Hello frugalists and frugalistas and welcome to my Frugal Friday weekly round up of money saving activities!
Eco friendly laundry
The first thing I want to do this week is point you towards my giveaway on Instagram. It only runs for a few more days, so if you want to be in with a chance of winning, don’t hang about!
I have been trying out Earthbreeze* laundry strips and I have to say I am pleasantly surprised. I have tried all sorts of eco friendly laundry options over the years and this is pretty much my favourite. These take up no space, use no plastic, and are phosphate and paraben free, free of chlorine dyes and bleaches and vegan too.
Yellow sticker M&S haul
I have had the Too Good to Go app for a few years now, but when I first got it there were hardly any businesses signed up to it. If you don’t know, Too Good to Go provides a way for food retailers and outlets to sell off surplus food very cheaply at the end of their working day, giving customers a bargain and preventing food waste.
When I looked at the app again recently, I was pleased to find a lot more retailers on there, including Greggs, some small convenience stores, Costa and Marks and Spencer.
I thought M&S would be a good place to start, so ordered one of their ‘Magic Bags’ via the app. I was told that for the £4 I paid I would receive at least £12 worth of food, although you don’t know what will be in it until you collect.
I was pretty pleased with the contents of my Magic Bag: a pizza, a prawn sandwich, two croissants, a lemon muffin, a large salad and a bag of perfect sprouts!
The pizza and croissants went in the freezer, and we at the other items the following day. This could be a really good way to help feed yourself and your family when money is tight, especially if you have no food intolerances and aren’t fussy.
One person on my Instagram account said that her Greggs Magic Bag was crazy full. She received 20 doughnuts, four baguettes and a large number of sausage rolls. Mind you, I have no idea what I would do with 20 doughnuts, as they wouldn’t freeze well. I think I would have had to take them round to the homeless shelter.
More bread
I am still making most of my own bread and loving it! It’s sour dough, which I think is much easier than a standard loaf made with yeast.
You do have to be organised though and the process involves several steps over a couple of days. I think it costs less than half the price of a sourdough loaf from the supermarket, though, so it’s saving us quite a bit of money.
The only problem is that home made bread is so delicious the temptation is to eat it all really quickly!!
My loaves often look rustic rather than perfect, but taste delicious.
Charity shopping this week
My youngest daughter came to stay for a few days last week. As she had an appointment in a town about half an hour away from us and was driving, I decided to hitch a lift and check out the charity shops
There were three with incredibly good prices, most things being just £1 or £2. I picked up lots of great items, some for me and some to sell on eBay.
If you would like to see exactly what I purchased, check out my latest video on YouTube here.
Gearing up for Christmas
As you will know if you read my blog regularly, I like to be well organised for Christmas to spread the cost and reduce the stress and busy-ness of the season.
I start buying small bits and pieces of food and drink, along with gifts, in earnest at the end of the summer.
The cupboard in the spare room is now full of Christmas treats and food, the turkey and chipolatas are in the freezer and there are quite a few presents in a box under the bed.
I have made the mistake of getting into debt by not budgeting in advance for Christmas before. Never again! I keep a spreadsheet with what I can afford to spend, and record my actual purchases as I go. In addition to buying as I go, I put money aside every month from January.
It’s not that I go overboard at Christmas. My whole budget is probably less than some extravagant folk spend on just their children. However, I do like to splash out a bit on a nice meal and some treats, as well as buying presents for a limited number of people.
It makes me feel in control to get a bit ahead, so that I can relax and enjoy the occasion when it arrives. Are you getting ahead? How is your Frugal Friday going?
You might like these posts on Christmas:
How to do Christmas when you are skint
Reduce food waste at Christmas
This Frugal Friday post contains affiliate links, marked with *. If you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission to help support my site. Thanks.
I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Frugal Friday’ linky.
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