Hello Cheapskaters, Hello and a warm welcome to all our new Platinum members and newsletter subscribers, we are so glad you have joined us. One of my favourite jobs each morning is reading the mail. I get a lot of emails, sometimes 500 or more at a time, and lots and lots of letters. Yes, real letters, in an envelope, delivered by the postman. I don't answer them all. Many of the emails are junk - mostly unsolicited advertising for amazing new budget programs or fantastic website promotions and so on. I don't even see the spam, it is filtered off before it even hits my inbox. I delegate lots of the letters to the appropriate team member to be answered. And the rest I get to read and share with the team.  We love to hear from you, of your successes and your progress toward debt free living. Your questions have us thinking and talking and trying all sorts of new things so we can give you the right answer.  The ideas that come through the Suggestion Box certainly keep us busy. I am certain that you have no idea just how blessed I feel that you take the time to get in touch.  And for that I would like to thank you all. I hear all the time how members are helping, encouraging and supporting each other. Believe me when I say that every day I probably learn something new or receive more encouragement from members of the Cheapskates Club than any other member .  I love getting the "tip of the day" and weekly newsletter. -  Karen O'Connell I have recently joined the Cheapskates Club as a Silver member, and have seen Cath a couple  of times on A Current Affair. I think the Cheapskates Club and Cath are great.  - Claire Sheppard Thanks so much for sending me the link for the Bill Paying System and my login details. I really wanted to show my sister how it worked and of course my mind went blank when I sat in front of her computer. Finally she's a Cheapskates convert, after I told her we  had just paid off our last credit card. Thanks Cheapskates.  - Kerry and Darren Schofield My partner says "thank you Cath". Since I joined the Club last year we have been able to actually save some money and pay all our bills on time and I can tell you that life in our house is good! DP thought I was wasting more money on my membership. Instead, within twenty minutes of joining, I had found three things that straight away saved us $109! And the savings have just gone on from there.  - Rhiannon Couzens Thanks for my weekly newsletter. It keeps me focussed and motivated.  - Charlie Bell I've just spent an hour this morning and another forty minutes tonight in the Archives. What a wealth of knowledge for $29.20! I have put a note in my planner to check the Member's Centre every Sunday night so I don't miss anything.  - Nadine Freeman There are so many new recipes in the Recipe File that I want to try I have made a folder for them on my desktop. Now when I find one, I copy it into the Cheapskates Recipes folder so I can find it when I want it. At this rate I'll be doing a Julie/Julia and trying a new recipe every night for the next year.   Melanie Cameron 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.

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Cheapskates Tip of the Week

This week's winning tip is from Rachel B.  Rachel has won a one-year membership to the Cheapskates Club for submitting a winning tip. Save Money and the Planet Simultaneously Approximate $ Savings:     $185 per month   We've found that saving money and saving the planet go hand in hand! My household has adopted the following rules that are set to save us (and our planet) a fortune! 1.Avoiding purchase of plastic products: this rules out bottled water (Melbourne tap water is fine!), soft drinks (really add up in price) and sauces etc (we have had fun and saved money making our own!) not to mention avoiding the negative effect that plastic has on our environment. 2.Everyone showering consecutively:  this means you don't waste water and energy whilst the shower heats up and you have to stick to your 4 minute shower or someone else misses out on hot water altogether! 3.Grey water:  we catch our shower water in a bucket and as we have a small yard this is all we need to completely water our growing garden. 4.Car pooling with neighbours:  my next door neighbour works near where I do, so with a little bit of organisation I can carpool with him and we save on fuel and carbon emissions daily and get to have a good chat on the way which reduces traffic stress! 5.Changing work start time:  my neighbour and I have been lucky enough to be allowed to start and finish work later. This means that we avoid lots of traffic and fuel usage caused by 'stop start driving'. 6.Combine trips:  we have run all our errands in one go and shopped once a week, this prevents popping out and spending money unnecessarily and fosters an innovative 'make do mentality' which has resulted in some interesting new dishes to add to our repertoire too! 7.Getting rid of our clothes drier: given how bad it is for the environment we decided to sell our drier. We're quite happy to make do with our 2 clotheshorses and remove the temptation (plus our electricity bill is far smaller and we made some money on eBay!) 8.Make use of natural light:  minimise the lights on in the house by cooking etc when it's still light outside so that when it's dark everyone can be in the same room and there aren't lights on all over the house. - 9.Installing energy saving light bulbs:  speak for themselves 10.Composting:  we've started a compost heap that is free and easy to maintain. It's fascinating to see nature and science at work in front of your very eyes. Additionally, you save a fortune on buying soil enriching products and plants that die due to poor nutrients! This is great for us as we are building a garden from scratch and are spending a great deal on it at present. We are always finding more ways to save money and the planet environmentally. It's great to have that extra motivation to save and feel proud of yourself! So far the savings financially have on average amounted to the following: $100 quarterly energy bill, $30 off weekly fuel bill, $40 month on potting mix and replacement plants.  Congratulations Rachel, 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!

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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

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Money Saving Meals

Easy Dinners It's a good thing to have a repertoire of easy, quick and tasty meals you can have on the table in just a few minutes. They are equally perfect for busy weeknights or casual weekend dinners. Lemon Chicken Pasta Ingredients: 400g spaghetti or linguine 3 tablespoons olive oil 3 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed 2 cloves garlic, sliced 2 small red chillies, seeded and chopped 3 cooked chicken breast fillets, shredded 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1 cup chopped basil leaves salt and pepper ½ cup grated parmesan cheese Method: Place the pasta in a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain. While the pasta is cooking, heating a deep frying pan over high heat. Add the oil, capers, garlic and chillies and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken and lemon zest and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes or until the chicken is heated through. Add the pasta to the pan with the lemon juice, basil, salt and pepper ant toss to combine. Place in serving bowls on stop with parmesan. Tomato Soup with Chicken Meatballs Ingredients: 350g chicken mince 2 green onions, chopped 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley 1 tablespoon finely grated parmesan cheese sea salt cracked black pepper 4 cups chicken stock 2 cups tomato puree 85g dried macaroni Method: Place chicken mince, green onion, parsley, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix until combined. Roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls about the size of a 20-cent piece. Place on a tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Refrigerate for 5 minutes. Place stock and tomato puree in a saucepan over medium heat and simmer for 4 minutes. Add macaroni and meatballs and cook for 10 minutes, or until macaroni is cooked. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving. Chicken Mexicali Ingredients: 1.5kg chicken pieces 1 tin red kidney beans, drained 1 tin diced tomatoes 600g jar passata 1 carrot, diced 1 zucchini diced, 1 onion, diced, 1 green capsicum, de-seeded and sliced in 1cm strips 1 pkt taco seasoning (or use homemade) 1 cup grated cheese 1/2 pkt corn chips, lightly crushed Method: Pre heat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Oil base and sides of deep casserole dish. Place chicken in bottom of casserole. Combine all other ingredients except grated cheese and corn chips. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook for 30 - 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked.  Mix cheese and corn chips. Sprinkle over top of casserole. Return to oven with lid off for 10 minutes or until cheese has melted and corn chips are crisp. Serve with steamed rice and green salad. There are over 700 other great money saving meal ideas in the Recipe File.

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Last Weeks Question

  

Last week's question was from Michelle, seeking budget friendly, non-food ideas to celebrate her daughter's birthday with her Prep class. Fiona Harley answered Make party hats/ tiaras/ crowns, this can be as simple as a hat template that the kids can decorate however they want with colouring, glitter, stickers, pom poms, flowers, gems, etc (supplies available from discount shops or craft stores). Cheap and also individual and hopefully a whole lot of fun for all 26 members of your daughters class!!   Grace MacDonald answered I ran the three to five room in a child care centre and feel for your dilemma. The best thing we had were balloons. The mum had them filled with helium gas and everybody loved them as they floated up to the roof. Just a tip, she did have spares in case one popped.  Diana  S. answered Stickers! A book of stickers can be bought from a $2 dollar shop for $2, then give each child a page. You may need 2 or 3 books depending on number of pages in each. Pen or lead pencil. Places like K-mart sell packs of glitter pen or pencils.  Janet Lee answered Get a packet of balloons and a few packets of lollies from the $2 shop. Put the balloon and a few lollies in a bit of Clingwrap and you have a cheap gift for the kids at kinder, cost would be $6. l have done this with both of my kids.  Kendra  Buss answered In my son's school, they suggest the children take in their favourite book to be read to the class. Also, the children sit in a circle and light a birthday candle for the child, then give the 'gift of words'. Each child around the circle says a positive sentence about the birthday child which is collated by the teachers and presented on a beautiful piece of paper to the child later. They love it!  Kate Sharp answered Our kinder last year discouraged lollies etc, and I found a packet of 20 really cute assorted erasers at the Reject Shop for $2. We also used packets of pencils (e.g.. Disney princess or cars), that were about $2 for 10. Other families gave balloons or party favours such as whistles.   Janette Genner answered Make bookmarks. A girlfriend of mine made these for her son's friends and printed off favourite characters such as Ben 10 with the child's name, then she laminated them - a little time spent but a lovely individualised gift for each child and something not likely to be thrown away.  Violeta Lozanovska For my daughters birthday I went to those cheap shops like the Reject Shop  or $2 shop. I found a book of unisex stickers, a pack of shaped rubbers , fruit lollypops, pack of plastic rings and so on. All of these items including the party bags cost around the $2 mark. Everything I purchased had more than enough for the whole class. You can tie the girl bags with pink ribbons and boy bags with blue, or make them all unisex. One mum at my children's school sent fruit kebabs, and another did jelly cups. I hope this has helped you a little.   Kylie Dallow answered You can purchase party favours from eBay in bulk packs,  usually 20+ items such as small rubber balls, bangles etc for just a few dollars each.  Cat M. answered To celebrate children birthday at school without using food for Preps, give each child a pencil with a fluffy/fun top. You can usually find them at $2 shops.  If you look around you can buy packs of 3 or 4 for $2.   Kerry Morrison answered I went to the local discount store where I was able to buy packets of lead pencils (approximately 10-12) with girl and boy designs on them (the leftovers can be used later by your child as gifts or for school) for $2 each. I also bought multi packs of stickers $2 and cut them up, one for each child. Sometimes you can get multiple packs of dinosaurs for boys for $2 and hair clips for girls  for $2- break up these multipacks and get your child to wrap them up in glossy paper (left over wrapping paper or junk mail/magazine pages). I am sure I spent under $10 and had plenty of small things for children to take home. The kids were so excited. You could put the gifts in a boys and girls lucky dip or you could make a piñata with a balloon and newspaper so the kids have the adventure of smashing it :-)   Annie Grundy answered Michelle mix up a batch of play dough ( 2 cups plain flour,2 tbsp cream of tartar,2 tbsp cooking oil ,1 cup cooking salt,2 cups water, food colour of choice) and get creative with your food colouring. Mould it into a birthday cake shape with play dough candles and play dough icing. The class can sing happy birthday then have a wedge of play dough each to keep! Its cheap, fun and still allows for the birthday girl to feel special! Enjoy!   Tracy New answered Many schools now have a no-food policy as allergies are so commonplace. For a cheap and fun alternative, go to the $2 shop and grab some balloons and party hats, enough for one for each child in the class and the teacher. You could even pick up some cheap lead pencils, a packet of pipe cleaners, a packet of boggle eyes and a packet of baby flowers and make some snake pencils. Just wrap the pipe cleaner around the top of the pencil, shape the end into a loop to make the head and stick on some boggle eyes, and for the girls in the class add a baby flower to the side of the head to make "lady" snakes. Cheap, fun and lasts longer than cakes or lollies.   Anja Milic answered Our school has the same policy so I went to one of those $2 stores and bought a few packets of mini slinkies for the class. They were $2 for a packet of 6 and the kids loved them. Preppies are very easily pleased, and those stores have loads of little items that they will love. Another year I purchased those mini high bouncing balls - a real hit!  Catherine Halliday answered We found some great key rings at the $2 shop for my Prep son's birthday give-aways. Kids that age love key rings and they can put them on their school bags or back packs. I bought packets of 12 for $4. The ones I bought had an Aussie theme so I got koalas, mini $5 notes etc. They are better than food because they can keep them!   Jenny Walker answered What about buying various packets of craft products, stickers and bulk "goodies" from the $2 stores. You can divide them up, put into freezer bags and tie with a nice curling ribbon. While it could cost from $10 to $20 depending on what you choose, it is probably something that all the children will love.   Judy Gleeson answered Take a bubble machine to school with 3 refill bottles and the whole class can go outside for 15 minutes of fun! Cost approximately. $10.

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

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This Weeks Question

We have two questions this week, the first being a follow-up question to last week's winning tip. Charisa  asks "I have always enjoyed hand-me-down clothes for my children and more recently myself.  However it seems that a few of the items that I have been given carry a rather unattractive odour once the arm pits heat up.  The first couple of items, I decided to throw away giving them up as a lost cause but I have grown attached to a few special items and am hoping that a Cheapskater may have a remedy to eliminate smelly pits in clothing.  I would really appreciate any help you could offer!" Send your answer to Charisa's question here.   Anne asks "I would love to know if there is any cheaper alternatives to Foxtel? We are trying to cut down our budget, but my husband is an avid AFL supporter, whose team is interstate, so we rarely get to watch those games on free to air - therefore we have Foxtel and Fox sports. It is costing us a fortune! I have looked at Select TV, but it only has Eurosports.  Any suggestions?" Send your answer Anne's question here.

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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

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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.

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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