Feather your Nest Friday, 30 June, 2017.

The first half of the year is about to be gone!  That went fast!
I had a pretty good week.  It was a bit of everything!  It is really wintery but I had one lonely rose in the garden.

This week I continued to look further afield and in different places for groceries and better deals.  I went to a few op shops (thrift stores) in the area. Mostly this only achieved eliminating them from my list as they were expensive. They have lost the plot and mostly it would be cheaper to buy new stuff!  However it wasn't a waste of time... I did find a big $2 Beatrix Potter book. The cover was beaten up but I don't care I want to make cards or bunting from the gorgeous pictures! 

I also got a couple of English magazines with images like this...

I was needing a birthday card so I got busy and made 11cards,  24 fancy gift tags and 4 really little ones! 

Around here nice cards are about $8, tags $3 or $4. So you can see how fast the savings add up with making some cards. 

Other ways I feathered the nest and saved money included:

I used up some packets of dried fruit that were past the date.  I soaked the fruit in juice and sherry overnight and the fruit came up plump and lovely...

In the end I had enough to make four large fruit cakes. These cakes keep a year so I just made it all up. I used 20 eggs!  They are big cakes and these are Andy's favourite. 

I wrapped one up to set aside for Fathers Day (our FD is in September) 

So that was a bit of getting ahead!

I made potato chips and sweet potato chips.

I potted up 16 small pots of parsley seedlings from around the yard.

We picked our first capsicums...

One was used as pizza topping when I made four pizzas over the weekend.

I shopped for meat at Aldi. One good buy was pork roasts for $4 a kilo, thats really good for around here.  Also in my travels I found a big bag of apples for $2.  

The apples went with he pork in the roasting pan. 

I also filled the crockpot and made baked apples with brown sugar and sultanas.  The brown sugar becomes caramelised. These are so nice. 

When cooked they are quite gooey but with a dollop of cream they are yum!  Humble but delicious!

Some of my Bay Leaves are dry and I started packaging them up.  There are about 50 per bag.

These are good as cooks gifts and in my kitchen themed hamper gifts.

For my Vicky Challenge I wrote $923 in my savings book. Being the last week of the month I counted doing my own hair colour, cut, nails etc for the month.  This is much better than last week!  This is how much better off we are because of work in the home. Some we save, some we build up our pantry and some is just being able to live better than we could if I watched tv all day I guess! 

My favourite way to use saved money is to "snowball" it. i.e.  you might save in one area and be able to invest in something that will save your family more.  Some I can think of are saving by packing lunches for a month and buying chickens!  Taking a thermo of coffee with you and using the savings to buy a coffee machine for at home.  Making your Christmas presents and use the savings to buy a freezer...  this kind of thing!  There areas many ways you can have the snowball effect.   The end result is your family being in a better position to live better and save more! 

Today I am heading off on my search for better prices, new shops to try and new op shops! I am meeting Hilde and we are swapping bay leaves for lemons!  She has three op shops to show me that I apparently don't know about yet!  There is a fruit and veggie shop near her that I have found to be a fraction of local prices but I haven't been there in a while. I will see!  Hilde is a champion at budgeting, cooking and looking after her family. I take a note book and write the whole time as she shares recipes and tips.  This should be a good day! 

How was your week? How did you get ahead, build up your home or save?  Little bits count, they dd up faster than you think!  

I hope you have a good weekend!  xxxx