Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter 17:17
In this Newsletter
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - Gifts on the Cheap; Save and Find Peace of Mind; Separating a Giant Sausage Roll
3. Share Your Tips
4. On the Menu - Italian Vegetarian Meatballs
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy - Container Review and Money for A Stockpile
6. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
7. Member's Featured Blog - It's Not What You Can't Have, but What You Can Afford
8. Last Week's Question - Can I re-dye clothes?
9. Ask Cath
10. Join the Cheapskates Club
11. Frequently Asked Questions
12. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
This week we are welcoming a whole bunch of brand new Cheapskates Club members, please make them welcome when you meet them in the Member's Centre. And please, new members, remember to introduce yourselves We are a very friendly bunch.
The Member's Centre can be a little overwhelming, so please, new members, log in and go to the Getting Started page - it has lots of helpful tips for navigating your way around our website. http://www.cheapskatesclub.net/getting-started.html
We are sailing through our Bare Bones Grocery Challenge. Just saying (mainly because I'm absolutely thrilled to bits with how well it's going). Here it is newsletter day and the shopping list I wrote for last Friday wasn't used until yesterday - I was able to stay away from Aldi for an extra five days!
That means the money I was going to spend on a top-up was still in my purse and even better, I just bought what was on the list. I skipped a week's grocery shopping and banked the money into the grocery slush fund (doing a happy dance).
Wayne and I are on our way to a reunion (of sorts) in Lithgow so I left $25 and the shopping list with the kids and they can either buy what's on the list and eat off the meal plan or ignore it, spend all the money on junk and then have to buy their own meals for the 11 days we are away. Either way, my bare bones grocery budget won't be affected.
How is your Bare Bones Grocery Challenge going? Pop in to the Member's forum or over to our Facebook page to catch up with my exploits for the week and share yours.
And before I go, there's a very special offer a little further down. Keep reading and you'll find it.
Have a wonderful 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
Gifts on the Cheap
Buy Christmas and birthday gifts throughout the year, don't wait until they are due to be given. Make a list of who you need to buy for and why, how old they are etc. Keep it on a card the size of a credit card.
Walking past Kmart after Christmas I saw a specials stand being set up. I bought four women in the family their birthday gifts and Christmas gifts for this year... $4.
Yes, I paid $4 for 4 marble cheese platters, 4 large boxes of perfumed soaps, bath bombs, creams etc. Normally this would have cost a fortune but it cost me $4 ... the only difficult thing was carrying them all home.
You can get the kids stationary when the school items are being sold at the beginning of the year. ... great for stockings. Kids polo shirts are always cheap at the same time; one year I bought all the grandkids shirts for $2 apiece.
Chocolates after Easter...freeze them until you need them.
After Mother's Day there are always goodies to grab.
After Father's Day there are gifts to grab.
After Halloween also and of course after Christmas.
I spend no more than $3 per person per gift. It is easily done if you allocate for them in the budget and keep the money tucked away in your purse until you see a bargain.
If you are concerned that the gifts are cheap then tart them up with tissue paper and ribbon to make them look expensive, no one need know how much they cost you, after all it's not like you tell everyone how much you paid for every gift do you.
Contributed by L Stapleton
Save and Find Peace of Mind
I finally cracked it six months ago and went through my home, decluttering, sorting and cleaning. It took a month to do the whole house. Since then I have saved so much money! I now know what I have, how much and where it is. I also know that buying something means finding a place for it and that is usually enough to change my mind! I have saved over $600 in the past 5 months due to knowing what I have and what I need!
Contributed by Ana Rajkovaca
Separating a Giant Sausage Roll
Separating sausages in the freezer can be a problem. Tupperware used to have a container called a Hot Dog Keeper; it had little pyramids in rows and you'd lay the sausages (or hot dogs if you were American) between them. Once frozen you could take a single sausage out of the container if you needed it.
I loved the idea, but not the expense. For years I'd try to freeze our sausages flat in freezer bags, or in lots of one, two or three sausages, but I'd end up with little packages of frozen snags all through the freezer and they'd still be hard to separate.
Once I started using the liners from cereal boxes as go-between, I realised I had a very simple solution to the problem that cost nothing and was also reusable.
I cut the bags open, wash them, dry them.
When I'm packing sausages for the freezer I lay the bag out flat, put a sausage on the end, roll it over, put another sausage on, roll it over, put another sausage on, roll it over until I've either used the bag or all the sausages. Then I close the ends with bread ties I've saved and pop the giant sausage roll in the freezer. Once it is frozen I put the entire thing into a freezer bag and close it (double wrapping will help prevent freezer burn).
When I need two or four or even one sausage it just unrolls and separates really easily. No more having to defrost a clump when I only need a couple and no more having little packages of sausages floating around the freezer.
Once all the sausages have been used, I take the liner and wash it in the kitchen sink, in hot water with detergent, rinse under hot water and peg on the line to dry in the sun, ready to be used for the next giant sausage roll. They last for ages before I eventually put them into the recycle bin.
Contributed by Cath Armstrong
There are currently more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. 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
4. On the Menu
Italian Vegetarian Meatballs
Ingredients:
2 onions, finely chopped
¼ cup rolled oats
1 – 1 ½ cups grated tasty cheese
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
¾ cup chopped walnuts
1 clove garlic, crushed
Method:
Combine all the ingredients, mixing well. With wet hands, form into small, even sized balls. Fry in hot oil until browned all over. This recipe can also be made into patties and served with a mushroom gravy and vegetables.
Note: This recipe has been in my recipe folder since my schooldays - it was a favourite then and it has been able to hold its position in the family favourites list. If you don't have walnuts on hand, leave them out and replace with fresh breadcrumbs. Either way it's a great, cheap and tasty recipe.
This recipe comes from the Vegetarian Recipe File
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Lamb
Monday: Italian Vegetarian Meatballs, rice
Tuesday: Vegetable Lasagne
Wednesday: Curried sausages, mashed potato, peas, carrot, corn
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Haystacks
Saturday: Toasted sandwiches & soup
In the fruit bowl: apples, pears
In the cake tin: 3 Ingredient Tea Cake, ANZAC slice, chocolate cake
There are over 1,500 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy
Container Review and Money for A Stockpile
Welcome to the food challenge. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with family and friends.
A couple of weeks ago I set the challenge to fill up your containers. How did you go? Did you find more room in your pantry? Is a stockpile becoming a reality?
I sorted out the snack shelf in my pantry. All the other shelves seem to stay clean and organised. After tossing out a few snacks that no one liked (donated to us), I restacked and fill up the containers. It looks a little neater and YES, I found some room.
Hopefully now that you have the room you can start your stockpile. If money is holding you back then here are a few simple ways to raise a little extra cash -
*Avoid takeaway for a couple of weeks and put the saved money aside. Homemade hamburgers and wedges can be made cheaper than any takeaway outlet
*Mother’s Day is coming up. instead of buying presents, see if you have something in your present cupboard to give. Bake a plate of biscuits, give a jar of jam with freshly made scones. Maybe knit a dishcloth / face washer. There's still time to grow some seedlings.
*Have a movie night at home instead of going to the movies. Put aside the save money.
*Fill up your car at the cheap end of the petrol cycle. Keep it topped up while prices are low.
*Have a couple of meat free nights each week for a month. This could save $5 + on each meal. Eggs on toast, pasta, fried rice and using what you have in the pantry will save you money.
How have you found ways to save a little extra grocery money?
Have a great week and BE ENCOURAGED!!!!!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
6. Cheapskates Buzz
Most popular forum posts this week
Budget Saboteurs
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2766-Budget-Saboteurs
How does Money Make You Feel?
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?1110-how-does-money-make-you-feel
Cheapskate and Happy to Be
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2889-Cheapskate-and-Happy-To-Be
Most popular blog posts this week
Living the Cheapskates Way - without Feeling Deprived
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/02/living-cheapskates-way-without-feeling.html
How we are going to Live on a (Really) Tight Budget
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/11/how-we-are-going-to-live-on-really.html
Four Easy Steps to Breaking the Emotional Spending Habit
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2012/02/four-easy-steps-to-breaking-emotional.html
7. Members Featured blog
Platinum Cheapskates Club members have their very own Cheapskating blogs, and they are wonderful and inspirational and encouraging and even funny. This week's featured blog is written by Joyofquilting.
It's Not What You Can't Have, but What You Can Afford
That heading really resonated for me; you see as I read it I was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, on a cruise, with a coffee to drink, my breakfast cooked for me, my bed made for me. Am I a millionaire, no definitely not, so how did I afford it - I'm always being asked that or told how "lucky" I am to be able to have such great holidays, be able to afford this or that- the answer I give to everyone is twofold.
1.I'm a paid-up card carrying member of the Cheapskates Club (except Cath doesn't waste money by printing cards for us to carry).
2.I don't buy a coffee every day on the way to work, or my lunch (well, maybe once a term). I stick to my budget/ spending plan which includes a SAVINGS plan, and I actually put the money not spent in a separate savings account called holidays and that's how I can afford to pay for them. I MOO whatever I can: cakes, bread, biscuits, cleaning products, gifts, clothes, fake away, the list is endless. And the money not spent, goes into another bank account.
I have lots of bank accounts, Christmas club (which used to be more for the big bills like rates due in January and back to school stuff, but now tops up other accounts), holidays, health - I started that one last year when I cancelled my insurance in April as it was going up by over 10%. I decided to put the increased premiums into a separate account and add as much extra as I could until I had $10,000 in it which I thought would cover a knee or hip (that's where last year's Christmas club money went, to boost it). I also have Bills AND I.C.E. The day after payday, just in case the pay is a little late, automatically money goes into these accounts. I pay myself first, I pay everything on time as I can, it's there waiting, I have peace of mind.
We eat well, maybe a little too well, we have little trips with the car club, I go away with quilters and card makers for weekend retreats. Not a deprived, depressing, sad sort of a life, but a wonderful, full and fulfilling life.
We ARE debt free, cashed up and laughing!
Joy's attitude to life always inspires me, and just makes me smile. With that in mind, if you'd like to learn the secrets to being happy and contented living the Cheapskates way, I'd really, really like to help you. We've just had a membership sale, and I usually only have two a year, but until 8pm tomorrow night, new Cheapskates Club memberships are on sale again. Click here to find out more and start living the Cheapskates way today.
Login to read more Cheapskates Club Member blogs
8. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Beverley who wrote
"Does anyone have any ideas on how to restore colour to a pair of knit pants that accidentally got mould cleaner on them? I saw a hint that if you get vinegar on it immediately it may work but I did not see it in time."
Katrina Flaherty answered
I did this myself years ago when I was a student, so had no money to buy new pants. I bought some blue fabric dye, (the pants were blue) and put a small amount on the spot, slightly diluted, let it dry, then put the pants in a bucket of diluted dye. I repeated the process until the spot wasn't too noticeable. The pants in the end were darker than the original colour, but I was able to get more wear out of them.
Judith Lowe answered
I'm very sorry Beverley but mould cleaner is basically bleach, and if it's taken the colour from your garment, I don't think there would be anything you can do. Even if you tried to dye the pants, the bleached area would take the colour differently from the rest of the garment.
Jenni Paterson answered
I splashed bleach on a good pair of black work pants once. They were only new so I was desperate for a quick fix. I touched up the spots with permanent marker, then washed as normal. It fixed the problem, but you would be best to match the colour on an inside seam. Contrary to belief, all blacks are not the same.
9. Ask Cath
We have lots of resources to help you as you live the Cheapskates way but if you didn't find the answer to your question in our extensive archives please just drop me a note with your question.
I read and answer all questions, either in an email to you, in my weekly newsletter, the monthly Journal or by creating blog posts and other resources to help you (and other Cheapskaters).
Ask Your Question
10. 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!
11. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change my email address?
This one is easy. Members can update their email address or any other details by clicking on "Edit Profile" directly under their membership number after they have logged in to the Member's Centre. Subscribers to our free newsletter can use the Change Your Address form (under Customer Service in the menu) and fill it out. Once you've filled it in click the send button and we'll do the rest. Please remember to include your old email address so we can find it in the list as well as the new one.
How do I know when my membership should be renewed?
When you login to the Member's Centre you will be told how many days of membership you have left once you have 30 days left. Just click on the link to renew and your membership will just continue on, uninterrupted.
What will you do with my email address?
We never rent, trade or sell our email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever. You'll never get an unsolicited email from a stranger as a result of joining this list.
Read our privacy policy
How Did You Get on Our List?
You signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Club Web site or are a Platinum Cheapskates Club member
12. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
PO Box 5077 Studfield Vic 3152
www.cheapskatesclub.net
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - Gifts on the Cheap; Save and Find Peace of Mind; Separating a Giant Sausage Roll
3. Share Your Tips
4. On the Menu - Italian Vegetarian Meatballs
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy - Container Review and Money for A Stockpile
6. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
7. Member's Featured Blog - It's Not What You Can't Have, but What You Can Afford
8. Last Week's Question - Can I re-dye clothes?
9. Ask Cath
10. Join the Cheapskates Club
11. Frequently Asked Questions
12. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
This week we are welcoming a whole bunch of brand new Cheapskates Club members, please make them welcome when you meet them in the Member's Centre. And please, new members, remember to introduce yourselves We are a very friendly bunch.
The Member's Centre can be a little overwhelming, so please, new members, log in and go to the Getting Started page - it has lots of helpful tips for navigating your way around our website. http://www.cheapskatesclub.net/getting-started.html
We are sailing through our Bare Bones Grocery Challenge. Just saying (mainly because I'm absolutely thrilled to bits with how well it's going). Here it is newsletter day and the shopping list I wrote for last Friday wasn't used until yesterday - I was able to stay away from Aldi for an extra five days!
That means the money I was going to spend on a top-up was still in my purse and even better, I just bought what was on the list. I skipped a week's grocery shopping and banked the money into the grocery slush fund (doing a happy dance).
Wayne and I are on our way to a reunion (of sorts) in Lithgow so I left $25 and the shopping list with the kids and they can either buy what's on the list and eat off the meal plan or ignore it, spend all the money on junk and then have to buy their own meals for the 11 days we are away. Either way, my bare bones grocery budget won't be affected.
How is your Bare Bones Grocery Challenge going? Pop in to the Member's forum or over to our Facebook page to catch up with my exploits for the week and share yours.
And before I go, there's a very special offer a little further down. Keep reading and you'll find it.
Have a wonderful 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
Gifts on the Cheap
Buy Christmas and birthday gifts throughout the year, don't wait until they are due to be given. Make a list of who you need to buy for and why, how old they are etc. Keep it on a card the size of a credit card.
Walking past Kmart after Christmas I saw a specials stand being set up. I bought four women in the family their birthday gifts and Christmas gifts for this year... $4.
Yes, I paid $4 for 4 marble cheese platters, 4 large boxes of perfumed soaps, bath bombs, creams etc. Normally this would have cost a fortune but it cost me $4 ... the only difficult thing was carrying them all home.
You can get the kids stationary when the school items are being sold at the beginning of the year. ... great for stockings. Kids polo shirts are always cheap at the same time; one year I bought all the grandkids shirts for $2 apiece.
Chocolates after Easter...freeze them until you need them.
After Mother's Day there are always goodies to grab.
After Father's Day there are gifts to grab.
After Halloween also and of course after Christmas.
I spend no more than $3 per person per gift. It is easily done if you allocate for them in the budget and keep the money tucked away in your purse until you see a bargain.
If you are concerned that the gifts are cheap then tart them up with tissue paper and ribbon to make them look expensive, no one need know how much they cost you, after all it's not like you tell everyone how much you paid for every gift do you.
Contributed by L Stapleton
Save and Find Peace of Mind
I finally cracked it six months ago and went through my home, decluttering, sorting and cleaning. It took a month to do the whole house. Since then I have saved so much money! I now know what I have, how much and where it is. I also know that buying something means finding a place for it and that is usually enough to change my mind! I have saved over $600 in the past 5 months due to knowing what I have and what I need!
Contributed by Ana Rajkovaca
Separating a Giant Sausage Roll
Separating sausages in the freezer can be a problem. Tupperware used to have a container called a Hot Dog Keeper; it had little pyramids in rows and you'd lay the sausages (or hot dogs if you were American) between them. Once frozen you could take a single sausage out of the container if you needed it.
I loved the idea, but not the expense. For years I'd try to freeze our sausages flat in freezer bags, or in lots of one, two or three sausages, but I'd end up with little packages of frozen snags all through the freezer and they'd still be hard to separate.
Once I started using the liners from cereal boxes as go-between, I realised I had a very simple solution to the problem that cost nothing and was also reusable.
I cut the bags open, wash them, dry them.
When I'm packing sausages for the freezer I lay the bag out flat, put a sausage on the end, roll it over, put another sausage on, roll it over, put another sausage on, roll it over until I've either used the bag or all the sausages. Then I close the ends with bread ties I've saved and pop the giant sausage roll in the freezer. Once it is frozen I put the entire thing into a freezer bag and close it (double wrapping will help prevent freezer burn).
When I need two or four or even one sausage it just unrolls and separates really easily. No more having to defrost a clump when I only need a couple and no more having little packages of sausages floating around the freezer.
Once all the sausages have been used, I take the liner and wash it in the kitchen sink, in hot water with detergent, rinse under hot water and peg on the line to dry in the sun, ready to be used for the next giant sausage roll. They last for ages before I eventually put them into the recycle bin.
Contributed by Cath Armstrong
There are currently more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. 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
4. On the Menu
Italian Vegetarian Meatballs
Ingredients:
2 onions, finely chopped
¼ cup rolled oats
1 – 1 ½ cups grated tasty cheese
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
¾ cup chopped walnuts
1 clove garlic, crushed
Method:
Combine all the ingredients, mixing well. With wet hands, form into small, even sized balls. Fry in hot oil until browned all over. This recipe can also be made into patties and served with a mushroom gravy and vegetables.
Note: This recipe has been in my recipe folder since my schooldays - it was a favourite then and it has been able to hold its position in the family favourites list. If you don't have walnuts on hand, leave them out and replace with fresh breadcrumbs. Either way it's a great, cheap and tasty recipe.
This recipe comes from the Vegetarian Recipe File
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Lamb
Monday: Italian Vegetarian Meatballs, rice
Tuesday: Vegetable Lasagne
Wednesday: Curried sausages, mashed potato, peas, carrot, corn
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Haystacks
Saturday: Toasted sandwiches & soup
In the fruit bowl: apples, pears
In the cake tin: 3 Ingredient Tea Cake, ANZAC slice, chocolate cake
There are over 1,500 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy
Container Review and Money for A Stockpile
Welcome to the food challenge. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with family and friends.
A couple of weeks ago I set the challenge to fill up your containers. How did you go? Did you find more room in your pantry? Is a stockpile becoming a reality?
I sorted out the snack shelf in my pantry. All the other shelves seem to stay clean and organised. After tossing out a few snacks that no one liked (donated to us), I restacked and fill up the containers. It looks a little neater and YES, I found some room.
Hopefully now that you have the room you can start your stockpile. If money is holding you back then here are a few simple ways to raise a little extra cash -
*Avoid takeaway for a couple of weeks and put the saved money aside. Homemade hamburgers and wedges can be made cheaper than any takeaway outlet
*Mother’s Day is coming up. instead of buying presents, see if you have something in your present cupboard to give. Bake a plate of biscuits, give a jar of jam with freshly made scones. Maybe knit a dishcloth / face washer. There's still time to grow some seedlings.
*Have a movie night at home instead of going to the movies. Put aside the save money.
*Fill up your car at the cheap end of the petrol cycle. Keep it topped up while prices are low.
*Have a couple of meat free nights each week for a month. This could save $5 + on each meal. Eggs on toast, pasta, fried rice and using what you have in the pantry will save you money.
How have you found ways to save a little extra grocery money?
Have a great week and BE ENCOURAGED!!!!!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
6. Cheapskates Buzz
Most popular forum posts this week
Budget Saboteurs
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2766-Budget-Saboteurs
How does Money Make You Feel?
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?1110-how-does-money-make-you-feel
Cheapskate and Happy to Be
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2889-Cheapskate-and-Happy-To-Be
Most popular blog posts this week
Living the Cheapskates Way - without Feeling Deprived
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/02/living-cheapskates-way-without-feeling.html
How we are going to Live on a (Really) Tight Budget
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/11/how-we-are-going-to-live-on-really.html
Four Easy Steps to Breaking the Emotional Spending Habit
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2012/02/four-easy-steps-to-breaking-emotional.html
7. Members Featured blog
Platinum Cheapskates Club members have their very own Cheapskating blogs, and they are wonderful and inspirational and encouraging and even funny. This week's featured blog is written by Joyofquilting.
It's Not What You Can't Have, but What You Can Afford
That heading really resonated for me; you see as I read it I was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, on a cruise, with a coffee to drink, my breakfast cooked for me, my bed made for me. Am I a millionaire, no definitely not, so how did I afford it - I'm always being asked that or told how "lucky" I am to be able to have such great holidays, be able to afford this or that- the answer I give to everyone is twofold.
1.I'm a paid-up card carrying member of the Cheapskates Club (except Cath doesn't waste money by printing cards for us to carry).
2.I don't buy a coffee every day on the way to work, or my lunch (well, maybe once a term). I stick to my budget/ spending plan which includes a SAVINGS plan, and I actually put the money not spent in a separate savings account called holidays and that's how I can afford to pay for them. I MOO whatever I can: cakes, bread, biscuits, cleaning products, gifts, clothes, fake away, the list is endless. And the money not spent, goes into another bank account.
I have lots of bank accounts, Christmas club (which used to be more for the big bills like rates due in January and back to school stuff, but now tops up other accounts), holidays, health - I started that one last year when I cancelled my insurance in April as it was going up by over 10%. I decided to put the increased premiums into a separate account and add as much extra as I could until I had $10,000 in it which I thought would cover a knee or hip (that's where last year's Christmas club money went, to boost it). I also have Bills AND I.C.E. The day after payday, just in case the pay is a little late, automatically money goes into these accounts. I pay myself first, I pay everything on time as I can, it's there waiting, I have peace of mind.
We eat well, maybe a little too well, we have little trips with the car club, I go away with quilters and card makers for weekend retreats. Not a deprived, depressing, sad sort of a life, but a wonderful, full and fulfilling life.
We ARE debt free, cashed up and laughing!
Joy's attitude to life always inspires me, and just makes me smile. With that in mind, if you'd like to learn the secrets to being happy and contented living the Cheapskates way, I'd really, really like to help you. We've just had a membership sale, and I usually only have two a year, but until 8pm tomorrow night, new Cheapskates Club memberships are on sale again. Click here to find out more and start living the Cheapskates way today.
Login to read more Cheapskates Club Member blogs
8. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Beverley who wrote
"Does anyone have any ideas on how to restore colour to a pair of knit pants that accidentally got mould cleaner on them? I saw a hint that if you get vinegar on it immediately it may work but I did not see it in time."
Katrina Flaherty answered
I did this myself years ago when I was a student, so had no money to buy new pants. I bought some blue fabric dye, (the pants were blue) and put a small amount on the spot, slightly diluted, let it dry, then put the pants in a bucket of diluted dye. I repeated the process until the spot wasn't too noticeable. The pants in the end were darker than the original colour, but I was able to get more wear out of them.
Judith Lowe answered
I'm very sorry Beverley but mould cleaner is basically bleach, and if it's taken the colour from your garment, I don't think there would be anything you can do. Even if you tried to dye the pants, the bleached area would take the colour differently from the rest of the garment.
Jenni Paterson answered
I splashed bleach on a good pair of black work pants once. They were only new so I was desperate for a quick fix. I touched up the spots with permanent marker, then washed as normal. It fixed the problem, but you would be best to match the colour on an inside seam. Contrary to belief, all blacks are not the same.
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