Frugal Fun No. 2

I'm really getting into the spirit of Frugal Fun and have found it so helpful reading through old Prudent Homemaker posts to get ideas of ways I can save money around here.

Here's what I've been doing over the past week. (And remember to share your own frugal successes in the comments below, on the Craving Fresh Facebook page or on Instagram with the hashtag #frugalfun.)

1. I washed all our bedding when we had good weather, so I could line-dry it and kill the winter germs that have been plaguing us.

2. I took note of all the specials advertised outside fruit and vege stores on my drive to J's swimming lesson, and then stopped back at all those shops on my way home, buying only the best deals from each store.

3. I collected a box of apples for free from one of the fruit and vege stores and spent the day turning them into delicious goodies.

4. I went to Bulk Foods and bought our often-used herbs and spices in bulk packets. From Bulk Foods I also bought Epsom Salts (for the garden and for soaking in the bath with), a large bag of baking soda (for cleaning and baking) and brown lentils to make Dal Bhat and Tarkari for Paul's actual birthday dinner. (I had some brown lentils, but not quite enough.)

5. I made orange chocolate chip muffins, orange juice and orange cleaner with some oranges my mother-in-law gave me that were a bit too sour for straight eating. The orange juice is a Thermomix recipe that uses all of the pulp as well as the juice. The discarded skins I put in jars and covered with vinegar to make a spray cleaner. I'll strain the liquid in a couple of weeks and decant it into spray bottles.

6. I cooked two meatless meals this week - Dal Bhat and Tarkari, and Pumpkin Soup.

7. I gratefully accepted a box of gold kiwifruit from my mother-in-law, who helped me peel and slice some of them up to dehydrate for future snacks. I gave her a bag of spinach from my garden in return.

8. I made Greek yoghurt using half an Easiyo sachet and half milk powder.

9. I hosted a birthday dinner for Paul at our house on Saturday night and served roast chicken, roast potatoes, roast vegetable salad (that my sister-in-law made), spinach salad (using spinach from my garden), broccoli, gravy and braided bread that my mother-in-law brought. I saved the chicken carcasses to make chicken stock and I picked all the leftover meat off the chickens and froze them in old takeaway containers to use in future curries. For the birthday dessert my sister-in-law made a sugar-free chocolate brownie which she served with whipped cream and grated 90% chocolate. Paul doesn't like cake, so for his actual birthday cake I tipped a container of Goodie Goodie Gum Drops ice cream onto a square plate and topped it with a party mix of lollies. It took all of one minute to make and the many kids at the party LOVED it.

10. I fixed all the items in my mending pile this week - two soft toys, a dress-up cape and a pair of stretchy leggings of L's, S's favourite dress and a singlet, a cardigan and a top of mine. I listened to music for free on Pandora while I worked. Good to have that mending done and the chair in my room finally uncovered.

11. I accepted some hand-me-down clothes for J from my sister-in-law.

12. I emptied half of my rotating compost bin and distributed the compost between three of my raised beds. I then topped those beds up with store-bought vegetable mix soil and free coffee grounds and then planted two kinds of kale seedlings, two kinds of lettuce seedlings, snow pea seedlings, garlic bulbs, lettuce seeds and carrot seeds.

13. I also planted a thornless boysenberry/blackberry cross and a raspberry cane in our back garden.

14. I plastered some dents in our walls and hope to sand them and paint the walls this week with some of the paint that was left here when we moved in.

15. I spotted a good one-day deal on petrol, so topped up our tank. (I always keep my eye on the petrol prices around town and only fill up where I can get the best deal.)

16. I harvested some of the outer leaves from my spinach plants to let more light in for the seedlings I've just planted. I cored and washed these outer leaves, then blanched them in boiling water for a minute before cooling them down under cold running water, whizzing them up in my Thermomix and freezing them in ice cube trays to pull out for future meals.

17. I started reading a library book - King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard. It's the final in the Red Queen trilogy.

I think those are all of my frugal successes this week. Now please share what you've been doing to save money.