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Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter 24:20

In This Newsletter
1. Cath's Corner
2. From the Tip Store - Just Hit Refresh; Fruit Box Gift Wrap, Cleopatra's Secret
3. Tip of the Week -​Making Veggies Last with Vinegar
4. Share Your Tips  
5. On the Menu - French Onion Steak
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - MOO Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. The Cheapskates Club Show
9. Ask A Question - Have a question? Ask it here
10. Join the Cheapskates Club
11. Frequently Asked Questions
12. Contact Details


1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
Wow these short weeks sure go fast! That's a good thing, it keeps me on my toes, and I need to be ready for anything this week.

We are finally moving forward with the kitchen reno. That means that the decluttering is in full swing. All the cupboards have to be emptied. All the pantry has to be moved. All the furniture will need to be moved, but we'll leave that until just before the building starts.

The kitchen dresser will be the last thing to declutter and move. It is full. Full of things I love and for the most part use. To me having something pretty and not using it is a waste. I'd much rather use the nice things we have and enjoy them, than let them sit in a cupboard collecting dust just in case something happens to them. So I use my crazy tea set. I use the crystal bowls and the china plates. I use the glassed and the dishes. But there's still a lot of them and I need to get ready to carefully move them someplace safe for a few days, then move them all back again.

Oh well, it will be worth it in the end. And once the kitchen is finished, we'll be able to do more cooking shows!

Before I go, we'll have our first monthly tip competition winner next week, so keep an eye out -if you entered a tip in May, it could be you!

Enjoy your newsletter and have a great week everyone. 

Happy Cheapskating,

Cath


2. From The Tip Store
Just Hit RefreshAre you sick of throwing away half eaten packets of crackers that have lost their crunch? Just put them in the oven for 5 - 10 minutes to refresh them and they'll be as crisp as - or crisper than - when you opened them. This works for rice crackers, rice cakes, corn thins ... any kind of crackers. (Remember to do this when you've already got the oven on for something else!)
Contributed by Catherine


Fruit Box Gift Wrap
The small plastic boxes that berries come in make the perfect container for sharing homemade goodies at Christmastime.  Start saving them now so you have plenty on hand when you've done your baking.  Line the box with baking paper then tie a ribbon around the top outside edge. Use pinking shears or other decorative scissors to decorate the top edge of the paper. Fill with your favourite biscuit or mini meringues in Christmas colours for a cute gift.

Cleopatra's Secret
Cleopatra did it, so I thought I'd give it a try! I found that using a lot of those facial foam cleansers were not only harsh on my skin but too expensive, so I decided to give good old fashioned milk a try. In the shower I pour a very small amount (say 50mls) into a plastic bowl & dilute it with a little water from the shower to warm it up. Then I just dip my face washer into the milk, give my face a good scrub & splash any excess milk onto my face. I still remove my make-up at night using a store bought make-up remover, but in the 3 years I've been washing my face with milk, I've rarely had a blemish & I honestly think my skin looks better than it ever did when using those over-priced foaming facial cleansers.
Contributed by Zara


Add a Tip

3. This Week's Winning Tip
This week's winning tip is from Ruth Gregor. Ruth has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.

​Making Veggies Last with Vinegar​We shop once a fortnight, living in an isolated area. I found fruit and veggies would rarely last the fortnight, with mould spoiling many items even though washed and dried before refrigerating.

By washing veggies and fruit in water with vinegar added (about 1 tbsp per litre), air drying on a tea towel, then packing between layers of newspaper in the crisper, or using a tea towel or cloth bag, most of my veggies now last until next shop. They are so expensive here, and are hard to grow with our limited water supply, so it's well worth the extra effort!

Congratulations Ruth, I hope you enjoy your Cheapskates Club membership.

The Cheapskate's Club website is over 2,000 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.


The Cheapskate's Club website is thousands of pages of money saving hints, tips and ideas. There are over 12,000 tips to save you money, time and energy; 1,600 budget and family friendly recipes, hundreds of printable tip sheets and ebooks.

Let's get together and make the Cheapskates Club Australia's largest online hint, tip and idea library. Share your favourite money saving, time saving or energy saving hint and be in the running to win a one-year membership to The Cheapskate Club.

4. Share Your Tips
We need your tips!They are coming in, but we need more! We need your best money saving tips. We need your best time saving tips. We need your best energy saving tips. We need your tips!

We are rebuilding the Tip Store, removing all the old tips that are no longer relevant to living the Cheapskates way, and deleting double-ups. This means you'll see changes in the Tip Store, with one being the total number of tips will go down. And that means there will be room for new tips!

So, I want you to share your best money, time and energy saving ideas, there will be a weekly prize of a one year Cheapskates Club membership and a monthly prize of a one-year Cheapskates Club membership and $50.  T

Prizes will be announced in the newsletter each week, with the prize for the tip of the month announced in the first newsletter of the next month.

It's easy and the rules are simple:
The tip must be cheap a genuine money, time or energy saver.
The tip must be of a practical nature.
The tip can be for anything home, garden, car, budget, children etc.
Please be specific in your tip i.e. "use vinegar and bi-carb for cleaning" won't win you a prize.

Remember, you have to be in it to win it!

Share Your Tip


5. On The Menu
French Onion Steak
This recipe is ideal for cheaper or budget cuts of steak that sometimes are not quite as tender as they should be for grilling or barbecuing. I often use Oyster Blade or budget rump for this recipe and it is delicious. In fact our non-steak eating child will devour steak cooked this way.

Ingredients:
Steak – Oyster Blade, Blade, budget Rump or whatever you like.
1 pkt French onion soup
Butter – approximately 1 tsp per piece of steak

Method:
Lightly oil the base of a shallow casserole dish. Spread one side of each piece of steak with about 1 teaspoon butter and then lay them in the casserole dish. Evenly sprinkle the French onion soup over the top of the steak. Cover the dish (with the lid or foil if it doesn't have a lid). Bake for approximately 1 hour in a moderate oven.

This dish makes delicious gravy as it cooks.

Next week we will be eating:
 
Sunday: Roast Lamb

Monday: Apricot Chicken, rice

Tuesday: Gnocchi in Tomato Sauce

Wednesday: Stir-fry noodles, chicken & veggies

Thursday: MOO Pizza

Friday: Corned Beef Hash

Saturday: Pies

In the fruit bowl:  apples, oranges, mandarins


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
MOO Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
One of the most popular MOOs on the Cheapskates Club website is the Cream of Anything Cup-a-Soup mix. The next most popular is the MOO Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup. I demonstrate just how easy this is to make at workshops - and I'm usually still talking about it when the whole recipe is made - that's how quick and easy it is.

So which would you prefer? Two jars (tins) for 50 cents (just 25 cents each!), or paying over $2 a can?

My favourite MOO** mix at this time of year, when the weather is cooling and casseroles are featuring more on my meal plan, is the MOO Condensed Cream of Chicken soup - so easy to use instead of a tin and much, much nicer.

I have a lot of recipes, mostly inherited from my mother and Wayne's Granny, that use tinned soup, especially condensed cream of chicken soup. It's a great casserole base, very versatile. It goes really well in chicken and rice casserole or a tuna bake. It makes a lovely version of scalloped potatoes too.

The problem is the tinned version you buy at the supermarket isn't particularly healthful and it is very expensive, even bought on half-price it is more that twice the price of the MOO version. Tinned cream of chicken soup is over $2 a can - this recipe makes the equivalent of two tins and costs around 80 cents to make if you have MOOed chicken stock, about $1.50 if you have to buy it. It is cheap! Really, really cheap. And it is good! Really, really good.

It is the easiest thing to make at home, and there are no special ingredients in it other than a stock cube if you don't usually use them.


MOO Condensed Cream of Chicken SoupThis is the equivalent of two tins of cream of chicken soup, much cheaper than bought and far healthier too.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups chicken stock (if you don't have your own, a bought stock is just fine, but adds to the cost)
1 Vegeta chicken stock cube (you can use another brand if you like, I prefer Vegeta)
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp paprika
1-1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup plain flour*

Method:
Put chicken stock, 1/2 cup milk and the seasonings in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute.   Whisk the remaining milk and flour together until there are no lumps. Add to boiling mixture, whisking continually until mixture boils and thickens.

Yield:  approximately the equivalent of two tins of Cream of Chicken soup. Freeze immediately or keep in fridge for up to 5 days. This soup mix freezes and thaws beautifully. Use to make soup or in place of tinned soup in recipes.

*I use plain wholemeal Spelt flour to make this mix. It gives it a nutty flavour. If you don't use white flour plain wholemeal works just as well.

**MOO - Make Our Own

So what is your favourite cream of chicken soup recipe? Mine is Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Casserole, a favourite from my childhood when Mum made it in her trusty original burnt orange Crockpot :)


The $300 a Month Food Challenge Forum
 
The Post that Started it All


7. Cheapskates Buzz
From The Article Archive
Are We A Nation of Money Munchers?
Budget Ideas for Lazy People
Filling in a Hole (or How to Darn a Sock)


This Week's Hot Forum Topics
MOO Pot Noodles 
Dehydrating for Shelf Stable Food Storage
Our Tips and Hints on How to Save Money on Electricity Costs that Work


Most Popular Blog Posts This Week
Shopping Lists - Your New Best Friend
MOO Soy Yoghurt
Please, Please, Please Don't Let Marketing Dumb You Down!


Latest Tips
Reusing Meat Trays Without the Smell
Gluten Free Pie Bases
Buy a Cheaper Pet Mat
Better Tasting Roasts and Cheap and Tasty Gravy
​Changing Linen Frustration Saver
​

8. The Cheapskates Club Show
Join Cath and Hannah live ​Tuesdays and Thursdays on You Tube at 7.30pm AET

Join us live on YouTube every Tuesday and Thursday 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.

Thursday: Cheapskates in the Kitchen - want to know how to cook delicious, healthy and cheap meals? Watch Cath and Hannah as they create cheapskates style cuisine and share their favourite recipes.


Latest Shows 
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9. Ask 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


10. 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!


11. 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.


12. Contact Cheapskates
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!

PO Box 5077 Studfield Vic 3152

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  • Home
  • Join the Club!
    • Twenty Reasons to Join the Cheapskates Club
  • About Us
    • Cath's Story
    • Ask Cath
    • Glossary of Cheapskating Terms
  • Forum
    • Current Forum Discussions
    • How to Use the Member Forum
  • Inspiration
    • Getting Started
    • 31 Days of MOO Index
    • Articles
    • Housekeeping Routines
    • Budget Renovations
    • Saving Stories
    • Learning Centre
  • Recipes
    • Recipe File Index
    • Meal Plans
    • Add a Recipe
    • $300 a Month Food Challenge >
      • $300 a Month Food Challenge
      • The $300 a Month Food Challenge Forum
  • Newsletters
    • Newsletters 2023
    • Newsletters 2022
    • Newsletters 2021
    • Newsletters 2020
    • Newsletters 2019
    • Newsletters 2018
    • Newsletters 2017
  • Saving Money
    • Latest Tips 2023
    • Latest Tips 2022
    • Cheapskates Tip Store
    • Tip Sheets
    • Top Tip Competition
  • Contact
    • Changing Details
    • Help Files