On the Aussies Living Simply forum someone asked “Could you live on $400 a week?” The idea was that you had no mortgage or rent and there was just 2 of you. So you would have your usual bills of electricity, gas, phone, insurances, rego, fuel etc etc. Some people thought there was no way they could live on $400 a week. I think it is one of these things you could do if you set out a budget and regimentally stuck to it.
We are currently a family of 3 soon to be 4 with my mother coming to live with us to look after the baby when I go back to work in March.
I am going to set myself a challenge for the start of March for all 5 of us to live on $500 a week, that will of course not include my mortgage but will include the food, electricity, gas etc etc . While I have some spare time over Xmas and New Years I will go over our budget to see how much all the basics do really cost us and see if we can manage a $500 a week challenge.
Our most challenging thing will be trying to get our veggie garden in order so we can cut back on store bought vegies. Hubby and I cannot seem to get our timings right. This will be another challenge for me to be able to supply at least 50% of our veggies from the garden.
If only I could get my hubby to eat at least two vegetarian meals a week that would save us another few dollars. I also have a rather fussy 19 year old step son who doesn’t eat any of the good veggies either so this will be challenging. I think meal planning will definitely be the way to go.
If anyone has any frugal recipes they would like to share with me please leave a comment. If anyone else wants to join the challenge please let me know also.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Xmas Cookies
This weekend I thought I would make some simple xmas cookies. Mind I did have to make 2 batches, one for home and one for work lol I should stop telling people at work I'm going to do some cooking over the weekend it has some how become a tradition to cook enough for home and for work....
Recipe:
Cookie Dough
120gm Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup Caster Sugar
1 Egg
2 Cups SR Flour, Sifted
3-4 Drops Vanilla Essence
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170 deg cel, Gas Mark 3, and lightly grease 2 oven trays
2. Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and castor sugrar until light and fluffy
3. Add the egg and mix until combined
4. Add the sifted flour and vanilla essence
5. Knead mixture to form a ball. Wrap dough in plastic film and place in fridge to rest for approx 20 mins
6. Use 2 sheets of baking paper and put one sheet down and place the dough on. Put the 2nd sheet of baking paper on top and with a rolling pin, roll the dough evenly until it is 4-5mm thick.
7. User cookie cutters to stamp out your shapes and place on prepared oven trays
8. Place in the oven and cook for approx 5 mins or until lighly golden.
9. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
Icing:
I just made a basic icing using lemon juice.
I am not great at icing, but as long as it tastes good thas all that matters...
Recipe:
Cookie Dough
120gm Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup Caster Sugar
1 Egg
2 Cups SR Flour, Sifted
3-4 Drops Vanilla Essence
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170 deg cel, Gas Mark 3, and lightly grease 2 oven trays
2. Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and castor sugrar until light and fluffy
3. Add the egg and mix until combined
4. Add the sifted flour and vanilla essence
5. Knead mixture to form a ball. Wrap dough in plastic film and place in fridge to rest for approx 20 mins
6. Use 2 sheets of baking paper and put one sheet down and place the dough on. Put the 2nd sheet of baking paper on top and with a rolling pin, roll the dough evenly until it is 4-5mm thick.
7. User cookie cutters to stamp out your shapes and place on prepared oven trays
8. Place in the oven and cook for approx 5 mins or until lighly golden.
9. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
Icing:
I just made a basic icing using lemon juice.
I am not great at icing, but as long as it tastes good thas all that matters...
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Slack Blogger
Well I have been a slack blogger over the last couple of months. Hubby and I have been rather busy.
My Stepson moved in with us in February, then my friend came up from Melbourne to live with us in March so things have just been crazy.
Another thing that has kept me occupied for all this time is........
I'M PREGNANT
Hubby and I have been going through the IVF roller coaster for about 6 years now and finally got pregnant. Thankfully there is no morning sickness, however I did manage to pick up a cold and it was with me up until last week, so every night I get home from work and the weekends I have been sleeping away...
We have only just got back into the garden the last couple of weeks to pull weeds and get started for the next round of plantings.
We have planted so far:
Corn
Mixed Lettuce
Cos Lettuce
Tomatoes - cherry, roma, steak
Radishes
Rocket
Our winter plantings always seem to be a disaster we have had a nice harvest of brocolli and that has been about it. Next winter I will certainly plan the garden a bit better than the last 2.
On a good note our citrus trees are flowering and for the first time this year the orange has a good number of flowers.
My Stepson moved in with us in February, then my friend came up from Melbourne to live with us in March so things have just been crazy.
Another thing that has kept me occupied for all this time is........
I'M PREGNANT
Hubby and I have been going through the IVF roller coaster for about 6 years now and finally got pregnant. Thankfully there is no morning sickness, however I did manage to pick up a cold and it was with me up until last week, so every night I get home from work and the weekends I have been sleeping away...
We have only just got back into the garden the last couple of weeks to pull weeds and get started for the next round of plantings.
We have planted so far:
Corn
Mixed Lettuce
Cos Lettuce
Tomatoes - cherry, roma, steak
Radishes
Rocket
Our winter plantings always seem to be a disaster we have had a nice harvest of brocolli and that has been about it. Next winter I will certainly plan the garden a bit better than the last 2.
On a good note our citrus trees are flowering and for the first time this year the orange has a good number of flowers.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Money Matters
I have been debating for awhile about doing a post about money. What is it they say... never talk about money, religion and politics. I think this saying has somewhat put me off talking about the subject. I thought why not share how I manage my money and if it helps other people to save money then that has to be a positive thing.
I thought I would start this first post of Money Matters and talk about the dreaded bills and how I budget for them. Unfortunately we all get them, whether its rent or a mortgage they still have to be paid.
We all get paid xxx number of $$$$ a pay check and we have to try and make it work for us. My hubby and I are very lucky in the fact that we do not have credit card debts, car loans etc.... but we do have the one debt many Australians have and that is a mortgage...
We pay our mortgage fortnightly which they tell you can save you thousands of $$$ on the overall interest payment of your mortgage. We have a mortgage with cash back facility and savings accounts that offset against the interest on the mortgage. Late last year when the interest rates were climbing I contacted our bank and had them take out a couple of hundred dollars a month more to account for the rising interest rates and payments. It turned out that in the peak of highest rates we were actually only over paying about $80 extra a month. Now that we are in lower interest rates I have kept our payments exactly the same as when the interest rates were high.
I think a trap people fall into is dropping the payment and not saving the difference. What would you do if something happened and you didn’t have that bit of extra payment to fall back on. If you can afford it pay up to the next whole $$ amount, even if it is only a couple of $$ extra a payment, it all adds up in the end.
With all our bills what I do is work out how much on average they are a fortnight and pay that amount, I do it per fortnight as this is when I get paid. It’s great when a bill comes in its already paid, or if you are disciplined enough put it into a high savings account and earn interest or offset your mortgage…
Budgeting for Household bills:
I know these are all our bills we have over the year so I estimate the $$ amount and work out fortnightly payments
Electricity 350 / 1/4 $60
Phone 40 / month $20
Mobile Phone 50 / month $20
Internet 70 / month $35
Car Rego x 2 1400 / year $60
Car Insurance x 2 700 / year $30
House Insurance 600 / year $25
Council Rates 2000 / year $85
Total / fortnight $305
Whatever money is left over after paying the mortgage and household bills is then used for transport to get to work, groceries, petrol and savings. There are no horror stories of not being able to afford to pay the bills. We live by the rule if you can’t afford to pay cash then you can’t afford to buy it.
I thought I would start this first post of Money Matters and talk about the dreaded bills and how I budget for them. Unfortunately we all get them, whether its rent or a mortgage they still have to be paid.
We all get paid xxx number of $$$$ a pay check and we have to try and make it work for us. My hubby and I are very lucky in the fact that we do not have credit card debts, car loans etc.... but we do have the one debt many Australians have and that is a mortgage...
We pay our mortgage fortnightly which they tell you can save you thousands of $$$ on the overall interest payment of your mortgage. We have a mortgage with cash back facility and savings accounts that offset against the interest on the mortgage. Late last year when the interest rates were climbing I contacted our bank and had them take out a couple of hundred dollars a month more to account for the rising interest rates and payments. It turned out that in the peak of highest rates we were actually only over paying about $80 extra a month. Now that we are in lower interest rates I have kept our payments exactly the same as when the interest rates were high.
I think a trap people fall into is dropping the payment and not saving the difference. What would you do if something happened and you didn’t have that bit of extra payment to fall back on. If you can afford it pay up to the next whole $$ amount, even if it is only a couple of $$ extra a payment, it all adds up in the end.
With all our bills what I do is work out how much on average they are a fortnight and pay that amount, I do it per fortnight as this is when I get paid. It’s great when a bill comes in its already paid, or if you are disciplined enough put it into a high savings account and earn interest or offset your mortgage…
Budgeting for Household bills:
I know these are all our bills we have over the year so I estimate the $$ amount and work out fortnightly payments
Electricity 350 / 1/4 $60
Phone 40 / month $20
Mobile Phone 50 / month $20
Internet 70 / month $35
Car Rego x 2 1400 / year $60
Car Insurance x 2 700 / year $30
House Insurance 600 / year $25
Council Rates 2000 / year $85
Total / fortnight $305
Whatever money is left over after paying the mortgage and household bills is then used for transport to get to work, groceries, petrol and savings. There are no horror stories of not being able to afford to pay the bills. We live by the rule if you can’t afford to pay cash then you can’t afford to buy it.
Friday, March 06, 2009
Coffee Plant
Last year we went to the Nambour Home & Garden Expo and I bought a couple of coffee plants. Well I was rather excited to find this week that there is 5 beans!!! I know not enough to make a coffee but still very exciting. I have a couple of other coffee plants that are nowhere near as mature as these. I am looking forward to this years Home & Garden Expo hopefully I can get a couple more coffee plants.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
February
Well I haven't posted for a month now. February was a rather busy month. We had my hubby's eldest son come to live with us from England. It was also hubby and I's birthday last month.
I have managed to get quite a bit of baking done however last month.
I made 3 pizza's and a garlic pizza for our neighbourhood get together for our joint birthday celebrations.
I have been experimenting with bread recipes and the below one is soy linseed bread.
The one below is a sundried tomato focaccia bread... I must say it is rather yummy!!
If anyone has a good recipe for stone ground wholemeal bread and would like to share please leave a comment. I have been experimenting with different recipes but haven't found one that I've really enjoyed...
I have managed to get quite a bit of baking done however last month.
I made 3 pizza's and a garlic pizza for our neighbourhood get together for our joint birthday celebrations.
I have been experimenting with bread recipes and the below one is soy linseed bread.
The one below is a sundried tomato focaccia bread... I must say it is rather yummy!!
If anyone has a good recipe for stone ground wholemeal bread and would like to share please leave a comment. I have been experimenting with different recipes but haven't found one that I've really enjoyed...
Monday, January 26, 2009
Tote Bags
This long weekend has brought about a fair bit of sewing. I have a couple of Tote bags for sale if anyone is interested.
The sizes of the bags are:
Big (approx) $25 incl postage
Height: 33cm
Width: 36cm
Depth: 25cm
Small (approx) $15 incl postage
Height: 27cm
Width: 28cm
Depth: 22cm
I have 2 big and 1 small of the flowery one. I am in the process of making the stripped one so there should be 2 big and 2 small ones but if anyone wants smaller ones let me know.
If you would like to purchase any of these bags please leave me a message and I will contact you.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Hot Cross Buns & Pickled Cucumber
Well the weekend brought around some serious amounts of baking
Bread Machine Hot Cross Buns
1 cup Milk
1/4 cup Butter
1/3 cup Sugar
1 Egg (beaten)
1tsp Salt
3 3/4 cups Strong white bread flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground cloves
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1 cup Raisins*
2 tsp Dry yeast
Use dough setting on Bread Machine
Method
Makes 12 Buns.
1. Measure ingredients into baking pan
2. Insert baking pan into bread machine
3. Use dough setting on bread machine
4. When finished, remove dough from pan and divide into 12 pieces
5. Shape into round, slightly flattened buns
6. Place 5cm (2") apart on greased baking sheets
7. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size
8. Combine (and brush on buns) 1 slightly beaten egg with 1 tbsp water
9. Slash top of buns to form a cross
10. Bake at 190 deg cel (375F) gas mark 5 for 16-18 minutes
11. Drizzle 'cross', while hot, with icing sugar glaze consisting of:
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 tbsp milk
2 drops almond flavouring
*Add raisins approx 20 mins into the cycle (otherwise they become somewhat 'chopped')
They are somewhat misshaped but hubby assures me they taste just like bought hot cross buns..
They are so easy to make and taste just like the shopped bought variety. My dad has put in his next order already. Thankfully my cucumber plant is producing nicely.
Bread Machine Hot Cross Buns
1 cup Milk
1/4 cup Butter
1/3 cup Sugar
1 Egg (beaten)
1tsp Salt
3 3/4 cups Strong white bread flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground cloves
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1 cup Raisins*
2 tsp Dry yeast
Use dough setting on Bread Machine
Method
Makes 12 Buns.
1. Measure ingredients into baking pan
2. Insert baking pan into bread machine
3. Use dough setting on bread machine
4. When finished, remove dough from pan and divide into 12 pieces
5. Shape into round, slightly flattened buns
6. Place 5cm (2") apart on greased baking sheets
7. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size
8. Combine (and brush on buns) 1 slightly beaten egg with 1 tbsp water
9. Slash top of buns to form a cross
10. Bake at 190 deg cel (375F) gas mark 5 for 16-18 minutes
11. Drizzle 'cross', while hot, with icing sugar glaze consisting of:
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 tbsp milk
2 drops almond flavouring
*Add raisins approx 20 mins into the cycle (otherwise they become somewhat 'chopped')
They are somewhat misshaped but hubby assures me they taste just like bought hot cross buns..Pickled Cucumber
3-4 cucumbers sliced
2 cups of malt vinegar
1 cup of sugar
Method
1. Bring to boil in a medium saucepan the malt vinegar and sugar.
2. Add sliced cucumber to saucepan
3. Simmer until cucumber just looses its colour
4. Remove cucmber from saucepan using a pair of tongs (you want to save the vinegar)
5. Once vinegar has cooled poor over cucumber and store in the fridge.
They are so easy to make and taste just like the shopped bought variety. My dad has put in his next order already. Thankfully my cucumber plant is producing nicely.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Project for 2009
Thought I would post some of the projects I would like to acheive around the garden this year... money premitting of course!!!
Hubby and I have been discussing getting another couple of water tanks. It would be nice if it were possible for us to completely take ourselves off the water grid but since we live in suburbia its not feasible. Our goal this year is to get 2 x 3000 litre tanks, this would then give us a total of 9000 litres and would allow us to connect the toilets and washing machine to the tanks.
I would like to add another 2 vegie garden beds along our fence. These last 6 months have taught us that vegies from our garden are far superior than those in the supermarkets and I am trying to get away from all those added ingredients in store bought products.
Fruit Trees are high up on the list this year, we currently have;
dwarf avocado, dwarf mango, lime, lemon, orange, mandarin and passionfruit.
I would like to get a couple of dwarf varieties of apples, a plum and a nectarine.
Last year I was desperately searching for a pressure canner, then the AUD dollar fell and alot of the overseas suppliers seemed to stop shipping to Australia or infact anywhere outside of there country. I am on a mission to obtain a pressure canner this year.
The List:
2 x 3000 litre tanks
2 x vegie beds
4 x fruit trees
1 x Pressure canner
I think it is important to set goals for the year, it feels great when you can acheive something you've set your mind to.
What are your projects / goals for 2009?
Hubby and I have been discussing getting another couple of water tanks. It would be nice if it were possible for us to completely take ourselves off the water grid but since we live in suburbia its not feasible. Our goal this year is to get 2 x 3000 litre tanks, this would then give us a total of 9000 litres and would allow us to connect the toilets and washing machine to the tanks.
I would like to add another 2 vegie garden beds along our fence. These last 6 months have taught us that vegies from our garden are far superior than those in the supermarkets and I am trying to get away from all those added ingredients in store bought products.
Fruit Trees are high up on the list this year, we currently have;
dwarf avocado, dwarf mango, lime, lemon, orange, mandarin and passionfruit.
I would like to get a couple of dwarf varieties of apples, a plum and a nectarine.
Last year I was desperately searching for a pressure canner, then the AUD dollar fell and alot of the overseas suppliers seemed to stop shipping to Australia or infact anywhere outside of there country. I am on a mission to obtain a pressure canner this year.
The List:
2 x 3000 litre tanks
2 x vegie beds
4 x fruit trees
1 x Pressure canner
I think it is important to set goals for the year, it feels great when you can acheive something you've set your mind to.
What are your projects / goals for 2009?
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years. Heres hoping 2009 brings us all what we dream of.
I have had my first week off work in a year and I must say it has been great to be able to get some projects done that I have been wanting to do...
I was in a rather sewing mode this last week and have now made a couple of tote bags..
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years. Heres hoping 2009 brings us all what we dream of.
I have had my first week off work in a year and I must say it has been great to be able to get some projects done that I have been wanting to do...
I was in a rather sewing mode this last week and have now made a couple of tote bags..
My lovely cat is indoors for most of the time and is only let out when hubby and I are home. We have put a fence on either side of the house so we can see him. Thank fully the kitty hasn't realised he can jump over the fence, the fence is only about waist high. He was helping me with the sewing during the week.
My lovely kitty above likes to chase the caine toads and green frogs in the garden and when he decides to chase them we bring him inside. Tonight there was a green frog on the patio and I even managed to get a pic this time.
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