Theres a lot of free sites on facebook. People give away all sorts of things.
Charity agencies will also help you out.

Try online groups too for free swaps and bargains.

I’m not sure how old your kids are, but have you considered using a toy library to borrow, rather than buy toys? Something else I do to help is shop at Coles (for products comparable in price to Aldi) and collect Flybuys points. I then use the points accumulated throughout the year to buy Christmas gifts. RACQ membership offers a number of discounts on petrol, dining out and other family entertainment.

sounds like you are doing all the right things. Don’t know how old your children are/what stage of life you are at, but when the kids are young I think for most people its a hard slog & having to do the ‘hard yards’ for quite a few years is necessary to eventually get ahead. If you are consistent with being frugal then in years to come (& I stress years) you will most likely reap the benefits of your hard work.

Have you reviewed all of your utility bills and ensuring you are getting the best offers? I updated my electricity supplier and am now saving about $100 on my power bill (monthly)

Sounds like you’re doing a pretty good job at stretching! Sounds like that you just need more income if that is a possibility?

Do a weekly meal plan so your not splurging on take out or buying extra ingredients food you don’t need, shop and eat from your exisiting pantry/freezer and use up those things first, base your meals around what’s on special and in season that week. Sell off items in the home you don’t need for extra cash.

Budget Budget Budget… Ensure money for bills (Rego, insurance, utilities, etc) is put away in a separate account weekly or fortnightly depending how you are paid. With what is left, this is where you need to make sacrifices. Is Foxtel really needed? Do you need to have a mobile phone with $50 credit each month? Can you reduce it to $30 or $40 per month. Look at what is a necessity – food, shelter, clothing. Can you walk more and drive less? Can you reduce your power bill by not using a dryer or changing all bulbs to LED with lower wattage or only using the washing machine when you have a full load?

Have you tried waiting for the half price meat at woolies and coles? they mark it down at the end of the day if it hasn’t sold and you can pick up loads for super cheap. I then freeze it all and meal plan around it for the next week.

There is a show that was shown on A Current Affair called the Australia’s tightest Family and the woman even makes her own laundry detergent . She dilutes shampoo/conditioners , recycles water , so much more that you will pickup from this show . A really dedicated family who saves $$$ especially when the husband works once a week and she is a casual cleaner I think. Really worth watching .

I wish i was doing what your doing. I feel that you have pretty much covered it. Got some ideas from you but doubt my dog and cat would enjoy a new chook friend either would by husband.

Am definitely going to have a go at some of these. Another thing to do is make sure everything is payed on time so there’s no late fees and I find I usually buy a few things I don’t really need up to $5 when I stopped that I saved a fair bit.

You are saving money in every way possible but have you thought about signing up to do market research to earn a little extra.

It may not be a huge tip but the way I make many meals go further when I use the slow cooker is to add barley or lentils which I find creates and extra meal. It’s also filling and good for you too. I suppose it’s the little things that add up. I also shop at the local fruit and veg rather than a supermarket I find the quality better and it cheaper.

Put money aside in a different account,no matter how much and it will build for when you need it.

Join the simple savers page on Facebook

What taynik46 was talking about is the mooncup.
I agree about shopping around with utility companies. We phoned our gas provider saying that we were thinking about moving to another provider that offered 25% discount on our gas bills. We were offered the same discount with them, so no need to change and everybody is happy.

Wow.. sounds like you are doing a wonderful job already. The only thing you haven’t mentioned is energy, gas, insurance etc. I would recommend that you shop around and ensure that you are getting the best deal.

Well done – great budgeting skills! We have also joined local groups for swapping and giveaway items. We have given away items, received items and swapped items all for free. it is also a good way to get to know people in your community. We have received jars for jams and preserving foods, wool for knitting blankets for charity and other items for the home and garden. We have also given away a number of items to people too.

I have just read the Barefoot Investor – I highly recommend checking it out from your local library – it is a really easy plan to follow (once you set it all up) so that you never have to worry about making sure you have enough money for groceries etc. – Many people swear by his methods and have turned their financial worries around.

Apart from what you are already doing which is amazing by the way – that is a really solid effort , are things like:

checking out if you can achieve any savings with electricity/gas providers – shop around and try to find a better deal than what your on now then ask your current provider to match it (if they don’t then switch)

same with phone/mobile/internet – if you have telstra for things like internet and foxtel you should get rid of them and use a different provider – we only have telstra for our mobiles – our internet is through someone else and instead of paying $90-100 per month for foxtel we use netflix and pay $14 a month

other simple things are making sure your hot water system isn’t leaking and see if you can adjust the temp a little bit (I’m not sure what the recommended temp is for hot water but I am sure you can find that out somewhere)

Can you downsize your car for a more fuel efficient one to save $

If your paying off a mortgage can you shop around to get yourself a better rate?, then ask your bank to match it or move – this one takes a fair bit of research but you could save some good $$ amounts

To save money for the end of the year you could try the 52 week money challenge – google it, there is also the $5 challenge where you collect any $5 notes you receive and pop them away in a container for the entire year and then add it up at the end of the year to see how much you saved. Same can be done with $2 and or $1 coins.

Instead of cloth sanitary pads could you try the cup one? Cannot think of the name of it but I know some people who say it is very very good.

Could you try flippin things – like go to a garage sale and buy some really good items and then flip them on gumtree or ebay for more than what you paid for them? This is another way people generate more income.

If you have the time you could also try increasing your $ by doing survey’s online in your spare time – you can bank what you earn or get gift cards to use.

Good luck – I think from the sounds of it you are doing an amazing job and teaching your children these life skills at the same time – you should be really proud of what your doing