Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter 40:18
In this Newsletter
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - Use It Up Conditioner; MOO Seedling Tubes; Old School Method for Greasing Cake Pans
3. Share Your Tips
4. On the Menu - Sour Cream Pasta Bake
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Spring Cleaning the Pantry
6. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
7 Own Your Christmas Challenge - Week 1 Tasks and Tips
8. Last Week's Question - Is there a cheaper black wash I can MOO?
9. This Week's Question - Advice needed to sell our home
10. Ask Cath
11. Join the Cheapskates Club
12. Frequently Asked Questions
13. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
Welcome to another money, time and energy saving Cheapskates newsletter.
I'm in Christmas planning mode this week. I've spring cleaned the pantry, been inspired to soak the fruit to start the Christmas baking, transplanted some seedlings into the garden, decluttered another cupboard and dropped the things off immediately (sometimes they can languish by the front door for a few days!) and started making our Christmas cards. It's been a very busy, and fun week.
And in amongst all that busyness there was time to sit in the sunshine and read and catch up with a good friend.
All in all, it's been a great week, and I hope yours has been as well.
Enjoy this week's newsletter.
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
Use It Up Conditioner
In the spirit of 'Use It Up' in tbe Bright Ideas to Save You Money Newsletter, I'd like to contribute a small thing that I've found useful. If you have any old conditioner around, try using it instead of shaving cream. The special bought cream costs a lot, and using the conditioner (especially on legs) give you a much smoother shave, and less shave r burn, and moisturizes as well.
Contributed by Elizabeth Oldfield
MOO Seedling Tubes
Collect your empty cardboard toilet paper rolls and cut the cylinder in half horizontally. Place cardboard rolls on the upturned lid of an opaque storage container. Use a spare one from home, or they can be bought at The Reject Shop or similar. Three-quarters fill the cylinders with potting mix, place a seed on top and cover lightly with more potting mix. Dampen tops with a spray bottle of water. Make sure the lid is in a warm spot, on the paving is perfect. Cover each night, or in cool weather, with the upside down storage container. The container works like a hothouse, protecting the seedlings from frost and snails that come out at night. When you're ready to plant out the seedlings, you can plant straight into the ground as the cardboard will breakdown in the moist soil. If you are planting a variety of seeds, you can write what it is on the side of the tube.
Contributed by Julie Ivey
Old School Method for Greasing Cake Pans
This is something my Mum taught me to do. Save the wrappers from your butter to grease your cake pans. If the butter is at room temperature before you unwrap it there will be a coating of butter left on the wrapper. I fold them up and put them in a plastic container in the fridge ready to go when I need them. You just need to wipe the inside of the wrapper with the butter on it over the tin and you're ready to go. I freeze my butter so there isn't always a lot of residue on the wrapper when you do this, however, I still keep them and just pinch off a bit of butter with the wrapper if I feel that there is not enough to do a good job and use the wrapper to spread it around the pan. I used to use a sheet of paper towel to spread the butter in the pan to grease it, but now I save money by not needing to use the paper towel and time because the wrappers are pre-greased and I just need to grab one and the job is done. No mess either!
Contributed by Kate Conti
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
This is a favourite weekend dish in our house, usually for a Saturday or Sunday lunch when we have a bunch of people around the table. Bulk it out with a big green salad and some crusty bread and it is perfect for eating while you enjoy the company.
Sour Cream Pasta Bake
Ingredients:
750g minced beef
1 jar tomato based pasta sauce - whatever flavour you prefer, or use homemade
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
250g pasta spirals
1/2 cup sour cream
1-1/4 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup sliced spring onions
1 cup tasty cheese, grated
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Brown the mince in a large fry pan. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce, salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.
Cook pasta spirals until al dente. Drain and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to pasta and stir. Add spring onions and stir. Stir gently, you don't want to break up the noodles.
To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with pasta, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the all cheese is melted.
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: Curried sausages over steamed rice
Tuesday: Sour Cream Pasta Bake
Wednesday: Fish Alaska
Thursday: Moo Pizza
Friday: Sweet & sour chicken, fried rice
Saturday: Stuffed Potatoes
In the fruit bowl: mandarins
In the cake tin: Triple choc brownies, cupcakes, banana cake
There are over 1,600 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge
Spring Cleaning the Pantry
This week I spring cleaned our pantry, ready for Christmas baking season. It's always clean, and I try to keep it tidy and organised (sometimes it feels like an impossible task). I like to be able to reach in and know exactly where the canister I want is on the shelf.
So I went through, took everything out, shelf by shelf, and plonked it all on the bench. Then I took the bottle of Miracle Spray and cleaned each shelf, the walls and the bottom of the shelf above. While it was drying I used a damp microfibre cloth to wipe over the outside of the canisters and condiment jars.
Next step was pest control. It's been a long, long time since we had pantry moths or weevils, and I don't want them again! I used some bay leaf oil on a cotton ball to wipe the edges of the shelves and put out fresh bay leaves. Pantry moths don't like bay leaf oil, so it's a very easy, safe and cost effective way to manage these pests. The other way is to simply freeze all dry goods for at least a week before you put them in the pantry (and I do this automatically to all dry goods as soon as they come into the house).
As I put things back, I topped up canisters and made a list of what I need to buy, especially for Christmas baking. I don't want to be halfway through a cake or pudding or sweet and realise I'm out of an essential ingredient.
The last thing I did was call Tom to come and take the light fitting down so it could be washed.
Now the pantry is in order, it smells lovely and after reading Dallas' post in the forum, I'm ready to start the Christmas baking. I know exactly what is on each shelf and best of all, I know what I need to use up quickly.
It was easy, only took about an hour all up, even with a cuppa break in the middle, and keeping the pantry tidy and clean is just another thing that helps me stick to our grocery budget. And one more job crossed off the spring cleaning list.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
6. Cheapskates Buzz
From the Article Archive
Taming the Grocery Budget Part 1
Taming the Grocery Budget Part 2 - Seasonal Shopping and Eating
Taming the Grocery Monster Part 3 - Grow Your Own Grub
Most popular forum posts this week
Chicken Enchiladas
Stockpiles
Are You a Cheapskater Near Me?
Most popular blog posts this week
What does Your Pantry Say About You?
White Chocolate Lemon Shortbread Bars
An Organised Handbag
7. Own Your Christmas Countdown
With just 82 days until Christmas, it's time to face it and get organised (if you're not already). To own your Christmas you need to put some effort in now. Then come December 1 you'll be sitting back, relaxed, organised and prepared, while everyone else is just realising they only have 24 days to get organised and prepare.
And in January, when the bills start rolling in, your letterbox will be Christmas bill free - you owned your Christmas so you won't have any bills to fear or worry about.
Week 1 is planning week, the week where you set the tone for the rest of your Challenge.
There are 5 tasks for week 1:
Task 1: print the planners
Task 2: start to work on your Christmas Spending Plan
Task 3: get your Christmas gift list done
Task 4: start on the handmade gifts you are going to give
Task 5: write up your Christmas card list, and divide by 8. Write up the first lot of cards.
The tasks are outlined here in greater detail, and you can get the Own Your Christmas planners here too.
If you'd like the weekly tasks and round-up, you can join the Own Your Christmas challenge here
8. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Marita wrote
"I use a black wash for my dark clothes. There are a couple on the market now but they are quite expensive. Does anyone know of a cheaper alternative to keep dark clothes from fading in the wash? I always hang them inside out on the line to stop fading as well. Thanks for your help."
Marg Cowan answered
Add 1 cup of salt to the wash. It will stop the fading.
Jenny G answered
Always wash dark clothes on a cold wash/cold rinse. Hot water causes dark colours to fade faster. And dry inside out, in the shade or indoors - direct sunlight on dark coloured laundry will fade them in no time.
Paula Chisolm answered
I always wash dark clothes separately. While the whites are washing I soak them in the laundry tub with 1 cup white vinegar and 2 teaspoons salt - it helps to set the colour. Then I add 1/2 cup white vinegar to the rinse. And I always turn dark clothes inside out to hang on the line. No special, expensive "dark wash" needed, just simple pantry ingredients.
9. This Week's Question
Jo D writes
"We are selling our townhouse this year to move into a retirement village. My husband is determined to sell it himself to save on agent fees. I've been looking at sites like Purple Bricks. They charge a fee to cover things like photographs, display board and other help. Has anyone had any experience in selling this way?"
Do you have an answer for Jo?
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
10. 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
11. 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!
12. 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
13. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
Contact Cheapskates
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - Use It Up Conditioner; MOO Seedling Tubes; Old School Method for Greasing Cake Pans
3. Share Your Tips
4. On the Menu - Sour Cream Pasta Bake
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge - Spring Cleaning the Pantry
6. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
7 Own Your Christmas Challenge - Week 1 Tasks and Tips
8. Last Week's Question - Is there a cheaper black wash I can MOO?
9. This Week's Question - Advice needed to sell our home
10. Ask Cath
11. Join the Cheapskates Club
12. Frequently Asked Questions
13. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
Welcome to another money, time and energy saving Cheapskates newsletter.
I'm in Christmas planning mode this week. I've spring cleaned the pantry, been inspired to soak the fruit to start the Christmas baking, transplanted some seedlings into the garden, decluttered another cupboard and dropped the things off immediately (sometimes they can languish by the front door for a few days!) and started making our Christmas cards. It's been a very busy, and fun week.
And in amongst all that busyness there was time to sit in the sunshine and read and catch up with a good friend.
All in all, it's been a great week, and I hope yours has been as well.
Enjoy this week's newsletter.
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
Use It Up Conditioner
In the spirit of 'Use It Up' in tbe Bright Ideas to Save You Money Newsletter, I'd like to contribute a small thing that I've found useful. If you have any old conditioner around, try using it instead of shaving cream. The special bought cream costs a lot, and using the conditioner (especially on legs) give you a much smoother shave, and less shave r burn, and moisturizes as well.
Contributed by Elizabeth Oldfield
MOO Seedling Tubes
Collect your empty cardboard toilet paper rolls and cut the cylinder in half horizontally. Place cardboard rolls on the upturned lid of an opaque storage container. Use a spare one from home, or they can be bought at The Reject Shop or similar. Three-quarters fill the cylinders with potting mix, place a seed on top and cover lightly with more potting mix. Dampen tops with a spray bottle of water. Make sure the lid is in a warm spot, on the paving is perfect. Cover each night, or in cool weather, with the upside down storage container. The container works like a hothouse, protecting the seedlings from frost and snails that come out at night. When you're ready to plant out the seedlings, you can plant straight into the ground as the cardboard will breakdown in the moist soil. If you are planting a variety of seeds, you can write what it is on the side of the tube.
Contributed by Julie Ivey
Old School Method for Greasing Cake Pans
This is something my Mum taught me to do. Save the wrappers from your butter to grease your cake pans. If the butter is at room temperature before you unwrap it there will be a coating of butter left on the wrapper. I fold them up and put them in a plastic container in the fridge ready to go when I need them. You just need to wipe the inside of the wrapper with the butter on it over the tin and you're ready to go. I freeze my butter so there isn't always a lot of residue on the wrapper when you do this, however, I still keep them and just pinch off a bit of butter with the wrapper if I feel that there is not enough to do a good job and use the wrapper to spread it around the pan. I used to use a sheet of paper towel to spread the butter in the pan to grease it, but now I save money by not needing to use the paper towel and time because the wrappers are pre-greased and I just need to grab one and the job is done. No mess either!
Contributed by Kate Conti
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
This is a favourite weekend dish in our house, usually for a Saturday or Sunday lunch when we have a bunch of people around the table. Bulk it out with a big green salad and some crusty bread and it is perfect for eating while you enjoy the company.
Sour Cream Pasta Bake
Ingredients:
750g minced beef
1 jar tomato based pasta sauce - whatever flavour you prefer, or use homemade
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
250g pasta spirals
1/2 cup sour cream
1-1/4 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup sliced spring onions
1 cup tasty cheese, grated
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Brown the mince in a large fry pan. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce, salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.
Cook pasta spirals until al dente. Drain and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to pasta and stir. Add spring onions and stir. Stir gently, you don't want to break up the noodles.
To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with pasta, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the all cheese is melted.
This week we will be eating:
Sunday: Roast Chicken
Monday: Curried sausages over steamed rice
Tuesday: Sour Cream Pasta Bake
Wednesday: Fish Alaska
Thursday: Moo Pizza
Friday: Sweet & sour chicken, fried rice
Saturday: Stuffed Potatoes
In the fruit bowl: mandarins
In the cake tin: Triple choc brownies, cupcakes, banana cake
There are over 1,600 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.
5. The $300 a Month Food Challenge
Spring Cleaning the Pantry
This week I spring cleaned our pantry, ready for Christmas baking season. It's always clean, and I try to keep it tidy and organised (sometimes it feels like an impossible task). I like to be able to reach in and know exactly where the canister I want is on the shelf.
So I went through, took everything out, shelf by shelf, and plonked it all on the bench. Then I took the bottle of Miracle Spray and cleaned each shelf, the walls and the bottom of the shelf above. While it was drying I used a damp microfibre cloth to wipe over the outside of the canisters and condiment jars.
Next step was pest control. It's been a long, long time since we had pantry moths or weevils, and I don't want them again! I used some bay leaf oil on a cotton ball to wipe the edges of the shelves and put out fresh bay leaves. Pantry moths don't like bay leaf oil, so it's a very easy, safe and cost effective way to manage these pests. The other way is to simply freeze all dry goods for at least a week before you put them in the pantry (and I do this automatically to all dry goods as soon as they come into the house).
As I put things back, I topped up canisters and made a list of what I need to buy, especially for Christmas baking. I don't want to be halfway through a cake or pudding or sweet and realise I'm out of an essential ingredient.
The last thing I did was call Tom to come and take the light fitting down so it could be washed.
Now the pantry is in order, it smells lovely and after reading Dallas' post in the forum, I'm ready to start the Christmas baking. I know exactly what is on each shelf and best of all, I know what I need to use up quickly.
It was easy, only took about an hour all up, even with a cuppa break in the middle, and keeping the pantry tidy and clean is just another thing that helps me stick to our grocery budget. And one more job crossed off the spring cleaning list.
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
The Post that Started it All
6. Cheapskates Buzz
From the Article Archive
Taming the Grocery Budget Part 1
Taming the Grocery Budget Part 2 - Seasonal Shopping and Eating
Taming the Grocery Monster Part 3 - Grow Your Own Grub
Most popular forum posts this week
Chicken Enchiladas
Stockpiles
Are You a Cheapskater Near Me?
Most popular blog posts this week
What does Your Pantry Say About You?
White Chocolate Lemon Shortbread Bars
An Organised Handbag
7. Own Your Christmas Countdown
With just 82 days until Christmas, it's time to face it and get organised (if you're not already). To own your Christmas you need to put some effort in now. Then come December 1 you'll be sitting back, relaxed, organised and prepared, while everyone else is just realising they only have 24 days to get organised and prepare.
And in January, when the bills start rolling in, your letterbox will be Christmas bill free - you owned your Christmas so you won't have any bills to fear or worry about.
Week 1 is planning week, the week where you set the tone for the rest of your Challenge.
There are 5 tasks for week 1:
Task 1: print the planners
Task 2: start to work on your Christmas Spending Plan
Task 3: get your Christmas gift list done
Task 4: start on the handmade gifts you are going to give
Task 5: write up your Christmas card list, and divide by 8. Write up the first lot of cards.
The tasks are outlined here in greater detail, and you can get the Own Your Christmas planners here too.
If you'd like the weekly tasks and round-up, you can join the Own Your Christmas challenge here
8. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Marita wrote
"I use a black wash for my dark clothes. There are a couple on the market now but they are quite expensive. Does anyone know of a cheaper alternative to keep dark clothes from fading in the wash? I always hang them inside out on the line to stop fading as well. Thanks for your help."
Marg Cowan answered
Add 1 cup of salt to the wash. It will stop the fading.
Jenny G answered
Always wash dark clothes on a cold wash/cold rinse. Hot water causes dark colours to fade faster. And dry inside out, in the shade or indoors - direct sunlight on dark coloured laundry will fade them in no time.
Paula Chisolm answered
I always wash dark clothes separately. While the whites are washing I soak them in the laundry tub with 1 cup white vinegar and 2 teaspoons salt - it helps to set the colour. Then I add 1/2 cup white vinegar to the rinse. And I always turn dark clothes inside out to hang on the line. No special, expensive "dark wash" needed, just simple pantry ingredients.
9. This Week's Question
Jo D writes
"We are selling our townhouse this year to move into a retirement village. My husband is determined to sell it himself to save on agent fees. I've been looking at sites like Purple Bricks. They charge a fee to cover things like photographs, display board and other help. Has anyone had any experience in selling this way?"
Do you have an answer for Jo?
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
10. 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
11. 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!
12. 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
13. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
Contact Cheapskates