Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter 36:18
In this Newsletter
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - A Quick Custom Kitchen Whiteboard; No More Teabags is Saving Us Money; Using Up Powdered Milk
3. Share Your Tips
4. On the Menu - Stuffed Drumsticks
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Getting Ready to Start Re-Building the Stockpile
6. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
7. This Week's Question - Help needed managing divorce finances
8. Ask Cath
9. Join the Cheapskates Club
10. Frequently Asked Questions
11. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
It's spring! And we've had some lovely spring weather this week so I've washed windows and winter quilts, made some jam with lovely, fresh strawberries and pottered around in the garden, soaking up those glorious rays.
I've been busy inside too, tidying cupboards and washing curtains. We celebrated Father's Day with a very expensive lamb roast (it was Wayne's Father's Day gift from me - yep, it was that expensive!). I've been busy doing a stockpile stocktake, making lists of what we need for the coming 18 months. Yes, I've increased the size of the stockpile, mainly because I just don't like grocery shopping, but also to lock in prices.
I've been working closely with tech to get our new forum ready. It's almost there - it's looking good, and I'm having fun trying it out. Just a few more tweaks and you'll be able to enjoy it too, and I can't wait!
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
A Quick Custom Kitchen Whiteboard
Approximate $ Saving: $15 - $30+
Do you always have problems finding where to place that whiteboard of tasks or messages? Grab some clear or white contact (less than $4 a roll from Bunnings, cheaper at Officeworks and Kmart during back-to-school sales)and find a cupboard/door/side of fridge that has nothing on it. Clean it well. Measure, cut and then stick your contact to the inside of the cupboard or door. Then go for your life with a white-board pen. Even pesky red will come off with a little methylated spirits on a tissue. When you have finished or it's looking shoddy, just pull the contact off and discard. As this is a low-stick contact, any residue glue will clean off with methylated spirits. I use clear contact on a beech cupboard, and another clear contact on a green door for my shopping/lunch lists and to do lists). When there is nothing on the 'whiteboard' - it looks just like the rest of the cupboards. The green door always has tasks on it!) I also use a Command easy-remove holder to hold the white-board marker vertical so it always works. Of a large wad of blue-tack - just keep the point down so the ink is in the tip.
Contributed by RK
Editor's note: When our children were smaller, they each had a "contact" whiteboard on the inside of their wardrobe door. I'd use it as their personal calendar for the week, writing down important dates, when homework was due, sports events and even family birthdays so they'd know what was coming up just for them. I also have a contact covered door on the spice cupboard where I jot recipes, meal plan ideas, stockpile needs etc. It's so handy, as I usually only remember these things when I'm in the kitchen - and my planner is usually some other place. Cath
No More Teabags is Saving Us Money
Approximate $ Savings: $4 per month
We have gone back to using tea leaves in a teapot. I pulled out our old 4 cup tea pot and gave it a spit and polish (or a wash and dry!). I've discovered that the tea has a better flavour, and the packet of tea lasts so much longer than buying packets of teabags. A bonus is that if we want a second cuppa, the pot is still hot enough, so we don't need to boil the kettle again (a small power saving). It's so much easier to put the used tea leaves in the compost, worm farm or garden that I haven't put used tea leaves into the rubbish for almost three months.
Contributed by Bev
Using Up Powdered Milk
Don't just keep milk powder "just in case", use it! I have been making up milk and mixing it to shop bought for years. I add 700ml of made up skim milk to one litre of lite. I've tried half and half, but didn't like the flavour, but you can certainly experiment to find a flavour that suits you and your family. Suddenly, that 2 litre bottle of milk goes much further. In my case it would probably mean another four litres of milk a week: four litres we have to put in the trolley, push said heavy trolley around supermarket, and four heavy litres of milk we have to trudge up the stairs! We moved recently and didn't do this and oh my, did we go through milk during that time!
Contributed by Nat E.
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
Stuffed Drumsticks
Another recipe without a real recipe, but a dish my family loves. Drumsticks are often on sale for $2.99/kg at my butcher so I stock up. They're good to roast, barbecue, casserole and stew so they are very versatile.
When I roast drumsticks I usually stuff them. I make a bread stuffing and gently push it under the skin of the drumstick, brush them with melted butter and roast.
The stuffing mixture I use is 6 - 8 slices stale bread, crumbed and then mixed with a beaten egg, a chopped tomato, diced onion and a good pinch of mixed or Italian herbs. I use my hands to squish it all together. Each drumstick takes about a tablespoon of the mixture, and this should be enough to do 10 drumsticks.
Serve them hot with gravy, or cold with salad or in a lunchbox.
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: Rissoles, vegetables, mushroom gravy
Tuesday: Vegetable Lasagne, tossed salad
Wednesday: Vegetable curry, steamed rice, naan
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Tuna pie, coleslaw, wedges
Saturday: Vegetable soup & crumpets
In the fruit bowl: Apples, strawberries
There are over 1,600 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge
Getting Ready to Start Re-Building the Stockpile
Over the last two or three weeks I've been doing some serious thinking about our stockpile. How it's used, how much we stockpile, what we stockpile, where we keep everything, and how much money we invest in the stockpile each year. I've been thinking about this after listening to a couple of interviews on ABC radio, listening to some mainstream media news stories and talking to family and friends who are farmers (and it's them I listen to the most - they are living and working with what's happening with our food security 24/7).
After talking (and talking and talking….) to Wayne about it, we have made a decision to start re-building early. January is usually my stockpile building month, so we are a few months early, because we are aiming to have 18 months of supplies in our stockpile by the end of the year.
The first step was to inventory what was still in the stockpile, and then to make shopping lists for the next few months. Last year's lists came in very handy, there were only a few changes to make. Last week I did my first stockpile top-up grocery shop, with Tom's help and now I’m planning next month's shopping stock-up shopping trip.
I've posted lists of what we stockpile for 12 months here.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
6. Cheapskates Buzz
Most popular forum posts this week
Goals for Saving
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?3777-goals-for-saving
Home Repair Kit
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?91-Home-repair-kit
I'm Going to Use My....
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2670-I-m-going-to-use-my....
Most popular blog posts this week
Deli Counter V Deli Cabinet
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/05/deli-counter-v-deli-cabinet.html
Spring Clean Your Finances - Week 1
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2014/09/spring-clean-your-finances-week-1.html
Sweet Potato Fajitas
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2014/02/sweet-potato-fajitas.html
7. This Week's Question
Susan writes
"I am going through a divorce. Are there any tips your readers can give me? Is there any way to save money on this process and what should I not skimp on?"
Do you have some advice to help Susan?
If you have a suggestion or idea 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
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 - A Quick Custom Kitchen Whiteboard; No More Teabags is Saving Us Money; Using Up Powdered Milk
3. Share Your Tips
4. On the Menu - Stuffed Drumsticks
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Getting Ready to Start Re-Building the Stockpile
6. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
7. This Week's Question - Help needed managing divorce finances
8. Ask Cath
9. Join the Cheapskates Club
10. Frequently Asked Questions
11. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
It's spring! And we've had some lovely spring weather this week so I've washed windows and winter quilts, made some jam with lovely, fresh strawberries and pottered around in the garden, soaking up those glorious rays.
I've been busy inside too, tidying cupboards and washing curtains. We celebrated Father's Day with a very expensive lamb roast (it was Wayne's Father's Day gift from me - yep, it was that expensive!). I've been busy doing a stockpile stocktake, making lists of what we need for the coming 18 months. Yes, I've increased the size of the stockpile, mainly because I just don't like grocery shopping, but also to lock in prices.
I've been working closely with tech to get our new forum ready. It's almost there - it's looking good, and I'm having fun trying it out. Just a few more tweaks and you'll be able to enjoy it too, and I can't wait!
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
A Quick Custom Kitchen Whiteboard
Approximate $ Saving: $15 - $30+
Do you always have problems finding where to place that whiteboard of tasks or messages? Grab some clear or white contact (less than $4 a roll from Bunnings, cheaper at Officeworks and Kmart during back-to-school sales)and find a cupboard/door/side of fridge that has nothing on it. Clean it well. Measure, cut and then stick your contact to the inside of the cupboard or door. Then go for your life with a white-board pen. Even pesky red will come off with a little methylated spirits on a tissue. When you have finished or it's looking shoddy, just pull the contact off and discard. As this is a low-stick contact, any residue glue will clean off with methylated spirits. I use clear contact on a beech cupboard, and another clear contact on a green door for my shopping/lunch lists and to do lists). When there is nothing on the 'whiteboard' - it looks just like the rest of the cupboards. The green door always has tasks on it!) I also use a Command easy-remove holder to hold the white-board marker vertical so it always works. Of a large wad of blue-tack - just keep the point down so the ink is in the tip.
Contributed by RK
Editor's note: When our children were smaller, they each had a "contact" whiteboard on the inside of their wardrobe door. I'd use it as their personal calendar for the week, writing down important dates, when homework was due, sports events and even family birthdays so they'd know what was coming up just for them. I also have a contact covered door on the spice cupboard where I jot recipes, meal plan ideas, stockpile needs etc. It's so handy, as I usually only remember these things when I'm in the kitchen - and my planner is usually some other place. Cath
No More Teabags is Saving Us Money
Approximate $ Savings: $4 per month
We have gone back to using tea leaves in a teapot. I pulled out our old 4 cup tea pot and gave it a spit and polish (or a wash and dry!). I've discovered that the tea has a better flavour, and the packet of tea lasts so much longer than buying packets of teabags. A bonus is that if we want a second cuppa, the pot is still hot enough, so we don't need to boil the kettle again (a small power saving). It's so much easier to put the used tea leaves in the compost, worm farm or garden that I haven't put used tea leaves into the rubbish for almost three months.
Contributed by Bev
Using Up Powdered Milk
Don't just keep milk powder "just in case", use it! I have been making up milk and mixing it to shop bought for years. I add 700ml of made up skim milk to one litre of lite. I've tried half and half, but didn't like the flavour, but you can certainly experiment to find a flavour that suits you and your family. Suddenly, that 2 litre bottle of milk goes much further. In my case it would probably mean another four litres of milk a week: four litres we have to put in the trolley, push said heavy trolley around supermarket, and four heavy litres of milk we have to trudge up the stairs! We moved recently and didn't do this and oh my, did we go through milk during that time!
Contributed by Nat E.
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
Stuffed Drumsticks
Another recipe without a real recipe, but a dish my family loves. Drumsticks are often on sale for $2.99/kg at my butcher so I stock up. They're good to roast, barbecue, casserole and stew so they are very versatile.
When I roast drumsticks I usually stuff them. I make a bread stuffing and gently push it under the skin of the drumstick, brush them with melted butter and roast.
The stuffing mixture I use is 6 - 8 slices stale bread, crumbed and then mixed with a beaten egg, a chopped tomato, diced onion and a good pinch of mixed or Italian herbs. I use my hands to squish it all together. Each drumstick takes about a tablespoon of the mixture, and this should be enough to do 10 drumsticks.
Serve them hot with gravy, or cold with salad or in a lunchbox.
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: Rissoles, vegetables, mushroom gravy
Tuesday: Vegetable Lasagne, tossed salad
Wednesday: Vegetable curry, steamed rice, naan
Thursday: MOO Pizza
Friday: Tuna pie, coleslaw, wedges
Saturday: Vegetable soup & crumpets
In the fruit bowl: Apples, strawberries
There are over 1,600 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge
Getting Ready to Start Re-Building the Stockpile
Over the last two or three weeks I've been doing some serious thinking about our stockpile. How it's used, how much we stockpile, what we stockpile, where we keep everything, and how much money we invest in the stockpile each year. I've been thinking about this after listening to a couple of interviews on ABC radio, listening to some mainstream media news stories and talking to family and friends who are farmers (and it's them I listen to the most - they are living and working with what's happening with our food security 24/7).
After talking (and talking and talking….) to Wayne about it, we have made a decision to start re-building early. January is usually my stockpile building month, so we are a few months early, because we are aiming to have 18 months of supplies in our stockpile by the end of the year.
The first step was to inventory what was still in the stockpile, and then to make shopping lists for the next few months. Last year's lists came in very handy, there were only a few changes to make. Last week I did my first stockpile top-up grocery shop, with Tom's help and now I’m planning next month's shopping stock-up shopping trip.
I've posted lists of what we stockpile for 12 months here.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
6. Cheapskates Buzz
Most popular forum posts this week
Goals for Saving
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?3777-goals-for-saving
Home Repair Kit
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?91-Home-repair-kit
I'm Going to Use My....
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2670-I-m-going-to-use-my....
Most popular blog posts this week
Deli Counter V Deli Cabinet
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2015/05/deli-counter-v-deli-cabinet.html
Spring Clean Your Finances - Week 1
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2014/09/spring-clean-your-finances-week-1.html
Sweet Potato Fajitas
https://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2014/02/sweet-potato-fajitas.html
7. This Week's Question
Susan writes
"I am going through a divorce. Are there any tips your readers can give me? Is there any way to save money on this process and what should I not skimp on?"
Do you have some advice to help Susan?
If you have a suggestion or idea 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
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!