Budget meal of the week - fritters

We all enjoy fritters in our house - they are quick and easy, use up left overs, are light on meat, and use eggs (which we have large amounts of due to having chooks).  Here's my base recipe - pop what you want into them

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups SR flour
up to 1 cup of milk
1 tin creamed corn is nice
spring onions (2-4)
seasoning - salt, pepper, pakrika

add:
any combination of corn (lightly cooked)
bacon / chicken / finely sliced beef / salmon
finely chopped mushroon, broccoli

Dont add too much of anything - but mix it up and fry lightly

yummy with sauce, sour cream, pl yoghurt, sweet chilli sauce, what ever

this will feed a family of 5

How to save $3,000 TERRIBLE NEWS!

I am mortified.  Over the last 8 weeks I've clawed back $1,200 in surplus spending.  This bit of thriftiness was needed after my dear old puss got bone cancer and needed her own surgeon.  Lets just say when she picked me out at the cat home she chose wisely.  The bill came in at around $3,000 which is the amount I had put aside to reno the ensuit.  Gone.  Puss is still here though.  So I got all thrifty and have done a pretty awesome job of clawing back the $3,000 but am feeling very disheartened.  The stove died.  We've been running on 2/3 elements for some time, now we just have the outer grill.  I thought I might replace it cheaply, but stoves are only purchased infrequently, so maybe something a bit better than that.  Then there's the hotplates - 1 is damaged, another only works on full, and the discounts for buying both the hot plates and oven are hundreds of dollars.  Its a matter of choices - 1) fix - throw good money after bad??  2) go without - its an option, but I love cooking, or 3) get a loan and just suck it up, forget about the bathroom.  I think its option 3.  So I'll be looking around, researching, keeping eyes out for specials.  Can you be my eyes too??  Here of any sales please let me know - do you know of any good websites??

Any way, enough sooking

Week 9 was not a great week for saving $$ as the kids were off school

#39 - why is Glenorchy movies cheaper than everywhere else?  Took the kids and me to the cinema for $10 each - that saved $12 just by turning right instead of left at the lights - PIRATES - good fun movie.

#40 - sold some baby stuff - $50

Total savings - up to week 9 is $1,262

How to save $3,000 . . . . week 8

After saving $1060 over the last 7 weeks you'd think I would run out of innovative ways to save money -  partly true as it is the establishment of thrifty routines is what will do it.  Yet here's a few things that increased our savings this week

#36 - this is cheeky, no doubt - but as I'm not being really that keen to dish out copious amounts of chocolate to young kids it was a thrifty solution -  I was given some easter eggs for my kids from a lovely lady - they didn't know and weren't expecting anything - so lets just say I saved about $30 as the Easter bunny has been via a kindly person

#37 Fraser won a karate gi!  and we didn't even know we were competing for it - but when i posted this photo on his GKR karate FB site it seems the chief sensei appreciated his efforts, and rewarded us with a gi that is overdue.  I was going to get him one shortly, so it really is a saving of around $50!

#38 - bakery bypass??  go past . . . dont go in , soft drink reduction, no takeaways . . . .  approx $60

Can't think of anything else - but that's $140 in a week - total $1,200

Water storage areas - cheaper than installing a rainwater tank

We all realise water is a valuable thing, and we are responsible enough to know its just plain wrong to leave the sprinkler on.  Here's a compromise.  I have 4 water storage areas and they are carefully placed and unobtrusive - and very effective.  As I mentioned before I am trying to utilise my block using the principles of permaculture - that is minimise what come in, minimise what leaves.  How can we use the resources on the property in the best way.  How can we become self sufficient, not even need to turn the hose on.  Rainwater tanks = expensive - here's a really cheap solution.

I use 1 plastic drum, 2 empty bins, 1 wheelbarrow to collect water.  The plastic bin sits at the edge of the outdoor table, glass, which whenever there is a little rain - it all flows into the bin.  This is on our deck.  When it overflows the excess runs into the wheelbarrow.  This happened totally randomly because I was putting the wheelbarrow under to deck away from the weather.  It took me a while to realise why it was always full of water!!

1 of the empty bins collect water in the same way off the roof of the kids cubby.  The chooks get their water topped up from this, as well as wetting down the compost, and watering the tomatoes.  It attracts mosquito larvae, so whenever rain is due I tip it out and start again.  Its really effective.

The 2nd bin is located by the hose.  From time to time the hose goes on and any drips fall into it, and when the hose goes off the end goes into it so all excess is caught.  Its the least effective position, because I dont turn the hose on much.

The vegie patch is mulched in summer, but not in winter.  Winter mulch attracts grubs and keeps the soil cold.  Clear it away for winter - little is growing fast anyway.

I watered only 4 times over summer, and have watered just as many times in Autumn as there has been little rain, but lots of sunny days, and as I said the mulch is gone now, so the sites are drying.  So that's how I do it, add any suggestions below.

Got someone with pain in your life?? this explains it beautifully

http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/navigation/BYDLS-TheSpoonTheory.pdf

How many spoons do you have?

Cant win all the time!! Garden spuds

Today I dug up the final patch of spuds, which died down weeks ago - it hasnt rained so i was confident they would be ok.  I would have been right, except there werent any.  I popped the last seed spuds in this patch, kind of late, dumped some straw on top, had hardly any poop so it didnt break down.  This is a patch that hasnt been productive in the past, infact its been the spot in the garden where all the prunings sit until i have time to deal with them.  Its the place that means the rest of the garden is pretty tidy - every garden needs a spot like this.  It was a desperate move, it was a 'chuck them in move', or 'throw them away move'.  So what's been gained?  The patch is not full of earthworms but theres more than there was.  Theres lots of slaters and bug type life, so thats better than nothing.  It is now an egg yellowing patch as the chooks work it over.  Its ready for green compost - even though its not a sunny patch if I can get some greens going and dig them through it can only improve.  I reacon it'll be a great place for mushies next year, its dark, earthy, and a little musky.  It's on a gentle slope so it doesnt retain moisture.  Any other ideas??  It's pretty shady.