My Abundant Life: This Week's Frugal Tasks

This week Spring has arrived in Australia. It's so exciting. The weather is a little warmer and just right for spending more time in the garden. Spring also means we don't have to use the heater so much. Frugal gas bills will be on the way soon - YAY !!!

Here's my frugal list for the week -

* Saved as much shower water as possible and poured it into the washing machine.

* Dried the washing on clothes horses and the clothes line.

* Darren planted out the vegetable seeds last weekend.into little green houses. He bought these on clearance when Sam's Warehouse closed down. The seeds were left over from last Spring so we didn't need to spend any money this year. He planted corn, tomatoes ( three varieties ), zucchini, mixed lettuce and beans ( climbing and dwarf ).

* Juiced more lemons and froze the juice into ice block trays. These will be stored in containers in the freezer to make lemon butter, lemon chicken, lemon slice and for pouring over fish.

* Picked another basket of lemons. These will be juiced in a week's time when they are slightly softer. I find if I leave them for a week the insides relax, the skin thins out and I get more juice from them.

* Cleaned the dishwasher with bi carb and vinegar. I gave the inside of the door and seals a wipe over with Miracle Spray to get rid of finger marks and any gunk. The filters were given a good scrub and rinse too. I try to do this at the start of each month to keep it in good working order.

* Made more laundry powder.

* Darren and I had our wedding anniversary on Tuesday. To celebrate we went out for dinner to Hog's Breath. We used our 20% discount cards to make it more affordable. We went to the movies and used a gift card that was given to us last Christmas.

* We've had the heater off a few times during the day.

* Made a chunky chicken and sweet corn soup that was eaten over two meals for the four of us. I used homemade chicken stock from the freezer. It cost about.$2 per meal to make.

* Picked more broccoli florets. I thought the broccoli had finished growing but these florets just keep coming. I'll keep picking as long as they keep growing.

Chunky chicken and sweet corn soup.

Vegetable seeds in the green house tray

Bean seeds popping out of the soil

Our dwarf peach tree has just started to bloom. We only planted it a couple of months ago. We are not expecting any fruit for a few years but the blooms are so pretty.