My Abundant Life: This Week's Frugal Tasks 31st January 2015

Being frugal and wise with what you have can bring many benefits to your life. For me personally it means that I don't have to work full time. My dollar stretches a long way and that makes me feel good as I know I'm being a good steward of what God has given me. My week can vary with different tasks. Some weeks I'm cooking and baking by the truck load and other weeks I'm sewing, mending and diluting shampoo and conditioner.

Here's what I got up to this week -

* Made some brown sugar .

* Made ten jars of tomato relish. Tomatoes have been cheap to buy at 99 cents a kilo so I'm trying to make the most of it. We are growing tomatoes but we are never sure how well they'll grow.

* Made eight jars of peach jam with peaches bought at $1.99 a kilo.

* Dried all the washing on the line or clothes horses.

* Ate leftovers for a lunch and dinner one night as they couldn't be frozen.

* Picked corn, tomatoes, beans, peaches and raspberries.

* Used the water from the last load of washing to water some garden plants.

* Kept the heater and cooling off all week.

* Made four meals of spag bol sauce at the same time and froze into meal sizes.

* After making the spag bol sauce, I portioned the leftover tomato paste into an ice cube tray and froze. This eliminates any waste.

* Defrosted our small freezer and sorted out all the freezers. I try to do this a few times a year so that I know what I have on hand. I only threw out some old bread and fed some to the chooks.

* Made soup with a frozen Christmas ham bone, carrots, corn and potato. I didn't think there was any meat left on the bone but the soup was enough for two main meals.

* Made a batch of double strength Miracle Spray. When I decant it into spray bottles I dilute it then.

* Mended and altered some clothes Jessica gave me.

* Made a scarf from a top I no longer wear. It's in apple green my favourite color so I couldn't donate it.