On Holidays and a Cut Back In Pay.

Today I am on holidays for 4 weeks. Yeeee Hahhhh. Then back to work for 2 weeks on my regular hours and then.... DRUM ROLL... my hours are cut back by 25% for a 3 month trial.

That also means a cut back in my pay packet by 25% and a cut back in my Superannuation for retirement. Ouch!   But this is why I'm frugal and have been saving like mad, so that I can have extra time with my daughter.

I will be able to pick Dolly up from school each afternoon, help her with learning and other fun activities. We will have time to cook, craft, garden, read and play instead of me nagging her to eat quickly, brush her teeth and get into pyjamas. I can't wait for the lifestyle change!

We only have 1 car so to do this I will have to ride my bike to work and back each day. 1 hour of riding and as I get fitter this should reduce to 40 minutes of riding each day. Making me fitter, healthier, leaner and more eco. Extra gardening may mean more fresh produce. More time to cook may mean cheaper and healthier home cooked meals. So even though I'm cutting back on money coming in, I hope the change of lifestyle not only brings me more joy but also more time to be organised and savings in fuel, health and food.

Here's to a less hurried life! Bottoms up. Chin Chin. Cheers.

Dolly Made Dinner

Sunday afternoon was unpleasant as I have had a red puffed up irritated eye. I was hoping to just relax at the nice cool clean library while Dolly played and looked at books. But I had asked Dolly early on in the morning if she wanted to cook in the afternoon and she happily shouted "Yes!" So the library was ignored and cook she did!

I gave her the ingredients and talked her through the process. She rolled, cracked, grated, measured, stirred and poured. (The Brazilian Spinach from our garden was placed uncooked in the mix).

All Mixed and Ready to Bake.

Mmmmmm, Dolly on Her Way to Master Chefdom.

 2 hours from her commencing, we ate and it was delicious. The spinach leaves peeking out of the quiche were thin and crackly. Just divine.  The best part is she said to me "I don't like spinach". To which I replied "But you LOVE spinach quiche you make yourself" and to that, my influenceable daughter replied "Oh yes, that's right" and gobbled it all up :-)

It then rained, so to end our day we went puddle jumping and umbrella twirling. It was so much fun. Loving the simple things in life and the changes in weather. The library was not missed. My eye was irritated either way and my 4 year made our family the most yummy frugalicious dinner. I am living the good life on days like this and Dolly is skilling up for life.

Do you have tricks to get your family to eat their greens? Any skills your children are eager to learn? Have you been jumping in puddles lately?

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?

Saving Money By Growing Some of My Own Food

Hello and thanks for visiting my blog. It's wonderful to have readers dropping by. I really appreciate your visit and would love you to feel free to comment in English, French or any other language you feel comfortable to write in.

Gardening is new to me. So it's a learning process as I stumble along and learn by reading, watching, trial and error. I go to my garden plot once a day for 30 to 60 minutes after work and a bit longer over the weekend. I spend time watering the garden and chatting to others, which gives me a healthy active outdoor activity, educational entertainment and social interaction. I will also add I have found it to be meditative in that I am relaxing more and enjoying the sounds of nature around me.

The initial outlay of getting my plot ready is costing me money but those costs will balance out and reduce when I harvest my goodies in the near future and following years. I have purchased a few stakes, irrigation equipment, tressel for my plants to climb, plants and seeds. I still need to purchase a timer and a couple of eggplant plants for my bottom plot. I try to purchase wisely and use recycled where I can.

I estimate I am already saving $5 to $10 a week in grocery shopping by using my very limited bounty. I am no longer buying weekly bags of spinach for a start and I menu plan with my produce in mind. In the past 2 weeks I have harvested eggplants, herbs, spinach and my first 2 Lebanese cucumbers. All has been integrated into my meals.

Eggplants.

I use the eggplants in lasagna, ratatouille, stir fry, pasta sauce.

Have you tried your hand at growing anything to reduce your bills, reduce your carbon footprint and leading a healthier life?

Tantrums and Crying

Dolly had a tantrum and tears last night and again this morning. For very silly reasons. She was angry and frustrated and I could feel her mounting tension. So this morning I told Dolly we would have a quick dinner and I would spend some quality time with her. After work with my aim of quick dinner I purchased a roast chicken from the supermarket and asparagus (on special). Once home I made a large salad with lettuce, tomato, feta cheese and asparagus. Cut up the roast chicken and plated it all up in a jiffy.

After dinner while Dolly brushed teeth and got into pyjamas, I cleared the table and washed the dishes while our returnee Helpx Jiri dried the dishes. He then headed off to my plot to water it while I spent a quality hour of playing with Dolly with her Play Dough she purchased with some of her birthday money a few weeks back. She was so happy and so was I. When we went to bed for story time I could feel the difference in her. She was calm and joyful.

Birthday Money Wisely Spent.

I find frugal life can be crazy and hectic when working full time. We currently get home between 5:30 and 5:45 pm most days. We aim to get dinner (prepared and eaten), dishes washed, teeth brushed and Pj's on, stories read and garden watered, all before 7pm (bed time for Dolly). No wonder she's frustrated as we push and proddle for her to have a hurried life. She doesn't care about saving for retirement. She doesn't care about a college fund. She doesn't care about buying a house. She just wants us to play with her and cuddle her. So we played for over and hour at making "pizza" Hers had base, tomato paste, cheese and green beans. Mine at her encouragement had base, tomato paste, cheese, eggplant, ham, green beans and... blue berries!

Playing Cooking

I need to slow down and give my daughter much craved quality attention. How about you? Do you feel time poor, rushed and short of breath?

Mango's, Eggs and Curry

Hello Dear Readers,

Wow!! We've had a very lucky week of lots of local food goodies given to us!

My mum went visited a friend in a rural area called Humpty Doo. A larger mango tree on his property had fallen, so there were plenty of mangoes to be picked before all the native animals and fruit flies got to them. My mum picked a large amount and gave us 3 times the amount you see in the photograph. I LOVE Mangos so this was a great gift.

She was also given eggs by another rural living friend, which she shared with us too.

Then to top it all off our neighbour gave us local curry leaves which have since dried and been used in various dishes.

I love gifts of foods from people's gardens. It's local, it's eco and it allows me to use my grocery budget on other extras.

Gifts: Mangoes, Eggs and Curry.

We have been very lucky indeed. We have eaten mangoes everyday and I will cut and freeze some before they go bad for future days. Yum! Yum!

Have you been given food lately or shared extra food that you have?

Cheers to good food,

Stephanie @ Frugal Down Under.