The Little Things...

There is no denying it. A frugal lifestyle takes time and organisation. Baking from scratch, growing veggies, making your own cleaning products and making and mending clothes are all time consuming tasks. I spend more time in the kitchen now than I ever have before, and there are tasks every day that have to be completed to keep the house ticking over. In the last 2 days alone, I have made; scones, muesli bars, bread, orange jelly, an orange cake and gingernut biscuits. I’ve also weeded the veggie patch to get it ready for planting, cleaned out LL’s toys and clothes and re-organised her bookshelves, cleaned out the fridge and done an “inventory” of the pantry to ensure that nothing is being wasted. I’ve made numerous lists covering everything from the groceries that need to be bought, to errands that need to be run, to all the things I need to do for hosting Christmas lunch this year. And then there’s all of the daily household tasks- washing, cleaning, tidying, folding, ironing- and most important of all, being a Mummy to Little Lady.

This sounds like an awful lot of things to accomplish, I know. It sounds like I’ve been run off my feet and not had a minute to myself right? Yes, I have been busy, but the truth is, I really enjoy it. As a stay-at-home mum, this is my job. I don’t get paid, there are no holidays or sick leave, but I make our house a happy, comfortable place to live in by caring for Hubby and Little Lady, and helping to make the most of the income that Hubby works so hard to bring in.

However, living a frugal lifestyle does not have to be a full time occupation like mine. In fact, for a lot of people this is completely unrealistic. But, whether you work full time, part time, are married, single, childless or caring for a family, you can still make frugal choices and make the most of your money. It’s all about making the little things count. The little choices, the little changes. So, I have put together a list of some of the little things that you can do to start living more frugally.

-Buy REAL butter. We are a butter eating family. We don’t do margarine. But, up until a couple of weeks ago I would buy block butter for cooking and spreadable butter in a tub for eating. Butter like this is really no different to the block butter, except that it is specially formulated to “spread straight from the fridge”. It also costs twice to three times the price of a 250g block of butter. So, I purchased a ceramic butter dish for $7 and stopped buying the other stuff. Unless it happens to be an overly warm day, the butter dish sits on the bench and therefore is always soft and easy to spread.

-Make your own bread. It’s better for you, cheaper and there is nothing more delicious than a warm, freshly baked loaf. You can do this from scratch, or using a bread maker. Making bread from scratch is a little more time consuming, but still very doable, even if you work full time. However, if the idea of making bread from scratch scares you, get yourself a bread maker. They aren’t hugely expensive ($70-$100), but if you don’t want to buy one, I guarantee someone you know has one that they’re not using. Currently, I am using a bread maker that belongs to my parents. Making bread in a bread maker takes 5 minutes. You put in the ingredients, turn it on and leave it to do it’s thing. When it beeps, you take it out. Done. A bag of Laucke costs $12, and this gives you 10, 750g loaves of bread.That and water is all you need. It works out to $1.20 per loaf. I make about 2 a week.

-Learn to love Casserole. Cheaper cuts of meat are better when cooked slowly at a low heat. So, they are perfect for casserole. Fill it up with veggies and pulses, throw in some stock, some herbs and a bay leaf or two and let it simmer for a few hours. If you work full time, or are out a lot during the day, put it all into the slow cooker, set it on low and let it go all day. There is no better feeling than coming home and knowing that dinner is cooked. Add rice to make it go a little further, and you’ll have enough for lunch the next day. Healthy and yummy.

-Mince. It’s cheap and versatile. Pasta, hamburgers, chow mien, meatballs; there are entire recipe books dedicated to mince. Hubby makes a batch of hamburgers every few weeks and we freeze them for dinners and the odd lunch. They taste great with salad on a balmy Melbourne evening.

-Eat potatoes and carrots. Cheap, filling and always in season. Enough said.

-Make your own laundry liquid. Very easy, very cheap and great for sensitive skin. Any detergent or washing powder that you buy from the supermarket is ridiculously expensive and full of chemicals. The liquid I have started making makes 10 litres. Stay tuned for the recipe…

-Buy fruit that is in season. If there is nothing in season that is appeals to you, buy canned.

-Switch to cloth nappies. Disposables are expensive and bad for the environment. There are heaps of options available in cloth nappies these days, so you are guaranteed to find something that suits you and your child. Again, stay tuned.

-Learn to sew. Don’t waste your money buying new things when a little wear and tear can be so simply dealt with. Splits in seams and tiny holes in clothes are easy to fix, and they don’t take long.

-Read your “junk mail”. Don’t shop at the same supermarket all the time. Read through the catalogues that get dropped into your mailbox every week and work out which supermarket has the most items on special.

I hope this helps!

Just a little disclaimer; I know that I am lucky to have the opportunity to be at home with my daughter while she is young. There are mothers (and fathers!) out there who have no choice but to go to work, whether for financial reasons or for the sake of their own sanity. This does not make them bad parents. Parenting is a tough job whether you stay at home, work part time or work full time. We are all just trying to be the best parents that we can be and I am not judging anyone.