I am doing my very best to be super frugal at the moment. We have been without a lodger for a month and certainly miss the income. The Chinese student we were expecting decided not to come at the last moment, which was a disappointment, but actually it has been nice having the house to ourselves.  Still, there is news on both in this week’s frugal achievements.

Charity shopping

I absolutely love a good charity shop. You never know what bargains you will encounter and I like the whole concept of reusing and buying second hand. We have a brilliant one not far from us. It is the warehouse for the charity’s other shops locally and also where they sell off items that have hung around for a while. Most of these are priced at 99p.

I went in last weekend and spent half an hour going through one of their bins of women’s clothes. They had some amazing things in there, some of them new with tags. I will never understand why people buy clothes they then never wear. If I buy anything new, which is rare, I try it on, debate with myself and make absolutely certain I love it and will wear it before I part with my hard earned cash. Still, their loss is my gain! I came out with a huge armful and spent around £7.50. This is top of my list of frugal achievements.

£5 credit with Mercari

I mentioned some time ago that I had signed up with Mercari. This is a selling app, particularly good for listing clothes. I have to admit, I have been a bit half-hearted about using it lately, focusing instead on eBay for listing items. However, my daughter loves it and has become a Mercari top rated seller. They even rewarded her recently by giving her £100 of credit, which was amazing!

It definitely seems to work with clothes for younger women. DD1 sells mainly high street brands in smaller sizes. She has quickly begun to make a really worthwhile extra income in this way. I am going to have a push with some appropriate items and get my daughter to model them for me. Try as I might, it is a long time since I squeezed myself into a size 8!

You can also find some massive bargains on Mercari.  People are selling off their summer items and Mercari are adding a 25% discount too. You can sign up using my code for a £5 credit: IXATXYQ.

New lodger

We finally found ourselves a new lodger, after our lovely student finished her masters and went off on her next adventure. Our new lady works in a toy shop in town and is bringing her cat. I must admit I am a bit nervous about this. Our girls may be a little put out and I foresee a bit a hissing and fur flying whilst they adjust.

Still, it is a great way to earn a bit of extra income.

Welcoming a foreign student

As well as the lodger arriving, we have agreed to have a French student for a week at the end of October. I do enjoy having them but they do create a little bit of extra work. For more information on hosting foreign students, see my post on the subject here.

Apples with everything

Now that I have used up most of the grape harvest, the apples are arriving thick and fast. As well as a few from our own small tree, Mr Shoestring is being given them everywhere he turns it seems! Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I have started freezing them. They will be nice in pies and crumbles.

Mr S is no cook but he makes a mean microwaved ‘baked’ apple with custard, so we are eating some fresh.

So that is our week of frugal achievements. How is it looking for you?

I am linking up with  Cass , Emma  and Becky in their Five Frugal Things linky.

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