Frugal Friday

 We're not hard out extreme frugal living people here but I do believe in being a good steward of what we have been given and that is why we are frugal in certain areas of our lives so that we can have more for other areas. Whether that is so we have more to give out and bless others, provisions for a family holiday, being able to give our children different activities that are a part of their homeschooling education and experiences or to be able to save for our future, short and long term.

I find that on a regular basis it always comes back to food, laundry/cleaning or toiletries being the areas I can save the most in. 

A selection of produce and eggs from our backyard.

With three hungry teenagers to feed there is always plenty of food being consumed and I do like to feed my family healthy meals and snacks and so therefore I try to find ways to save so there is more money for food/ingredients. Just to be clear here though, we are not seeking perfection here 100% of the time. Occasionally we do indulge in take aways, a treat from our supermarket bakery and sometimes I miss the specials and pay full price for it! Also, being frugal for me is not all about being cheap for cheaps sake. I do believe in quality if you can afford it and supporting local farmers. Over the years as I have come to understand vegetable gardening and soil more, I understand about organics and the importance of it so some of our groceries are organic foods. When we can't grow our own food during the winter months we have an organic vegetable box that delivers weekly freshly grown produce from farms within a 1 1/2 hour drive from where we live. I also can't tolerate large amounts of gluten very well so I have to pay a little extra for gluten free pasta and bread. So in order to make those swaps to purchase more expensive items I therefore compromise in other areas. 

 For our birthday celebrations I do spend extra to buy special ingredients to make a special cake or dessert and we will have fizzy drinks or juices which I don't normally buy. It's the same with Christmas and with that I will start buying the extra special things about 4-6 weeks early to spread out the cost. I believe it's the habits that we have daily and weekly that make the real difference, not what we do on the occasional time.

A special dessert that I made last week for my husband's birthday. It was a vegan 'cheesecake' made from nuts and raspberries. It lasted several days and was really delicious. I put a candle in the middle as he didn't want a cake.

Here are some examples of what I do:

1. I reuse tinfoil and baking paper regularly so that I don't need to buy it very often, therefore having those few extra dollars to purchase food. I also save plastic snack and lunch bags for the same reason.

2. Sometimes I reuse teabags especially if it has been a strong brew and I can have another cup of tea out of it. At this time of year I am using my peppermint that I am growing instead of buying peppermint tea. I drink a lot of tea so these little things save a few dollars every week.

3. In another post I shared how I save cooking liquid from some of the steamed vegetables  (I don't save water from silverbeet or spinach, I read somewhere once that it's not a good idea but I can't remember the reason! I tend to use the liquid from carrots and broccoli the most.)  Anyway, by using cooking liquid it cuts down on the amount of stock cubes or powder needed. Sometimes I make chicken stock from a carcass which has a nice flavour.

4. I have started buying less boxes of crackers as I don't think it is very healthy to eat too many, even if I was trying to buy healthier ones but they are still processed. It is much cheaper to bake healthy muffins for a snack and more filling. I baked some yummy muffins last night with my younger son and then he is also learning some valuable life skills. Oatmeal cookies or homemade muesli bars are also a quick healthy option.

5. I use dried lentils over canned because it is way cheaper and it only takes about 20 minutes to pre-cook the required amount I need for a recipe. I do have dried chickpeas and some beans but I do also use the canned here as well.

6. We eat a lot less meat than we used to for various reasons but through this we have discovered some really delicious plant based meals that have become favourites. A meal without meat is definitely cheaper and everyone is still getting enough protein with beans and lentils. Another way to decrease meat is to stretch out a meal with beans or lentils added to a meat dish. So even in some of our meat meals, now that our boys are having bigger portions, instead of doubling the meat I add some beans instead and it is still just as delicious and a lot of the time no one notices the difference.

7. On weekends we like to have a family movie night and everyone likes potato chips and ice cream so we try to save ice cream for the weekend only which works really well in the colder months. Not so in the summer as sometimes during the week when it's hot my family likes to have an ice cream or ice block. However, we have definitely decreased the amount and I try to only buy our favourite brand when it is on special saving nearly $3 a tub. Same with the chips. It's fine to have a treat but these are definitely weekend only and again we have a few different favourite flavours and so I buy which ever ones are on special.

8. Which brings me to the point of supermarket specials. I have certain products that I only ever buy on special as mentioned above. I also do this with muesli and cereals. Since lockdown here last year I have noticed a huge increase in the price of some of our favourite cereals. We don't buy incredibly expensive ones to start with but I like to select ones that are healthier with way less sugar and more fibre, nuts & seeds etc. I usually make my own muesli for myself which my boys don't like unfortunately but I do make porridge regularly which my youngest son likes to have as well. So for the cereals/muesli I do buy, I stock up on special and then that is it until they are on special again. I can save nearly $2.50 a box when they have the super saver special which is a huge amount. We do eat other things for breakfast as well like homemade pancakes, breakfast muffins which I make sugar free or toast and eggs from our hens.

 So whatever different items you buy, see if there are things that you can wait on until on special or maybe change in and out of brands depending on what is the cheapest for that week. I do that for other items especially things like canned tomatoes, crackers, rice, pasta etc. This will look different for everyone depending on what you like. For example I only buy canned fruit in juice only and I prefer a NZ brand that uses fruit grown and packaged only a few hours from where we live, rather than canned fruit from China. So I just wait until that brand is on special. We use a lot more of almond milk now instead of cows milk for health reasons and I have learnt which brands are better than others. Not just because of flavour but some have artificial ingredients that I don't want to consume so I have two brands which are the best healthy choices and then I try just to buy which ever one is on special if possible. I know that it would actually be more frugal to make my own plant based milk and I have done it in the past and I have been thinking of doing it again. The cheapest one to make is oat milk and it is quite nice. 

One little trick I did today was to extend out a packet of brought muesli by adding in extra wholegrain oats, nuts and seeds. I had extra walnuts leftover from the vegan cheesecake I made so I put them in the muesli. I added enough extra ingredients to probably have 3  or 4 extra servings.

9. I always have tonnes of laundry to do during the week and one thing I have done over the years is to use about half the recommended amount of laundry powder and I always find my laundry is perfectly clean and fresh. Using less is still very effective and it helps to extend out the box of powder. I have especially done this as I started buying many years ago an ego brand because of sensitive skin issues within my family so making the products last longer as they cost a little bit more is a good way to stretch it out.

10. Over the years I have changed the frequency with how often I shampoo my hair. I have gone from everyday to every second or third day and my hair is now much better for it plus I save on a lot of shampoo and conditioner. I have quite long hair but I am able to use a smaller quantity of product than what I used to and this helps make the hair products last even longer. A huge saving.

There are so many little ways that we can implement change that don't seem too big but over time they add up to a lot of savings that allows you to have more money for other things or helps you to stay within budget and still purchase what you need.

A great scripture that I like that reminds me of what is most important in our homes and families is this;

"Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred".

Keep it simple, focus on what is important. Our relationships with our families and creating memories with time well spent together. That will last forever.

I hope you all have a great weekend and thanks for visiting.

Blessings, Fiona