Hello Cheapskaters, I hope you have had a fantastic week. After the hectic schedule of last week I was looking forward to a quiet weekend and a peaceful few days in the office. It didn’t work out that way. I have a relative by the name of Murphy, who just happened to cause havoc. Murphy must be a relative because as the saying goes “you can choose your friends, your relatives you’re stuck with” and if Murphy were a friend he would be an absent friend!   With Murphy visiting our spending has been a little more than we had planned so I think it’s time for a No Spend Week. Can you live without spending for a week? We haven’t had a No Spend challenge for a while and this challenge is only a week, seven short days.   The rules are simple: no spending unless it is essential, already planned or already budgeted for. So you can pay your regular bills and buy your groceries (as long as you stick to the list), as long as it's planned and you have the cash to pay for it.   This No Spend challenge is going to be a little different. Cash only. No credit cards, no debit cards, just old fashioned cash.   If you are up for the challenge, hop on over to my blog and sign up.      Here are some of your emails we received this week:   I wish to say a big thank you for the Easy Bread recipe (Newsletter 16:10). I got around to trying it a couple of weeks ago and have since made about eight loaves. I am an experienced bread maker and was intrigued to find that this bread is indeed very quick and only requires one rising instead of the traditional two. I followed the instructions to the letter and it took me only one and a half hours from raw flour to a perfect loaf of bread. The bread has a great crust, is lovely to eat fresh and makes superb toast. Thank you to for this great time and money saving recipe.  Christine.   Thanks to the Cheapskates Club, the Cheapskates website, newsletters and your book my hubby and I saved a deposit for our house in two years - on one income! Thank you Cath.  Rachael LaGreca   Thank you, thank you, and thank you for the Mother's Day special. My four children (12, 10, 8 and 6) bought me a Cheapskates Club membership for Mother's Day with their saved pocket money. They are so keen to learn the tricks to saving lots of money so I can cut my work hours and be home when they are that they ask me every day what new tip I found. With all the tips and ideas and my kids' encouragement I am planning on cutting my hours back to school hours only before the end of this term. Thank you again, Maree Barnard   Just wanted to say a massive THANKYOU for bringing Cheapskates to the world. I became a member on behalf of my mum about two months ago, and I have slowly been getting her to make changes. We started with the cheapskates washing powder (cheap AND effective - better than the store bought!), and last night I got her to plan our meals for the week, and then shop according to the meal plan. We cut our grocery bill from $340 to $144!!! I keep telling her - we're not being cheap, we're being SMART.  Thankyou so much!  Chelsea Preen 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 Cynthia Tay. We think Cynthia's tip is brilliant and all the team are wearing our shopping lists when we hit the supermarkets these days. Cynthia is already a Platinum member so her membership has been extended by one year for submitting  a winning tip.   Wear Your Shopping List I think grocery lists are great, but I have a huge problem trying to remember where I put it in my handbag and referring to the list when navigating the shopping trolley. I don't like not having a list as it promotes impulse or guess buying. I've recently tried using a lanyard that was lying around the house. I clip my shopping list to it and hang around my neck when I go shopping so I can keep my hands free and don't lose my shopping list.    Congratulations Cynthia, I hope you continue to share your great tips and 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

Popeye Pie One of the best crops in my veggie patch this season has been the silverbeet. While not necessarily Popeye's favourite food, here in Australia silverbeet is often called spinach. Full of Vitamin C, Folic Acid, Iron and fibre, silverbeet also has Vitamin B6 and is very low in kilojoules. My family love silverbeet lightly steamed and then stirred through some steamed rice with a very little garlic butter over the top. When I serve it prepared this way there are never leftovers. But their very favourite way to eat silverbeet is in Popeye Pie. Popeye Pie Ingredients: Melted butter for greasing 1 bunch silverbeet 500g cottage cheese 1 cup grated tasty cheese 1 medium onion, sliced 3 eggs 1 tsp salt freshly ground black pepper 1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg 10 sheets filo pastry 2 tbsp butter (melted)   Method: Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Lightly grease a lasagne dish with melted butter. Finely chop silverbeet leaves with their stalks and place into a saucepan. Add 1/2 cup water, cover, and cook over a medium heat. Cook for five minutes until silverbeet has wilted. Drain into a sieve, then press down on silverbeet to remove all liquid. Cool. Place cottage cheese, grated cheese, onion, eggs and seasonings in a bowl. Add silverbeet and gently fold mixture together. Lay out filo pastry sheets onto a board or cool dry bench. Brush half of each sheet of pastry lightly with the 2 tablespoons melted butter and then fold the sheet in half. Continue until all pastry is brushed and folded. Arrange five folded sheets into the base of the greased lasagne dish. Spread filling over base then top with remaining folded filo sheets. Brush top with melted butter. Place in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes till lightly golden brown. Serve immediately. Keeps for up to two days in the fridge, can be eaten cold. Note: The cost of this pie can be reduced by using homemade cottage cheese and home-grown silverbeet. Reduced fat tasty cheese can also be used if you are watching your fat intake. 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 Rebecca, asking for ideas to keep her toddler busy and amused.   Karen Adams answered I have found cutting out items from junk mail and pasting onto butcher paper is fun with my three year old. We have different themed cut and paste projects such as fruit and veg where we discuss what the item is and that it is good for you etc.  I also cut out people and faces and mix and match, she asks a lot of questions and learns new things from this. She will sometimes colour in too, and this is proudly shown to Dad when arriving home from work. Her proud work is stuck on the fridge, for further conversations during upcoming days. Instead of snarling when I receive the junk mail, I look forward to organising the next project. This saves buying project books, when my daughter is so chuffed to make her own.   Kerry S. Answered When my children were little I joined a community garden project and had a small plot to grow vegetables. I kept a corner for my two year old to grow flowers in, it kept them busy, while learning and nurturing the earth. They now have a passion for gardening. I was out and met people who taught me lots about fresh vegetables and good health. I imagine your baby would be quite content hanging out while you both garden and as they grow can join in the fun.    Rebecca McEvoy answered Anyone with children could very easily fall in love with their local library. We live in the country, and if we go one town over there is a huge library with numerous free activities held every week for children - not only reading but crafts, singing etc, and for all ages. There is a playground nearby as well, and of course, the free loan of books, and DVDs, not to mention toys. Check out your local library, they're usually quite good.    Anne Ruthenberg answered Suggest you make a daily schedule, just like kinders do. Aim to have a daily walk each morning because a. its exercise for him and a chance for you to lose baby weight if you need to and b. you can make it into an exciting adventure for him, teaching him to count to 10 steps; look for colours; find leaves and things for a nature collage; sing the alphabet or nursery rhymes etc.  You could take some fruit or Vegemite fingers and a water bottle each and have a picnic. This will prepare him for Prep as you can then have him pack a little backpack with his lunch and then eat at a set time rather than wanting to eat all the time like they do at home. A walk will also tire him out ready for a nap and will also settle a fretful baby. After lunch and a nap have outside time. In the back yard you could set up an obstacle course (it works just as well inside) using cardboard boxes with the bottom out for him to climb through, a chair to clamber over, another one for him to crawl through the legs, some sticks for him to jump between, empty bottles with a bit of dirt in bottom to make skittles which you can use to make a road in the shape of S.  For afternoon tea - again packed into a lunch box - let him help prepare it and he will be more likely to eat it. Throw a sheet over the clothesline to make a cubby for him or over a table inside and let him take teddy and have his own picnic. Have a craft box in which you collect cereal boxes and any empty packets, empty rolls from lunch wrap, pieces of cardboard and paper blank on one side etc. Add child's scissors, sticky tape on a dispenser and some coloured pencils and this will keep a child occupied for ages. Cut cereal boxes into strips and write words on the strip e.g. chair and each day get him to match the word to the object. Start with three and add a new one each day. When he knows about a dozen, get an exercise book and make a story using these words. Also teach your child to write his name. Hope this helps, we raised seven without money for toys and all are high achievers.    Melody Francia answered If you are close to a large heated pool, they are wonderful to spend a day at. We have one with a heated, fenced shallow (ankle deep) toddler pool with water features to play around and they serve a lovely lunch and coffee. I'm not sure if they have a little playground area. A day at the pool would be sure to send him to bed happy and tired. Good luck!    Olivia Mills answered Hi Rebecca, as a mum of two littlies and a day care mum of seven, I can appreciate a free activity. I have found the local McDonalds or Hungry Jacks playgrounds good as I can sit and have a coffee (taken dry from home if I need to i.e. coffee sugar and milk in a cup with a lid, then all I have to ask for to enjoy my free coffee is the hot water!) The kids play and then we go home, or enjoy a box of cookies or a cheap cone, or all enjoy our own packed lunch or snacks from home. If time permits, a batch of pre-made cupcakes, or even a bag of cookies with their own drink makes the play free and the food cheap as,....well...chips! The other idea is to move your normal morning tea (and play tent) if you have one, outside on the grass with a tablecloth for a picnic rug. Makes morning tea fun and gets them to run around and enjoy outdoors like they should!

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

Sonya asks "My husband and I were renting his parents house while they lived interstate (for work), and a year ago they unexpectedly moved in with us. We manage to rub along well together and due to our circumstances (getting out of debt!) it is best for us to stay here at the moment. However, my husband and I start work at 7.30am and don't get home until 6pm, and the shops in Perth are open 9am - 5pm only (or 9am - 12pm on Saturday). So, my stay at home mother-in-law has taken on the entire household shopping and we split the bill 50/50. I am very grateful she does the shopping but even though she does not work she will only go to the local Woolworths (not the local butcher or lovely farmer's markets), and our share of the food bill has been as high as $2,000 for a month! My father-in-law has always had good jobs and they have never, ever needed to budget. I have tried to introduce the idea of separate shopping and separate meals but everyone else in the household was hurt and offended by the idea. How can I (25 years old) tactfully introduce the idea of smart and non-wasteful budget shopping without any offence to my mother-in-law, who has been a housewife for 30+ years, has never needed to budget and who prides herself on her ability to keep house? Thanks."

Do you have some advice or a solution? If you have a suggestion or idea for Sonya let us know.  You'll 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

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Join the Cheapskates Club

Join the Cheapskates Club for just  $25.00 until 8pm Sunday 9th May 2010 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