Thursday Thrift...

I find that one of the biggest challenges to living a thrifty/frugal/smart life is the "little" expenses. The unexpected or unnecessary costs...it is easy to spend $10 or $20 a day with little effort-which ads up to $3650 or $7300/year!

I'm talking about the coffee/softdrink/newspaper you grab at the local shop, the $10 spent on a lunch because you aren't at home or didn't premake something-all seemingly minor costs.

If I handed you $7300 in cash right now, what would you do with it?

My suggestions are twofold-spend meaningfully and spend more time at home. If you don't leave your house every day there will be less opportunity to let that hard earned cash slip through your fingers-plus you will probably find time to do activities around your home which will also save more money. Baking, gardening, window washing-all activities which "busy" people tend to pay others to do...

Have you thought about inviting friends to your home for a coffee morning or afternoon tea? It would cost you less than going elsewhere-and if you find tidying your home gets away from you, then having visitors tends to be a great impetus to get it done!

Thursday thrift.......

I'm sitting at my desk, gazing out across our backyard at all the trees and plants and I realized last night that I have planted each and every one! At the time I wasn't thinking about that fact, instead I was focused on transforming our bare acre from pasture land into an area which would feed and nurture us.

Now that everything is growing I have been able to begin to appreciate the planning and thought put into that transformation. Our garden is but a baby-18 months old; yet it is already a place of fulfillment.

How does that relate to a Thursday Thrift post I hear you ask? Well, yes we have spent money on fruit trees and fencing, on shelter trees and concrete areas-but there are also plants which were free. Plants which are cuttings or divisions from others.

Much of the edging has been created from rocks which were dug up when the house was being built-and His Lordship dug out the seasonal ponds with a shovel!! The pathways winding through the garden beds have been marked and dug by me-also with a shovel!

We have used leftover colorbond from the roof for some fencing sections and leftover pallets to block areas between the watertanks. Instead of planting lawn seed or turf, we are encouraging the grass which is already in situ to spread-if it's tough enough to stand up to cows grazing it in the past, it will be tough enough to stand up to the kids & dogs which will trample all over it!

When you are creating a garden from scratch it need not be an expensive exercise-paying a small fortune for a landscaper is not necessary. Instead, allowing yourself to dream of a space which becomes your sanctuary and then gradually creating that space yourself will become a cherished part of your life-and it may only take a little digging!

Vaguely vacillating.....

I've just finished a post about how tired I've been this week due to treble normal work hours and His Lordship "suffering" with a MAN cold-and the ether ate it! AAARRRRGGGHHH!

So here goes again..probably a more truncated version now..

Despite the workload this week, I've still managed to get through most of the jobs I had listed in my head at the start of the week. Instead of the daily schedule I had planned, I've just done what I could when I've had the energy!

As I posted yesterday, the dog food was made and the chooks dosed with a mash. I've also got some homemade ginger beer started ( the plant anyway) and made some caramel fudge as a treat. Meals have all been homemade-although to be honest I would have happily resorted to takeaway last night!


This morning we had some straw for the garden delivered for the garden at 7am. I have spread horse manure over the top soil shifted by His Lordship last weekend and the straw will be strewn across to create mulch.

Even when busy outside the home, it is possible to live a self sufficient lifestyle, using skills which the corporate world would prefer us to forget!

Pausing....

We have had a hectic few days-babysitting, cricket matches on Saturday & Sunday, a spot of gardening, taking the grandsons for a swimming lesson,then a picnic lunch at the park and preparing ingredients for the next 3 days of meals ( because I'm busy at work again-covering for staff).

In the past this sort of scheduling would have had me pulling out my hair and becoming quite tense-these days I find that I know how to pause...take a big breathe and remind myself that in a couple of days life will return to normal!

Before I go to work in an hour or so, I have found the time to do a load of washing and hang it in the sun- I love to see my clean clothes swinging in the breeze on a sunny day! It gives me such a sense of satisfaction. When our children were young I think I was one of the few mum's in our circle of friends who loved washing the cloth nappies and hanging them on the line! To this day, if I see a row of nappies flapping in the sun I cannot help but smile-and it seems to be a rarer and rarer sight....

I've also finally trimmed the lavender bushes this morning-I have 4 which form part of a circular bed in the orchard with a quince as it's centrepiece. The resultant cuttings were thrown back onto the bed to form a lovely lavender smelling mulch..and after that I'm ready for the day!