Say What you Really mean...

You say "battler" like its a bad thing *grins*

Bit of a thinking process going on about those who are "strugglers" and those who are "Battlers" ~ whether there is a difference in the two? Do strugglers really just like to brag under the guise of complaining about how they couldn't really afford the new $149 shoes, marked down from $200 at least, but managed to buy them any way and now its going to be a struggle to find an outfit that matches that shade of mauve.

Is there a class which is really in a position to do well, just has this silly habit of over extending and believing if they think they deserve it then they really should have it ignoring the fact they cannot in fact afford it? There are some who can afford to spend in whimsy, knowing the bills will still be paid and debt reduced. I hope some are reading and willing to contribute to the Spare Change Jar on the left as confirmation there are actually some who can afford to spend on whimsy for real and not just in our imaginations, dreams and wishes...

Seriously, I think there is a type who bemoan their lot when wanting to share an ill-afforded extravagance ~ in some ways I consider myself a battler, but the difference is probably in the region of getting $50k a year less than the "average struggler". Plus I see ourselves as being clever, frugal and powering through with what we have, rather than what we have not but must get regardless of the possible future detriment. The whinging battler is one often wanting to change but sees only the half empty glass, not feeling that happy tiddly feeling the first half put in your head...   I'd just tell her that we don't do takeaway, don't buy new, love fossicking opshops, use no-name and bake my own biscuits and pies. Why hold back - being in control and having control is something to be proud of.

It's like it is someone else's fault they are put in the position of feeling guilty for making a purchase (most likely via credit) which wasn't really needed but desired enough to actually hand over the plastic and cast aside that little voice asking 'but how long can you push that purchase payment out' for that extra dose of guilt on the side ~ and see others on half as much seemingly do twice as well as themselves with some jealousy. Guilt and jealousy ~ the "average struggler". 

Just as some love to say they enjoyed dinner out at that new trendy eatery, spending around $50 a head plus the drinks, I love being able to say I fed all three of us the type of meal you'd expect at a new trendy eatery for under $10 including a nice clean skin sparkling wine. 

Today was even more exciting and rewarding as we ate our own produce in tonight's evening meal. Using $4 of marked down steak, half the red onion from yesterday's salad, left over bean shoots, boiled brown rice and from our garden: bok/pak choy, snow peas, parsley, basil and ginger, I made the yummiest stir fry meal for less than $2 per person ~ easily as good as main from that trendy place others go....

Whose Fault Was It Anyway? 

If you think it was mine (and those goes for anything you think I may have been the one in the wrong from my early teens right through to tomorrow mornings' offerings) ~ fine ~ blame me. Don't care if I am not taking the problem on as my own ~ I do that well enough for myself alone. So knock yourself out ~ not my problem. Bridge, built - over it...

If you are a teacher however, or one who 'looks after' other people's children, or one who understands the concept of 'you kinda need to be responsible for your kids yourself too you know' ~ enjoy the following article:  What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents.

Until the next time ~ do feel free to toss any spare change into the Spare Change Jar or Treasure Chest ~ it all goes on our debt and hopefully is indicative of the fact you find the blog informative, entertaining, education or you can tell we need all the help we can get *grins*

Did someone speed up time?

The things my Husband finds ~ love his photographs... 

I swear it was Sunday ~ and now its Wednesday morning!

Hope all the Dads, stand ins and children all over have enjoyed the togetherness of Sunday ~ now come on, the 'special' day is over, back to the normal. Yes, it would be nice to have days like that all the time, but it takes some coordinating, planning, doing things in anticipation... *bit of a hint dear* 

So who spent a small fortune? Ours came in under $50 ~ including the petrol for our afternoon, our self catered lunch and a yummy roast dinner! Enjoying the left overs from the $11 roast as a pork and vegetable pie for Monday nights meal keeps us about $2-$3 per head per meal ~ we could have stretched both meals to feed four people - it was more fun feeling like happy stuffed little piggies *burps* 'scuse me...

The Week Ahead... 

The garden is about to yield forth its first edible offerings ~ about half the first of the Asian greens are ready and calling for a stir fry or warm salad use. Hmmm ~ that's an idea for the weekend. As for tonight, I took the $5 schnitzels out of the freezer, marked down meat but only two large schnitzels in the packet. So fried them up on the stove, sliced into strips and added to a bowl of salad of lettuce, bean sprouts, baby spinach, radish, cucumber, snow peas, onion, parmasean cheese, walnuts, green apples and a ceasar style dressing... 

Doesn't that sound fancy?! I reckon it looks decently fancy too, happy to serve that up to the Queen should she drop in. Cost under $7 for the whole meal and if HRH had dropped in, it would have stretched for one more as well ~ but she didn't so we ate it all *grins* SmallBoy was a little grumbly over the sprouts but demolished his plateful. Then he had the last of the vanilla cream over a chopped frozen banana ~ the cream freezes on the banana and is a delicious, quick dessert to use up left over cream! 

I am trying desperately to push out this week's grocery shop to build a little 'cash' surplus for some staples we will need in anticipation of the wet season. By not using the remaining $42 of this weeks shopping budget for groceries, I can get bulk wholemeal flours, brown rice, epsom salts, vinegar, coat-hangers and mulch instead.

Just jumped in the shower between making up some peanut butter biscuit dough to make biscuits ~ mainly because they are yummy and it will help lower the craving for long-absent chocolate, but also to compensate for 'boring' sandwiches for lunch SmallBoy has to endure for two, maybe three days in a row *gasps in mock shock*

I've used a variation of the peanut butter biscuit dough from the delightful website Stay At Home Mum, really only changing the peanut butter to smooth. This recipe makes about 30 biscuits - I used the last quarter of the dough to add a few of the Ballarat walnuts for variation. It could probably take nicely with some choc chips - if I had any...

Rather than do a standard grocery shop ~ we can have the pasties made and frozen last week for dinner tomorrow, then the shop can be base more toward those bulk purchases along with some cloves, mince, milk, rolls. With more flour I can make more scrolls, do some biscuits, cakes and get ready for using the bread maker when I get yeast next shop. 

Quick Reflection...

The move to Queensland was not about saving/making money ~ a big part has always been quality of life, a balance of work and play, a climate to aid recovery and movement. More than anything, I am grateful for the way things happened ~ there is a saying: "Things fall apart so other things can fall together" ~ that's what this has all been like.

While it might not be a big deal to many to get a meal on the table (physically or financially); to be able to there in the morning for breakfast, walking, talking, eating, laughing ~ and then again in the afternoon and evening. Some times I feel blessed with the chance to 'do life' with less stress and more enjoyment, even appreciating that it all needs to be done a little slower or with some rest along the day.

I really do enjoy making biscuits ~ they really don't take a lot to put together. Trying different meals to incorporate more salads and vegetables, getting up at sparrows' fart to go to the market, reading or (now) riding over screen related activities for all of us. OK ~ I'm not at riding yet, the boys are and I am jealous. I'm not able to vacuum but I can mop. It's all just a heck of a lot better than expected and imagined.

Must mosey ~ another full and exciting day. I do hope we get coat hangers in the next day or so. I'd really like to hang the last of the clothes and get everything out of the campervan completely. Out come the nick-knacks, pictures and books. Might need another bookshelf...

Let me know if you try the biscuits or what more details about the meals we prepare and eat, budgeting $2-$3 per person per main meal per night. Most nights usually cost $6 for a meal for three hearty appetites, occasionally with leftovers for lunch.

Things that make change

Who said you had to spend heaps to make a veggie garden? 

OK ~ you probably didn't but I know others who have. In the past six weeks, we have not only set up a raised veggie bed for nothing, we've got the seeds, fertiliser and more in for next to nix. Building the garden bed used a lot 

We have saved hundreds of dollars over the years. Instead of paying up to $5.00 for packets of seeds which may or may not sprout, we have started grabbing packets of seeds from the herb and soup sections of the supermarkets. 

The seeds you get for coriander, mustard, fennel, cardamom or celery in spice packets from the supermarket for cooking can be planted in your garden. These normally cost around $1.00-$1.50 per packet and you will get a lot more seeds than the packets bought from a plant store. 

We also get the full dried peas (not freeze dried) from the soup section (with the lentils and McKenzies packet mixes) and these successfully grow ~ we've had the sweetest sugar snap peas ever from soup peas! A packet normally costs $1.50-$2.00 and you get well over 100 seeds. In comparison to buying 'packet' seeds it would cost you five times as much for about 20 or so seeds. Just remember not to buy the split peas ~ they won't grow at all.

Another way to save buying seeds is cut the ends off shallots and replant them, it takes about three weeks before they get over their 'shock', but you will have an endless harvest of shallot stems to use in salads. We do the same with old onions, including salad onions, that have hidden themselves away in our cupboards and sprouted. Plant them in your garden, let them flower and go to seed to get great seed stock for the next few years. No need to buy more!

Garlic can be done in the exact same way. Grab a clove and plant it flat end into the ground. After about four months you will get a great bulb of garlic from your original clove. A few cloves turns into a bumper crop and look great drying in the pantry or kitchen. Be aware that garlic from China or Mexico has usually been treated with Bromide (a carcinogenic) so only use Australian grown garlic.

Pumpkin, cucumber, capsicum, tomato, chili and other vegetable seeds can be cleaned, dried and then planted out to give you more seed stock to play with. If you plant two different types of pumpkins near each other, they cross pollinate and you can end up with a hybrid which tastes great. We usually let one or two of each vegetable go to seed so that next years planting will cost us even less. This works well with  lettuce, silverbeet, rocket, Asian greens, mint, corn, loofah, tomatoes and sugar snap peas.

Old potatoes and sweet potatoes that start sprouting can be replanted and will give a good crop. Just cut a sprouting part of the potato and plant it, from one potato you get up to five new plants, with around 30-40 potatoes from each. Some people don't recommend the growing of potatoes in old car tyres ~ we've never really had an issue with it as it has always been easier to add an extra tyre and layer of dirt as the potato plant leaves come through the soil ~ but you can always use an old hay bale or hessian bag of soil if you'd prefer.

Sowing broad beans, carrots, onions, radishes and spinach can be difficult and fiddly and the best way to solve the problem is to make home-made seed tape. It is an easy family activity and something we've done for years. I actually submitted this as a hint to Simple Savings about four years ago and its still there in the Vault and was mentioned in one of the newsletters.

1. Unroll a strip of toilet paper on a table (any ply, unbleached and non-scented), to the length you wish. While it might seem quicker to do one long, straight row it is easier with a few shorter strips when planting out.

2. Make a thick paste of flour and water. Dab the paste onto the toilet paper using a cotton bud, spaced apart as per the seed packet recommendation, for example 20cm.

3. Place a seed on each paste blob.

4. When the paste is dry, the seed tape is ready to fold. Starting along the strip's long edge, fold a third of the paper over the seeds, then fold the other third over to cover the seeds completely. Lightly dampen the paper, misting it with a spray bottle of water to secure the seeds. Make as many of these strips as you need then carefully carry them to the garden.

5. Make shallow furrows in the prepared soil, lay the strips down, mist heavily with the spray bottle of water and cover with soil. Now, your seeds will grow in straight, spaced rows. Tip: Alternate carrot seeds with radish seeds because when the radishes sprout, they help to mark the row and break the ground.

The key to a successful veggie garden is good watering practices ~ having lived through drought in Victoria, investing in a water tank was the only reason we kept ourselves in vegetables until I became physically unable to tend the garden and Hubby's lengthy absences due to work made it an event in weed cultivation. 

Already we have Asian greens at the usable stage (although leaving them another week or two will mean they are bigger and require less in our stir fries) and we are about to sow the second cropping of corn, peas and carrots to ensure they are growing in a staggered manner. We have lettuce going to seed to add to those already growing and hope to have the beetroot ready for salads in the next month. 

This Fortnight's Menu

It's posted a little later than I hoped, but we have been eating to the menu as planned. The list was written up on Sunday and stuck on the fridge as usual, so I've extended to carry through to next week. In the middle of welcoming back my long lost kitchen Tupperware friends, released from the cold Ballarat shed and reunited with us here in Bundaberg. Oh FridgeSmarts, dear ModularMates ~ how I have missed thee... 

Yes, well - so here's what we've been having and what we will have going forward.

Sunday: Pork chops and steamed vegetables

Monday: Spaghetti Bolognes 

Tuesday: Tortellini with tomato, chilli and basil sauce

Wednesday: Pea & Ham soup (homemade, SmallBoy had face plant - will elaborate over the weekend)

Thursday: Pea & Ham soup for SmallBoy; Peri-Peri chicken salad for us - both homemade

Friday: *Splurge* Takeaway burgers, fish, seafood, chips

Saturday: Vegetable pasties

Sunday: Roast Chicken with all the trimmings - Happy Fathers' Day - :D

Monday: Thai Beef Salad (of sorts)

Tuesday: Chicken and vegetable pic

Wednesday: Tuna patties and salad

Thursday: Veal schnitzel and salad

Friday:  Nachos

Saturday: Gozlemes

Sunday:  Roast Pork

Having just eaten down our Ballarat pantry ~ moved to Bundaberg with 'nothing' and now building back the basics including herbs, spices and oils before we focus on too much stock piling purchases. I do want to make sure we have extra flour, sugar, rice and some other staples (considering this is the first time in years I've actually got no rice!!)  We are fine for cleaning, washing products - I have an abundance of shampoo & conditioner thanks to a trial on Soap. Couldn't give away as much as they gave me!

All the cat food has been sent up (thanks Mum) so that will last through until the end of the month of September - 15 cans and two packets of dry food (plus extra litter) is a huge saving! 

As September is school holidays, and we are going away to the Gold Coast with friends for four days in week 3, then we have 4 extra mouths for week 4, I've got a little spending cash aside for some restaurant meals. I've already planned some of the menu for visitors and have most of the items in the freezer already. I also expect that friends will contribute to some of the groceries - especially while we are on the GC. 

Week 1 - w/e 01 September ~ Budget $100

Week 2 - w/e 08 September ~ Budget $ 50

Week 3 - w/e 15 September ~ Budget $ 50

Week 4 - w/e 22 September ~ Budget $100

Week 5 - w/e 29 September ~ Budget $ 50

Part of this week (Week 1) shopping are some of those staples - just to start building some in reserve. It was suggested that, in anticipation of our first 'wet season', we do use some of the budget to ensure we have extra and start rotating stores as we get the chance to increase the volume. I'd like to have 5kg of brown rice on hand, so if I buy 1kg now and look for specials on 1-2kg to build it up. 

Time to relax ~ bit of a garden and sorting kinda weekend. Hubby has brought some personal 'home' items for us to intermingle in the house, more of our belongings are out of the camper and finding places to be kept. We are finding our place and making our mark ~ I do like the feeling we are creating. Almost a full school term has passed, we've been here in our own for six weeks and so much has been achieved. Time for reflecting over the weekend too I think *nods*

Put the cash back in your wallet

Objects are closer than they appear... 

We actually have some savings...

And I am wondering if it is better to put an extra $1000 onto the VISA or keep the $1200 as 'emergency money' and keep putting on an extra $100 per week to all the interest accumulating accounts. Ahhh - the dilemma.

As things have been SO stretched finanically in the past, the security conscious part of me would rather keep the savings in the online account, continue adding $15 each week and leave it be. The money conscious part of me says if the VISA is reduced by $1000, the limit can also be reduced thus lowering the interest. The flippy-floppy part of me says keep half, put half on the VISA - or maybe its better on the personal loan - or perhaps the line of credit - or put a bit on each...

I posed this question on the Mands On A Mission facebook page and got a great response from the author of 365 Ways to Make Money and 26 Ingredients, Kylie Ofiu. Before stating her opinion, Kylie mentioned the choice depends on other information ~ are the bills being paid, has there been any discussions or arrangements made with the financial institutions involved and was more than then minimum repayments now required? 

Once I clarified that all the regular expenses are covered, our debts/loans are getting a little more than the minimums each month (some more than others) and we are looking at getting the VISA onto a lower rate or zero rate card ~ but with nothing as back up if (say) car repairs were required its VISA (which we want to avoid) if we put our savings on to the debts.  Kylie offered the following opinion:

"If you are covering everything, keep the $1,000 aside for emergencies (like car repairs, insurance excess, health problems). It will stop the need for the Visa and will be easier to pay off that debt..."

She also suggested putting half on to one of the debts and keeping $500 as an emergency fund to avoid additional credit card debt.  Kylie also recommended looking for ways to make extra money and it might be time to get moving on setting up selling Tupperware again. I do so love the product and will be quite happy to potter through a party or three each week ~ must think seriously about that.

Of course, Hubby is about to look for work ~ even part time to start but we need to hear what the therapist says about my requirements and what abilities I should be strengthening. Especially as my neck now appears to be next on the chopping block (and I don't mean off ~ just need to have surgery to remove spurs and stop the nerve compression).

Our Little Mantras

This past week, we have set up some really fantastic habits and - while still new and practising - its not only lowering our spending, it is increasing our debt reductions as we issue 'penance' when temptation almost wins with a sneaky purchase or totally unnecessary spend.

Everyday he's "shuffling" 

On Thursday, I needed to get milk and onions which I did . . . and picked up two magazines . . . and put them back, thus "saving" $14.90. As penance, I put $10 onto the VISA and only $2.89 was spent on the required items. 

On Wednesday, I saw the nicest skirt ~ $15 ~ and even went so far as to browsed online to see if I could get it cheaper. Then moved away from the computer... Didn't buy anything and put $10 onto the LOC as 'penance' for evil thoughts *grins*  I figure if I felt like I had the funds for such 'extravagances' then I have the funds to pay a little extra onto our debt. 

So we have made some little mantra's and tips to help us not to spend just because... I have enough clothes, food, shoes, cleaning items to last a month and can spend that time looking for food, cleaners and REQUIRED purchases as they come on special. There is nothing I need urgently tomorrow.

I'd rather save for a "___ house/car/holiday ___" than buy another new shirt / skirt / jumper

$20 is better put onto the credit card than taken off.

If you 'want it' ~ put it back. If you decide you 'need it' come back tomorrow and think about it some more.

Other Reminders

Take a pic of your wardrobe, dresser drawers or shoe pile (your weakness) ~ keep it in your wallet IN FRONT of the card or cash ~ Look at the item you really don't need, look at the picture, look at the price and put it back... Even at the op shop. I carry around a picture of all the boxes of clothes we had at the garage sale and it reminds me I never EVER want to get to that amount again!

The Rising Costs of Fresh Fruit & Veg

Oh what a beautiful morning... 

I don't think anyone hasn't been gob-smacked by the cost of bananas.

But $4 for a small capsicum? My youngest sister came to the conclusion its time to "drink more wine. It's cheaper, tastes better, and I look fantastic after a few!" after pondering if hers was a Magic capsicum. She decided it must be for such an insulting, exorbitant price. 

Most likely, this is the fall out from the crop poisonings last August which destroyed millions of tomato, capsicum, eggplant and other such produce when water was contaminated by unknown saboteurs. Another poisoning attempt was recently made on strawberry produces but thankfully that was stopped due to increased security against possible attacks.

Why are people at war with the farmers? It's not like farmers are the ones dictating prices at the supermarket and, from what I understand, they barely make enough profit to make ends meet themselves. Bananas for $15 per kilo ~ and I am positive the sellers would barely get a quarter that price. Especially know we have bought bananas for $4-$5 per kilo at the markets here in Bundy. 

It's been a tough year for our fruit and veg ~ hasn't it. There's been floods and cyclones, locusts and mice, and some parts of the country have had droughts for the past 10 years only to get washed away in the first year offering some opportunity to grow. Potato farmers striking, crops being poisoned, petrol/oil costs increasing and supermarkets bringing prices "down down, prices are down" ~ just not so much on the fresh, Australian grown goods.

What would life be like if we all had to buy locally. If the cost of transporting produce became so unreasonable that primary producers could not get their goods to buyers? Do you know how grow fruit and vegetables for your family if necessary? Can you milk a cow (if you had one), slaughter a chook, make yogurt or cheese, or savoury shapes? Imagine the cost of food doubled in September . . . and stayed at those prices for the next 12 months. Would you be able to afford your shopping habits as a consequence of economics ~ if you could afford to continue shopping the same way?

We've made our own bed... 

Making the Bed 

In light of that above, we have started to build our 'temporary' vegetable beds here. Mind you, the climate in Bundaberg is a mighty site different to that of freezing Ballarat. In fact, the veggie growing season appears to be coming to an end for the main bulk of crops. Things we plant now will be harvestable (if that is a word) around November and December with not a lot of the summer gardening we are used to - but I think we should be able to produce enough to freeze, pickle or preserve for the hot, wet, humid months to come.

We do already have basil, chives, oregano and parsley growing in a herb pot, plus some lettuce, strawberries and mulberry in other pots. We are about to fill a third pot (the old laundry sink actually) with some snow peas, wombok, coriander, mint and mustard greens. And, having met some wonderful local home growers, we've got ginger and yakon rhizomes to plant in next month.

The Laundry Tub ~ ready for herbs... 

Looking at Gardenate ~ there are quite a few of our favourite vegetables which can be planted over the next 4-6 weeks.  Vegetables like beetroot, celery, carrots, potatoes, onions, beans, lettuce, cucumber, pumpkin and radish. We can also start seed trays of leeks, capsicum, chilli, melons, cabbage, tomatoes and lots of different herbs.

Aside from building a raised garden bed and the laundry sink, we also have two concrete tubs and the inside barrel of a washing machine to use for growing produce in. Along with a few big pots and tubs, we hope to be able to share and exchange with others for things we don't have ~ like eggs. Oh we do miss our fresh laid googie eggs.

Miss my gerls...

Most of the manual work at the moment is being done by Husband, with a lot of advice, guidance and directions from moi! Our financial outlay so far has been zip and we hope to continue that way. Thanks to friendly local Freecyclers, we've also got some fresh, organic seaweed fertiliser - a wonderful surprise and a huge money saver.

We will be sharing the progress and hope to be able to get lots of personal tips from successful vegetable growers around the country. Saving money at the shopping end will mean more available to get rid of this debt and buy ourselves our own home here - ideally close to the high school SmallBoy will be attending for the next five years. Loving our new environment and already feeling part of a lovely community. *cheers*

Until tomorrow ~ keep that wallet closed (unless of course you want to contribute to our Spare Change Jar or Treasure Chest). All the little pennies add up and help us in more ways than you can imagine :D