down to earth

I'm guessing that most of us try to live well without spending too much money. Some of us are forced via our circumstances to do it, some make a philosophical decision that they want to live that way. One thing is for sure, if you cut the amount of money you spend, not only on food and groceries but also on the modern trappings of life, you'll be able to pay off your debts sooner and you'll also be helping to reduce green house gasses as well. Bravo!

Living well on a small amount of money is not about the big choices. It's a series of consistent decisions to live on the budget you've defined for yourself. It's about shopping for bargains and making as much at home as you can. If you have the time to make some of the things you now buy, you'll save money, and probably get a better product. If you can reduce your grocery bill, you'll be able to make consistent savings every time you shop. So let's talk about the everyday decisions we all make.

The first decision is about organising your money, and that just means making up a budget. Now if your eye just glazed over and your pulse started to race, it's not as bad as you think. YOU set your own limits, YOU write your budget according to what money you have coming in and what you need. YOU are the main definer of your fate. If you've been pretending that the B word is for everyone else, think again. Budgeting will help you live well, help you pay your bills on time, calculate what you have to spend and generally keep you on your financial track, whatever that is. Some of us can get away with no budget, but it's so easy to fall back into those modern day spending habits, a budget will keep you focused. And it gets easier the longer you do it.

But let's focus on shopping now. Staples, or the ingredients you need to make up recipes, are the real foundation of your pantry and stockpile. They don't change from month to month - flour, tea, coffee, sugar, butter, honey, dried fruits, oats, rice, spices etc. Work out what you use as staples and keep your supplies topped up when you shop. It's the fresh food such as vegetables, fruit, dairy, meat, fish etc that will change. When you prepare to go shopping, check what's in the fridge that has to be used, make up a menu plan, then work out when you'll shop. If you get supermarket flyers in the post and check out the bargains that way, then you'll wait until you have that week's flyers and make up your menu plan according to what's on special and what you already have in the fridge and garden. Then you'll do your shopping. I think it's a better idea to check the fridge so you don't buy what you already have, then go shopping with a list of the staples you need. I like to see what's in the shops, especially the seasonal foods, and buy what is cheap because it's in season and fresh. But whether you shop after seeing what's available or already have your meals planned before you go shopping, always shop with a list of what staples you need so you don't have to run back to the shops during the week to buy a pound of butter, flour or some onions.

I encourage you to shop for ingredients rather than frozen meals and you'll save money if you don't buy convenience foods such as washed salads, sliced or grated cheese, bottled cooking sauces or packets of prepared spices. By doing the work of washing, grating and making up your own recipes, you'll save a lot of money and develop your skills in the kitchen.

Now that we shop at Aldi, I find it's only the meat specials I'm interested in, and then only the free range meats. If they have nothing I want, I usually end up at the butcher shop because he has better quality meat, it's local and often cheaper than the supermarket meat. I encourage you to check out your local butcher and green grocer and don't just rely on the supermarkets. Another quick tip is to not always rely on meat as your main meal protein. Legumes, grains, fish, eggs, tofu and dairy products are all valuable and reasonably cheap sources of protein.

In most circumstances, but not all, stockpiling will save you money and time. It works for us but doesn't work for my sister, Tricia, because she lives alone and tends to shop for what she needs every couple of days. But if you're part of a small, medium or larger family, or a group of students, stockpiling should work for you and you'll always have food on hand. There is a post here about stockpiling.

If you have some land, another food strategy that will save money as well as give you the best organic fruit and vegetables, is to grow your own, or some of it. If you do this, you'll also have to learn about when to harvest, how to manage your harvests so you don't waste anything and often that means you'll learn how to preserve in jars and freeze your produce. There are many posts here about that as well. The best way to search my blog is to look in the search facility in my side bar. Type in the word or phrase: "stockpiling", "menu plan", "soap making" etc and a list of posts should appear.

I just want to remind you that it is rare to make big savings doing this. It's all about consistent, regular small savings when you do the grocery shopping, but menu planning, shopping for bargains, stockpiling and buying less because you grow it and make it yourself, will all make a difference. So don't think small savings aren't worth it, they add up. When you look back over a year, you'll be surprised just how much you were able to save by sticking to your plan.

Tomorrow we'll talk about, and share, our recipes and thoughts on frugal food. I look forward to reading your comments about today's topic. I'll see you again as we carry on this important discussion tomorrow.

I finished the frugal living book on Friday, mainly because I dragged it out by doing bits and pieces that had nothing to do with the book, but I heaved a sigh of relief when the last key strokes were made. I have one more book to write now - on baking - but I'm having time away from books for a while to get back to real life. I need to get into my routines again. I want to clean out cupboards, cook, bake and sew, and I want to write my blog. The books won't be published until early next year so the last one can wait. This week I'll be writing out a plan of what I'll be talking about when I give a series of talks for the local libraries that start next week. There is a flyer below with the details.

Yesterday I went through my beige and red fabric stashes. I am fortunate to have been the beneficiary of quite a bit of fabric from Tricia and Cathy over the years, and even though I'm not the quilter or patchworker they both are, my cupboard looks like it belongs to one mad patchworker because of their legacies. I'm sure all the quilters and patchers will know what I'm talking about - I pick up a neatly folder piece of fabric and often it will have a circle cut from the middle, or a strip cut off the side, or stars or triangles cut into the most interesting parts of the pattern. Still, beggars can't be choosers and when I accepted their cast offs, I knew that one day I'd have enough time to make quilts and I hoped the passion to create them would still be there. It is. A few years ago I divided the mixed stash up into colours so when I look for something in particular, it's fairly easy to find it because it's all there, together.

I want to make a quilt to go over the beige couch we have in the lounge room. I covered it with the quilt Tricia made while she sat with our mum when she was very ill and eventually died. But I want to keep that quilt and don't want it in daily use. We need a cover because when the grandkids are here, like most kids, they can make a mess and even though the couch is 17 years old, I want to keep it going a bit longer. It will be a patch quilt, in no particular style or pattern, just the colours and patterns from the stash that look good to my eye. And because the quilt is just to cover a couch and not a person, I'll use an old quilted mattress protector I have in the linen cupboard as the batting. I also have a couple of old doona/duvet covers that I no longer use that will do nicely as the backing. So apart from the cotton thread I'll have to buy to match the chosen fabric, I won't spend a penny.

And that's good because I snapped back into frugal mode since last Tuesday's government budget. I don't want to discuss the budget or anything else political on my blog, it is what it is and I prefer to just get on with it. But for the overseas readers, many welfare benefits have been cut, the co-payment for a doctor's visit will rise, and after July, fuel prices will rise. When that happens it will filter through to groceries and many other things because most items are delivered, if not manufactured as well, using fuel. Many Australians will be hit hard and although Hanno and I won't have it as bad as most, we're still tightening our belts and we've postponed our trip to Tasmania. We have to do some work on the house that will use the money we would have spent on our holiday. We don't have many holidays so it's a disappointment for both of us, but if we step up on the savings, we'll be able to go next year or the year after when we have the cash again.

We already live thrifty lives and I'm pleased we do. I want to talk about thrift tomorrow. I feel we have more control over what we do than we used to have when we over-spent and wasted so much. Life's main priority then I was working was to repay debt. When you make the decision to live a more simple life it gives you different priorities and more options. You discover there are things you can do to give yourself a better life, and you soon realise that if you do those things, life will be better. I like the idea of us sharing what works for us and I hope that people who are struggling to make ends meet and those who will be effected by the budget can use the information to better their situation. I look forward to a discussion about frugal life tomorrow.

Please note, the Caloundra sessions are booked out.

Earlier in the week we shared what we love about our homes and the work we do there. I thank you all for sharing your incredible stories; I thought many of them were inspirational and I'm sure other readers did too. Now let's carry on highlighting what we love about our simple lives. Today we're going out to the backyard to examine what we love out there. You may be growing fruit and vegetables, you might have chickens, pigs, goats, a house cow or bees. Or are you harvesting water, generating electricity or recycling? We want to know what you're doing in your backyard, why you're doing it and why it's important. It's much easier to sit and read a book so why do you want to work outside instead? I hope some of the men join in today. I know you're out there. :- )

I'll lead off. You've seen photos of our backyard and will have probably have noticed the line of trees along the back boundary, behind the chicken run. That is a creek that defines the back boundary of our property, and along that creek runs a thick line of remnant rainforest. That rainforest and the fences on each side seem to embrace us and anyone in the backyard. It gives a feeling of seclusion and privacy and I count myself very lucky to be able to produce food in that space. I love the feeling of being self-contained here, that we can grow food, keep chickens, harvest water, make things out of scraps, use what we produce to keep our grocery bill lower than average and take advantage of the land we live on. Making our land productive gives us better value for the money we spent buying this place.

But I think the main thing is the feeling I get when I walk out there. There is a feeling of connection, that we're improving this land, increasing its fertility, encouraging microbes to grow in the soil along with the vegetables and knowing that partnership benefits the plants, the soil and us. I love that such a productive area is also very beautiful and that I can sit out there, work, pick things, invite people around, enjoy my family there or just sit alone and think under the elder tree and no one can come along and tell me to leave. When I produce good food in my backyard it makes me feel capable and reliable and that what we're doing here has more significance than just mucking about in the backyard. There is purpose here.

I like the idea of being self-reliant too. We harvest water from the roof and it is enough water to tend the garden, keep the chickens alive and clean everything out there. We are able to harvest and store 15,000 litres and therefore do not taking any water from the local dam for our outdoor activities and tasks. We make our own hot water in the solar water system on the roof and using the solar panels beside it, we shape our lives to cut down on electricity and get by with that small system. In the two years since we had it installed we've paid only one small bill. We don't want to make money with our solar panels, we just want to live how we live without paying electricity bills. We try to recycle and compost as much as we can so the burden of disposing of our waste is not entirely on the local council. I know we pay good money for them to do that but I believe it's up to us to do as much as we can ourselves.

The icing on the cake is walking inside with a basket brimming with fresh eggs and organic vegetables and eating those vegetables minutes after they've been picked. Yesterday I picked three organic oranges from the tree and filled a glass with the juice. In less than five minutes, that drink was gone. I felt healthy just drinking it and I know that even if I had a million dollars, I could not have bought a better drink than that. And it all comes from our backyard.

I'm eager to read about your backyard too, or your food growing. This is not about cooking the food, that will come soon, it's about your backyard, what you do out there and the feeling you get by doing it.

Most of us live on the edge. Although we live in cities, suburbs, rural towns and out in the middle of nowhere, we choose to live apart from what is considered to be "normal" nowadays. Even if we're surrounded by people or close to them, we are living on the edge of the mainstream because we've changed our mindset; we're on a slower and gentler journey. And it is for that reason that I want to encourage you all to highlight what is important to you - to express what you love about the various things we do that others don't. This is a reminder, or encouragement, if that's what you need today, about the life we live and why we live like this. People in the mainstream have a monotonous stream of information, advertising and peer support about their lifestyle, spending, shopping and fashion. That keeps them going - it reminds them of what they love, what is important to them. If you watch television, listen to the radio, surf the internet, read magazines or walk around the city, you'll see the current constantly changing cultural must haves; the products and services that help people live lives of convenience.

All that glitters is not gold.

Let's share our own advertisement for a slow and simple life because we won't see it advertised, or if we do it will be the commercialised dumbed-down version of it. This will remind all of us of what we love and why we chose to walk this road less travelled. We don't have "things" to love, ours is more about feelings and self awareness, but we do need to acknowledge it. When we take the time to remember and verbalise what we value, it reminds us of the significance of it. So let's share what we value about what makes up our simple lives - we'll do it a bit at a time so we're not overwhelmed. And today, let's start with our homes and homemaking. What is important about your home and the work you do there? Let me start it off.

The most important part of home and homemaking to me is that I have a place where I feel safe, comfortable and nurtured, and a place to work. Here in this ordinary brick slab house, at the end of a one lane, dead-end street, I am productive and creative and I think I could live another twenty years and still not be finished with the list of projects I'd like to do right here. When I finish writing these books, I want to start sewing some light quilts and teach myself how to make baskets from some of the materials growing here on our land. I'd like to take up rug making again. I loved it back in the 1980s, I want to get back to it. I want to expand on what I produce in the kitchen, be that main meals, bread, cakes, various drinks or dairy products. I want to make more soap for gifts and I want to perfect liquid Castile soap. I want to see Jamie and Alex grow up as good strong boys and young men, just like their fathers did. I want to read a lot more. I might adopt a non-deplume and write a novel. Who knows what I will do but I do know that everything I do will be done here, in my home.

Homemaking gives structure and meaning to my days. What I do in my home is important to me and my family. The opportunities here are almost endless and that has created an enthusiasm for life that has been infused into every day. And with each passing day I know the work I do here makes my life better. Some people hate housework. I am grateful to have it and equally grateful to have my home.

There are a lot of other reasons I love being in my home and doing the work required to run it but I'd like to read what you have to say. What's the most important part of homemaking for you? Why do you value your home? Tomorrow we'll share our stories about another aspect of our lives. I hope you'll join in.

Cottage pie with mash top.

I've been cooking. Isn't a warm kitchen a comforting place to be on a cold Sunday? I can see the steam coming up from my tea and the food cooking on the stove and it makes me feel grateful that I'm warm in my own home and that for us, at this time, life's good. The cooler months are the best time for cooking. When I'm baking, it's nice and cosy near the oven, and just spending time there reminds me that our food today will be warming and nourishing. Gratitude seems like such an incompetent and weak word when I think of all the people who have neither warmth nor nourishment.

My first recipe is for a variation of the humble cottage pie. This one is curried beef mince with a sweet potato topping and it's delicious any time of the year, but particularly satisfying when it's cold outside. All that spice warms a body deep down to the bones.

I'm sure most of you know how to make a curried mince filling but I'll go over it again for the new cooks.

MEAT BASE - serves four hearty meals

About 500 grams/one pound of beef mince
One large onion, chopped
One large carrot, diced
Three sticks celery, sliced
¼ medium cabbage, finely sliced
One clove garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper to taste
½ litre/1 pint water
Two tablespoons curry powder or paste
Two tablespoons corn flour with enough water to mix into a paste

MASH TOP

Two large sweet potatoes, chopped
Two medium potatoes, chopped

Brown the meat in a frying pan and remove from the pan. Cook the onion, carrot, celery and cabbage in the same pan until they start to turn golden brown. Place the meat back in the pan with the vegetables, add the salt, pepper, garlic and curry powder and stir it to prevent burning. Allow the spice to become aromatic and add half a litre/one pint of water, bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to simmer. When the vegetables are cooked thoroughtly, add the cornflour paste and mix until the thick gravy forms. You can use any vegetables you want to use but these work well in this combination.

To make the top, peel and chop the sweet potatoes and potatoes into similar size pieces. Boil in salted water until soft, about 20 minutes, then pour off the water and mash the potatoes. Add salt and pepper with a little butter or cream until the potato is smooth. You can add herbs to the mash if you like.

Pour the filling into a baking tray and top with the mashed potato. Place in a 190C/375F oven until the mash is golden - about 30 minutes. Serve with brussel sprouts, silverbeet/chard or spinach. If you use all the vegetables listed above you'll be eating six different vegetables. It's a healthy, filling and frugal meal.

The next recipe is for a new (to me) cake I've just started baking in the last week or so. It's similar to impossible pie, in cake form. For our new cooks, impossible pie is a pie made with a variety of ingredients which separate into layers while they cook. Often you have them come out of the oven with a sort of crust, a filling and a top, even though it went in as one single batter.

This is the cake they call magic cake, I got the recipe from here and it was absolutely delicious. You'll love it if you like custard desserts. The cake makes up as a very thin batter and comes out of the oven as a base, a custard layer and a cake top. The next time I make it, I'll make a coffee version.

What were you cooking on the weekend?

There is a thread on the forum about cottage pies now. If you have time, go and share your recipe.

I think most of us want to feel that we’re spending our time wisely, that we’re productive, contribute our fair share and get the job done efficiently. I felt like that when I worked for a living; I feel the same now working at home. There is no doubt that if you work as a doctor, nurse, teacher, fire fighter, police officer, retail assistant, factory worker, lawyer, scientist or truck driver, you’ll be part of the national work force and be rightly proud of the part you play in the nation’s progress and success. You'll be respected for the role you play in your community and as a bread winner for your family. Homemakers care for children, manage the household budget, have control of the family’s spending, balance budgets, clean, cook and bake for their families, drive children to school and after school activities. They stay up at night with sick children and partners, shop for healthy food while spending the least amount of money, mend, recycle, sew, and they often make many of the cleansers they use. Homemakers send students and workers off every day well fed, clean and ready to work after a sound night’s sleep. Homemakers play a large part in the nation’s progress and success too, but they are rarely acknowledged, let alone respected for it.

Homemaking has been looked down upon for decades. That is not going to change overnight. But I think that homemaking has undergone a radial change and not many people know it. Homemaking now has more in common with the 1900 - 1950s style of homemaking, instead of the 1960 - 1990s style. Many of us are now actively engaged in traditional crafts and activities while using using modern technology and appliances in this radical and proactive enterprise. There is a huge group of homemakers who work in the commercial world in addition to their work at home, there are many homemakers who work at home, earning extra money to boost family finances, there are the homeschooling homemakers and homemakers who volunteer in their communities. It's changing.

We need to work together to help change outdated attitudes about homemaking, so that not only do we continue our work at home with the support of family and friends, but we also open up the option of a homemaking career for younger people, both women and men, who, right now, might not even know it's an intelligent and important option. You can help spread the word by telling your friends and neighbours about your favourite activities, maybe bread and soap making. Show them your knitting and sewing. Demonstrate your life in gentle ways. Be your own best advertisement. If we can develop our own strategy to talk about our work in a way that highlights the significance of it, if we show, by example, that homemaking makes us content, if we reskill ourselves for a productive future, if we guide our families with grace and confidence and if we share our experiences in a thoughtful way then we'll gain some of the support we all hope for and validate our choice to be what we are.

I know that my life is better now that I take care of my home and family as my main concern. It wasn't always the case. I never really knew the significance of caring for a home until I gave up work and came home. I realise now that the day-to-day tasks of homemaking - the bed making, sweeping, cleaning, laundry, cooking and the physical work of a home, as well as all the sitting on the front verandah relaxing and thinking, created the person I have become. But there are many women who balance work, volunteering, home businesses, homeschooling and homemaking. We all work in different ways but we are doing the same work, we're caring for family and home - our nations' true assets.

Homemakers make most of the buying decisions in the home and that gives you and me the power of the dollar/pound. Use it. If you don't like the service you receive, if the goods you buy are faulty or inferior, complain. When we're assertive, shopkeepers listen. They're not stocking an ingredient you need? Ask for it. Shopping is best done with a happy mindset, it's not an exercise of walking behind a trolley picking up products and dropping them in. It's much more involved and active than that. Read labels, know what you're buying, ask, know your products and where to get the best deals. We want good quality and the best value for our money, the shopkeepers want you to take what is in the shop at the advertised price. Shopping is our battlefield. Doing it well gives you the power of the money you spend. We all have to take advantage of that.

Modern homemaking is an independent creative activity, it can be whatever you want it to be and it will give you many wonderful reasons to get up every morning. If you really do become what you do, then I have become a modern homemaker who wants to show women and men a way of life that will slow them down and bring enrichment and meaning into their lives. My home has become a centre point for me, where I am made content and self-reliant by the work I do. Right here is where I find a steadfast inspiration every day to carry on. I didn’t know a life lived like this was possible until I stumbled into it. My home is where I reclaimed my independence and discovered how to live well and to my true potential. It may not be everyone's choice to work at home doing household chores but I have been enriched by it and I doubt I would be as happy as I am without meaningful work to do every day. I don't want to live a life where I don't have to do any work, and I don't want to be dragged down by it either. I have found a good balance that requires of me that I plan, work and put in the time and in return I get this feeling of sublime contentment. And I am thankful that homemaking slowed me down enough to discover that, to enjoy the natural world surrounding me and to enrich my spirit.

The forecast is for a cold weekend, the bright glare of sunlight has evaporated, leaves are turning yellow and soon the wisteria vine will be bare. The months from now till October are my favourites. I feel more energised, a fertile garden out the back is primed to produce abundant crops of fresh organic fruit and vegetables. Add eggs from the chickens to that abundance, and we have the warm promise of a self-sustaining home. In the cooler months, the sky is bluer, the grass is greener, the air is cleaner and all things seem possible to me.

Cucumber salad.

Christmas fruit cakes.

One of the noticeable differences that cooler weather brings is the way we cook. I think being a good home cook is an important simple life skill. If you move away from expensive cuts of meat and seafood you need to be able to turn plain and simple ingredients into memorable meals using your expertise and experience. In our home we don't have many winter salads, we focus our sights firmly on hearty soups, stews and if we have meat and vegetables, we usually have a rich hot gravy with it. When I cook food here, I hope that it will be within budget, wholesome and delicious but one thing it is always - it's always cooked entirely from scratch and often from local, if not backyard, produce.

Brown rice and vegetable salad.

Chicken tenderloins with homemade herby crumbs.

I have a lot of cookery books but I use them to give me ideas rather than instructions. I very rarely use recipes but I like looking at what and how other people cook. If I like what I see, I try to do my version of it. I think the internet is a great way to help develop cooking skills. If you find someone who cooks your kind of food, and they do it from scratch with no cans of soup or packets of seasoning, keep going back to see what they cook and try cooking something similar. These culinary guides are valuable when you first start cooking, or cooking in a different way, and can lead you to success with your meals.

Pork meat balls made using homemade bread crumbs, parsley, onion, egg, salt and pepper.

You need to think about your ingredients too and even a dish you've cooked often can be changed over the years. Lately I've found the pork chops we buy have been dry so instead of having a pork chop each, I recently made pork meatballs and vegetables. It was delicious and thrifty and I'll use the same recipe to make a pork meatball pasta sauce as well. It was a timely reminder for me to not get stuck in my ways - to experiment, change ingredients and cooking methods and learn from the results of that.

I guess most of us are influenced in our cooking by our parents and what we ate when we were growing up. I still use some of my parents' and grandmother's recipes, but Shane, Kerry and Sunny are all chefs, so I ask them for recipes and advice too. Add to that all my cookery books, the thousands of cooking blogs and I know I'll never run out of inspiration or guidance. And that's good, because cooking good food is important. What style of cook are you? How did you develop your cooking skills?

ADDITION: There is a great follow-up conversation about this happening over at the forum. Click here to go there.