Welcome to all our new Cheapskates Club members, I hope you are having lots of fun (and learning lots of tricks) in the Member's Centre. Don't forget to pop into the forum and introduce yourself. We are a very friendly and helpful bunch, I'm sure you'll fit right in. I have had a lot of fun this week talking about weddings. Did you know that the average cost of a wedding in Australia today is $28,000! Yikes!  Thank goodness we were married 21 years ago, 'cos I can tell you now, even if I wasn't a Cheapskate, there is no way I would spend that much money on what is essentially a fancy party.  And it seems I'm not alone. There are some fantastic tips for beautiful weddings on a budget in the Tip Store.   Some of them are very creative. We had a giggle on ABC radio Darwin on Monday night over the "Fake the Cake" tip. What a brilliant way to have the "cake" of your dreams without spending hundreds of dollars.  And what about "Ten Cent Invitations"  - there is a tip that will save you hundreds of dollars.  There really is no excuse for spending a fortune on the wedding of your dreams when you see the fantastic tips in the Wedding section of our Tip Store. Do you have a fantastic tip for a beautiful wedding the Cheapskates way? You can send it to us here. We'd love to see it and add it to the Tip Store.   It seems weddings aren't the only thing that are costing Australians a fortune. There was a report on page 31 of last Sunday's Herald Sun on the increase in the cost of basic groceries since 2000. It struck a chord with Cheapskaters and I am proud to say we are beating the odds - instead of our grocery bills sky rocketing, they are coming down! Way to go Cheapskaters, give yourselves a pat on the back. "Just want to thank you so much for Cheapskates! You have truly opened my eyes to where I can save money without a lot of effort! I joined the Cheapskates Club in March and estimate I’m saving $60 a week on food using Aldi as well as Coles. In today’s (20/06/2010) Herald Sun is a list of groceries with prices for years 2000 and 2010. Going through my price book and checking the items I buy, the price I pay is 35% less than 2000 prices and 55% less than 2010! You are offering a fantastic service to Australian families, keep it up! Many thanks," Val Regnier "I would like to take this opportunity to say that I love receiving the Tip of the Day and the other information provided on Cheapskates – it has led to a complete change in the cleaning materials that I use around the house as well as giving me heaps of other ideas."  Liz Stillwell "Absolutely LOVE the website.. has inspired me so much!"  Louise "Love Cheapskates!!!!"  Ros There are only two days left to enter our June competition. With two cash prizes up for grabs, click here to send us your best tip on how to Get a Deal. Entries close 5pm tomorrow, 25th June 2010. Have a great week everyone, 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 Leanne Catt.  There are times when being able to get online and do the grocery shopping is not only convenient the only way it's going to be done,  so Leanne's tips to save you money and time are fantastic. Leanne is already a Platinum Cheapskates Club member so her membership has been extended by one-year membership for submitting a winning tip. Get the Best from Online Grocery Shopping Whilst the perception of online supermarket shopping is that it can actually cost you more than going to the store, I found the opposite to be true if you pay attention to the prices both in-store and online. Firstly, I choose the cheapest delivery option (which gives them the widest delivery window, but as a SAHM to a 5 month old, I'm home anyway).  Yes it costs less to drive down there, but I know that I'm going to get exactly what I ordered and not pickup any extra items along the way, which in the end saves me more than I'm paying for delivery ($5). Secondly, the pricing isn't always the same online as it is in-store.  There will be in-store specific prices you can't get online (e.g. multibuys - 2 for $5, etc) but also online prices you can't get in-store.  So, I sit with my store catalogue and list of known in-store prices and compare it to the price on offer online.  I've been able to save over $30 per shop on some occasions, which completely negates me having to  leave the house. I've also spent the time to sit on both the Coles and Woolworths websites to order exactly the same products in order to see who comes out in front.  Assuming none of the products you want are on special with one of the Brands, on most occasions the only real difference is the delivery fee which is within a couple of dollars.  So, armed with that information, I have a quick check to see who has the better online specials before I place my order, whilst making sure that the specials I choose are those I actually need. When buying meat from the supermarkets, I check the pricing against other online meat sales companies (e.g. Melbourne Butcher), and generally just buy the meat that's on special.  You don't get access to the reduced to clear meat as you would in-store, but it's a small trade off. I still drop into the supermarkets to do top ups or for incidental items and take a quick walk past the meat section to see if there are any heavily discounted trays, but so far, I'm in front ordering online versus going into the store. Congratulations Leanne, I hope you continue to 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

TV Snacks I don't know about your house, but during the winter holidays ours is full of kids. There are the girls in the loungeroom, with cushions and rugs and a pile of chick flicks to get through. And the boys are in the family room with the Wii and the PS3 having gaming marathons.  Wherever they are they like something to munch on while they relaxing. Here are three favourite munchie recipes, as voted by a house full of teenagers on school holidays, and a hot chocolate recipe to wash them down. Russian Caramels This recipe was one of the very first I was allowed to make by myself and it's still a favourite. The original recipe was in an old (very old) Gas and Fuel Cookbook of my mother's. Ingredients: 125g butter 250g sugar 1 tin condensed milk 1 tsp vanilla extract Method: Melt the butter first, then add the sugar and condensed milk. Stir constantly until the mixture boils. Still stirring, allow to boil for 15 minutes then add vanilla and remove from heat. By this time the mixture should be the colour of light caramel. Test for setting in cold water. Pour into a buttered pan and when cold cut into small squares with a sharp knife. Gobble Its Ingredients: 180ml honey 55g margarine 10ml cold water 330g icing sugar 50g marshmallows 220g plain popcorn, popped Vegetable  oil Method: Put margarine, honey, water, sugar and marshmallows in a pan and stir over medium heat til it boils. Put popcorn in a large bowl and pour over it the honey mixture, covering it evenly. Cool slightly. Grease your hands with the vegetable oil and shape the mixture into golf ball sized balls before it cools. Wrap in cling wrap and store at room temperature. Makes 10-20 balls. Contributed by Natasha Swan Sour Gummy Worms Ingredients: 1  85g box of jelly crystals 3 tsp gelatine or agar agar 1 tsp citric acid 1/2 cup water Method: Mix all ingredients in a small sauce pan until it resembles play dough. Cook over a low heat until everything has melted. Once completely melted pour into a well greased 20cm square cake tin and freeze for 5 minutes. When very firm tip pan upside down to remove. Cut into "worms" with a pizza cutter or very sharp kitchen scissors. You can then roll them in sugar or leave as is. They won't last long! Notes: *We like green worms, but any colour will do. Use whatever jelly crystals you have in the cupboard. *We also like them very sour. You may not. Adjust the amount of citric acid to suit your personal taste. *If you don't use jelly crystals but make your own jellies with a fruit juice base, increase the amount of agar agar (or gelatine) and use fruit juice in place of the water. Hot Chocolate Drink Mix Ingredients: 2 cups skim milk powder 1/2 cup sugar 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup coffee whitener (I use Coles Smartbuy) Method: In medium bowl, combine milk powder, sugar, coca, and coffee whitener. To serve, place 3 teaspoons cocoa mix in mug. Stir in 3/4 cup boiling water. Store the mix in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Do you have a fantastic snack or treat recipe? We can't wait to try it and add it to the Recipe File.  Share it with us here.

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Last Weeks Question

Last week's question was from Catherine who needs help budgeting on an irregular income.

Emma Healey answered
My partner and I were in a similar situation a few years ago when I was temping. Whilst income can move around a lot we found our basic expenses of rent, groceries, bills, transport (essentials) cost $400 a week at a minimum for the two of us. I knew that I would always need to make at least $400 per week to survive. This meant that when I made anything over $400 it went straight into a high interest online savings which I could use if I had a week where I made under $400. You become quite possessive of your savings fund once you start to build it up and I often found that I would try to cut grocery bills so I didn’t have to take money out of my savings. Since then my work has become full time but we still have the ‘$400 rule’ – which means that I can now save a lot more! As we are getting married next year we are considering how we can make it the ‘$350 rule’!
   
Vicky Muscat answered
We have the same problem. What I do is look at the last year’s income, and then divide this by fifty-two to work out a weekly budget. If you feel you will make less or more money than last year adjust it accordingly. This way you save the extra money when times are good and have it available for the tougher times. We put the extra we have in a good week onto the mortgage, and then redraw it when it is needed in a 'bad' week. This helps us to pay off our mortgage as well as helping us to stick to a budget.

Raelene answered
My husband works in a twenty-four hour call centre. His hours are erratic and different shifts are worth different rates. I worked out our budget by basing it on the minimum amount earned, then when he gets some penalty rates they go towards extra debt payments, emergencies that pop up or the Christmas fund.
   
Kirsty Dudley answered
 I have created a "minimum living expenses budget" for the never ending ongoing expenses of living such as food, rent, petrol, the things we just can't do without and still make a living... and any minimum payments which incur fees if not paid etc.  My second list is for any other debt which we can live without or stretch out over a period (phone, rates, extra credit card payments). I have also created a hierarchy to my debts. I make a list of debts we owe in order of importance. To do this I ask myself if I only have money left to pay one thing what would it be? Then that is the item at the top of my list, and then what would be the next most important etc until all our debts are identified. Then when our money comes in I pay our "need to live" expenses first then apply anything left over to the first item on the list, then the next on the list until there is no money left. This reduces my frustrations and if you and your partner prioritise the list together you learn a lot about what is most important to each other and what you are willing to forgo in the future to ensure the list gets shorter every month.
 
A M Devenish answered
Have all your regular and irregular income deposited straight into your mortgage loan (banks set this up). Then take advantage of the 30/45 days interest free credit cards. Put a direct debit in place to clear the end of month credit card debt automatically from your mortgage loan account. Use your credit card like a revolving line of credit for times when less money is coming in, never paying any interest. If you have a mortgage you'll probably pay less interest on that, by having all your income sitting in that loan account until it's needed to clear the credit card at the end of the month. Have a reasonable and low limit on your credit card (so your debt doesn’t get out of hand). Just pretend to have "less or no" money during the times when "more" is coming in, a bit of reverse psychology! Other than that just use all the tips from the Cheapskates website.
  
Nicole Ellis answered
I suggest you create a budget for all essential items (bills, mortgage, insurance, minimum amount for clothes, groceries and a little bit for fun etc) and work out your minimum requirement each month. Then create a dream budget for non essential things such as special outings, birthdays, Christmas, car, holidays etc. You can also work out how much this would be a month. At the end of the month wages first go to essential items, the remainder can be put to whatever non essential items in your dream list you would like.
 

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

Catherine writes "As a new mum (to be) I would like to start some family traditions so my little one feels a real sense of "family".  Do you have any suggestions of what I could do?"

If you have a suggestion or idea for Catherine let us know, send it in, we'd love to hear it" Click here to send your ideas

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Join the Cheapskates Club

For just 8 cents a day you can join the Cheapskates Club and get exclusive access to the Cheapskate Journal, the monthly e-journal that shows you how to cut the costs of everyday living and still have fun. 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