My Abundant Life: This Week's Frugal Tasks

I've spent the week pottering around the house doing a bit of this and that as well as my usual housework chores and my cleaning work ( my paying job ). Here's my frugal list for the week -

* Bought lots of strawberries at 2 punnets of 250 grams each for $1. I'll be freezing lots to make fruit icecream in Summer.

* Diluted some laundry detergent by 50%. I bought it years ago for 99 cents a bottle. It's way too thick to use as it is so I dilute it making it super cheap. This laundry liquid is not made any more so I ration it out for when my washing needs a spruce up as it smells so nice.

* Made two batches of chocolate brownies at the same time. Half was made with crushed cashews for added flavour. I froze some, took some to church for a lunch and kept some fresh for us to eat.

* I dried some rosemary a few weeks ago. Now its been pulled off the dry stems, crushed a bit to make it small enough to be shaken out of it's jar and stored ready for use. I've also picked some more and that's drying too.

* Made a fresh batch of vanilla yoghurt from scratch.

* Saved the shower water to water our vegetable seedlings.

* Picked lots of silverbeet to eat with our meals. While I was away last week I wasn't able to eat as well as I usually do. My body was craving normal food and the silverbeet helped me feel better.

* Refilled my shampoo and conditioner bottles in my toiletry bag ready for the next trip away. I like to check everything over and put in new things like soap and toothpaste so that I'll never run out. It's one less thing to worry about when I'm packing for a holiday.

* Mended a fitted bed sheet. It's a tight fit when I put it on my bed and the corner seams ripped apart recently. Now they are fixed and strong again. I've saved myself from buying new $70 sheets.

* Saved the crumbs from the bottom of the wheat bix packet. I've added them to the dried bread crumbs I made. Shortly I'll make it into seasoned bread crumbs for coating salmon patties and chicken drumsticks.

* Dried the washing on clothes horses under the pergola when it was raining. It was dry within 5 hours. Much cheaper than the dryer.

* Made french onion dip from scratch using drained yoghurt and french onion soup mix.