Hobart Cup Holiday

Finally, I am back and can post again. I am not sure what has happened but everything appears to be working again. As I have been unable to spread the gospel according to St Frugal, I have had to resort to leaving post it notes around the house to give the wife some money saving tips. For some unknown reason, this has not been appreciated.

But back to a great money saving tip. For those from outside Hobart, last Thursday was a public holiday for the Hobart Show. Friday is a normal working day but most public servants take off the Friday as well. Not me! Friday is a great day to turn up to work and catch up on all my personal correspondence - sending emails to relatives asking for money, etc.

It is also a great opportunity to see what items are available in the office. On Friday afternoon I managed to leave with 15 Mars Bars, $3 in change and six packs of photocopy paper. A very productive day!

Bruce and Sheila

Congratulations to my acquaintances Bruce and Sheila.

I don't agree with Bruce lashing out and spending money on this ad in The Mercury, but I do endorse his sentiment.

Public perception

After a week relaxing on holidays it is good to be back at work.

I know I have been missed.

In yesterday's Mercury they asked people if they thought that Housing Tasmania was well run. Everyone said no and bagged us most unfairly.

What these people didn't know was that I had been away. Everything will be back to normal now.

Holidays - day 5

The nerve of some people!

Just what to these cafe and restaurant owners think they are up to?

What is the point of having tables at a restaurant if you don't want people to come and sit at them? That is the question that Graham Phillips from the Sunday Tasmanian should be asking.

I think that as long as you buy something you are paying rent on the table. That's why I brought a bottle of lemonade for everyone the other day.

My acquaintance, Sparky, has other ideas and will ask for a glass of tap water and then sit down at a cafe table and then pull out a bread roll and half a chicken that he has been hiding in his pockets.

To me, that is just being tight, not frugal.

But back to the last day of our holiday. Due to budget constraints, the kids have been restricted to doing nothing but playing in the park for the entire day. You just can't beat free entertainment. Unless there was an opportunity to send them to work somewhere. By the end of the day the wife, mother and mother-in-law should have cleaned their 100th cabin and this will get me a further 15% discount on our accommodation costs.

Who says you can't have a frugal holiday and enjoy yourself at the same time?

Holidays - day 4

Our holidays are fast coming to an end. So far I have spent $111.35 so I am on track to stay inside our total budget of $125.

We did get a bit carried away yesterday and allowed the three kids to share a Kit Kat bar between them. It was a two finger Kit Kat bar so it did cause a bit of a fight. I ended up spending an extra $1.50 on bandaids.

On a more positive note I took the metal detector over to the sewerage works and managed to find a 50c coin. Also I picked up $1 off the ground outside a couple's tent. I am sure it wasn't their own.

Holidays - day 3

More money spent today.

I guess when you are on holiday you sometimes let your hair down, go wild and just spend, spend, spend.

This time it was the Cosy Cabins lookout tower. It is four storeys high and gives you a great view across the Derwent. Unfortunately it does cost 80c a person so only me and the missus went and the kids, mother and mother-in-law had to wait at the bottom.

Good views. Possibly worth the $1.60. I may regret this wild behaviour.

Holidays - day 2

Day 2 yesterday was fun but we ended up spending money.

After entertaining the kids for several hours in the playground - one swing and one slide - we headed off to the cafe nearby. To save money we took a packed lunch, but bought a large bottle of lemonade to share with the kids for $4.70.

It was back to economising for the remainder of the day, several hours at the playground followed by a quick trespass over the fence to Moorilla Vineyard. Lots of grapes but I couldn't see any bottles of Matthew Lang.

Holidays - day 1

So far, so good with the holiday - no money has yet been spent.

The cabin is cosy but all seven of us have squeezed in. Most of the first day was spent cleaning the cabin next door so we could get an extra 5% discount. About 30 hours work all up so the $15 off the bill will be greatly appreciated.

We are a bit close to the sewerage works. My mate Radar said that this was also part of the deal so we will just have to make the most of it.

The first activity this afternoon will be to get the metal detector out and go for a walk around the park and see what can be found and removed. What a great start to a holiday.

Holidays

The family and I are off for a holiday next week. One of my generous sponsors, Radar Promotions, has offered us a 5% discount on a very cosy cabin at the Berriedale Caravan Park.

With the high price of petrol (still over 60c a litre) I didn't want to travel too far and this was about the limit.

We have a two bedroom cabin so there should be plenty of room for the three kids, missus, mother and mother-in-law.

I hear they offer a further 5% discount if you clean the other cabins so I will have to investigate that when we get there on Sunday.

Australia Post

Well, dear readers, today I have a very interesting dilemma to discuss with you.

Australia Post have delivered a card to the missus. The "problem" is that it was an oversize card that Australia Post has attached an insufficient postage sticker. The sticker says that we need to go and pay $1.55 at the nearest post office.

The missus thought this was okay and handed me $2 out of her own purse for me to go to the post office at lunch time.

So what do I do? Do I pay the money and keep the 45c change? Do I pay the money and hand back the 45c change?

Do I just keep the $2 and say that I paid it? Do I just give the missus 45c.

So, it is more than a dilemma - is there such as thing as a quadlemma?

A frugal recipe

Okay readers, time for some Whitey money saving tips on how to feed a family of five using as little cash as possible.

This week - Yellow Split Pea Soup (and yes, this is a real recipe, thanks to fellow frugalist Nick).

Ingredients:
2 cups of dried yellow split peas, washed and soaked in water overnight
5 or 6 cups of water
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped small
1 small turnip cut into small cubes
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the split peas in a large saucepan and cover well with water. Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about an hour or until the peas are soft and starting to go a bit mushy. Add the onion, carrots and turnip and cook for a further 20 minutes until everything is tender. Season and enjoy with wholemeal bread...or homemade herb and garlic bread.

To stretch it even further, add more water.

Teeth

Talk about teeth has me worried.

What is a tooth worth? Not mine, but my kids'?

As a big fan of the tooth fairy I need to know how much money to leave. With the demise of copper coins I assume that five cents is the minimum but I would hate to hand over too much.

So - 5c, 10c or 20c? I am feeling ill just thinking about it.

Bathurst

I was very disappointed with the race at Bathurst yesterday. I think that someone may have lead me astray.

I was told that Human Nature would be performing at the half time break in the race.

I sat there for six hours humming away all my favourite Human Nature songs waiting for the break. Then the trophies were handed out and the news came on.

When is the half time break?

Tulip festival

This weekend is always a big one - the Tulip Festival at the Royal Hobart Botanical Gardens.

Last year the entry fee was a gold coin donation. I managed to get in at the bottom gate early and didn't have to pay.

This year the entry is $10!!! What a shock! A disgrace! The rumour is they have hired security guards to stop people using the get in early strategy.

What the Gardens have forgotten is that I will be leaving work early today at 3:30pm and going then. As there will be no security guards around it is also a lot easier to take a few samples. Ans I will be saving $10 so a good end to the week.

More Bazza

Not many entries received yet.

Any Barry Hall look-a-likes out there?

Barry Hall

Back to the AFL grand final from Saturday.

Weren't Brian Mannix and John Paul Young wonderful. They have lost none of their style and talent.

But on to more football related matters. The theme for this week is a Barry Hall look-a-like competition. Is there anyone you know who bears an uncanny resemblance to this handsome devil? Please post any entries, preferably with photos for proof.