Not much else to do but be frugal! #fivefrugalthings

I was wondering what on earth I was going to put in this week’s round up that was going to be remotely interesting! However, as I have been enjoying the ordinary things that other people have been up to in these extraordinary times, I thought I would go ahead and tell you about my week. There has been little to do except be frugal!

I haven’t spent any money at all as we had plenty of fresh food as well as canned and frozen. The fewer trips out I have to make for food the less chance I will have of picking up the dreaded virus.

Daily exercise

I have started each day as I always do, with a yoga session. As a trained yoga instructor, I do practice regularly, but have been fanatical about a daily practice since I had discs problems and a trapped nerve a year or so ago.

It was probably the most painful experience of my life and one I don’t want to repeat. Too much sitting down at the office was the cause, I believe. It’s really important to exercise regularly, particularly as you get older.

Because we recently got a dog, our little cockerpoo Archie, I also have a good excuse to go for a walk each day. The weather has been beautiful and sunny this week, although the wind has been cold. But it has been nice to have a reason to make the effort and get out of the house.

Using it up

I found myself with some odd veg that needed using up in the week, so thought I would make soup. There was half of a huge sweet potato, some carrots, half an onion, celery and potatoes that had started sprouting. 

I made some chicken stock first using the carcass from Sunday and another one that was in the freezer. 

To  make the soup thicker, I added some red lentils and some frozen veg. It made nine good portions, so that will be lunch today and tomorrow, and I have put the rest in the freezer.

This is a thrifty way to eat and I do this anyway (I hate food waste!). I just hope that the current crisis makes people appreciate the food they have in the house and become generally less wasteful. In the UK, few of us have ever experienced scarcity of food supplies and the amount that is thrown away is obscene.

I have also been thinking of recipes to make with store cupboard essentials, and wrote a post about it here.

Cleaning frenzy

One day, when I couldn’t focus on anything I used my energy to give the house a thorough clean through. I can’t control much, but I can stay in control of the house work! 

With some great music pumping out from the Alexa, I whizzed around the house – with Archie being generally a massive hindrance. Our Alexa is brilliant at times like this – you can ask it to play anything you like, give you a news update or tell you the weather forecast. 

I just wish I could get to my parents to sort theirs out. It has somehow signed them out and they don’t know how to get it back. However, they have been self-isolating since the beginning of the outbreak as they are both in their eighties with underlying health issues.

I cleaned all the surfaces with disinfectant, hoovered everything and mopped the floors.

Sowing the seeds

As the weather has been so lovely, I got out in the garden to sow some of the vegetable seeds. I have done some of the tomatoes and runner beans so far, which are on the windowsills.

As we tend to start a bit late every year, I thought I would stay on top of it and get started early in the season. This year more than ever, growing some of our own food will be very helpful to be frugal.

It is also a good chance to get some fresh air and get the puppy out in the garden, where he can snuffle about and wear himself out.

Carrying on with work

As I work from home, I am used to being on my own indoors a lot. For some people this must be an almighty shock, especially if you have kids. I feel for those families stuck in apartment blocks with  no gardens. I know they can go out for exercise but that’s only going to use an hour up!

I have continued to list things on eBay and will carry on with that until I run out of things to sell. The plan was to get to as many boot sales as possible over the summer to buy new stock, but that’s clearly not going to happen now.

I did spot a bundle of ladies clothes for sale on eBay and managed to get 19 items for £6.30 plus postage. However, it’s a bit of a risk as I don’t know what sort of quality or condition they will be in.

Still, eBay does provide part of my income so I will carry on. I will be avoiding the post office as much as possible, though. My plan is to print off prepaid labels and try to squeeze everything through the mail box. If they are too big I will dump them in the post office and run. I won’t be hanging about for a receipt!

So that’s me this week. I’m going to be frugal as usual going forward and stay busy. 

I hope you are safe and not going too mad. If you are struggling with stress or anxiety, I have a gentle yoga sequence here, and this post gives information on meditations apps you can use.  I recommend both!

Have a good week. I am posting daily on Instagram, so come follow if you don’t already.

I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Frugal Friday’ linky.