Hello Cheapskaters, I hope you have had a lovely week, and a fantastic Easter break. A four-day weekend is such a treat and as usual we jam-packed every day with fun activities. Wayne's parents spent Easter with us, as they do every year, and I am so grateful to them for making the trip (they travel from interstate) to spend time with us. Our children adore their grandparents and being able to spend time with them was important when they were little, but now the kids have grown up and their grandparents are older every minute spent together is very special. Wayne, his father and Allan had a ball at a train exhibition (of course!).  We all spent time in the garden, sharing ideas and stories about growing our own food. It was really nice to be able to pick the veggies for dinner and share them together. We ladies had a lovely day visiting various nurseries and I chose more seeds and picked up some fantastic ideas for garden beds.  Of course we had to have lunch out. We chose a lovely old pub right on the beach and it was so delightful they had to throw us out. Having my mother and my mother-in-law in my kitchen was a joy. I have been blessed with a mother who loves to cook and a mother-in-law who likes to eat but not necessarily cook. Between them I have learned so many tricks for getting delicious meals ready without hours of work. They are both very frugal ladies and as they chatted and reminisced I picked up loads of their tips for feeding families on tight budgets. As with all good things the weekend came to an end all to quickly and it was back to our usual routine on Tuesday. But we all had a lot of fun, laughing and talking and making lots and lots of memories. PS: Love our site? We love referrals! Send a note to your favourite newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations, friends and relatives, and tell them about us! PPS: You can read this newsletter and past copies on the website in the Newsletter Archive.

3

Cheapskates Tip of the Week

This week's winning tip is from Sarah Bau.  Sarah has won a one-year membership to the Cheapskates Club for submitting a winning tip. Become Part of a Clothing Chain Approximate $ Savings:    $400 a year    I had a girl and then a boy. My friend had a boy and then a girl. So now, at the end of each season we go through our cupboards and sort out the clothes that don't fit anymore. Then we get together for coffee and swap clothes. This gives me almost an entire wardrobe of clothes for my son. Then I write a list of what he didn't get in the swap and wait until those items come on sale. It spreads out the purchases and saves me lots of money.  Congratulations Sarah, I hope you enjoy your Cheapskates Club membership.

The Cheapskate's Club website is over 2,000 pages of money saving hints, tips  and ideas. Let's get together and make the Cheapskates Club Australia's largest online hint, tip and idea library. Share your favourite money saving, time saving or energy saving hint and be in the running to win a one-year membership to The Cheapskate Club. We publish a Winning Tip each Tuesday, so enter your great money, time or energy saving idea now!

4

Submit a Tip

Share your favourite hint or tip that saves money, time and energy and be in the running to win a one-year membership to the Cheapskates Club valued at $29.20. Remember, you have to be in it to win it! Enter your tip here

5

Money Saving Meals

Haystacks Haystacks are one of our favourite Saturday night teas and they are the one thing on my menu plan that I am asked about over and over. The kids love them because they are tasty, I love them because they are so quick and easy to make and cheap.   Original Haystacks Ingredients: 1 can refried beans 1 can diced tomatoes 1 can baked beans in tomato sauce 1 diced onion 1 pkt taco seasoning Method: Mix and heat. Serve over a bed of corn chips and top with chopped tomato, lettuce, grated cheese and salsa, guacamole or sour cream as you would for tacos. Frugal Haystacks Ingredients: 2 tins baked beans in tomato sauce 1 tin red kidney beans (or dried equivalent, soaked and cooked) 1 pkt taco seasoning (or my own mix of spices) 2 large onions, finely chopped 2 tins diced tomatoes Method: Sauté onion, add taco seasoning and then beans and tomatoes. Heat through. Serve over corn chips or toasted pita bread or torn mountain bread, I've even put it over pappadums in a pinch, add salad to suit, top with salsa and sour cream. I usually put the salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cheese, salsa, sour cream) out and let them make their own. This makes a double quantity, so half goes in the freezer for the next time. Freezes well and it makes a great filling for stuffed spuds too. Cheats Haystacks Ingredients: 1 tin baked beans 1 tin kidney beans, rinsed 1 tin diced tomatoes 1 pkt corn chips 1/2 cup grated cheese Method: Mix baked beans, kidney beans and diced tomatoes and warm through. Layer corn chips on plates and top with bean mixture. Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve. There are over 700 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.

6

Last Weeks Question

  

Last week's question was from  Karyn, asking for ideas for sticking to a lactose free diet on a very tight budget. Raelene answered Hi my son has Transient Lactose Intolerance and Fructose Malabsorption.  If you are of English, Irish or Scottish decent then true lactose intolerance is extremely unlikely, it will be transient and you need to work out what is irritating her tummy and then she will recover.  For my son it is the FructMal, if his diet is right for this then he is fine with lactose.  There are some great support groups around. My advice is if you need any info on any food intolerance call Shepherd Works in Melbourne. We actually flew there from regional Queensland and found it to be the best money we ever spent.  To actually get to speak to someone that knew what they were talking about and be given the latest information instead of ten year old information like the hospitals gave us was fantastic. Good luck, and well done for taking on your partner's sister.   Website:   shepherdworks.com.au Judith Bancks answered Karyn, I had a lactose intolerant child (she "grew out" of it as a teen) and used soy milk and soy cheese. I started this when she was a baby, so a fussy older child may take some convincing, but there are ways..like telling her how special soy is and letting her pick flavourings to go with it.  Soy milk is more expensive than ordinary milk, but much less than lactose free milks!  Also, if you are the primary carer for this child, and she lives permanently with you, you may be able to claim the family allowance for her..someone must be getting it, so check! As for family members who don't believe in living the Cheapskates way...just ignore their wasteful habits and explain you have to save, and this is your way and your choice. It would seem you now shop for yourselves, so keep your supplies in a separate area, or box in the fridge if communal, and cook for just yourselves.   Gillian Vance answered You don't say how old your partners sister is, but most kids will change if they become more involved. Try to get her to cook one meal a week, and set an upper and lower limit on expenses for that meal. Tell her she can keep anything she saves as an incentive. Often kids just do not have a clue of the costs involved. Take her shopping with you and show her how to make the best choices. Watch out for long life soy milk on special and stock up with it.   Dianne Finemore answered Use Zymil milk for everything.  When the recipe says milk, use Zymil.  You can buy Zymil cheese also. You can still have your favourite food ,just substitute a few ingredients.  Rachael Thiele answered This little sister should be paying board and lodgings! If she is under 16, you could qualify for government funding, if over 16 and studying, she should be sat down and shown the stats of the difference in costs before and after she came.  Perhaps she needs to get a part time job and pay the actual amount it costs you to keep her - if she sees her own money disappearing, she may be more inclined to live more cheaply. And if she's working, she should definitely be paying at least what she is costing you. You are not doing her any favours if she doesn't take responsibility for herself if she is old enough to.   Jane Torrens answered Karyn, I'm lactose intolerant yet have no "digestive troubles" at all using powdered milk from Aldi. I make it up using 2/3 cup of powder to 1L of water. This might be worth a try. Amanda Tulloch-Hoskins answered You don't say how old your SIL is. We did the same thing a few years ago, when our baby was one, and having another mouth to feed can sure make a difference. My SIL was 15, a vegetarian and very picky about her food. In the end, after months of trying to make it work and tearing my hair out, we made the deal to let her pay for her own food and cook for herself. If your sister-in-law is old enough to do that, I would let her.  It made our lives so much happier and cheaper, and she was happy to do it, as no matter what I cooked, she didn't really like it. Ironically enough, nowadays, she loves my cooking (and eats meat again!). Of course that is only possible if she is old enough to be able to give that a try. And you need to feel comfortable to let her have time in the kitchen to do it. Madonna  Tracey answered Try using UHT milk products; at a certain heat (which all UHT products should meet) the lactose in dairy products becomes dormant, so your sister shouldn't get sick! My brother-in-law is also lactose intolerant and so instead of making him different meals at family functions both my sisters and I all use UHT milk. It is also cheaper (and more convenient) than fresh milk anyway, and my brother-in-law doesn't get sick. Even if you only use it for cooking it will still save you heaps! About trying to get her to see 'the light' of living cheap - maybe show her some of the rewards? Before my boyfriend and I bought our first house I was not at all interested in living the Cheapskates lifestyle, but now I can see the rewards in other areas such as a new winter wardrobe or overseas holidays. I now always look for cheaper options, especially around the house where no one else would notice, such as the washing powder recipe that saves us $10 a month for nothing! The result is what makes me keep going, so it may cost you short term (to share your rewards with her) but you should all benefit long term! Anna Albert answered Most Thai food is lactose free as they tend to use coconut milk for flavouring dishes or stir fries. Not only are they delicious but they are also very healthy too. Just do a Google search for Thai recipes and you will have hundreds to choose from! Also, you can buy milk now which is actually lactose free!  Vanessa Reynolds answered This needs a thorough planning and thinking session with your partner, and perhaps with his sis, depending on her age. First steps involve investigating what financial support there is for you doing this - children under 16 can get support from the government, and over 16 independent students (as forced by family circumstance) get Youth Allowance. If sis is working and more adult, then she should contribute to her own costs, a rule of thumb for charging board is one third of income. Then I'd book a session with a dietician. Has the lactose intolerance been medically determined, or is it a hunch - maybe there's more to it. The dietician will help you through suitable products and ideas for how to manage it. This may be available through the public hospital, as group sessions or at a clinic. When you have all this clear, then you spend time researching products at your supermarket, reading the fine print and making a list of all OK products and or a list of all banned products of the things you normally use. You may even find such lists from other people's research, or through support groups etc. If you sort out your list well, you can produce that as a shopping list, which you use as you plan you menu and organise your weekly shop. If you use as few manufactured products as possible, you will know what is suitable or not quite quickly. Be aware that some ingredients do not necessarily show up as milk based, for example calcium caseinate comes from cow's milk, but some manufacturers use it in products labelled "milk-free". They bend the laws but don't think about any harm it might do. These are the sort of details a dietician can help with. Good luck with it all, and good on you both for supporting your partner's sister.

Do you have a question that needs an answer? Send us your question and receive the combined knowledge of your fellow Cheapskates to solve your problem! Ask a question

7

This Weeks Question

Michelle asks "My daughter is in Prep and has a birthday coming up. At kinder we could take ice blocks instead of birthday cake, but her school has a "no food" policy for birthdays because of food allergies etc.  She wants to take something to celebrate with her classmates and teacher but with 26 in the class I need some really cheap, fun ideas please."

Do you have the answer? If you have a suggestion or idea for Michelle let us know, and your answer could be published in our next newsletter. You'll also be automatically entered into our Tip of the Week competition, with a one-year membership to the Cheapskates Club as the prize. Click here to send your answer

8

Join the Cheapskates Club

Join the Cheapskates Club for just  $29.20 for the first year ($18.25 to renew) and get exclusive access to the Cheapskates Club Platinum Member's Centre containing thousands of ideas to save you money, time and energy. Join the Cheapskates Club today

9

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I change my email address? This one is easy. If you area Platinum member login and click on the Edit Profile button, then on Change Password. If you are a Silver member use the Change Your Address form (under Customer Service in the menu) and fill it out. Once you've filled it in click the send button and we'll do the rest. Please remember to include your old email address so we can find it in the list as well as the new one. How do I know when my membership should be renewed? When you login to the Member's Centre you will be told how many days of membership you have left once you have 30 days left. Just click on the link to renew and your membership will just continue on, uninterrupted. What will you do with my email address? We never rent, trade or sell our email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever. You'll never get an unsolicited email from a stranger as a result of joining this list. How Did You Get on Our List? You signed up to receive our Free Newsletter at our Cheapskates Journal Web site or at the Channel 9 Money Expo. We never add names to our list unless you have voluntarily opted in.

10

Contact Details

The Cheapskates Club - Showing you how to live life debt free, cashed up and laughing! Cheapskates Club PO Box 4232 Ringwood Vic 3134 www.cheapskates.com.au info@cheapskates.com.au