Living on a tiny budget

It's another year of me tightening the purse strings of this family of 4 on 1 income so that we can save for a holiday & also be able to dine out where possible. Here's a few pointers if your also reevaluating your budget. And I would love to hear your tips!

Food
*I will be meal planning lunch, dinners & snacks every 2-3 days to elimate bought lunches or impulse buys at the shops.
*Using whats in my pantry. Basing recipes around ingredients I already have. Food wastage is the number 1 item binned in our house.
*Eating leftovers or freezing them for another day. I definitely need to work on getting creative with leftovers.
*If we dine out at a restaurant or cafe, I will pack a take home container incase I have leftovers. Instead of wasting food if we don't finish a meal, we may have lunch sorted for next day. It's also worth it to see in getting an entertainment book or going in with a friend or family member to receive discounts at eateries.
*Attempting to grow more herbs and vegetables. We sadly only got a small amount of beans, potatoes, silverbeet & tomatoes last year. I have a brown thumb but maybe 2017 is my year...
*Gifting excess produce, we were lucky enough to receive excess passionfruit, lemons & mangoes last year from family & friends.. I also plan to go here to this produce swap to check it out.

Clothes
*I will be trying my hardest & going without buying new the lastest fashion & instead opt for preloved threads (but not underwear). I am being realistic & allowing 4 slips up of new items for the year but I'm hoping I will find a happy substitute on Ebay.
*Upcycling & mending my clothes. Earth Carers hosts every Saturday a crafty mend season for gold coin entry. There is also a craft session at Yangebup with crèche for charge if you need little ones looked after on Tuesday's afternoon during school term.
*I found Kobe some new school uniform shorts at an opshop & saved about $22. I'm hoping I can find some secondhand shirts at the uniform shop.
*Dylan will be wearing mostly hand me downs from Kobe bar some new clothes he received at Christmas.
*At Easter instead of chocolate, I'm asking grandparents for pajamas for the boys. They will def receive chocolate as well.
*We use half cloth nappies & cloth pads (to save buying bulk disposable ones). It's not for everyone & the majority of people cringe at having to launder sh1tty nappies & bloody pads (including myself). But hey it's even dirtier putting your disposables into landfill & letting it sit there for aeons until it disentegrates. Out of sight shouldn't mean out of mind when it comes to your personal rubbish into landfill.

Entertainment
*Embracing the local library- we rely fortnightly to borrow books & dvds. I joined up with 2. Plus I let Kobe watch abc iview or you tube on the free wifi. It's a bonus that there are free workshops & kids events. Instead of buying magazines I borrow titles like Australian traveller, Delicious & Vogue magazines which save me around $150 a year.
*Free kids entertainment; like Froggys on the green & parks. If your kids are into recycling or fire engines def go to this & this (thank you Kym for letting me know about the fire engines).
*Using any coupons from this free kids pamphlet, Lets go kids.
*Buying preloved where possible. Over the years, I have found duplo, activity books, reading books, puzzles all at tiny fraction of what they are new.

(Lastest thrifted bargains are these Teletubby sheets & 3 Teletubbies for $6.50).

*The hardest thing at the moment is teaching the value of a dollar to Kobe as he is going thru a want it now "toys phase" (damn you Grossery gang!!!). So he started a cleaning business for grandparents 😭.Where he wrote down all jobs he can do for a $1 a job (which is the blog header photo). And has boxed up some old toys (mostly Dylan's toys he has outgrown) that "mummy will sell at markets" (at some point).

Home
*I sewed curtains from op shop fabric for my loungeroom a couple years back & lined with thermal lining & when I find enough fabric at the opshop for the boys room I will sew some for them too.
*Placing a bucket in the shower to collect cold water, which will supplement herb garden.
*Sleep timer on tv incase I/Luke fall asleep infront of it . Better yet turn appliances off at wall when not in use.
*Using a fan instead of air conditioning.
*Utilizing the back of paper to write shopping lists, Kobe's recipes/drawings.
*Verge collection; councils usually organize this twice a year. I have seen many a great thing on the side of the road, I have scavenged a booster chair & artists board which both needed a good clean but otherwise perfect working order.

I hope you found some useful tips here.
Happy Friday friends!
Grace