Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter 34:18
In this Newsletter
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - Simple Substitute for Plastic Veggie Bags; Solving the Overseas Gift Problem; Use It Up: Reusing UHT Cartons in the Freezer
3. Cheapskate's Winning Tip - Getting the Scoop on My BFF
4. Share Your Tips -
5. On the Menu - MOO Butter Chicken
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Growing Your Own Food
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. Ask Cath
9. Join the Cheapskates Club
10. Frequently Asked Questions
11. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
And welcome to another Bright Ideas newsletter.
There are some great ideas this week, that will save you money, time and energy, and help you to live the Cheapskates way.
We have interstate visitors arriving this afternoon, in time for afternoon tea I'm thinking, so I have beds to make and pizza to get ready for tonight's dinner. I spent some time baking on Monday, and happily put quite a bit into the freezer ready for the weekend. A couple of hours well spent, we'll eat well and I didn't spend an absolute fortune. We'll be able to relax and enjoy our visitors, something I look forward to every August.
I've seen that rain is forecast for some areas of New South Wales, Queensland and eastern Victoria this weekend, all drought declared. I hope it is enough to fill tanks, water crops and ease the worry for our farming communities.
Have a great week everyone.
Happy Cheapskating,
Cath
PS: Love our site? We love referrals! Send a note to your favourite newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations, friends and relatives, and tell them about us!
2. From The Tip Store
Simple Substitute for Plastic Veggie Bags
For those that want to help the environment and buy their veggies at shops that use plastic bags I bought some mesh lingerie bags from Aldi (you can buy them at most department stores - Big W., Kmart, Target, etc. and all lingerie stores sell them, but they are more expensive at lingerie stores). They are washable, breathable and have a zip so your veggies don't fall out.
Contributed by Toni C.
Solving the Overseas Gift Problem
Do you have family/kids who live abroad? And do you spend a fortune to send them gifts over Christmas/New Year etc.? I have family living abroad and when its festival time, instead of buying and sending gifts via post, I just transfer the money across to their bank accounts and they can buy what they like/love in the country they are in. I do ask them to send me a photo (if they like) of what they bought and all of them have obliged :)
Contributed by Priyanka Mukherjee
Use It Up: Reusing UHT Cartons in the Freezer
This winter I have been using UHT milk cartons to freeze my soup. Obviously, this works best with pureed soups. The cartons stack well in the freezer and make dispensing soup for single serves easy. Just give the carton a good shake before pouring. This would work equally well for storing homemade stocks or pureed tomato sauce for pasta or casseroles. I don't use much milk so prefer to have it on hand in the pantry for when it's needed. Any one litre UHT cartons could be used. Just give the carton and its lid a good rinse before using. Cartons can be reused many times.
Contributed by Simone Button
There are currently more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Cheapskates Winning Tip
This week's winning tip is from Joy Alexander. Joy has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
Getting the Scoop on My BFF
Like my spatulas, my ice-cream scoops are my bff!!
I purchased a good quality spring mechanism ice-cream scoop (pre children) for about $20 ten years ago and then found two more (varying sizes) at op shops. These have made my life so much easier!! I scoop a flat level amount of mixture from the bowl and place on the tray using the release mechanism on the ice cream scoop. Ironically, we don't tend to consume much ice cream, but they are used almost every couple of days for making little zucchini friands/muffins/biscuits/meatballs etc.
Yesterday, I made Johnny Cakes from this site, with the medium ice cream scoop. EASY. All the biscuits were the same size, I knew exactly the number of biscuits I would make from one recipe and could budget accordingly (i also use this size for rissoles/Anzac biscuits/bacon-cheese balls etc. I use the large size scoop for sweet and savoury muffins/zucchini puffs (and then freeze them for healthy lunches for the kids). The small one is used for nut balls, little cakes, custard biscuits etc Each ice-cream scoop is used so often at our house and have paid for themselves over and over. Yes, we cook a lot from scratch and these tools are AWESOME as it releases the mixture every squeeze and all items are the same size and thus cook evenly!
To save time, I have noted in my recipes book, the size ice-cream scoop to use, the number of scoops I get per recipe and what size tray to use - makes cooking a breeze these days! Best kitchen addition ever (together with the spatulas of course)!! Another bonus is the kids love helping when the ice-cream scoop comes out too!!
Congratulations Joy, 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. On the Menu
MOO Butter Chicken
Ingredients:
500g chicken fillets (breast or thigh, whatever is cheapest), skin off and cut into 1cm dice
1 tbsp tandoori seasoning*
1/2 cup water
1 tin tomato soup
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
300ml cream
Method:
Mix the tandoori seasoning with the water. Pour over the diced chicken and let marinate 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a heavy based frying pan or wok. Add the chicken and brown all over. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Add the onion, garlic, coriander, cumin and turmeric and cook for 3 minutes until onion is soft. Add marinated chicken and cook for 2 minutes. Add soup and cream. Bring to the boil, reduced heat and cook for 15 minutes, until chicken is cooked. Serve with steamed rice.
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: Company roast, potato & pumpkin bake
Tuesday: Spinach ricotta ravioli with tomato sauce
Wednesday: Sweet & sour chicken, fried rice
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Rissoles, gravy
Saturday: Vegetable soup & crumpets
In the fruit bowl: apples, bananas, mandarins
In the cake tin: Fruit cake, shortbread, cup cakes
There are over 1,600 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge
Growing Your Own Food
Every now and then I get asked how come my fruit and veg bill is so low. Well, you all know I love my garden, and growing the food we eat. And that's the secret.
Growing most of our veggies, and some of our fruit, saves me spending around $40 a week at the greengrocer.
I haven't had a garden at all this winter, and boy have I missed it. Having to buy cauliflower and broccoli, silverbeet and squash has been awful. And the price of eggplant! Or parsnip (I love roast parsnip) or turnip for soup - it almost makes soup an expensive meal.
So I'm really looking forward to planting our spring and summer gardens. I usually don't start planting into the garden until the last weekend in September for here, well after the last frost date.
This week has been freezing cold, wet and windy and not at all good for gardening, but perfect for starting seeds.
I've planted tomato, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, capsicum, eggplant,silverbeet and cucumber seeds and they'll all be ready to plant out at the end of September, when the soil is warmer and the weather kinder to baby plants.
I'll also plant sugar snap peas, beans, beetroot and radishes. These are direct sown, meaning I plant the seed into the garden and let it grow.
Then every four weeks I'll repeat the planting so we'll have a continuous supply of delicious, fresh veggies all through summer and autumn.
These are the main veggies we eat during summer, and the ones that are the most expensive to buy. Lettuce can be $2 - $3 each and during summer we can use 3 or 4 a week. Tomatoes can be as much as $8/kilo, and we easily use two or three kilos a week. Then add the cost of cucumbers (often $1 each and we use at least two a week), capsicum, eggplant, peas, beans, broccoli, silverbeet and our veggie bill could easily be $80+ a week. Thank goodness it's not and we still eat well.
Best of all, the extra that we don't eat fresh is preserved for when we don't have them in the garden, helping to keep the food bill down all year round.
Do you grow your own food? Or do you think it's not worth the time, effort and cost? How much do you spend at the greengrocer each week? How much do you think you could save by growing just one or two of your foods?
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
7. Cheapskates Buzz
Most popular forum posts this week
Use It Up Challenge 2018
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?3784-Use-It-Up-Challenge-2018
Getting Ready for Christmas 2018
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?3783-Getting-Ready-for-Christmas-2018
Don't Be Snowed Under By The Utility Bills
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?3788-Don-t-Be-Snowed-Under-By-The-Utility-Bills
Most popular blog posts this week
Healthy Soup Stock
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2014/07/healthy-soup-stock.html
Re-Usable Veggie Bags
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2011/06/re-usable-veggie-bags.html
Mexican Chicken Impossible Pie
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2011/06/mexican-chicken-impossible-pie.html
8. 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
9. 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!
10. 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.
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
11. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - Simple Substitute for Plastic Veggie Bags; Solving the Overseas Gift Problem; Use It Up: Reusing UHT Cartons in the Freezer
3. Cheapskate's Winning Tip - Getting the Scoop on My BFF
4. Share Your Tips -
5. On the Menu - MOO Butter Chicken
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Growing Your Own Food
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. Ask Cath
9. Join the Cheapskates Club
10. Frequently Asked Questions
11. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
And welcome to another Bright Ideas newsletter.
There are some great ideas this week, that will save you money, time and energy, and help you to live the Cheapskates way.
We have interstate visitors arriving this afternoon, in time for afternoon tea I'm thinking, so I have beds to make and pizza to get ready for tonight's dinner. I spent some time baking on Monday, and happily put quite a bit into the freezer ready for the weekend. A couple of hours well spent, we'll eat well and I didn't spend an absolute fortune. We'll be able to relax and enjoy our visitors, something I look forward to every August.
I've seen that rain is forecast for some areas of New South Wales, Queensland and eastern Victoria this weekend, all drought declared. I hope it is enough to fill tanks, water crops and ease the worry for our farming communities.
Have a great week everyone.
Happy Cheapskating,
Cath
PS: Love our site? We love referrals! Send a note to your favourite newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations, friends and relatives, and tell them about us!
2. From The Tip Store
Simple Substitute for Plastic Veggie Bags
For those that want to help the environment and buy their veggies at shops that use plastic bags I bought some mesh lingerie bags from Aldi (you can buy them at most department stores - Big W., Kmart, Target, etc. and all lingerie stores sell them, but they are more expensive at lingerie stores). They are washable, breathable and have a zip so your veggies don't fall out.
Contributed by Toni C.
Solving the Overseas Gift Problem
Do you have family/kids who live abroad? And do you spend a fortune to send them gifts over Christmas/New Year etc.? I have family living abroad and when its festival time, instead of buying and sending gifts via post, I just transfer the money across to their bank accounts and they can buy what they like/love in the country they are in. I do ask them to send me a photo (if they like) of what they bought and all of them have obliged :)
Contributed by Priyanka Mukherjee
Use It Up: Reusing UHT Cartons in the Freezer
This winter I have been using UHT milk cartons to freeze my soup. Obviously, this works best with pureed soups. The cartons stack well in the freezer and make dispensing soup for single serves easy. Just give the carton a good shake before pouring. This would work equally well for storing homemade stocks or pureed tomato sauce for pasta or casseroles. I don't use much milk so prefer to have it on hand in the pantry for when it's needed. Any one litre UHT cartons could be used. Just give the carton and its lid a good rinse before using. Cartons can be reused many times.
Contributed by Simone Button
There are currently more than 12,000 great tips in the Tip Store
3. Cheapskates Winning Tip
This week's winning tip is from Joy Alexander. Joy has won a one year Platinum Cheapskates Club membership for submitting her winning tip.
Getting the Scoop on My BFF
Like my spatulas, my ice-cream scoops are my bff!!
I purchased a good quality spring mechanism ice-cream scoop (pre children) for about $20 ten years ago and then found two more (varying sizes) at op shops. These have made my life so much easier!! I scoop a flat level amount of mixture from the bowl and place on the tray using the release mechanism on the ice cream scoop. Ironically, we don't tend to consume much ice cream, but they are used almost every couple of days for making little zucchini friands/muffins/biscuits/meatballs etc.
Yesterday, I made Johnny Cakes from this site, with the medium ice cream scoop. EASY. All the biscuits were the same size, I knew exactly the number of biscuits I would make from one recipe and could budget accordingly (i also use this size for rissoles/Anzac biscuits/bacon-cheese balls etc. I use the large size scoop for sweet and savoury muffins/zucchini puffs (and then freeze them for healthy lunches for the kids). The small one is used for nut balls, little cakes, custard biscuits etc Each ice-cream scoop is used so often at our house and have paid for themselves over and over. Yes, we cook a lot from scratch and these tools are AWESOME as it releases the mixture every squeeze and all items are the same size and thus cook evenly!
To save time, I have noted in my recipes book, the size ice-cream scoop to use, the number of scoops I get per recipe and what size tray to use - makes cooking a breeze these days! Best kitchen addition ever (together with the spatulas of course)!! Another bonus is the kids love helping when the ice-cream scoop comes out too!!
Congratulations Joy, 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. On the Menu
MOO Butter Chicken
Ingredients:
500g chicken fillets (breast or thigh, whatever is cheapest), skin off and cut into 1cm dice
1 tbsp tandoori seasoning*
1/2 cup water
1 tin tomato soup
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
300ml cream
Method:
Mix the tandoori seasoning with the water. Pour over the diced chicken and let marinate 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a heavy based frying pan or wok. Add the chicken and brown all over. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Add the onion, garlic, coriander, cumin and turmeric and cook for 3 minutes until onion is soft. Add marinated chicken and cook for 2 minutes. Add soup and cream. Bring to the boil, reduced heat and cook for 15 minutes, until chicken is cooked. Serve with steamed rice.
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: Company roast, potato & pumpkin bake
Tuesday: Spinach ricotta ravioli with tomato sauce
Wednesday: Sweet & sour chicken, fried rice
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Rissoles, gravy
Saturday: Vegetable soup & crumpets
In the fruit bowl: apples, bananas, mandarins
In the cake tin: Fruit cake, shortbread, cup cakes
There are over 1,600 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge
Growing Your Own Food
Every now and then I get asked how come my fruit and veg bill is so low. Well, you all know I love my garden, and growing the food we eat. And that's the secret.
Growing most of our veggies, and some of our fruit, saves me spending around $40 a week at the greengrocer.
I haven't had a garden at all this winter, and boy have I missed it. Having to buy cauliflower and broccoli, silverbeet and squash has been awful. And the price of eggplant! Or parsnip (I love roast parsnip) or turnip for soup - it almost makes soup an expensive meal.
So I'm really looking forward to planting our spring and summer gardens. I usually don't start planting into the garden until the last weekend in September for here, well after the last frost date.
This week has been freezing cold, wet and windy and not at all good for gardening, but perfect for starting seeds.
I've planted tomato, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, capsicum, eggplant,silverbeet and cucumber seeds and they'll all be ready to plant out at the end of September, when the soil is warmer and the weather kinder to baby plants.
I'll also plant sugar snap peas, beans, beetroot and radishes. These are direct sown, meaning I plant the seed into the garden and let it grow.
Then every four weeks I'll repeat the planting so we'll have a continuous supply of delicious, fresh veggies all through summer and autumn.
These are the main veggies we eat during summer, and the ones that are the most expensive to buy. Lettuce can be $2 - $3 each and during summer we can use 3 or 4 a week. Tomatoes can be as much as $8/kilo, and we easily use two or three kilos a week. Then add the cost of cucumbers (often $1 each and we use at least two a week), capsicum, eggplant, peas, beans, broccoli, silverbeet and our veggie bill could easily be $80+ a week. Thank goodness it's not and we still eat well.
Best of all, the extra that we don't eat fresh is preserved for when we don't have them in the garden, helping to keep the food bill down all year round.
Do you grow your own food? Or do you think it's not worth the time, effort and cost? How much do you spend at the greengrocer each week? How much do you think you could save by growing just one or two of your foods?
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
7. Cheapskates Buzz
Most popular forum posts this week
Use It Up Challenge 2018
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?3784-Use-It-Up-Challenge-2018
Getting Ready for Christmas 2018
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?3783-Getting-Ready-for-Christmas-2018
Don't Be Snowed Under By The Utility Bills
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?3788-Don-t-Be-Snowed-Under-By-The-Utility-Bills
Most popular blog posts this week
Healthy Soup Stock
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2014/07/healthy-soup-stock.html
Re-Usable Veggie Bags
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2011/06/re-usable-veggie-bags.html
Mexican Chicken Impossible Pie
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2011/06/mexican-chicken-impossible-pie.html
8. 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
9. 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!
10. 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.
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
11. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!