Our ways of being frugal. Or making sure we have something to live on in the off season.

What we earn here in the peak tourist season in the north of Australia has to fund the travel and family visits later in  the off peak times. So we need to be frugal or at least as self sufficient as  we can manage. Otherwise the need to earn money will  overpower our desire to live simply and be mobile.

I read with interest, and a measure of envy,  the wonderful things people do in their frugal lives. They cook everything, grow everything, make everything and reuse things as well. 

I would like to grow everything ... and the wallabies and local birds would like it if I did too. The quarantine guys at state borders would get a kick out of confiscating my pots of herbs twice a year as well. So dried herbs and shop bought vegies for us I'm afraid.


Wallaby lazing in our annex munching
on a sweet potato

 



This very sick wallaby joey crawled out from under the caravan step
She was not able  to hold food in her paws.
K is helping her eat a pear core.
She survived and comes back to visit most nights
even though we don't feed her.

I would love to make all my own soaps and cleaning products, but in my tiny caravan there is nowhere to store either the ingredients or the end products. So I clean windows  and other surfaces with vinegar, spray stains on clothes with dish washing liquid and treat the portal-loo  toilet waste with biodegradable  no brand nappy sanitiser. The last item is $3.50 for four weeks treatment as opposed to $30 for the same   amount of fancy and nasty chemical stuff. No money going down the loo for us.

Do not waste money on expensive toilet chemicals. 

I try to remember that a special bought in in Woolworths 109 km away is not cheaper than the same product from the local mini mart..........unless I have to make the trip for work and then someone else pays for the diesel. This is a hard one, sometimes the urge to see the "big smoke" is irresistible. 

We cook just what we need.  In another  life the left overs made lunch for the working men who took them to work. But no one wants a hot lunch in over 35 degree heat so its best to cook smaller amounts. And we take advantage of the staff meals provided at here for K. When the meal is something we like we get it. And the serve is a proper outback size. Plenty for two or even three maybe.

Staff dinner of roast pork and veg.
Big enough for two. We often share a pub size meal.

We buy small quantities, just what we need. This is a hard lesson to learn. Its not frugal  to buy in bulk and give it away before it goes off. Generous yes, friendly yes, but not great  for the wallet.

We make own power when we can from the sun the wind. We use the twin tub and reuse and save water when we camp.  And of course K fixes and reuses things as well.

Frugal or simple, but fun.

Cheers Sue
A Ferg on the Move

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