The Cheapskates Way: Debt Free, Cashed Up and Laughing
SAVING MONEY IS EASY! A MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN OF CHEAPSKATES
I love my job! I love to show people just how easy saving money in Australia really is! I know it’s easy because I've been doing it for 13 years! I haven't always lived the Cheapskates way. One day disaster struck our family and I had no choice but to drastically cut our cost of living. We went from two incomes, two children and one mortgage to no income, one mortgage and two children and one on the way in the space of three days! To complicate matters we had started to renovate our house and we had no walls on the entire back! Just lovely black plastic to keep out the cold and heat.
I had to make a decision: sink or swim. I chose to swim and it became a 4 year marathon, but one that has seen us become debt free, build up a Peace of Mind account, and best of all establish the Cheapskates Club. And we finished the renovations (before bub number three was born too).
I found we could maintain and even improve our lifestyle on a much smaller income with just a few simple changes to our habits. They were such simple changes that I started sharing them with family and friends. Since then, I have been able to show thousands of other Australians how to enjoy the financial freedom and family fun that we enjoy and I would love to show you too.
Are you shackled by debt, drowning under the weight (I know the feeling)? Do you wonder where your money goes (I used to wonder too)? Are you constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul (been there, done that)? Does the end of the month seem come around earlier and earlier (I know this feeling well too)? Are you earning more and more and getting further and further behind (we weren't!)? Thanks to living the Cheapskates way we were earning less and less but getting further and further ahead. And loving it!
If you've answered yes to any of these questions then it's time for you to make the decision to join the Cheapskates Club. To take control of your money and win the Battle of the Bills you need to join the Cheapskates Club today and learn the secrets to living life debt free, cashed up and laughing.
PS While you are here sign up for our free weekly newsletter today and enjoy a taste of our wonderful club service.
JOIN THE CHEAPSKATES CLUB
Don’t wait another day, it’s just another 24 hours wasted when you can be on your way to living life the Cheapskates way – debt free, cashed up and laughing!
You can save $50, $80, even $100 a week and still have the things in life you enjoy. At the Cheapskates Club we have thousands of terrific hints, tips and ideas that really will save you thousands of dollars a year. Learn how to save money on everyday items so that you can enjoy the things that are important to you – family, friends, fun – and be debt free, cashed up and laughing.
$ PLAY THE SUPERMARKET GAME AND SAVE HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS EACH YEAR!
I'll share my secrets for beating the supermarkets at their grocery game and show you how to save hundreds of dollars on your grocery bill each year.
Feed a family of 4 for $70!
"My husband didn't believe that I could cut our grocery bill to just $70 a week for the four of us. But now we've done it, he's so excited he thinks you should write a book! It was really easy for me to really slash our food costs and best of all, nobody has guessed that I'm a Cheapskate shopper!"
Susan, St. Clair
$ BEAT THE MORTGAGE MONSTER
Learn the tricks to owning your own home sooner and save thousands and thousands of dollars at the same time.
We are going to pay cash for our first house!
"Wishing you all the best. The Cheapskates Club website site has been extremely helpful to us. We are now well on our way to being able to buy our first home in cash within the next two years. And it is Cheapskates Club that has been the motivation."
Caroline C.
$ LUNCHBOX 101 - GET THE LOWDOWN ON FANTASTIC LUNCHES FOR UNDER $1.30 EACH!
You'll save over $1,000 a year and have the best lunches ever! Your lunchbox will be the envy of everyone who sees it with these delicious and easy to prepare Cheapskates style lunches.
Not buying lunch paid for our trip to Perth
"My wife and I have just had a great week in Perth, paid for by not buying lunches. When Sally started making lunches for us I thought she was nuts especially when she told me not buying lunch would pay for a holiday. In 8 1/2 months she had the money to pay for our week in Perth, airfares and accommodation and site seeing included. Only thing is she insisted that we still pack our lunches each day instead of buying them :)."
Greg & Sally M., Werribee
$ BECOME A BUDGET GOURMET COOK
With over 460 tried and tested money saving recipes you can serve something different every night for a year and a half and still stay within your grocery budget.
Learn the secrets to great money saving mealsthe family will love
"Thanks very much. And might I say that the recipes on the website have revolutionized my cooking habits. I believe I have always been a great cook but being a thrifty one makes the meals and treats even more enjoyable. Thanks again."
Belinda Pettitt
$ SLASH YOUR ELECTRICITY BILL AND STILL BE COMFORTABLE!
Utilities cost the average Australian family a fortune. Find out the secrets to slashing your electricity, gas and water bills without living in the dark and cold.
A simple change has saved us over $90
"Hi Cath, When you said that not using the clothes dryer would save us $85.80 a year I thought you were just saying it. Well we've just got our electricity bill and it is $27.60 less than it usually is. I've been hanging the washing out and it looks like you're right, I am on track to save over $85.80 this year just for using the free energy of the sun. I can't wait to try some more of your suggestions, they really work. Keep it up, I need to save more. Thanks."
Sheila D., Yarra Valley
$ SAVE $180 A YEAR ON LAUNDRY POWDER – AND STILL HAVE CLEAN CLOTHES!
Use Cath's incredibly cheap and very effective washing powder and save yourself a small fortune.
Clean clothes and a clean washing machine for under $10 a year!
"Just had to let you know that since I've been using your washing powder (it's fantastic by the way) I've not only saved about a weeks worth of grocery money (in just 4 months) but my washing machine is cleaner too. I used to get black sludgy stuff in the wash sometimes and it was a pain to clean it out. Since I've been using your washing powder the sludge has gone and I don't have to clean the machine nearly as often. Thanks. That was one job I hated."
Renata, Bardon
$ SAVE HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS ON PEST CONTROL AND HOME MAINTENANCE!
The saying goes "a man's home is his castle". Well we all know how much it costs to maintain a castle. Cheapskates Club members will find hundreds of money, time and energy saving hints, tips and ideas to keep their castle in tip top shape.
I saved $1,390 in pest control fees
"Thanks for the great advice Cath. Not only did I get rid of the moths (they were taking over the house), I saved the $1,396 I was quoted by the pest control company! The borax you suggested cost me $6 for the box and we didn't have to move out of the house for two days either!"
Michelle, Melbourne
$ THROW BUDGET BIRTHDAY PARTIES THAT ARE THE ENVY OF EVERY CHILD (AND PARENT)?
Holding a birthday party doesn’t have to be so expensive you need to take out a second mortgage. You can have a great party, with fabulous decorations and food for just a few dollars.
We saved $220 on our daughter's first birthday party!
"We just saved a few hundred dollars on our daughter's first birthday thanks to the ideas I found on Cheapskates. Having the party at home was just as easy as going to the local play centre and much cheaper. She loved her zoo cake and the birthday food was delicious - no leftovers, always a good sign. Thanks for the suggestions."
Whatever your goals, the Cheapskates Club will show you ways that you can save money every day.
There are two levels of Cheapskates Club membership.
LEVEL 1- SILVER MEMBERSHIP
"Thanks for such a great newsletter each week. I really look forward to getting it and I love to see the Tip of the Week too."
Linda, Boronia
"I love seeing 'Your Cheapskates Newsletter' in my inbox, it means my favourite money saving read has arrived! Keep up the good work."
June B., Hornsby
"I really enjoy Cheapskates! As times are tough I enjoy this e-newsletter for making life just a little bit easier!! Thank you for your excellent service."
Maria, Melbourne
Silver membership to the Cheapskates Club is absolutely FREE. Silver membership includes:
Weekly newsletter - You can stay focused and in touch and share in heaps of great tips and tricks all for free. This is a great way to start living the Cheapskates way.
Weekly Tip Sheet – Our FREE weekly Tip Sheets are full of fantastic ways to save money, time and energy. The tips are tried and true by Cheapskates Club members.
Unlimited access to our FREE Hints and Tips - Browse our Free Hints and Tips. Full of useful information, you will find ways you can save money today. (Remember this is just a taste - join the Club and access thousands of tips).
Free entry to our weekly Tip of the Week competition - Do you have some great ways to save money? Share your idea online. Submit a tip now and you can win a free Cheapskates Club membership. That's right, each week we select the best tip and give away 1 years free Platinum membership to the Cheapskates Club.
Unlimited access to our FREE silver member forum – This is a great place to start chatting with like minded people. The support and money ideas are fantastic but remember the exclusive Platinum Cheapskates Club members forum is available for only 8 cents a day
SILVER MEMBERSHIP
Don't forget, this is just a teaser – become a Platinum member for only 8 cents a day ($29.20 per year, $25.00 concession) and access the best information, join in our club members discussion groups and read the monthly Cheapskates Journal packed full of information.
"What a great site! I thought my membership would just get me tips - not a whole lot more! There are thousands of tips and ideas as well as all the articles, and heaps of other stuff. I had no idea Cheapskates was so big. Thank you so much for all this great information - I've already saved enough money to recoup my membership fee in just one visit!"
Jane, Blackburn South.
"I love this site! I'm a new member and I'm really happy I've joined - I've got heaps out of it already. Thanks Cath and other members!"
Kirsty, Jannali
"Hi Cath, Miraculous site! Thanks, thanks and more thanks."
Carol, Mudgegonga
"I wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying being a member. I especially love the recipes. Thanks for your help."
Megan, Mossvale
For just 8 cents a day ($29.20 a year, $25 concession, $18.25 renewal) Cheapskates Club Platinum members receive:
Unlimited access to the Member's Centre during your membership
Weekly newsletter – full of money, time and energy savings ideas sent directly to your inbox every week
The Cheapskates Journal - our monthly Member's e-zine, packed full of money saving articles and tips
Back issues - archived back to October 2001
Cath's Blog - catch up with the day to day happenings of the original Aussie Cheapskate
Cheapskates Tip Store - over 6000 hints and tips to save you money, time and energy
Cheapskates Club discussion groups - this forum is for the exclusive use of Members only
Article Archive - with over 200 articles this feature helps you find the article you want quickly and easily
Menu Plan Archive - search for previous menu plans and find new dinner ideas
Saving Stories - be inspired by other Cheapskates Club members as they share their saving stories
Just Ask - do you have a question? Just ask and let other Cheapskates help you!
E-books - a library of e-books dedicated to saving you money and growing all the time
Cheapskates Bill Paying System - our original and so easy to use bill paying system will help to keep you on budget
Tip Sheets - there are currently 48 tip sheets prepared exclusively for members, with new tip sheets added monthly
Recipe File - over 460 tried and true family favourites that will save you money and help your budget
Printables – a library of worksheets, inventories, budgets and spreadsheets for you to use on your journey to frugality
And all the benefits of a Silver membership
That's seventeen benefits and seventeen no risk reasons to become a Cheapskates Club Platinum member today! Trying just a few of the ideas contained in any of the seventeen features of membership will save you money, time and energy. We guarantee it!
JOIN THE CHEAPSKATES CLUB
The Cheapskates Club is for people serious about really saving money so they can live the good life. Your commitment is 8 cents a day! How affordable is that! That 8 cent a day investment ($29.20 per year) will give you full access to everything that the Cheapskates Club has to offer, including the knowledge and tools to save hundreds and potentially thousands of dollars every year.
Not convinced that a Platinum membership is for you? Don't struggle feeling alone in debt today when there is friendly, practical help just one click away. For only 8 cents a day (that's only $29.20) per year, you will learn how you can save thousands of dollars on everyday living and live life debt free, cashed up and laughing.
Light at the end of the tunnel
Dear Cath, I only wish I could type better to explain the difference you have made in my life even in just a few days there is light at the end of the tunnel. Your site not only has provided me with great tips, I know if I have a problem all I have to do is type it into the search, and there is the answer! I thank you and your members from the bottom of my heart."
Barbara
Saved $300 a Month
"I am very much a member, just about to renew my membership. Cheapskates has saved me and my family not only at least $300 a month but a lot of time."
Candice, Glen Waverley
Cheapskates skills allows husband to return to Uni
"I'm so excited I couldn't wait to share my joy. The cause of my joy is that my husband is seriously talking about going to Uni in an effort to gain better paying employment. He is more than capable of the task. How on earth could we afford to fund such an undertaking would have stunned me before my time as a Cheapskates Club member. I now have the confidence that with the skills I've learnt from you and all of the club members who have contributed their tips and ideas - I can manage this. As I've learnt to analyse costs, looking at the total fee for years of study was scary at first, but on a yearly then monthly then weekly look I can do it! There will a cinching in of the already cinched belt, yet when I looked there were more holes to be cinched into if the need was serious. That in itself was a little wake up call. Thanks again to everyone for my university course in Cheapskating PHD."
Carol Ryan
The best time ever spent
"I am new to the Cheapskates Club and this website and love it already. Hours have gone by and I am still reading great tips and ideas.:
Jill M, Keysborough
Change of spending habits and thinking helps us to live on one salary
"Keep up the good work! I love the site and since I've joined my spending habits and thinking has greatly changed. My husband and I are getting ready to start a family so the tips from Cheapskates and other Cheapskates Club members are going to be a big help when I take time off work and have to live on one salary."
Angela
We paid off $4,000 in debt in six months
"Can I just let you know Cath, since I stumbled on to this site it has been the most valuable tool and saved us $100's of dollars. Because of Cheapskates with the tips etc, we have been able to claw our way out of a $4000 debt, all within six months. You and your readers were lifesavers. I, we, thank you very much."
Regards Louise
Saving and paying down debt on a pension!
"I just wanted to let you know that I love your website. Being a pensioner with a small job it's not easy to break even but the first week I saved enough to join up and this week I have saved enough to buy something I really needed. I am also lowering my debt and feeling great. One huge side bonus is that my daughter and I are losing weight because we are not eating take-away. I am having the time of my life reading the tips, making things and planning for Christmas. Thanks heaps for your site. Keep up the great work."
We know you will save money by being a member of the Cheapskates Club. In fact we are so confident that you will find ways to save money by using the Cheapskates website and enjoying the Cheapskates Club that that we guarantee it. If you can't find a way to save 8c a day we will gladly refund your money, no questions asked.
NO QUESTIONS ASKED MONEY BACK GUARANTEE We are so confident that you will find a way to start saving on your first visit to the Tip Store that we offer a no questions asked, money back guarantee for a full twelve months. If for any reason you are not happy with the Cheapskates Club we will happily refund your money, no questions asked.
JOIN THE CHEAPSKATES CLUB
The Cheapskates Journal, Cheapskates Club Members Centre with the gigantic tip store and Cheapskates Club Members forum (and the 15 other money, time and energy saving areas) are exclusively available to people who have a Platinum Cheapskates Club membership. At only $29.20 and we guarantee you will find ways to save.
The Cheapskates Journal (as we were known way back then) was the first money saving website of it’s kind especially to help Australians save money on their everyday costs of living.
Today the Cheapskates Club still offers you the best value for money with our wonderful Cheapskates Journal. Now in its 8th year of publication it has been read and used by thousands of Australians and New Zealanders to save money every day.
The Cheapskates Club Members Centre is over 2,000 pages of money, time and energy savings hints, tips and ideas to help you live life debt free, cashed up and laughing.
Cheapskates has partnered with the ABC to bring you our new book, "Debt free, Cashed up and Laughing". It is packed with strategies, tips and ideas and case studies to inspire and challenge you to live the life you deserve today. You can buy it at all ABC shops, ABC centres and all good book stores or online from abcshop.com.au.
The Cheapskates team is proud to serve you and loves to hear your wonderful stories. Please join our friendly Club and share your money saving wins with us soon.
ABOUT CATH, THE QUEEN OF CHEAPSKATES
Cath has been called the Queen of Cheapskates by the many media and journalists who have interviewed her over the years. Now in her 8th year of sharing her ideas online, Cath is without a doubt Australia's expert in all ways to save money.
Cath is passionate about showing people how to save money on everyday things so that they can use the money they save to enjoy a better lifestyle. She has hundreds of letters of thanks from people throughout Australian and New Zealand who have used the Cheapskate information to change their lives.
Making a Difference
I love opening my email and receiving a note from one of our club members who is celebrating paying off a credit card or returning from a family holiday they have paid for with money saved by changing a few spending habits. The difference between being happy and debt free and living a life bogged down by debt really is just a few small changes to live the Cheapskates way.
The best thing to come out of our personal disaster is seeing so many people making simple changes to their spending and enjoying huge benefits.
Cath Armstrong, Queen of Cheapskates and Founder of the Cheapskates Club
IN THE PRESS
Cath has been a regular guest in the Australian media. She has featured on Today Tonight, A Current Affair and Sunrise on a regular basis over the years. She is regularly on ABC radio and has been published in many Australian newspapers and magazines including Woman's Day, The Age, Courier Mail, Practical Parenting and others.
Cath has been Guest Speaker at a number of events including the CPA (Certified Practising Accountants) conference to 200 accountants and spoke at the Women Talking Cents inaugural event in 2005.
As a confirmed Cheapskate, Cath is always happy to help spread the message that saving money is fun and easy!
Saving money and saving the budget in Australia is easy with the Cheapskates Club's money, time and energy saving hints and tips. Find out how to get the best discounts, biggest bargains and keep budgets in the black.
to remove strong odours like cat urine, vomit from carpet, car ect., first clean then rub in the following mixture- half cup squeezed lemon juice, 1 tablespoon salt. bring to boil and apply hot.
saving read has arrived! Keep up the good work." 
journalists who have interviewed her over the years. Now in her 8th year of sharing her ideas online, Cath is without a doubt Australia's expert in all ways to save money.
