Manda's Frugal Feb

[manda]

Not much has happened in the last couple of days...(I'm on Sunday evening now)...yesterday dog biscuits with the $10 off ... Nothing else to spend and today has been a no spend day.

We didn't fancy roast today so made a Spag Bol but did it with 3kgs of meat so we've got a few freezer meals in stock now as well.

[manda]

Well we got the power bill ...with all the hot weather we've had to have the irrigation on constantly for the last few weeks...it's that or the paddocks will just die so there's little choice...the only problem with that is that the water needs to be pumped up and that takes power.....a lot of power!!! so a bill that is normally $50 has come in at $263 this month!! Keeping a watch on our spending is now more important than ever

Thank goodness it rained today so we could turn off the irrigation for a while ...

Up side is OH has got extra days to work which is great (we're going to need it to pay the flipping power bill the way things are going.

All part of life's rich tapestry eh?

[Freeranger]

Power bills, eek! We're under snow at the moment, so you don't think of the opposite problem. Want some of ours?!! No help at all, just sympathy.

[manda]

Cheers Freeranger...it's getting to the point here where the farmers are worried about what is now drought conditions...we really do need some rain...the warm weather is all well and good (and it is lovely) but it would be great if we could have a bit more of the wet stuff now....

Today was better from a save some money point of view...hubby went and picked up the veg (even though we don't have any pigs now we have friends who do so we give them the fruit and we keep the greens for the cattle and sheep ..but every now and again you just wonder why things are in there......like these....

and these....

Spring onions (6 bunches of them and these are not the first we've had...this summer I haven't bought any spring onions at all!!) and Corn on the cob...we threw any we didn't think were any good to the chooks and the cows (Lily and Daisy love Corn on the cob)...we were still left with 113 cobs !!! That will last us ages...so have kept some out and 90 have been sorted and frozen....it's around 70 cents at the moment so it would have cost us $80+ if we'd bought it!!!
We haven't bought any potatoes either this year and whenever we are getting low some always seem to turn up...

These are sat in the sink to be used but all because the bag was split....

Now it's great from our point of view because we have saved a fortune on fruit and veg but this is one little shop at the bottom of the world...how much more waste is there like this that if it isn't fed to animals just gets dumped in landfill (because this is where this would go if we didn't pick it up)....like I say great for us but it just seems so wrong

[MissEllie]

What a great saving Manda it's awful to see how much food goes to waste.
I love corn on the cob, enjoy yours

[Mo]

Same applies to other things...if you buy branded things try buying the homebrand of wherever it is you shop...we've found often they don't taste any different...and sometimes better

Yes, it's worth trying things to see which 'own brands' are acceptable. We know which sort we prefer and which are not worth saving the pennies on while we can afford better.
E.g. when first married I bought on brand flour and struggled with my pastry. My MIL was staying after I'd just had a baby and she struggled making pastry, blamed my flour, so I went back to branded. But now Sains and Ts do an own brand which is as good as the branded, but cheaper and also a Value brand which is OK for cakes, no good for pastry. So I go down the middle.
OTOH we find that Mcv** digestive biscuits have a different taste and texture from the others, and we can afford to buy the type we like. Same with tea. Some of the cheap baked beans seem more watery, and Ts are spicy tasting which I don't like.

I suppose we all have our budgets and our own line on what is too dear for regular use (in our case KitKats and Wagon Wheels are for Christmas and times when we are away from home and eating out - when we eat out at festivals a Twix in our nosebag is a cheap and time saving pudding after our fish & chips - then when we are back home I don't buy more after we've eaten up any that were left from the big pack I took with us)

Edit Just seen the second page. Amazing veg. As you say, that sweet corn will keep you going - but what a waste.
Ts are now selling Value brand veg - my packet of bent carrots needed watching, they may have had cracks so that they started to 'go' more quickly. But if you use any with a soft spot first it's a saving for us and the environment

[manda]

This week...well we've managed to spend minimally on the everyday things which is just as well ...I keep thinking about that power bill!!! and in addition to that I had to pay for the XRay on my knee ...it was mainly covered by ACC (The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) provides comprehensive, no-fault personal injury cover for all New Zealand resident and visitors to New Zealand) but my contribution was still $38 but another thing that had to be done.

Food wise well we're using the freezer (no change there) in addition we had about 8 bunches of spring onions free so cheese and onion waffles (made with homemade cheese and the free spring onions and chives from the garden), our own eggs and sausages for tea
..the next time I'll make baked beans too


I have got on and cleared out all J's clothes ..amazing how much space there is in the wardrobe now (that is a King Size bed!!)....

So it will be interesting to see how we do selling this..Oh and the cot which is under the bed and the pushchair which is sat in the barn at the moment.

Bit of a mish mash of stuff to do but hey it's all money just sat there doing nothing.....I think once I've finished this I'm going to go through the house and do the same...I had a life laundry when I moved to NZ but that was 9 years ago and I think I've done a really good job collecting loads again

[Freeranger]

I had a difference of opinion with one of the gvt funded war on waste type people when there was a big feature on the Scottish news about food waste. I emailed and said to talk to DEFRA about their daft regulations on feeding food waste to animals, since it would be a brilliant way of reducing food-production costs - and on what can and can't be put into compost for food production, as that also forces a lot into landfill. One department won't criticise another, though, especially where one would do itself out of a job by removing the problem. Joined up government? My backside.

Anyhow - ranting aside - never mind a king-sized be, how big was your wardrobe, for heck's sake?!! If that's just the stuff you're getting rid of.....or are you thinking of saving on the air-con by running around in your smalls?! Anyway, good luck with that, and I hope it rains soon.

Slobbering over the photo of your waffle meal. Please would you be very kind and give your cheese recipe if you get a moment? Thank you.

[MissEllie]

Good luck with the selling Manda i've made £50 this month so far flogging clothes, toys etc online

[manda]

..this is just out of my youngest one's wardrobe...basically adds up to all his clothes from the day he was born.

I got my butt into gear today took some pictures of the electrical things and got them onto the auction website..There are two main sites in NZ one charges you fees to advertise the other one doesn't ...so in the spirit of frugality I'm starting off with the one that doesn't....hopefully they will sell from there as there is no fee at all on there so anything you make is yours...fingers crossed. The good thing is if it doesn't sell there I can flick it over to the other one and I'll just need to copy and paste the advert blurb

Freeranger...am at work at the moment but I'll sort it out asap...
This is also a good link to have
http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/CheeseMenu.htm

Debbi is a member of the cheese forum and a mind of information

[Freeranger]

Thank you

[manda]

So February has been an up and down month....The irrigation pushed the power bill up astronomically!!!...and it's likely it going to continue into March because there is no forecast of rain in the next 2 weeks....Northland has been declared a drought area

The car started playing up yesterday...thermostat..so changed that...the sensor needs doing as well...will change that

On the plus side though OH has been working a couple of days a week which is helpful.

My Save the change with the bank has netted $22.70 this month so since December that's a grand total of $80.06!!

I had something like 42 auctions on NZ answer to ebay...so far they've made me $85 with another $60 due in the next couple of days unless the amounts climb on the auctions....so that's pretty good.

So February for us hasn't been frugal ..it's been pretty much like any other month really ...we have to watch the money all the time...BUT... it has got me spurred to go through and clear out the things we don't use a lot of ...will make money from things that are just sitting in cupboards taking up room and also make room once it's gone!!

I like our frugal reminders