Hello Dear Reader,
Another wonderful week in sunny Cornwall. Today, we tootled about, washed and hoovered the car and had a bumble around the local charity shops. Not a great haul today but a great deal at the Sally Army shop where I bought two bright summer t-shirts for £1.50. DB got himself a bio but best of all, I bought an empty sewing case to put together a sewing kit for my daughter. All in all, a fiver for the lot.
My slimming world meals are going well, it's quite an odd concept that there are foods that I can eat as much as I like of. I mixed tikka curry powder with cheapie fat free natural yoghurt and coated chopped chicken and baked it for twenty minutes. A 49p bag of Aldi salad and half a tin of 33p Aldi sweetcorn. The salad dressing is yoghurt, mint and a drop of water to thin it down. All really cheap!
My big treat this weekend has been a cooked breakfast, all week it's just porridge. It's like staying in our very own hotel. Nothing flash at all has happened this week but it will all be worth it.
On Thursday, I watched the Pont Aven sail into Milbay and remembered that with a bit of scrimping here and saving a few quid there means we'll be off to Brittany in the summer holiday.
Over to you Dear Reader, share your thrifty week. Here's mine - dried all the washing outside, started on a leftover red, white and blue quilt for a baby boy who's due in September (all the bits from other quilts being made up into a baby quilt) and kept to our budget all week. So, what about you?
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxx
The weather was quite cold again this week, so I save a lot of money by going nowhere at all, except to my yoga class. The weekly trip to top up the fresh produce and milk was my only other foray out of the house. It may be boring, but there isn't a lot to do when the temperatures are in the 30'sF with a very stiff breeze. Lucky I hadn't washed my parka and put it away yet---I had put away my gloves and it was actually cold enough to have used them, although I didn't. I spent some time switching winter clothes out of the closet in the bedroom and putting the short sleeved things in. The very next day I was back in the other closet searching for something warmer to put on! The winter that never ended.
ReplyDeleteOur thrifty life was going so well staying within budget and not going too far from home. Then it all fell apart - a visit to the dentists (just over £50 in 45 mins) and then a hole in the wheelbarrow tyre needs repairs (we are trying to ignore the slow puncture in the car tyre). Good job the veg garden will soon be giving us some extras to eat to make up the dent in the spare cash balance we are trying to build up.
ReplyDeleteWell, we stayed within our meagre budget all week, too. I managed to pick up two small vests and 2 knickers for our little Alyssa (all for £1.00) from the nearest charity shop, so added those to her little wardrobe. I managed to do some much needed gardening, some seed sowing and hedge cutting, re-sowing and harvesting of loads of chives. Snipped into small bits they are now drying out and shall be stored away for next winter. I kept myself busy and have enjoyed every minute of it. Looks like I might have some growing success with cucumbers, courgettes, marrows, tomatoes and lettuce this season. Every little bit shall help to sustain us and might well help me to lower our shopping bill a little this summer.
ReplyDeleteOur dining table was scrached to blazes so Dad sanded and waxed polished it it looks fab. I donated some wool and scrap fabric to a local infant scholl sorted out the sofa and a sidebord I no longer wanted and it will be colected on monday. Wound some wool so it makes for better storage. I can fit more into a smaller space so another storage box is obsolete. Repurposed a set of drawers from the spare room for holding the napkins culterly and any other dining room bits so saved about £80 quid there. Belive it or not for anything decent that did not need painting(not big on painted funiture) that was an adverage. Finaly found a sofa I like and that is to be delivered on monday so house will be looking a lot smarter. Kitchen is nearly painted and the patio doors wood frame re sealed. Just need to decide on lighting but I think fro the mo we will take a couple of shades that mach and tie in with the kitchen form another part of the house. Prepped a roast for tomorow and It will be fridge picnic eats on monday. will make a pie oout of the leftover lamb.so been a right poper day of getting S**t sorted. living room next whoooo hooo.
ReplyDeleteAll washing dried outdoors here too. This weeks best frugal job - decorating 2 bedrooms and our hall, landing & stairs for only £5.40. All the paint, filler etc was from 'stock' we just had to buy 2 rollers!
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty much a normal frugal week. The temperatures dropped and I pulled the extra quilts back out. Friends treated me to a celebratory lunch and all others were packed from home, Breakfasts were my normal oatmeal with dried fruit and tea. Since the mornings were colder I added a cup of coffee as did daughter so none was left to freeze for summer drinks. All dinners were eaten from home but 1 when hubby and I went out for $7.99 fajita night and brought enough home for another meal each later in the week. The only groceries bought were some bananas, fresh spinach, 1/2 pound sliced ham and gallon of skim milk. Hubby is rebuilding an old truck and had to spend a little (not sure of the total but under $25) for parts. It's his hobby and slowly it gets worked on. Nights were home and church small group. I read 2 books I traded for and got on the Internet and wrote a letter to Dad and hubby watched some TV. The laundry was both hung and put in the dryer since it's rained most days and we did not build a fire. I received a gift card to a coffee house and will gift it to someone who has been volunteering at work and helping me a lot.
ReplyDeleteI saved $100 by stitching up the spaghetti straps and hemming my daughter's formal dress myself (I was quoted $100-$120 by two businesses). I also saved $340 by buying sheer curtain fabric and making sheer curtains for my bedroom. I was quoted $440 for them to be made (and that was with a 30% discount - and, yes, sheer curtains - not the drapes to close over them!). So, very happy with that.
ReplyDeleteI'm on a low carb diet so I have planned meals and stuck to them. I have planned meals for next week also. I went to a local shopping centre yesterday with my little ones as they needed new clothes/trainers etc. wrote a list before I went and managed to stick to my budget.
ReplyDeleteYep, all washing done on Eco wash and dried outside. Lots if planting, re-potting and sowing of seeds done, so we'll be eating homegrown very soon.
ReplyDeleteAnd I guess lots of other frugal things, but it's become such a way of life I don't even notice!!
Your charity shop prices are very good. Here in Norfolk you would pay a lot more. Most of the charity shops here sell Primark and supermarket t shirts for a price just less than they cost originally!
ReplyDeleteA bit off topic but the poached eggs in your cooked breakfast look very professional!mine never turn out that good.any tips?
ReplyDeleteThis week I've dried all the washing outside, listed some unwanted clothing on eBay from my other half, listed some of my handmade jewellery on Depop, hand stitched my first ever rolled hem on chiffon that I picked up for £3.50 - if I can nail the hem then I'll be making my own lovely scarves instead of buying them, and I'll be hoping to sell some too. I found a stunning floral Dorma curtain in Dunelm Mill, the pair was originally £80 and they had a single curtain reduced to £4!! Enough fabric to make a dress - which I've managed to cut too small for me, so I'll either make for someone else, lose a bit of weight or make a skirt instead!!! :)
ReplyDeleteDid full loads of washing using Aldi washing detergent and softener - such quality as great prices!
ReplyDeleteWe are continuing to eat down homemade food from the freezer so shopping bill is very low again this week.
Another thing I do is meal plan and shop for only what we needs for the plan. I look up what is in Aldi Super 6 that week and adapt our meals - so this week for example, was butternut squash and sweet potatoes so I made a butternut squash and chilli soup for a few lunches and one night we will have sweet potato wedges with one of our meals. I find this works well and means we eat more varied diet and at only 49p per item!
Another thing Ive done this week is to ditch the car for school runs and walk to school with our new special needs pushchair :)
Good article perfectly in tune with my week! Other than on food I haven't been out to spend any money as we are back at work. I have given myself a budget of £10 a week for things like tea at work and I am currently under budget. Lots of clothes drying outside. I have done lots of gardening instead of meeting up with friends and marking so nooooo money spent. V proud of myself.
ReplyDeleteI re-vamped some old wooden garden furniture, lots of sanding and painting. Hubs made a garden table from an old table base and some pallet wood. Then I raided my fabric stash and made loads of bunting to tie all the colours together. It looks amazing and cost less than a badly made new table from a DIY shed. Result!
ReplyDeleteHello :)
ReplyDeleteYou had a successful charity hunt!-love it when i get lucky and find something i was wanting.
We have had a frugal week-like most of the UK we have dried all the washing outside in the glorious sunshine-you really can't beat that smell of outside dried bedsheets can you?
We did a favour for the local fruit and veg man giving his daughter a lift to the station when he was tied up on the stall-he was so grateful and gave us two stuffed full carrier bags of fruit and veg-so our shopping bill this week is tiny-hooray!
Have a good week,
Nessa xxx
Saturday, I was feeling restless and had a strong urge to go out and shop. Instead, I went to the public library and brought home three books that have project ideas for my stash of leftover yarn and fabric scraps!
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