Guest Post | My Nan's Tips For The Homemaker

Today's post is coming from my Nan, Mum's Mum.  Nan lives in Melbourne, we live in Brisbane, so we don't get to see each other very often.  One thing I love to do when visiting my Nan is just watch her.  I love her nature, I love that she is so kind and caring, I love that she is thoughtful to others and nature, I love who she is.  These tips are some that have stuck in my mind.  They are things that my Nan has done or told me.  Things I feel I need to adopt in my own life, and things I need to remember:

1.  Always tie empty plastic bags in a knot.
Nan does this to eliminate the bag as a suffocation risk to children, even though there are no children in her home.  She is well aware that rubbish can end up anywhere - is this not the most thoughtful thing?  Protecting others just in case.

2.  Reuse the water from your steamed and/or boiled vegetables.
Genius!  I'm not sure why I had never thought of this before.  They always say when boiling things that the nutrients end up in the water you throw out.  Nan uses this water mostly in sauces like gravy.  When making up a batch of baby food, use this water to thin out your puree instead of plain pre-boiled water.

3.  A bread bag is a free rubbish bag.
My Nan's kitchen has always fascinated me.  Mostly it's those high cupboards that go to the ceiling filled with all kinds of goodies!  But on her kitchen counter are two little containers.  One is for compost, the other is an open ended bread container that she lines with an empty bread bag and fills with little scraps throughout the day.  This way you can empty your larger rubbish bin less often and more regularly empty this bin that gets messier quicker.

4.  Next time you turn on the hot tap think about what water goes down the sink before you get your desired temperature.
Try washing out an old milk container and fill it up with the cold water that you would normally waste.  You can use this to fill up the kettle, saving every drop.

5.  If it's more than $1 off, buy 2.
This has long been my Nan's most famous quote.  If you say this line in the company of any member of my family they can not only finish it for you but tell you who said it.

When I read this list out to Nan over the phone she laughed at this one.  Nan said that these days they tend to make you buy more just to get the saving in the first place.  Then she told me how just the other day she had to buy 10 cans of cat food to get the saving of 69c off per can.  Nan doesn't own a cat, but she does feed and love the neighbour's cat as if it was her own.  That is just my Nan to a tee!