Our Frugal Lifestyle

My photo
Passionate about eco-frugality. I used to party hard, clubbing my way from pay-packet to pay-packet. Never getting ahead, just getting by. Then came our much wanted baby with no savings in the bank - only an old car. Changes were made to our lifestyle and we didn't turn back. In the past 6yrs we purchased a flat, found employment, lived below our means, built an emergency fund, purchased a reliable car and saw the financial benefits of our frugal lifestyle. Our only debt is our mortgage. Our aim is to manage our cash flow wisely, pay off our home quickly and eventually work for pleasure, not necessity. Join us on our journey, share insights, tips and tricks to help us and others to get ahead while having a good time.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Being Good and Frugal in October

I'm being really good so far. The only frivolous stuff has been a little junk food from the super market at my desk (chocolate and chips).

I menu planned for the week and my groceries were only $75 (including a $12 bottle of laundry liquid).

Layer of ratatouille, egg and topped with cheese. Mmmmm.

I have shopped at the garden plot 1st. One of my garden neighbours is off travelling Nepal for a few weeks and told me to help myself in exchange for me watering the garden. So this has allowed me a few more goodies then usual.

Shopping at my plot 1st. Dolly snacking on Snake Beans.

Dolly was on school holidays for 1 week and we went to lots of FREE activities including arts & crafts, out door Life Be In It activities, computer games at our local Officeworks and a movie under the stars (Rango).

Outdoor Life Be In It team encouraging kids to be active.
15 minutes on the Computer Games at Officeworks Kid Station.
Free Movie - we took our blanket, drinks, pop corn and lollies.

Our lastest couchsurfing couple included a qualified hairdresser so I received a hair cut & dye whilst Dolly had her hair done each day in exchange for the couch.

Ready for School Rapunzel style.

And tonight I commenced work on a 2 year old Birthday gift out of old clothes and scraps. Dolly was invited on very short notice to a party this Saturday morning at 9am. Not much time to create but pushing myself along. My mum picked up the Softies Magazine for only 30 cents at a local op shop, just for me :-) Of course the mags instructions are all with new fancy pantsy bits and bobs. But I'm repurposing old stuff that needs a second chance and hopefully it will turn out looking presentable.

Creating on a Tight Schedule - Yet Again.

How is October fairing for you?

8 comments:

  1. That owl toy looks so cute!! Hope you post a photo of your finished product!

    Sounds like a great day out too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Did you like Rango ? The kids liked it but its not one of my favourites.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I realize you are on a tight schedule--work, marriage, child. However, can you make things to have waiting for these events?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well done on your savings this month so far. You mention laundry liquid purchase, have you seen DIY laundry detergent ideas using vinegar, bicarb soda, borax, essential oil? I've written a blog post about it here > http://www.recycled-fashion.com/2011/10/recycled-fashions-guide-to-greener.html

    Might be a good way of cost cutting for you too?

    ReplyDelete
  5. That owl looks like a winner, make sure you take a pic of the finished present!

    You are doing so well!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Bryallen, Posting my creation tonight. Very cute owl indeed.

    Miss Piggy Bank, Not my favourite either. I was a bit bored. But my daughter loved going to the movies. After after paying $58 last time FREE is so much better on my wallet and near future work cut back.

    Hi Practical Parsimony, I am very time poor due to trying to fit everything in that I want to do (cooking, budgeting, gardening, fundraising, market stall, reading, blogging, crafting, thinking and hanging out with my daughter) and the stuff I don't want to do (work, clean). I do have a small stash of second hand gifts to give to particular people I bought them for but I like my gifts to fit the recipient as best as I can and I don't want to hoard much more in our small apartment. Being time poor, I worked on the owl in my lunch break, the midnight hour and got up 2 hours earlier then usual to finish it off. Well worth it though.

    Hi Erica, It's something I want to try and squeeze in - making my own laundry liquid. I tried the earth friendly stuff and really disliked it as my clothes felt slimy. So making my own is the next step to see if it suits me. I'm on leave in January so I might try then.

    Hey Lisa, I'm bragging about it in my post tonight :-

    ReplyDelete
  7. I had that computer game on my phone :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Then we needed you Adoseoftic!! I couldn't make heads of tails of it so we moved to another game.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting - I love getting feedback, sharing experiences and learning from you.