Opshop Donations

I forgot to charge up my camera battery so I don't have a picture of all I decluttered from the house and donated yesterday to a local opshop. But - one of the volunteers brought a shopping trolley to my car when she realised how many bags I had. I filled one just like the picture! The lady had to hold her arms over the top to hold it from falling out.

I am happy to give so much away and move it on from here. A lot of it was clothes that my children have out grown, some hand-me-downs that didn't fit and wasn't needed by others that I know and a gift basket that I had no use for.

I was happy that none it was things I had bought and then not used. It used to happen with me in the past - buying something cheap is not a bargain if it's not needed. I am getting better - not perfect! I did go into the shop after I had emptied the car - and didn't find anything we needed or anything I wanted either.

Bargain Buys

My husband and I rarely shop spontaneously anymore. We do lists. Lots of lists. A common phrase in our home, before buying something is: "is it on a list?" He has a list for what he needs/wants. I have a list for what I need/want. We have a list for things we need/want for the house. There are lists for each child - clothing, christmas ideas etc.. But just because it's on a list doesn't mean we end up buying it. The things we really need get priority and then we look at the wants. Here are a few purchases we made this week:

Dining Setting - I really only needed eight dining chairs but chairs alone are approx. $90-125 each. The prices could have ranged from 8 x $90 = $720 or 8 x $125 = $1000! Way more than I would have been comfortable spending.

This is my budget friendly option - an ebay complete dining setting 8 chairs and a table for $560! I liked the new table so much we have decided to use it instead of our original table and re-purpose our old table. By the way - new chairs have been on the list for nearly 7 years.

Bunk Beds - We decided recently that we wanted to have two of our children share a room, but to make the space work we needed a set of bunks. These were another ebay buy for $120. I had bid and been unsuccessful 3 times before getting these ones. But I am happy with the price and the condition of them. And so far they are sharing the space well!

Portable Fridge - We have been setting ourselves up with quality camp gear over the last few years and this is one of the purchases that will make our camping trips so much easier. We won't need to have to pay extra for powered sites anymore. I will also be able to take it grocery shopping with each fortnight, and now I won't need to rush traight home with all the cold stuff. I source it through ebay - brand new, still in box and with a cover - for approx. $300 less than in any of the stores we had looked at. It still gave me palpatations to hand over the cash - but I know that the value for us is there.

Feeding the Pig

This is my piggy bank. I was given him as a gift for my 18th birthday from a friend. He is now 20 years old - I am not :-(

Every time I shop with cash and get change back ie. 5c, 10c, 20c, & 50c I keep it aside to save in my piggy bank when I get home. I find it's such an effortless way to save. From January 1st to mid April '09 I saved $85.95. I only empty him when I can't fit anything else in, and I am getting close to full again.

This weeks total for "feeding the pig" is $4.55.

Grocery Shop Tally

I left early this morning, dropped the little one at Kindy and headed straight for the petrol station. I made my goal of lasting til Thursday to fill up - although the light was flashing red!

I filled the tank for $89.05. Last week I had $9 left of my budget and there is another $10 remaining from this week - so $19 in my fuel cash.

Last fortnight I had $2 remaining in the grocery cash. I did buy quite alot of meat last week reduced, so that has helped this weeks shopping.I shop the specials as much as I can, which normally involves me shop at 3 different supermarkets. I now drive to a shopping area a little further from my house to take advantage of the fact that all 3 supermarkets are next door to each other. I've found that this makes my time more efficient and helps keep my petrol usage lower.

So here is this fortnights round up:
Coles

Total: $52.50

Breakfast cereal - $5.00

White sugar 2x2kg - $3.30

Pasta Sauce - $1.44

Tissue - $1.79

Laundry Liquid - $2.09

Chocolate - $1.89

Chocolate eclairs - $1.19

Tomatoe Paste 3x - $3.87

Borlotti Beans 2x - $2.38

Butterscotch pudding 2x - $2.18

Wipes - .99c

Diced Tomatoes - .75c

Beef Mince x3pkts - $10.13

Burgers - $3.30

Cheese Sauce 2x - $1.42

Olive Oil - $5.06

Pepsi Max - $2

Tomatoes - $1.05

Red Capsicum - .70c

Broccoli - $1.98

Aldi:

Total: $ 63.15

Rice 2kg - $3.49

2 min noodles 4x - $4.36

Eggs 2x -$4.78

Margarine 4x - $4.36

Diced bacon 2x - $4.98

Tasty Cheese 1kg - $7.49

Sweet Potato - $1.45

Oranges - $1.25

Creamed Corn - .99c

Diced Tomatoes 2x - $1.50

Tinned Peaches - $1.49

Tinned Spaghetti/Beans 3x - $2.07

Strawberry Jam - $1.39

Devon 1kg - $2.29

Longlife Skim Milk 1ltr 3x - $3.24

Lemonade - .69c

Fruit Cordial 2l - $2.19

Toilet Tissue - $3.99

WeetBix 2x - $5.18

Muesli Bars 2x - $3.98

Cheese Crackers - $1.99

Woolworths

Total: $41.30

Milk 2x3l - $6.32

Olives - $1.99

Kidney Beans - .99c

Sour Cream - $1.29

Frozen Chips 2x - $3.98

Frozen Meat Pies 2x - $6.38

Tiny Teddies Biscuits 2x - $1.98

Parsley Flakes - $2.52

Pegs - $3.15

Onions - $ 1.45

Zucchini - $1.16

Taco Seasoning 2x- $1.60

Tortilla's - $3.69

Portello 2x - $1.98

Meal Mixes 2x - $1.50

Chocolate Custard - $1.34 (reduced - my treat!)

Combined Total: $ 156.95

Budget Remaining: $138.05

Meal Planning

On one Wednesday I do a fortnightly meal plan. So, here is this fortnights meals:

Thursday: Macaroni Cheese (kids - we're out)
Friday: Meat Pies & Chips
Saturday: Homemade Burgers
Sunday: Roast Chicken, mash & veges with gravy
Monday: Beef Thai Green Curry with rice
Tuesday: Chow Mein
Wednesday: Chicken, barley & vege soup with rolls

Thursday: Stuffed Baked Potatoes
Friday: Homemade Pizza's
Saturday: Spaghetti Bolagnaise
Sunday: Pea & Ham Soup with pizza scrolls/rolls
Monday: Silverside, mash & veges with parsley sauce
Tuesday: Mex Tortilla Stack with salad
Wednesday: Leftover Soup & BLT foccacia

I have a budget of $295 per fortnight for food. This Wednesday I plan and shop for the breakfasts, lunches & main meals for two weeks. I will do a cupboard review next week and see what we may be needing, and also do a top up on fresh fruit & vege's and milk.

I will post tomorrow on how the shopping goes and how the budget stands!

Welcome

This is a new blog for me to express how I am being "mindful with my money". It will be a little of menu planning, opshopping/thrifting, and how our family budgets to achieve our goals.

I am married and currently a sahm to 4 children - aged 14, 13, 9 & 4. I live in rural Queensland, Australia.

I look forward to seeing how I can improve my stewardship of our financial resources by being more accountable.