Weekend waffle

Screen time on Saturday ~ still has to be earned

A lovely sunny day ~ and the morning was spent tidying up because SmallBoy had a friend coming over and had no screen time to guarantee Xbox play. His room is clean, the kitchen looks organised and the weeding effort was productive. Screen time earned and spent. Mudguts loaned us the movie UP which we will watch after dinner.

Got all the rates money ready for Tuesday and hopefully I can BPay in two payments because I need to take part from our two bank accounts. After a wonky start, which I will put down to pain medication withdrawal, the week went well. Two mystery shopping assignments will put another $25 onto the Line of Credit *yay* ~ one of those was a supermarket shop so a double gain with $10 provided to get milk, water and a few onions. For those wondering why we spend our much needed cash on bottled water, the tap spits out chlorinated liquid which is unbearable. I have, however, just found a spring water tap in the mountains near SmallBoy's school and, now having containers with removable spouts, will be driving up after school drop off to fill them. Living on a major thoroughfare, we cant drink from our tank due to pollutants.

We also received a voucher to get a free box of Bulla Split icy-poles by clicking on a competition link. It arrived in the mail with a request to mention the competition to win a super Summer Holiday on the Gold Coast by going to www.letssplit.com.au and entering. We feel like winners already with a free multipack of Splits ~ SmallBoy's dessert for the next week ~ winning the holiday would be ice-cream on the top *pun intended* Head over to the website for more info - you could get your personalised postcards free.

Here's a tip if you are still paying bank fees on your accounts - call your finanical institution and ask for the monthly fee to be waived. I can almost guarantee you will have success.  My girlfriend was having a whinge that her bank was offering fee-free accounts to new customers, but not to her - an existing and loyal customer of more than ten years. Without fail, that monthly $5 account-keeping fee was being deducted. I asked her why she didnt call them and ask about removing the account-keeping fee. Her response - it's a pain to call the bank. After a 30minute discussion about the pros and cons, I said I'd make us a cuppa and we could keep chatting while she called them, on my VOIP phone as it would be free.

That is exactly what we did ~ and before the tea had been brewed she was through to a phone consultant who said they were more than happy to waive the monthly fee for existing customers. Because so many banks offer fee-free accounts, its safe to say ALL banks are happy to keep existing customers business ~ you might be the one spending 20c on a phone call and a little time on hold but it will save you $30-$60 a year! Is it worth it ~ damn straight it is!! Let me know if you save by trying this out, and consider putting the first month's saved fee into our Treasure Chest. *please*


Cheap and Tasty

MudGuts has friend whose nana has grown a glut of zucchini and, having not grown any this year ourselves, I happily took a large zucchini and two decent sized squash when offered. I'd usually pick these when they are smaller in size but I know what it is like to have the plant produce so prolifically.    This makes six big servings and freezes really well to use as a quick lunchbox meal or a dinner when there is no time or energy to make something from scratch.

Zucchini Slice

3 zucchini (grated)
1 onion (grated)

2 cloves garlic (crushed)

4 slices of bacon (chopped)
1 cup of cheese (grated)
1/2 cup plain flour (wholemeal)

1/2-1 cup corn kernels (optional)

3 eggs

salt/pepper/mixed herbs

To 'stretch' to eight serves: add 1 large potato (grated), 1 egg, 2 extra bacon rashes, 1/2 cup sour cream, 400ml tin corn kernels (drained), extra 1/4 cup plain flour

Lightly beat the eggs and add sour cream and garlic. Mix until well combined. The sour cream may leave small blobs in the egg mixture - this is ok. 

Put all other ingredients into a big bowl, add the egg mixture and mix really well. 

Pour into a quiche dish or laminton pan and cook in the oven for one hour at 160C. 

If you want a vegetarian meal, leave out the bacon. Delicious and cheap!

The final result will be up on our Facebook page ~ along with the recipe but using some substitute ingredients because I don't have all the basic ingredients. The one being made tonight has ricotta, ham and a few other herbs because I've never been one to stick to the basic recipe.

There will also be a few other give aways and freebies we know about. One reason I am listing them is because you never know who needs or wants something. Hopefully this is not too much information, but its almost 'that time' of the month and I was without any sanitary products. After a quick search around websites such as Carefree, Libra and Kotex - let's just say I am fine for the month *blushes* Ahh the things we do to scrape through.

Thank you 

I am sure I've said it before but I will say it again ~ gee I have a great mother in law! Having just paid for new school shoes ($110 + inserts), a grade 6 bomber jacket ($55) and the NetBook fees ($130) we not only were left with nothing for the shopping budget, we had no cash to splash on socks to fit the growing SmallBoy's lengthening feet. I gave him two pair of my black socks so he would be in uniform and MIL unwittingly has come to our rescue sending up four pair of new black socks for him to wear. We didn't ask for them, or make any comment about needing new socks, she is just the type of person to know what is needed on a regular basis and if she finds them on special she will get them as token gift.

SmallBoy has new socks for school

MIL has often let us know the bargains she discovers ~ such as buying lamb shanks for $1 each at a halal butcher as the shanks are often discarded as unusable meat product. I assume this has something to do with religion, like the inability for pork product to be used by orthodox Jews. Whatever the reason, it sure beats the cost of $8-$10 for 2 or 3 lamb shanks at the supermarket. Plus these ones are usually much bigger and meatier than the supermarket variety.

A final suggested competition for those who have a new baby or one on the way.  Three Lil Princesses has a competition to win a pack of Goats Milk handmade soaps containing whey protein and lactic acid for exfoliation and to give skin strength and suppleness. Goat’s milk also has the same pH as human skin and can be ideal for battling determatitis, eczema or psoriasis. Please mention we referred you so they know how you found out about the competition.

Off to watch 'UP' ~ what better when you've got kids over!!  I love kids movies and this was another I was unable to see at the cinema while the back was mending.  Hopefully we will win some movie tickets via a competition I entered ~ if you get my Tweets you'll know there are movie tickets up for grabs. 

Remember our goal is to pay down our debt so any Spare Change you might have in your pocket would be gratefully accepted. It would be nice to have a little change to pay off the HomeCare account in March. It's getting lower but still a long way to go at a few dollars a month. At least its keeping Collections off our case ~ and that is a big plus when avoiding stress and anxiety!

Catch you next post ~ we'd love to hear if any tips or recipes you've read on Our Mission have helped you in any way.  *waves*