Thrifty, Frugal, Fun.: My Frugal Tasks- 3/1/16

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I've had a week off from blogging and have enjoying relaxing at home poolside with my family.
So here's the last fortnights frugal tasks.

-Received a hamper of chips, lollies and biscuits from a lovely friend. Perfect for the school holidays.

-Made the kids a Christmas Eve box with chips and treats bought on sale, and some items I already had.

-Cooked a yummy Christmas lunch with the ham and other items bought for free using my accumulated Fly Buys points. I also used bon bons with our lunch which were bought last year for $1.

-Had lots of extra fruit so I made a fruit salad to give to a friend.

-Switched telephone/internet providers from iinet to Telstra. I will be paying the same amount of $110 a month but there are a few extras like free mobile calls and Telstra TV.

-Saved the Christmas cards I received and cut them into gift tags to use for next Christmas.

-Saved some gift bags and pretty ribbon from gifts. I've put them in my Christmas box.

-Have stayed home and swam in our pool for entertainment. Because our swimming pool was only resurfaced this year (after 2 years of non use), we forgot how expensive it actually it to maintain a pool! I am making note of what we spend, and plan on putting money aside during the year in our home repair fund to use on the pool for next summer. I have also started putting the $30 we budget for entertainment into the bill fund, which will hopefully counteract some of the power bill which will increase from running the pool pump. Currently the pump is costing $1.60 per day but this will add up to around $150 over the 3 month bill period.

-Made a big batch of mango coulis for the freezer with some bulk mangoes.

-Turned some soft cherries into a yummy cherry compote to use on breakfast waffles or pancakes.

-Ate lots of leftovers from Christmas. Which saved me from doing any cooking!

- Only ran the air conditioner on really hot days. If we are hot, we use a fan or a swim go for a swim in the pool.

-Bought some half price material to make myself a skirt, and also some felt by the meter which is much cheaper than buying felt squares. I plan on making some homemade gifts during the school holidays, ready for the year ahead.

-Bought some colouring books and bath/hand cream sets which were marked down to half price after Christmas. Some of these will be used for gifts during the year.

-Hubby and I enjoyed a New Years Eve tipple from drinks that were gifted to us at Christmas.

-On NYE we used sparklers that I bought on clearance last year for 20c a packet and also enjoyed a box of chocolates left over from Christmas.