A bounty of fresh goodies

I made the trip to our local fruit market yesterday, something which I have not done in quite some time as quite often it can be very hit and miss as to the quality of the produce they have. However, an advertisement in the local paper advertising some extremely good specials made me curious and decided the specials were too good to not go and have just a tiny peek.

I arrived to a place bursting with people who had decided to check out the specials as well. There were the usual rude people pushing in, and trying to protect the current pile of produce they were rummaging through in fear that you would come and gather all the 'good ones' before they could. The queues at the cash registers were halfway up each aisle... however, it was all worth it as I collected quite a bounty!

I spent a grand total of $32.50, however, the amount of fresh produce I purchased for this amount is amazing, considering the fact that fruit and vegetables purchased in the 'stupidmarkets' (aka supermarkets for those of you sitting at home scratching your heads) would have been at least triple the price I paid. I'd hate to think how much it would have cost if I'd bought them at the stupidmarket instead. But then, in all honesty, I probably would not have bought anywhere near as much because of the cost, and then my family would have missed out on all the lovely fresh produce.

So, for $32.50, here is what I bought... (there was also a 10kg bag of washed potatoes which I forgot to put in the picture!)

• 1 dozen eggs - $1.99
• 500g mushrooms - $3.20 ($6.99kg)
• 3 lemons - $0.27 ($0.49kg)
• 10kg washed potatoes - $4.99 (83 potatoes... yes I counted them!)
• Lettuce - $0.89
• 11 apples - $0.81 ($0.49kg)
• 3 corn cobs - $2.00
• 9 garlic cloves - $2.49
• 5 florets of brocolli - $2.26 ($1.50kg)
• Rockmelon - $0.99
• Bunch of spring onions - $1.29
• Half a watermelon - $2.27 (0.99kg)
• 12 carrots - $1.94 ($0.99kg)
• 1.4kg seedless grapes - $2.80 ($1.99kg)
• 8 tomatoes - $0.47 ($0.99kg)
• 6 plums - $0.72 ($0.99kg)
• 3 onions - $0.51 ($1.49kg)
• 2 green capsicums - $0.97 ($1.49kg)
• 3 zucchini - $1.65 ($1.99kg)

Not a bad days shopping, and definately made it worthwhile making the effort to check out the fruit market again. Think I'll have to get back into the habit of making the trip down there in future!

Ahoy there land lubbers and fairy princesses...

Well, I said that I would post some photos up of my handy work redecorating Jack and Ebony's room so here they are :)

This is what Jack's room looks like now...

Enter... if you dare!

This is Jack's door, complete with skulls hanging from the door frame.

And this is what Ebony's room looks like now...

Thinking of new tips can pay for themselves in more than one way!

I received an email the other day which said that That's Life! magazine wanted to publish my tip about stocktaking the medicine cupboard in their magazine. I was asked to email a photo to go alongside my tip.

I'm so excited! I originally submitted this tip to the Simple Savings website in order to try and win a years free membership as mine was about to expire. Unfortunately, my tip didn't win, but was published on their site, which I guess is where the people from the magazine saw it.

I've just found out, that they are also going to pay me $25 for use of the tip! WOOHOO!

Whats more, I also submitted this tip to the Cheapskates website (very similar to Simple Savings) where I won a years free membership to their site!

Who'd have thought that sharing what seems like such a simple tip could pay off in so many other ways! Now to get my thinking cap on and see what other little treasures I can come up with!!!

Challenge: Declutter Time!

I've been looking around my home and am amazed at the sheer magnitude of "stuff" we have accumulated. Some of this "stuff" is things we use... but a lot of it is things which just sit there gathering dust, and, in all honesty would not be missed.

You know the sorts of things I mean... those gadgets filling up your kitchen cupboards which you just 'had  have!'. The trinkets lining your mantelpiece covered in an inch of dust. The CD's you haven't listened to in years (and quite frankly are now rather embarrassed to admit you actually own!). Toys which have been buried at the bottom of the toy box and haven't seen the light of day for months or even years. The mountains of clothes that no longer fit, or that you just wouldn't be seen dead wearing in public...

I'm sure if you REALLY looked around your home, you could come up with quite a substantial list of things that you don't really need. Things that you are holding on to 'just in case' you need them... although you haven't needed them in over 5 years. Things which you paid too much money for just to throw away. Things that are sentimental for some reason or other, but now they only really help add to the clutter.

Clutter only creates more work and helps contribute to stress. I have therefore made it a mission to rid myself of these items, which in turn will hopefully create a more harmonious and stress-free home. Purging my house of this unnecessary "stuff" will also have a flow on effect to our budget, as I'll now look at things more closely before buying them and assess whether we do really 'need' them, or if they are merely a 'want' which will eventually just become clutter.

I have decided that each day, I will go around the house and find 10 things that need to go... and if I find more than 10 that day, great! Also, for every new item which is brought home, an old item has to go. For example, if a new pair of shoes is brought, an old pair must go, etc.

I have already made a start by going around my house and gathering together things that don't get used... a set of 6 red wine glasses which I received as a gift, only I don't drink wine... countless tea light candle holders... scrapbooking and craft items which have never been used... computer games which haven't been played in years...

I have dedicated a box to place these items into. It is in my walk-in-robe so that I do not have to look at the pile of clutter before it leaves the house, therefore it already feels as if its gone.

I've been listing some of these items on Freecycle some of which have already been happily claimed by people who DO actually need/want them. It feels good to know that they are not just going into the rubbish and adding to landfill.

Sure I could probably sell some of this stuff to make some money back, but quite frankly, I've tried selling things on Ebay in the past and it only ended up being a hassle. The amount of money made (or in some cases lost) was not worth the effort. I'd rather have the immediate benefit of removing the clutter from my home.

I'll end up donating a lot of this "stuff" to charity for them to either give to people who need them, or sell in their thrift stores to raise money. Charity needs the money more than we do.

So, now that I'm feeling all inspired... I'm off to declutter some more :) Care to join me?

Challenge - Finding money

I came across this challenge and thought it sounded really interesting, and extremely simple to do!

1 Million Dollar Challenge: Finding money

The basic premise is that you check around for spare change which has been dropped in shopping centres, car parks, in gutters, left behind at vending machines etc, and instead of ignoring it (as most people seem to do), actually collect it - regardless of how small.

I'd be interested to see how much 'free' money could be gained if all this loose change was saved up over the course of a year.

After all, it may only be 5c or 10c at a time, but it all adds up! Just think, if you found just one 5c coin lying around every day for a year, thats $18.25 you've just gained.

Looks like I might be fighting the kids to claim those odd coins that I spot on the ground from now on! LOL

What Simple Savings has done for us

I became a member of Simple Savings almost 2 years ago after a friend recommended joining the site. 


I had already been receiving the free emails for a few months but was sceptical about taking the plunge and paying $47 for the membership. However, my friend assured me that it would be money well spent - plus there was the assurance that if I didn't find it helpful, there is a no questions asked money back guarantee.


I decided to bite the bullet and become a member, and boy, am I glad I did! My membership has been paid for more than 100 times over with all the money we have been able to save.

We have been able to buy a new car without going through finance (approx $13K), get married (approx $14K) pay off my husbands debts (he was on a Part 9 Debt Agreement through Fox Symes), and I have paid off and cancelled my credit card!


We have also been able to save a significant amount towards a house deposit and look forward to the day that we can buy our first home.


Life is certainly a lot more comfortable these days... and I have Simple Savings to thank for that!

Stocktaking your medicine cupboard could save more than just your health!

Last night, I could feel the inklings of a headache coming on, so I decided to reach for the Panadol before it took hold. When I pulled down the medicine box out of the cupboard, I decided I should check out the expiry date of the things in there and declutter all the old unused items whilst I was at it.

To my horror, there were medicines in there which had expired as far back as 2007! There were unfinished prescription medicines that had been there for so long I didn't even know what they had been taken for in the first place. There were even quite a few medications which I had duplicates of, and they were all past their expiry date. 

As I started tossing these medicines into the bin, I thought about how much money had been wasted, buying unnecessary medicines, some of which had cost over $40! There was literally hundreds of dollars worth of now useless medicines clogging up my cupboard.

I decided to write up a list of all the medications which we were left with and their expiry dates. I wrote this list into the notebook which I carry around with me in the nappy bag. This way, whenever we go to the doctors and are told to buy 'such and such', I can check the list before I head to the chemist and hand over my cash, and see whether we already have that medication at home.

This list will also ensure that I can keep track of which staple medications (such as Nurofen, Panadol, Infant Panadol etc) are about to go out of date and need to be replaced. There is nothing worse than having a sick child in need of Panadol at 10pm on a Sunday night when there is no chemist open!

So as you can see, taking 10 minutes to check the medicine cupboard at home will not only benefit your health, but also your bank balance!