender to blend. Pour back into soup pot and reheat over low heat until just hot, not boiling.
Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche, sour cream, or yoghurt.
Next week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Beef
Monday: Soup & Toast
Tuesday: Spag bol
Wednesday: Beef & gravy rolls
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Fish, potato gems, coleslaw
Saturday: Quesadillas
There are over 1,700 budget and family friendly recipes in the Cheapskates Club Recipe File, all contributed by your fellow Cheapskates, so you know they're good.
Add A Recipe
Recipe File Index
6. The $300 A Month Food Challenge
Budget Friendly Meals - Soup
A good part of being able to stick to the $300 a Month Food Challenge is to make sure no food, and therefore no money, is wasted.
We can freeze leftovers for freezer meal nights, or use them for lunches. But what about that odd carrot and the half a stick of celery that are wilting in the bottom of the crisper? Or the potato that has started to sprout in the pantry? What do you do with the single slice of roast that's left?
The answer is easy - don't throw them out, and don't compost them. Make soup! Now the weather is cooling down, it's time to get out the soup pot or the slow cooker or the pressure cooker and start using up all those sad veggies and leftover spoonsful of cooked rice or pasta.
In winter I always have a big pot of soup on the stove. We have it for lunch, for afternoon tea when we come in, frozen from working in the yard and for tea with hot buttered toast or crumpets. Soup is one of the easiest meals to make, but it's also one of the easiest meals to ruin and there's nothing as unappetizing as horrible soup.
I make soup the way my mother makes it, using stock, good meaty bones (chicken, lamb or beef , cooked or raw - whatever I have in the freezer) and lots of vegetables and beans (this is where the sad veggies come in). It's always a little different, that is I think what makes it such a wonderful meal. Sometimes the beans and lentils will thicken up until the soup is almost like a stew, other times it will be delightfully thin and light. However it turns out it's always good.
Here's how I make soup:
First I make the stock. Into a large stockpot put four or five good meaty bones. You can use shanks or shin bones or even lamb flaps if your butcher has them and they're not too expensive, or use chicken frames for chicken stock. They can be already roasted or raw. Add cold water to cover, a large onion cut into quarters, the tops off a bunch of celery and three or four carrots cut into chunks. Bring this to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for at least an hour, preferably two. Every now and then skim the foam off the top of the pot. This makes the stock that forms the base of your soup. If you are using a slow cooker, let the stock cook overnight.
When the meat is falling off the bones (the amount will vary depending on the bones, but even a chicken frame has a lot of meat left on it) your stock is ready. Carefully pour the stock through a colander or strainer into a clean bowl. Go through the colander and pick out the meat and return it to the stock. Now to get the fat from the stock you need to cool it. You can leave it in the fridge overnight or put it in the freezer for half an hour, depending on how much time you have before you want to eat soup!
When the stock is cold the fat will form on the top. You can then just lift if off and put it in the compost.
To make the soup, measure the stock and return it to the stockpot or slow cooker. Now add the same amount of cold water. Dice 2 or 3 onions, 2 or 3 carrots, 3 or 4 celery ribs, 1 parsnip and 1 turnip or swede. You can dice the veggies by hand, I put them into the food processor and whizz until they are in even sized pieces. Add the veggies to the stockpot. Bring to the boil. Once the stock is boiling add 1-1/2 cups soup mix - the dried lentils and beans - available from any supermarket, or rice or small pasta (small shells, macaroni etc.). There are different styles of soup mix - it doesn't matter which one you use, although we like the Italian mix because of the variety of beans. Stir the soup mix into the stock and bring back to the boil.
Turn the heat down until the soup is at a rolling simmer. By that I mean not boiling so hard it will froth up and boil over, but still bubbling and moving around. The stock needs to be moving to keep the beans and lentils from sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning. Every now and then give it a stir.
I let this cook away for at least 45 minutes, to ensure the soup mix is properly cooked (you don't want hard beans or lentils) and to develop the flavours.
If you're using a slow cooker, put everything in the crock, turn to HIGH and let it cook for at least 8 hours, or until the lentils and beans are soft.
That's it. Once it's cooked I have a hard time keeping the family out of it. I don't season with salt or pepper until it's served. Sometimes it needs salt, other times it doesn't. I find it best to leave the seasoning until eating so it's not over-salted or too peppery. And if there is any left it goes into the fridge for the next day, when it is even better.
That's all there is too it. Making soup is easy. It's also very frugal. A big pot of soup costs around $6 to make, depending on the cost of the bones and easily makes 15 hearty serves.
Using the bones from a roast to make stock stretches the meals you get from that roast, lowering the cost per meal even more, helping to make roasts more affordable. Oh, and using sad veggies saves money too. Soup really is a budget winner!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge Forum
The Post that Started it All
7. Cheapskates Buzz
From The Article Archive
MOO Tomato Soup
Digging Your Way Out of Debt
How to Freeze Eggs
This Week's Hot Forum Topics
Fed Up with Improved Products
Single Use Kitchen Appliances
2021 Spending Freeze
8. The Cheapskates Club Show
Join Cath and Hannah live Tuesdays on You Tube at 7.30pm AET
Join us live on YouTube every Tuesday and see how we are living debt free, cashed up and laughing - and find out how you can too!
Show Schedule
Tuesday: Around the Kitchen Table - join Cath and Hannah for a cuppa and a chat around the kitchen table as they talk about living the Cheapskates way.
Latest Shows
1. Cath's Corner
2. From the Tip Store - Get the Soil Ready; Stop Your Plants from Rusting; Composting for Beginners
3. Tip of the Week - No Weed Winter Gardening Using Waste Materials
4. Share Your Tips - What's your best packed lunch idea?
5. On the Menu - Blended Veggie Soup
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Budget Friendly Meals - Soup
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. The Cheapskates Club Show
9. The Weekly MOO Challenge - Seasoning Salt
10. 2021 Saving Revolution -
11.This Week's Question - We're moving to Tassie!
12. Ask A Question - Have a question? Ask it here
13. Join the Cheapskates Club
14. Frequently Asked Questions
15. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
Welcome to another newsletter full of fun ways to live the Cheapskates way.
This week it's still all about the garden in our house. I've been busy pulling out plants, adding to the soil in the beds, working on the compost heap, emptying the trays in the worm farm and starting seeds. Oh, and starting lavender and rose cuttings so they'll be ready to plant out, the lavender into pots in the spring, and the roses next autumn into the garden. The particular garden beds in my imagination are standard roses with lavender underneath - hope I can turn my imagined garden to reality and all without having to buy a plant!
Have a great week everyone.
Happy Cheapskating,
Cath
2. From The Tip Store
Get the Soil Ready
If you've grown a garden over summer, now is the time to think about what to plant for autumn and winter. It may mean you need to pull out the summer plants that have slowed down, and give the soil a rest and a boost, ready for late autumn or winter planting. Start by turning the soil over, then adding 3cm or so of compost where you are planting peas and beans; for root veggies add some blood and bone to the compost (mix it through before spreading over the garden); for brassicas, well they are the hungriest in the autumn/winter garden so they need the lot - compost, blood and bone and a high nitrogen fertiliser. Let the soil rest for a couple of weeks before planting.
Stop Your Plants from Rusting
Rust affects a wide range of veggies including silverbeet, rhubarb, mint, spinach, asparagus, beans and beetroot. It's easily identified by the orange, brown or red pustules on leaves or stems, which break open and release spores. It's worse in wet weather (and we've finally had some rain) and it's spread by splashing water or rain, so avoid overhead watering. Remove infected leaves to prevent its spread and trim plants. Check that there is enough air circulating, especially around silverbeet and rhubarb. You can spray plants with a suitable fungicide but you must then wait at least 7 days before harvesting again. You'll also need to spray regularly, especially in humid or wet weather. Some organic gardeners use a seaweed spray to keep rust at bay. And remember to put any cuttings in the green waste bin and not the compost bin to prevent re-infecting your garden.
Contributed by Harry
Composting for Beginners
To make a cheap but effective beginner's compost heap, I used the old plastic garbage bin which we had before the Council brought in the huge green wheelie bins. I merely cut a large hole in the bottom, making sure not to cut it off entirely so it gave some stability, then dug this down into the garden earth about 15cm. I then placed layers of kitchen scraps, paper/cardboard shredded and torn, leaves and thin twigs all mixed up as I got them. Add a tiny smidge of water..not much though is needed and put the lid on. I even talked my rellies who had their bins lying around into 'donating' theirs to my venture. You can still buy these bins relatively cheaply. Don't put in too much of any one thing is the key...just as with our eating, 'everything in moderation' is the key to good composting health. As the compost breaks down, move the bin to a new location in the garden...great way to get the natural worms working all over the garden in the cool compost you have given their soil. Mine has lasted for years!
Contributed by Julie
Add a Tip
3. This Week's Winning Tip
This week's winning tip is from Trixy. Trixy has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
No Weed Winter Gardening Using Waste Materials
Throughout the year I save any newspapers, magazines, sale catalogues and cardboard boxes to use as a weed barrier in my garden. Lay down a layer of newspaper or cardboard and cover with mulch (garden straw, grass clippings, Autumn leaves, palm fronds, bark mulch or pebbles - whatever you prefer) to hold it in place and look more attractive. Over time any weeds beneath will die off as they have no access to sunlight, so you won't have to pull them out. Autumn and Winter is the perfect time to do this while the weather is cooler and in preparation for new growth in the garden during Spring, without the need to constantly weed. If a weed does pop up here and there throughout the year, lay some more newspaper on it and cover with mulch again. You've reused something which would usually have to be recycled and saved yourself a lot of energy in not weeding your garden throughout the year, and all for free! And of course throw down some of the compost you've made from household, garden and kitchen waste, beneath the newspaper layer as a free fertilizer and soil improving food for worms - then let the worms dig and condition the soil for you, with no extra effort or expense.
Congratulations Trixy, I hope you enjoy your Cheapskates Club membership.
The Cheapskate's Club website is thousands of pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. There are over 12,000 tips to save you money, time and energy; 1,800 budget and family friendly recipes, hundreds of printable tip sheets and ebooks.
Let's get together and make the Cheapskates Club Australia's largest online hint, tip and idea library. Share your favourite money saving, time saving or energy saving hint and be in the running to win a one-year membership to The Cheapskate Club.
4. Share Your Tips
The school holidays are almost over, time to think about packed lunches again. What's your best school lunch idea? What's the best way to pack a lunch the kids will eat? How do you keep packed lunches fresh? How do you keep packed lunches interesting, without going overboard?
Share your favourite hint or tip that saves money, time and energy on packed lunches and be in the running to win a one-year subscription to The Cheapskate Journal.
Remember, you have to be in it to win it!
Share Your Tip
5. On The Menu
Blended Veggie Soup
Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 tbsp curry powder
250g carrots, scrubbed and diced
250g zucchini, washed, sliced lengthwise, seeds removed, and diced
250g sweet potatoes, peeled, diced
1 medium Bartlett pear, cored, and coarse chopped
1 small Granny Smith apple, cored, and coarsely diced
3 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup fresh parsley
Method:
In a large soup pot heat the oil over medium heat until it sizzles when a drop of water is added. Add the celery to the pot and cook until just starting to soften. Add the onion to the pot and continue to cook until both the celery and onion have become transparent. Add the curry powder and stir to combine. Add the vegetables, fruit and parsley, stir to combine, and then pour in the broth. Bring the soup to a boil, then immediately turn heat down to low, cover the pot, and allow soup to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and watching so it doesn't boil. To create a smooth, blended soup, allow soup to cool slightly, then transfer soup in small batches to blender and blend until desired texture is reached or use a stick blender to blend. Pour back into soup pot and reheat over low heat until just hot, not boiling.
Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche, sour cream, or yoghurt.
Next week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Beef
Monday: Soup & Toast
Tuesday: Spag bol
Wednesday: Beef & gravy rolls
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Fish, potato gems, coleslaw
Saturday: Quesadillas
There are over 1,700 budget and family friendly recipes in the Cheapskates Club Recipe File, all contributed by your fellow Cheapskates, so you know they're good.
Add A Recipe
Recipe File Index
6. The $300 A Month Food Challenge
Budget Friendly Meals - Soup
A good part of being able to stick to the $300 a Month Food Challenge is to make sure no food, and therefore no money, is wasted.
We can freeze leftovers for freezer meal nights, or use them for lunches. But what about that odd carrot and the half a stick of celery that are wilting in the bottom of the crisper? Or the potato that has started to sprout in the pantry? What do you do with the single slice of roast that's left?
The answer is easy - don't throw them out, and don't compost them. Make soup! Now the weather is cooling down, it's time to get out the soup pot or the slow cooker or the pressure cooker and start using up all those sad veggies and leftover spoonsful of cooked rice or pasta.
In winter I always have a big pot of soup on the stove. We have it for lunch, for afternoon tea when we come in, frozen from working in the yard and for tea with hot buttered toast or crumpets. Soup is one of the easiest meals to make, but it's also one of the easiest meals to ruin and there's nothing as unappetizing as horrible soup.
I make soup the way my mother makes it, using stock, good meaty bones (chicken, lamb or beef , cooked or raw - whatever I have in the freezer) and lots of vegetables and beans (this is where the sad veggies come in). It's always a little different, that is I think what makes it such a wonderful meal. Sometimes the beans and lentils will thicken up until the soup is almost like a stew, other times it will be delightfully thin and light. However it turns out it's always good.
Here's how I make soup:
First I make the stock. Into a large stockpot put four or five good meaty bones. You can use shanks or shin bones or even lamb flaps if your butcher has them and they're not too expensive, or use chicken frames for chicken stock. They can be already roasted or raw. Add cold water to cover, a large onion cut into quarters, the tops off a bunch of celery and three or four carrots cut into chunks. Bring this to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for at least an hour, preferably two. Every now and then skim the foam off the top of the pot. This makes the stock that forms the base of your soup. If you are using a slow cooker, let the stock cook overnight.
When the meat is falling off the bones (the amount will vary depending on the bones, but even a chicken frame has a lot of meat left on it) your stock is ready. Carefully pour the stock through a colander or strainer into a clean bowl. Go through the colander and pick out the meat and return it to the stock. Now to get the fat from the stock you need to cool it. You can leave it in the fridge overnight or put it in the freezer for half an hour, depending on how much time you have before you want to eat soup!
When the stock is cold the fat will form on the top. You can then just lift if off and put it in the compost.
To make the soup, measure the stock and return it to the stockpot or slow cooker. Now add the same amount of cold water. Dice 2 or 3 onions, 2 or 3 carrots, 3 or 4 celery ribs, 1 parsnip and 1 turnip or swede. You can dice the veggies by hand, I put them into the food processor and whizz until they are in even sized pieces. Add the veggies to the stockpot. Bring to the boil. Once the stock is boiling add 1-1/2 cups soup mix - the dried lentils and beans - available from any supermarket, or rice or small pasta (small shells, macaroni etc.). There are different styles of soup mix - it doesn't matter which one you use, although we like the Italian mix because of the variety of beans. Stir the soup mix into the stock and bring back to the boil.
Turn the heat down until the soup is at a rolling simmer. By that I mean not boiling so hard it will froth up and boil over, but still bubbling and moving around. The stock needs to be moving to keep the beans and lentils from sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning. Every now and then give it a stir.
I let this cook away for at least 45 minutes, to ensure the soup mix is properly cooked (you don't want hard beans or lentils) and to develop the flavours.
If you're using a slow cooker, put everything in the crock, turn to HIGH and let it cook for at least 8 hours, or until the lentils and beans are soft.
That's it. Once it's cooked I have a hard time keeping the family out of it. I don't season with salt or pepper until it's served. Sometimes it needs salt, other times it doesn't. I find it best to leave the seasoning until eating so it's not over-salted or too peppery. And if there is any left it goes into the fridge for the next day, when it is even better.
That's all there is too it. Making soup is easy. It's also very frugal. A big pot of soup costs around $6 to make, depending on the cost of the bones and easily makes 15 hearty serves.
Using the bones from a roast to make stock stretches the meals you get from that roast, lowering the cost per meal even more, helping to make roasts more affordable. Oh, and using sad veggies saves money too. Soup really is a budget winner!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge Forum
The Post that Started it All
7. Cheapskates Buzz
From The Article Archive
MOO Tomato Soup
Digging Your Way Out of Debt
How to Freeze Eggs
This Week's Hot Forum Topics
Fed Up with Improved Products
Single Use Kitchen Appliances
2021 Spending Freeze
8. The Cheapskates Club Show
Join Cath and Hannah live Tuesdays on You Tube at 7.30pm AET
Join us live on YouTube every Tuesday and see how we are living debt free, cashed up and laughing - and find out how you can too!
Show Schedule
Tuesday: Around the Kitchen Table - join Cath and Hannah for a cuppa and a chat around the kitchen table as they talk about living the Cheapskates way.
Latest Shows
9. The Weekly MOO Challenge
MOO Seasoning Mixes
Last week on the Cheapskates Club Show we talked about herbs and spices, and how to save money on them, and I touched very briefly on seasoning mixes, or rather I mentioned the herbs and spices I keep on hand to make the seasonings we use.
Taco seasoning was the very first seasoning mix I MOOed - it was so good, and so easy, and so quick and SO MUCH CHEAPER than buying the 35g packets, and I was able to make it to suit our taste. From there I quickly expanded to seasoned salts - a basic seasoned salt, then I tried a rosemary salt that is amazing on roast veggies, and I even went gourmet and tried a cabernet salt that is divine on barbecued chops or steak.
I could very easily have just paid the price at the supermarket or one of the gourmet delis, but really, seasoned salts are so easy to make, and they keep well in a jar in a dark, cool cupboard, so when you can MOO them, and in batch sizes you'll use, for a fraction of the price, why not?
So this week's challenge is to MOO a seasoned salt.
A basic seasoned salt (that is great on any meat) is simply a combination of salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Told you it was basic!
A good quantity to start with, just in case you don't like it, is:
2 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
If you decide you like it, you can make more, and store it in an air-tight jar in the pantry.
There are other seasoned salt recipes in the Mixes Recipe File - you might like to try them all!
Get in on the fun and discussions here.
10. 2021 Saving Revolution - Lesson 15
These lessons are flying by, I hope you're enjoying them, but more importantly, doing the exercises and using them for your very own personal saving revolution.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to finish 2021 debt free, or well on the way to being debt free, with a saving plan and even some savings?
It is possible! I know, because I've done it, and I'm still doing it. I do the Saving Revolution lessons each week along with you, even though I wrote them. I never stop learning or wanting to learn how to control our finances so we can live the lifestyle we choose, not the one the banks and finance companies dictate to us.
Last week's lesson was all about banishing debt, and that's our goal! I hope you enjoyed the lesson and worked on the challenge - goals!
Lesson 16 will be in your inbox tomorrow morning, enjoy!
11. This Week's Question
This week's question is from Lynda, who writes
"We are looking to move from NSW to Tasmania next year and are wondering of there is a cheap/er way to do it? There are 2 adults, 1 child and a dog. We only have a small car, no trailer (the car probably wouldn't tow a decent weight anyway). We've tossed up the idea of selling/donating most things and only taking the bare basics and slowly rebuilding when we get down there. That's definitely still on the cards, however, I don't know if that'll be more economical than just shipping everything down there."
Do you have the answer?
If you have a suggestion or idea for Lynda, 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
Do you have a question?
We have lots of resources to help you as you live the Cheapskates way but if you didn't find the answer to your question in our extensive archives please just drop me a note with your question.
I read and answer all questions, either in an email to you, in my weekly newsletter, the monthly Journal or by creating blog posts and other resources to help you (and other Cheapskaters).
Ask Your Question
12. Join The Cheapskates Club
For just $25 a year, you can join the Cheapskates Club and get exclusive access to the Cheapskate Journal, the monthly e-journal that shows you how to cut the costs of everyday living and still have fun.
Joining the Cheapskates Club gives you 24/7 access to the Members Centre with 1000's of money saving tips and articles.
Click here to join the Cheapskates Club today!
13. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. When you login to the Member's Centre just click on your name at the top of the page to go straight to your profile page where you can update your details, change your password and find your subscription details.
Not a Cheapskates Club member? Then please use the Changing Details form found here to update your email address.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
Memberships are active for one year from the date of joining. You will be sent a renewal reminder before your subscription is due to renew. You can also find your membership expiry date on your profile page.
When you login to the Member's Centre just click on your name to go straight to your profile page where you can will find your join date and your expiry date.
What will you do with my email address?
We never rent, trade or sell our email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever. You'll never get an unsolicited email from a stranger as a result of joining this list.
How did I get on this list?
The only way you can get onto our newsletter mailing list is to subscribe yourself. You signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member.
14. Contact Cheapskates
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
PO Box 5077 Studfield Vic 3152
Contact Cheapskates
MOO Seasoning Mixes
Last week on the Cheapskates Club Show we talked about herbs and spices, and how to save money on them, and I touched very briefly on seasoning mixes, or rather I mentioned the herbs and spices I keep on hand to make the seasonings we use.
Taco seasoning was the very first seasoning mix I MOOed - it was so good, and so easy, and so quick and SO MUCH CHEAPER than buying the 35g packets, and I was able to make it to suit our taste. From there I quickly expanded to seasoned salts - a basic seasoned salt, then I tried a rosemary salt that is amazing on roast veggies, and I even went gourmet and tried a cabernet salt that is divine on barbecued chops or steak.
I could very easily have just paid the price at the supermarket or one of the gourmet delis, but really, seasoned salts are so easy to make, and they keep well in a jar in a dark, cool cupboard, so when you can MOO them, and in batch sizes you'll use, for a fraction of the price, why not?
So this week's challenge is to MOO a seasoned salt.
A basic seasoned salt (that is great on any meat) is simply a combination of salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Told you it was basic!
A good quantity to start with, just in case you don't like it, is:
2 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
If you decide you like it, you can make more, and store it in an air-tight jar in the pantry.
There are other seasoned salt recipes in the Mixes Recipe File - you might like to try them all!
Get in on the fun and discussions here.
10. 2021 Saving Revolution - Lesson 15
These lessons are flying by, I hope you're enjoying them, but more importantly, doing the exercises and using them for your very own personal saving revolution.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to finish 2021 debt free, or well on the way to being debt free, with a saving plan and even some savings?
It is possible! I know, because I've done it, and I'm still doing it. I do the Saving Revolution lessons each week along with you, even though I wrote them. I never stop learning or wanting to learn how to control our finances so we can live the lifestyle we choose, not the one the banks and finance companies dictate to us.
Last week's lesson was all about banishing debt, and that's our goal! I hope you enjoyed the lesson and worked on the challenge - goals!
Lesson 16 will be in your inbox tomorrow morning, enjoy!
11. This Week's Question
This week's question is from Lynda, who writes
"We are looking to move from NSW to Tasmania next year and are wondering of there is a cheap/er way to do it? There are 2 adults, 1 child and a dog. We only have a small car, no trailer (the car probably wouldn't tow a decent weight anyway). We've tossed up the idea of selling/donating most things and only taking the bare basics and slowly rebuilding when we get down there. That's definitely still on the cards, however, I don't know if that'll be more economical than just shipping everything down there."
Do you have the answer?
If you have a suggestion or idea for Lynda, 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
Do you have a question?
We have lots of resources to help you as you live the Cheapskates way but if you didn't find the answer to your question in our extensive archives please just drop me a note with your question.
I read and answer all questions, either in an email to you, in my weekly newsletter, the monthly Journal or by creating blog posts and other resources to help you (and other Cheapskaters).
Ask Your Question
12. Join The Cheapskates Club
For just $25 a year, you can join the Cheapskates Club and get exclusive access to the Cheapskate Journal, the monthly e-journal that shows you how to cut the costs of everyday living and still have fun.
Joining the Cheapskates Club gives you 24/7 access to the Members Centre with 1000's of money saving tips and articles.
Click here to join the Cheapskates Club today!
13. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. When you login to the Member's Centre just click on your name at the top of the page to go straight to your profile page where you can update your details, change your password and find your subscription details.
Not a Cheapskates Club member? Then please use the Changing Details form found here to update your email address.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
Memberships are active for one year from the date of joining. You will be sent a renewal reminder before your subscription is due to renew. You can also find your membership expiry date on your profile page.
When you login to the Member's Centre just click on your name to go straight to your profile page where you can will find your join date and your expiry date.
What will you do with my email address?
We never rent, trade or sell our email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever. You'll never get an unsolicited email from a stranger as a result of joining this list.
How did I get on this list?
The only way you can get onto our newsletter mailing list is to subscribe yourself. You signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member.
14. Contact Cheapskates
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
PO Box 5077 Studfield Vic 3152
Contact Cheapskates