Autumn

Wow what a crazy old time we're having globally. My heart goes out to everyone affected by the Christchurch Earthquake and now the Japanese Earthquake and resulting Tsunami. Of course there is a run-on effect financially every time these events occur. Petrol, rent and insurance increases, and ingredients such as flour and fruit and veges also cost more as harvests and crops are affected.

It's interesting how many people I've come across lately who are making a conscious effort to save money in the face of all of this. Gardening and home baking seems to be on the rise. Which is nice. I like the idea of getting back to basics. Many conversations with friends lately have been swapping recipes and dinner ideas and offering surpluses from one garden crop in exchange for another.

Tracking my shopping goal is really difficult. I know overall I am probably saving money because I haven't done another meat shop since the last post and the fruit and vege and dry goods shops are pretty standard. But it's really hard to track it weekly. I think I'm going to have to average it out - I hope that's not cheating.

A few things that have helped lately. I've been collecting and using up all my samples. Most of the ones I have are for skin care and cleaning which are of course the most expensive part of any shop. So when I ran out of washing powder the other week I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had 5 washes worth of samples to use. That's a week of washing I didn't have to buy powder for.

I've also found it really pays to shop around when it comes to buying your skincare. After using a few samples I decided that Aveeno seemed like a great one to buy. I was surprised that The Warehouse sold it a full $2 cheaper than the local Foodtown. So definitely go and check out places like The Warehouse and K-Mart as well as the supermarkets if you're using a fairly ubiquitous brand.

I'm still harvesting huge (bigger than commercially grown) Capsicums and Zucchini from my garden. I've just planted in dwarf beans and brussels sprouts and also sown some more carrots (if they survive the cats that is Grrrrrr!). Once my lettuces go to seed I'll be replacing them with Kale for the winter.

I also managed to score a lovely big pumpkin courtesy of my neighbour's vine which grew through our fence and decided it liked our side better (although she had quite a few on her side too so don't feel bad). So this weekend I really must make some pumpkin soup.