Top 5 ways to Save this Winter

Even though we don’t get weather cold enough for us to really see snow-covered berries here, I’m still kind of dreading how cold it will be here during our first Winter in our new home.

We’ve moved from the top of a hill to down in a shallow valley, with a sort-of-creek in the reserve out back, so that will mean less sunlight to warm the place, and more fog.

Probably frost, even.
{but we still love it here}

With prices going up every-which-way, we’re trying to come up with new ideas on how to save on heating expenses this year.

Here’s my list of the top 5 ways to keep warm on a budget:

1. Wearing layers ~ We have tights, long johns & singlets for us all this year, which will last us for a number of years. Wearing a t-shirt under long-sleeve shirts will help, as will two pairs of socks on really cold days.
2. Leave the oven door open ~ After you’ve finished cooking and turned it off, that is. That way the warmth will spread through the house.
3. Heat packs in the bed ~ While they will need to be heated in the microwave, it’s a short burst of energy as opposed to an hour spent on warming up the electric blankets.
4. Get active ~ If you’re feeling the cold, get up, take off your jumper and start cleaning. Wash up, put a load of washing on, clean the bathtub.
   The activity will get your circulation going, and if you then put your jumper back on, you’ll be warm for longer.
5. Leave a couple of windows open ~ This sounds strange at first, but we catch most of our winter sicknesses as a result of spending too much time closed up inside.
   By locking your windows open when you go out for the day, you’ll freshen the air in your home, saving you money on medicines during this season.

What’s your top tip for saving money over Winter?
I’d love for you to share it in the comments below

Review: Coles Smart Buy Cat Food

Usually, Mr Underfoot gets chicken necks and chopped-up late-dated meat, with the occasional tin of whiskas for his dinner.

But today, he agreed that it’s about time he began to do his bit to save money in our household, especially since Friday’s surgery.

We began by taste-testing some cheaper tinned cat food.

Although I did have a sniff, I am merely translating Mr Underfoot’s review of the product in question. Seriously.

The product:

Cole’s “smart buy” brand cat food is 79c a tin, as opposed to $1.38 for whiskas (at least those were the prices here last week).

Well worth trying for the potential savings, since we go through up to five cans a week.

We tried… erm, he tried the “fish cocktail” flavour.

The smell:

Jane: I usually heave if I get a lung-full of cat food, but when I accidentally did with this one, it wasn’t so bad.

Mr Underfoot: For once, a cat food that actually smells like fish. I was almost tripping Jane over!

The look:

Jane: Good sized pieces of fish, not too runny, the jelly was kind of firm & orange coloured.
Not sure why it was orange, maybe to look like fish roe?

Mr Underfoot: Who looks?

The taste:

Jane: No comment.

Mr Underfoot: *slurp*  good  *gobble*  taste  *gulp*

The result:

From the way Mr Underfoot gobbled down his meal, I would say we have success.

That’s another $2.95 we’ll be saving each week from now on.

Next week, I’ll be looking at tinned diced tomatoes, and comparing the store brands of Coles, Woollies & Aldi.

Introducing Weekly Grocery Reviews

Since we’ve been on a budget (well, since before that really), I’ve found a huge number of store-brand products that rival the quality of brand-name products.

We’ve saved heaps by trying cheaper products that we would not have previously touched, merely because we were set in our ways.

I began thinking that there must be a lot of Australian households out there like ours, who could benefit from the knowledge gained by our trial-and-error-style-purchasing.

Beginning this Thursday, I will be writing a weekly feature about a store-brand product that we have found to be great quality and fab value.

I will be as impartial as possible, comparing the cheaper product to whatever similar product we already use.

And there will be no cash changing hands here, people. This is my own personal opinion you’ll be reading and it’s up to you to take it or leave it.

How do you know I’m qualified?

Well as a mum of two in a household on a budget, this is what I do every week anyway.

Plus I’m a Libran, so who better to weigh things up for you?

Thirteen Groceries I Can Survive Without

As you should know if you’re a regular reader, we’re moving house today, so to keep you entertained, here’s my T13 for cutting the grocery bill.

I can cope without these things until Christmas, anyway…

1. Peanut M&Ms ~ $7.50
That’s right, I go through a 450g pack a week. So my hips will benefit as well as our hip pocket.

2. Brie / Camembert ~ $2
We don’t buy it weekly, but I averaged out the cost. Ditto with the hips, here also!

3. Fancy-shmancy jam ~ $2
Savings brand will do us just fiiine.

4. Crumpets ~ $1
Two years ago, they used to be $2 for a 6pk, and $1 on special. Now they’re $4 and $2 on special if you’re lucky. I really don’t enjoy them that much.

5. Biscuits ~ $3
We’ll make our own each weekends, and the kids will love the cooking with Mum & Dad.

6. Evening snacks ~ $6
By brushing my teeth with the kids and doing cross~stitch until my bedtime, I’ll be less inclined to snack with my evening cup of decaf.  Busy hands leave less time to snack!

7. Dips & paté ~ $2
We don’t have it that often, but when we do it adds up.

8. Craft bits & pieces ~ $4
Each week when I do the groceries, I found myself sneaking a little crafty something into the trolley. I told myself that I deserved a treat and it wouldn’t make much difference to the total.
But I have a drawer full of unused craft stuff in my wardrobe, and there’s nothing in there that I need.

9. Potato crisps and corn chips ~ $4

10. Fortnightly online shopping ~ $7 +
Because I’ve been so ill I began doing our groceries with Coles online, but I’ve noticed that groceries are dearer online - on top of the $13.95 delivery fee.
A perfect example is the 36pk Bega sliced cheese we buy, which is $9.99 in our local store and almost $12 online. Not good.

11. Toilet cleaner with the fancy duck neck thing ~ $2
I’m going to go back to how I used to clean the toilet; with gloves, a brush and bicarb.
Uses more energy, but it cleans better and I’m also training the kids to wipe up spills.

12. Dishwashing liquid ~ $1
Wonderhubby bought a huge bulk container of a generic ‘Morning Fresh’-like brand from a place he used to work, and we refill the bottle on the bench as needed. So far, it’s lasted us 2 years and we should get another year. It works out as a saving of around $200 over 3 years.

13. Generally choosing generic over branded products ~ $15
We used to buy Kellog’s this, Mars that and Coca-Cola. Now we eat Aldi breakfast cereals drink their cola and WH munches on “You’ll Love Coles” brand ‘mars bars’.

Generic products are often made by the large brands on contract for the major supermarkets. One large manufacturer of bread that WH once worked for packaged their surplus product as a low-cost supermarket brand.

Keep trying generic products and you’ll be surprised at the number of products that taste just like the big brands you pay more for.

Total amount saved: $56.50 per week.

Check out more Thursday Thirteen posts today, and more money-saving grocery tips at GroceryMama ~ I am but a worshipful acolyte.

Cutting Down on Weekly Spending

Because we’ve decided to buy a house, there are some changes we need to make to our spending patterns.

While we’ve never been extravagant (we’ve never had much to be extravagant with), I figure there must still be ways in which we can shave our spending down a bit more and make paying off a house easier.

Our first goal is to cut our spending by $280 a week.

There are several ways in which we’ll be doing that:

• Holiday savings go straight into the mortgage ($100pwk)
• Preschool ($93pwk) ~ We’re paid up until the end of the year, as I’ve been paying extra each week.
• Fewer luxury foods ($40pwk)
• Less take-away ($30pwk)
• Clothes shopping at local “op shops” ($20pwk)
• Transfer income protection insurance to WH’s super ($11pwk)
• We likely will no longer have a fireplace ($8pwk)
• Summer means more cold meals & longer daylight hours, saving electricity ($5pwk)
• Reduce car usage ($5pwk)

If you counted carefully, you’ll see we’re actually trying to save $312 on our weekly spending.

That way, if we overspend a little it won’t be the end of life-as-we-know-it.

In case you think I’m cutting out some necessities, this extreme frugality will only be in effect until just after Christmas.

We have a freezer full of meat and cupboards full of food.

I think we can manage to pull in our belts for three or four months.

From January things will be a bit easier, because one of our two remaining debts will be paid off, giving us an extra $200 a month to sock away into the mortgage.

I’ll be going into more detail in the future on how we go with our spending plan.

Believe me, you’ll be sure to hear about both our highs and lows.

And if I do go over budget, I do solemnly vow to confess all publicly.

A Change is as Good as a Holiday

At least, that’s what they say, isn’t it?

Well, we received some news just under a fortnight ago that will really put this adage to the test.

We’ve been evicted, with 90 days notice as of the 21st August.
That gives us until the 21st November to hand over the keys.

We’re not sure why, as the landlord hasn’t given the agent any reason, but we think it’s because he wants to move back in here.

You could say that it kind of threw a spanner in the works.

We had planned to continue renting here for another couple of years, until we’d saved a good deposit for our own home. It was a bit of a shock to the ol’ system.

On looking around at other rental properties in our area, we realised that to live in a similar~quality place we’ll have to pay at least $70 per week more than we do now. There goes a good chunk out of our regular savings plan.

A fortnight went by, with WonderHubby researching details while I alternated between sleeping and throwing up (remember, I’ve been sick?).

After looking at things closely, we’ve decided to go ahead and buy a house of our own, now.

It’s a bit ahead of schedule, and it will mean things will be tight for the first six months, but it’s the best way to go.

Grandma will be minding the kidz a lot over the next few weeks, while WH & I scour the open houses and get all intimate with the local real estate agents.

Since we’ve decided to change the direction of our lives, the stuff here at Kidzarama will reflect that from now on, too.

You can expect a lot more on moving tips, money-saving and home maintenance, because that’s what we’ll be doing here “in real, real life” (as Mr Bump would put it).

If all goes according to plan, we should be in our own home by Christmas!