Your Cheapskates Club Newsletter: 45:14 Bright ideas to save you money
1. Cath's Corner
2. In the Tip Store - My Favourite Money Saving Gadget, Family Energy Rebate, Shoe Pocket Gardening
3. Submit Your Tip
4. Living Green in 2014 - Air Conditioning in your Home
5. On the Menu with Anne - Silverbeet Casserole
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy - Prepared v Homemade
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. Member's Featured Blog - Extending the Life of Clothes
9. Last Week's Question - Anyone have any frugal cheese substitutes?
10. This Week's Question - Ideas needed for refreshing a driveway
11. Join the Cheapskates Club
12. Gift Memberships
13. Frequently Asked Questions
14. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
I laughed when Anne sent through her On the Menu for this week, I know just how she feels. We've been over-run with silverbeet too, although my lot aren't as gracious as Anne's - they've started complaining about the "green stuff" on their plates every night. I just smile and tell them better to have a feast than a famine.
How have you been Cheapskating this week? I ask because we're fast moving into the time of year when money can just disappear from your pocket, purse and bank account. And you really won't know where it's gone.
We all get busy, rushing around getting ready for Christmas, holidays and the end of the year so being extra vigilant with our money, time and energy is really important. Using simple strategies such as going back to recording what we spend, making a to do list, shopping with a specific list and setting time and money budgets will help to keep us on track.
Aim to own your Christmas this year – use cash for your purchases or if you must use the credit card only spend what you would if you had cash. Then pay it off in full before the due date. Otherwise you won't own your Christmas, the bank will and you'll be paying for it for months.
When you leave the house remember that the shopping centres are using emotional blackmail to tug at your heartstrings. Be strong and ignore them. Make your plan and stick to it and you will own your Christmas.
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!
PPS: You can read this newsletter and past copies on the website in the Newsletter Archive.
2. From The Tip Store
My Favourite Money Saving Gadget
Years ago, when I visited a store to buy new bags for my vacuum cleaner, they were demonstrating a gadget called a 'turbo dust interceptor'. It attaches in-line on most vacuum rods. As the dirt is vacuumed up almost all is diverted into a clear container and never reaches the bag. In my case it captures enough cat hair to knit a jumper. Once full, you can easily remove the container to empty into the trash. Checking online I've found it for sale for $70. If you used generic bags at $3 each, it re-pays itself after 23-24 bags. So little dust reaches the bag that it literally falls apart before it fills up. I bought mine around 8 years ago, and I still have one bag left out of the pack of 4 I bought that day.
Contributed by Andrea Hewett
Family Energy Rebate
Approximate $ Savings: $150
The New South Wales Trade & Investment department is providing The Family Energy Rebate (FER) which helps NSW family households with dependent children to pay their electricity bills. Applications are now open for the 2014-2015 Family Energy Rebate. The application submission deadline is Midnight 16 June 2015. In 2014-2015 the Family Energy Rebate gives eligible households a $150 credit on their electricity bill. Check you eligibility and apply!
Contributed by Marcos Camara
Shoe Pocket Gardening
Remember the old fashioned (now) hanging shoe pockets….material or plastic with maybe 5 or 6 pockets to hold a pair of shoes in a line with maybe 5 lines? Well, these make amazing pockets for growing herbs, lettuce. Plants that I use lots of and am able to pick leaves from often, are my aim. First stop the op shops again or if you sew making a shoe pocket hanger is very easy indeed. My current one I bought from the op shop and it is completely waterproof. Hang your pocket garden somewhere there are 6 - 8 hours of sunlight. I put a med. freezer bag in each pocket, filled with potting mix (because it is lighter than soil usually), popped in my sprigs of mint and lettuce seedlings and now any misc. clear water from the kitchen goes out to keep the plants watered. I have made a hole in the bottom of each section and in the freezer bag to allow for drainage and roots to breathe. What prompted me to try this style of gardening is our house is on the market, there are portions of near clean water in the kitchen often that I could use on the pocket garden and most of all for me, and I have the pocket garden very close to the house so to water it as above is very easy. My Pocket Garden is screwed over an upright leaning against a wall pallet - worked for me.
Contributed by Carol Ryan
There are more than 11,000 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. Living Green in 2014
Air Conditioning in your Home
People often don’t realize how much energy they are using when running their heating unit or the air conditioning, actually more than half of the energy used in the home comes from either the air conditioner or the heater.
Now the weather is warming up, and the forecast is for a long, hot, dry summer, many households will be flicking that air conditioner on. If you are in and out of the house at set times it would be best to have a programmable thermostat so that the air isn’t running when it doesn’t need to be. Another way to keep your house cooler, therefore eliminating the need for the air conditioner, is to make sure you keep the blinds shut during the day so that you protect your home from getting warmed up by the sun’s rays! External blinds or awnings help too. If you have ducted heating, turn the pilot off on the heater (actually turn the pilot off on any gas heater) and make sure all the vents are closed to stop hot air circulating into rooms.
Being conscious of the energy being used in your home is important. It is our responsibility to be more eco-friendly and aware of the impact we are making on the environment. Most of these tips are quick and easy fixes that will not only reduce your carbon footprint, but also end up saving you a nice chunk of money.
If there is something on the list that I didn’t mention which you have found to be helpful in making your home more energy efficient, I would love to hear them!
5. On the Menu with Anne
Silverbeet Casserole
Our garden is going grow crazy at the moment. The lettuce are huge, the tomato plants have quadrupled in size and the silverbeet is going ballistic. There's so much silverbeet I've been giving it away, shredding it into salads, adding it to pasta sauce and freezing it. Then I remembered this recipe from the Recipe File and it's a winner! Full of flavour, easy, quick and it uses up a lot of silverbeet. Best of all the whole family likes it.
Silverbeet Casserole
Ingredients:
1 bunch silverbeet
30g butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp plain flour
1 cup milk
60g cream cheese
250g cottage cheese
30g butter, extra
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs
Method:
Chop spinach and cook in a little boiling water till just tender. Drain. Melt butter and sauté onion till transparent. Stir in flour. Cook 1 minute, add milk and stir until thickened. Add cream cheese. Place a layer of half the sauce in the base of a greased casserole dish. Cover with silverbeet. Spread cottage cheese over silverbeet. Pour over remaining sauce. Melt extra butter in saucepan and toss breadcrumbs until crisp. Sprinkle over sauce. Bake in a moderate oven 20 minutes.
This week we will be eating:
Friday: Hamburgers and chips
Saturday: Lasagne and salad
Sunday: Roast chicken, baked vegetables
Monday: Sausages and salad
Tuesday: Rissoles, mash, beans, corn, mushroom gravy
Wednesday: Chicken and vegetable risotto
Thursday: Vegetable soup and toasted crumpets
In the fruit bowl: kiwi, apples, oranges, bananas
In the cake tin: Chocolate cake, ANZAC slice
There are over 1,400 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy
Welcome to a new week of cutting your grocery bill
Over the last few weeks we've discussed the costly extras that creep into our grocery trolley. We think we need them and yet a couple of decades ago they were not available or classified as a special treat. Sauces, food wraps and bottled drinks are the topics we've covered so far. This week's topic is frozen foods.
How often have you walked past the freezer section and been dazzled by its contents? I used to be like that as a newlywed about 18 - 19 years ago. My cooking skills were limited so those prepacked, pre-prepared foods looked like heaven to me. I'll admit that I bought a frozen lasagne or two. I also bought frozen sticky date puddings, a cheese cake or two, a few pizzas, apple pies, a few frozen meals as well as the staples like frozen vegies, ice-cream and fish.
At the time, these frozen foods tasted very nice. Divine in fact. Then I saw the light or should I say recipe books and the internet. These two sources of information opened up a whole new world to me. I found easy to follow recipes that used normal everyday ingredients. Suddenly that frozen sticky date pudding that I thought was " oh so yummy " didn't have the same appeal any more. I could make it better and cheaper.
I now freeze my own lasagne, leftovers (my version of a freezer meal), sticky date puddings in muffin sizes, pizza dough to make my own pizzas and stewed apple to make apple desserts. My grocery budget has shrunk as a result of making my own and I enjoy my own food far more than anything made in a factory.
These days, the only things I buy from the freezer section are boxed crumbed fish (rarely eaten), ice cream (plain vanilla), pastry (to make my own yummies) and beans and corn kernels. Everything else we either grow, bake or cook ourselves.
The next time you walk past the supermarket freezers, have a think about making these foods yourself. Your family will be thanking you for it and you'll notice a change in your grocery budget.
Have a great week and BE ENCOURAGED!!!!!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?24-Take-up-the-challenge-!!!!
The Post that Started it All
http://www.cheapskates.com.au/pages/default.cfm?page_id=44265
7. Cheapskates Buzz
This week's hot forum topics
Why Are You a Cheapskate?
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2672-Why-are-you-a-cheapskate
Sometimes it's the Simple Things in Life....
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?1760-Sometimes-it-s-the-simple-things-in-life-
Freezer Habits Unmasked
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?1990-Freezer-habits-unmasked&p=45956#post45956
Most popular blog posts this week
8 Easy Ways to Reduce Food Waste
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/03/8-easy-ways-to-reduce-food-waste.html
10 Real Ways to Keep the Grocery Budget Down
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/07/10-real-ways-to-keep-grocery-budget-down.html
Miracle Spray
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2012/05/miracle-spray.html
8. Member's 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 Chrissie.
Extending the Life of Clothes
Today when I put my socks on, and discovered that one had a hole, instead of ignoring it, and being aware of the hole the whole day, as I can feel it when I am walking, I pulled out my sewing kit, found the black thread and a needle, and darned it. The whole process took less than five minutes. I was left feeling more comfortable, and the sock wasn't going to get a bigger hole. On return from going out, I got the needle and thread out again and repaired a split seam on a favourite dress. This means that I now have another outfit for work, without having to go shopping.
I like to darn and repair, but haven't ever been good at sewing from scratch. And, I am happy to pay someone to make alterations to my clothes, if necessary. Yesterday, I collected two skirts from my seamstress, one needed a new zip, and the other had to have the waist band modified. It was as if I had two new pieces of clothing.
Login to read more Cheapskates Club member blogs
9. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Maggi who wrote
"Anyone have any suggestions for a cheese substitute as I have someone who is allergic."
Melinda Hashimoto answered
Tofu can be a great substitute. There are various flavours available in the cool section of the supermarket. I like Soyco brand Tofu and if cut thinly it is great in a ham and salad sandwich.
Rachel Hull answered
If you are making a white sauce, add a small amount of mustard instead of cheese. Add a little at a time until you get a cheesy flavour. Also, if you can find Nutritional Yeast, a sprinkle of this on vegies will do the trick. (not the yeast to make bread with and usually found in Health shops) Hope this helps.
Vanessa Del Nevo answered
I am lactose intolerant and found that both Coles and Woolworths sell a Lactose free cheddar type cheese. Tastes very nice.
Caroline Taylor answered
I too have a dairy allergy and I love cheese. I buy a couple of good quality firm non-dairy cheeses called Cheezley which is in a roll, or No-Moo in a block which are both soy free and taste good from the health food store or from a gourmet style supermarket which is part of the LEO's group. If soy isn't an issue then I also buy soy cheese slices and a really yummy cream cheese alternative called better than cream cheese both by Toffutti from the same supermarket. I think that Woolworths also sell this product and Macro soy cheese.
Tracey Asquith answered
I have lactose intolerance and giving up cheese was difficult until I found the Liddell's range. Lactose free block, grated, sliced cheese. Lactose free milk, cream, yogurts etc. They are not cheap but a little goes a long way.
Do you have a question that needs an answer?
Send us your question and receive the combined knowledge of your fellow Cheapskates to solve your problem!
Ask Your Question
10. This Week's Question
"Any suggestions for sprucing up the appearance of a faded concrete driveway without making it slippery? It's stamped concrete and used to be a terracotta colour. I know we could paint it but it's fairly steep and I'm concerned that paint would make it slippery when wet. Any ideas?"
Do you have the answer?
If you have a suggestion or idea for Susan 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
11. Join the Cheapskates Club
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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!
http://www.cheapskates.com.au/members/join_form.cfm?item_id=2271
12. Gift Memberships
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It's so simple: just select the number of gift memberships required, click the Buy Now button and complete the Gift Membership order form (you must use this form to order gift memberships) and we'll get in touch with you to confirm the gift subscriptions.
Click here to order a gift membership right now!
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14. Contact Details
The Cheapskates Club -
Showing you how to live life
debt free, cashed up and laughing!
PO Box 5077 Studfield Vic 3152
www.cheapskates.com.au
[email protected]
2. In the Tip Store - My Favourite Money Saving Gadget, Family Energy Rebate, Shoe Pocket Gardening
3. Submit Your Tip
4. Living Green in 2014 - Air Conditioning in your Home
5. On the Menu with Anne - Silverbeet Casserole
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy - Prepared v Homemade
7. Cheapskates Buzz - Cheapskaters are talking in the Forum and on Cath's blog
8. Member's Featured Blog - Extending the Life of Clothes
9. Last Week's Question - Anyone have any frugal cheese substitutes?
10. This Week's Question - Ideas needed for refreshing a driveway
11. Join the Cheapskates Club
12. Gift Memberships
13. Frequently Asked Questions
14. Contact Details
1. Cath's Corner
Hello Cheapskaters,
I laughed when Anne sent through her On the Menu for this week, I know just how she feels. We've been over-run with silverbeet too, although my lot aren't as gracious as Anne's - they've started complaining about the "green stuff" on their plates every night. I just smile and tell them better to have a feast than a famine.
How have you been Cheapskating this week? I ask because we're fast moving into the time of year when money can just disappear from your pocket, purse and bank account. And you really won't know where it's gone.
We all get busy, rushing around getting ready for Christmas, holidays and the end of the year so being extra vigilant with our money, time and energy is really important. Using simple strategies such as going back to recording what we spend, making a to do list, shopping with a specific list and setting time and money budgets will help to keep us on track.
Aim to own your Christmas this year – use cash for your purchases or if you must use the credit card only spend what you would if you had cash. Then pay it off in full before the due date. Otherwise you won't own your Christmas, the bank will and you'll be paying for it for months.
When you leave the house remember that the shopping centres are using emotional blackmail to tug at your heartstrings. Be strong and ignore them. Make your plan and stick to it and you will own your Christmas.
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!
PPS: You can read this newsletter and past copies on the website in the Newsletter Archive.
2. From The Tip Store
My Favourite Money Saving Gadget
Years ago, when I visited a store to buy new bags for my vacuum cleaner, they were demonstrating a gadget called a 'turbo dust interceptor'. It attaches in-line on most vacuum rods. As the dirt is vacuumed up almost all is diverted into a clear container and never reaches the bag. In my case it captures enough cat hair to knit a jumper. Once full, you can easily remove the container to empty into the trash. Checking online I've found it for sale for $70. If you used generic bags at $3 each, it re-pays itself after 23-24 bags. So little dust reaches the bag that it literally falls apart before it fills up. I bought mine around 8 years ago, and I still have one bag left out of the pack of 4 I bought that day.
Contributed by Andrea Hewett
Family Energy Rebate
Approximate $ Savings: $150
The New South Wales Trade & Investment department is providing The Family Energy Rebate (FER) which helps NSW family households with dependent children to pay their electricity bills. Applications are now open for the 2014-2015 Family Energy Rebate. The application submission deadline is Midnight 16 June 2015. In 2014-2015 the Family Energy Rebate gives eligible households a $150 credit on their electricity bill. Check you eligibility and apply!
Contributed by Marcos Camara
Shoe Pocket Gardening
Remember the old fashioned (now) hanging shoe pockets….material or plastic with maybe 5 or 6 pockets to hold a pair of shoes in a line with maybe 5 lines? Well, these make amazing pockets for growing herbs, lettuce. Plants that I use lots of and am able to pick leaves from often, are my aim. First stop the op shops again or if you sew making a shoe pocket hanger is very easy indeed. My current one I bought from the op shop and it is completely waterproof. Hang your pocket garden somewhere there are 6 - 8 hours of sunlight. I put a med. freezer bag in each pocket, filled with potting mix (because it is lighter than soil usually), popped in my sprigs of mint and lettuce seedlings and now any misc. clear water from the kitchen goes out to keep the plants watered. I have made a hole in the bottom of each section and in the freezer bag to allow for drainage and roots to breathe. What prompted me to try this style of gardening is our house is on the market, there are portions of near clean water in the kitchen often that I could use on the pocket garden and most of all for me, and I have the pocket garden very close to the house so to water it as above is very easy. My Pocket Garden is screwed over an upright leaning against a wall pallet - worked for me.
Contributed by Carol Ryan
There are more than 11,000 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. Living Green in 2014
Air Conditioning in your Home
People often don’t realize how much energy they are using when running their heating unit or the air conditioning, actually more than half of the energy used in the home comes from either the air conditioner or the heater.
Now the weather is warming up, and the forecast is for a long, hot, dry summer, many households will be flicking that air conditioner on. If you are in and out of the house at set times it would be best to have a programmable thermostat so that the air isn’t running when it doesn’t need to be. Another way to keep your house cooler, therefore eliminating the need for the air conditioner, is to make sure you keep the blinds shut during the day so that you protect your home from getting warmed up by the sun’s rays! External blinds or awnings help too. If you have ducted heating, turn the pilot off on the heater (actually turn the pilot off on any gas heater) and make sure all the vents are closed to stop hot air circulating into rooms.
Being conscious of the energy being used in your home is important. It is our responsibility to be more eco-friendly and aware of the impact we are making on the environment. Most of these tips are quick and easy fixes that will not only reduce your carbon footprint, but also end up saving you a nice chunk of money.
If there is something on the list that I didn’t mention which you have found to be helpful in making your home more energy efficient, I would love to hear them!
5. On the Menu with Anne
Silverbeet Casserole
Our garden is going grow crazy at the moment. The lettuce are huge, the tomato plants have quadrupled in size and the silverbeet is going ballistic. There's so much silverbeet I've been giving it away, shredding it into salads, adding it to pasta sauce and freezing it. Then I remembered this recipe from the Recipe File and it's a winner! Full of flavour, easy, quick and it uses up a lot of silverbeet. Best of all the whole family likes it.
Silverbeet Casserole
Ingredients:
1 bunch silverbeet
30g butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp plain flour
1 cup milk
60g cream cheese
250g cottage cheese
30g butter, extra
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs
Method:
Chop spinach and cook in a little boiling water till just tender. Drain. Melt butter and sauté onion till transparent. Stir in flour. Cook 1 minute, add milk and stir until thickened. Add cream cheese. Place a layer of half the sauce in the base of a greased casserole dish. Cover with silverbeet. Spread cottage cheese over silverbeet. Pour over remaining sauce. Melt extra butter in saucepan and toss breadcrumbs until crisp. Sprinkle over sauce. Bake in a moderate oven 20 minutes.
This week we will be eating:
Friday: Hamburgers and chips
Saturday: Lasagne and salad
Sunday: Roast chicken, baked vegetables
Monday: Sausages and salad
Tuesday: Rissoles, mash, beans, corn, mushroom gravy
Wednesday: Chicken and vegetable risotto
Thursday: Vegetable soup and toasted crumpets
In the fruit bowl: kiwi, apples, oranges, bananas
In the cake tin: Chocolate cake, ANZAC slice
There are over 1,400 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File
6. The $300 a Month Food Challenge with Wendy
Welcome to a new week of cutting your grocery bill
Over the last few weeks we've discussed the costly extras that creep into our grocery trolley. We think we need them and yet a couple of decades ago they were not available or classified as a special treat. Sauces, food wraps and bottled drinks are the topics we've covered so far. This week's topic is frozen foods.
How often have you walked past the freezer section and been dazzled by its contents? I used to be like that as a newlywed about 18 - 19 years ago. My cooking skills were limited so those prepacked, pre-prepared foods looked like heaven to me. I'll admit that I bought a frozen lasagne or two. I also bought frozen sticky date puddings, a cheese cake or two, a few pizzas, apple pies, a few frozen meals as well as the staples like frozen vegies, ice-cream and fish.
At the time, these frozen foods tasted very nice. Divine in fact. Then I saw the light or should I say recipe books and the internet. These two sources of information opened up a whole new world to me. I found easy to follow recipes that used normal everyday ingredients. Suddenly that frozen sticky date pudding that I thought was " oh so yummy " didn't have the same appeal any more. I could make it better and cheaper.
I now freeze my own lasagne, leftovers (my version of a freezer meal), sticky date puddings in muffin sizes, pizza dough to make my own pizzas and stewed apple to make apple desserts. My grocery budget has shrunk as a result of making my own and I enjoy my own food far more than anything made in a factory.
These days, the only things I buy from the freezer section are boxed crumbed fish (rarely eaten), ice cream (plain vanilla), pastry (to make my own yummies) and beans and corn kernels. Everything else we either grow, bake or cook ourselves.
The next time you walk past the supermarket freezers, have a think about making these foods yourself. Your family will be thanking you for it and you'll notice a change in your grocery budget.
Have a great week and BE ENCOURAGED!!!!!
The $300 a Month Food Challenge
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?24-Take-up-the-challenge-!!!!
The Post that Started it All
http://www.cheapskates.com.au/pages/default.cfm?page_id=44265
7. Cheapskates Buzz
This week's hot forum topics
Why Are You a Cheapskate?
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?2672-Why-are-you-a-cheapskate
Sometimes it's the Simple Things in Life....
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?1760-Sometimes-it-s-the-simple-things-in-life-
Freezer Habits Unmasked
http://www.cheapskatesclub.com.au/memberforum/showthread.php?1990-Freezer-habits-unmasked&p=45956#post45956
Most popular blog posts this week
8 Easy Ways to Reduce Food Waste
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/03/8-easy-ways-to-reduce-food-waste.html
10 Real Ways to Keep the Grocery Budget Down
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2013/07/10-real-ways-to-keep-grocery-budget-down.html
Miracle Spray
http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2012/05/miracle-spray.html
8. Member's 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 Chrissie.
Extending the Life of Clothes
Today when I put my socks on, and discovered that one had a hole, instead of ignoring it, and being aware of the hole the whole day, as I can feel it when I am walking, I pulled out my sewing kit, found the black thread and a needle, and darned it. The whole process took less than five minutes. I was left feeling more comfortable, and the sock wasn't going to get a bigger hole. On return from going out, I got the needle and thread out again and repaired a split seam on a favourite dress. This means that I now have another outfit for work, without having to go shopping.
I like to darn and repair, but haven't ever been good at sewing from scratch. And, I am happy to pay someone to make alterations to my clothes, if necessary. Yesterday, I collected two skirts from my seamstress, one needed a new zip, and the other had to have the waist band modified. It was as if I had two new pieces of clothing.
Login to read more Cheapskates Club member blogs
9. Last Week's Question
Last week's question was from Maggi who wrote
"Anyone have any suggestions for a cheese substitute as I have someone who is allergic."
Melinda Hashimoto answered
Tofu can be a great substitute. There are various flavours available in the cool section of the supermarket. I like Soyco brand Tofu and if cut thinly it is great in a ham and salad sandwich.
Rachel Hull answered
If you are making a white sauce, add a small amount of mustard instead of cheese. Add a little at a time until you get a cheesy flavour. Also, if you can find Nutritional Yeast, a sprinkle of this on vegies will do the trick. (not the yeast to make bread with and usually found in Health shops) Hope this helps.
Vanessa Del Nevo answered
I am lactose intolerant and found that both Coles and Woolworths sell a Lactose free cheddar type cheese. Tastes very nice.
Caroline Taylor answered
I too have a dairy allergy and I love cheese. I buy a couple of good quality firm non-dairy cheeses called Cheezley which is in a roll, or No-Moo in a block which are both soy free and taste good from the health food store or from a gourmet style supermarket which is part of the LEO's group. If soy isn't an issue then I also buy soy cheese slices and a really yummy cream cheese alternative called better than cream cheese both by Toffutti from the same supermarket. I think that Woolworths also sell this product and Macro soy cheese.
Tracey Asquith answered
I have lactose intolerance and giving up cheese was difficult until I found the Liddell's range. Lactose free block, grated, sliced cheese. Lactose free milk, cream, yogurts etc. They are not cheap but a little goes a long way.
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