On the whole, car accidents and vet bills aside, it hasn't been a bad month. I found a petfood recipe that will suit both dogs and cats from Judy Wattie in the Savings Vault, so I'm going to get what I need tomorrow. One batch should make enough for a week - even if it only works out to half that for my lot, it should still cut my dog and cat food costs by more than 50%. I don't think I'll have a problem getting the cats to eat it - after all, they managed to polish off the entire packet of sirloin steak I had left out to defrost for dinner this afternoon. I've tried Dr Ian Billingshurst's BARF Diet (Bones And Raw Food) and my dogs have never looked better, but to be honest, we couldn't keep it up, it was costing a fortune!
I have the pleasure of counting a real life Happy Hanna among my closest friends. She is an inspiration and I'm sure she will crop up in future ramblings. Apart from her many other virtues, she is a fantastic mother to four lovely children, aged between four and nine years old. She told me she is having an operation next week, which will leave her 'out of action' for up to six weeks. When she voiced her concerns about getting her children to pull their weight and help out around the house, I knew just how I could help her. I printed out four copies of the children's PAYDAY scheme from the Vault, laminated them to make them re-useable and presented them to her. I have tried both this scheme and Jannelle Downs' reward scheme from the Vault and let me tell you, THEY WORK. I have very little housework to do throughout the week as a result, and the kids love watching their money grow. Last week, at eight years old, Liam reached his first $100 and Ali at six made $71 - they were so proud! I told Liam months ago that if he managed to raise $100, I would match him the same amount, enabling him to buy the new bike he has wanted for almost a year. Without these kind of schemes, I know he would not have managed it - I recommend them to anyone!
High savings point of the week? I managed to make an even bigger saving on my usual $0.95c per loaf of bread when I passed by local Export Meat Warehouse butcher and spotted that they were selling loaves for $0.89c! Low savings point? Very embarrassed about this one - I spent $19.95 on a particular brand of undies that Noel didn't need, just so I could go in the draw to win tickets for the All Blacks vs British Lions. Sigh, if only I wasn't such a rugby fan - how could I fall for such a blatant marketing ploy?
