Hi all! Hope you have had a great week. As we have been hosting a French lady it hasn’t been quite the norm for us, although still a frugal week and earning a bit of extra cash too. So our five frugal things are mostly based around being hosts. She is actually one of the group tutors, but we usually host the students (see my post on how to make money doing this here).
A budget food plan
Fortunately, she has been a lovely guest. She has appreciated all the vegetarian meals I have cooked (see my meal plan for the week here).
The Jamie Oliver moussaka was delicious. However, it was fiddly as hell and so time consuming to make. Even though I cursed the whole way through the preparation, it is a good meal for a special occasion so I probably will make it again some time.
Waste not want not
I keep trying unsuccessfully to make Quorn mince into something tasty. This time I made a spaghetti bolognese. I used a friend’s tip and defrosted it first in some herbs and red wine.
I would love to say it was the most delicious meal ever but it wasn’t. Bland and disappointing. However, because I hate wasting food I have frozen the leftovers. When I use them I will add some sun dried tomatoes and maybe some chilli to perk up the flavour.
More seed planting
Whilst Mr S was putting up and painting trellises and fences during our frugal week, I did more seed sowing.
This time I planted some seeds from a box of novelties the girls bought me for my birthday. Purple carrots, rainbow chard and stripy tomatoes! I also found another pack of purple cherry tomatoes and some peppers, so they went in too.
Boot sale bargain
I have mentioned before that my daughter and I have been to quite a few boot sales recently. At one of them I found two gorgeous Cath Kidston large messenger bags for £1 each.
I was well chuffed with these but thought I wouldn’t use both. I showed them to my French guest and said I would probably put one on eBay, and she nearly bit my hand off to buy it. It turns out she loves Cath Kidston bags and has a collection. She said they aren’t available in France and insisted on giving me £20. Result!
Cheap chocs
I am starting Slimming World next week (thanks to reader Lyn for pointing me in the direction of a free membership coupon in last week’s Woman’s Weekly). However, in the meantime… I found half price chocolate Easter eggs in Both Asda and the Coop so bought two more. I am a sucker for a bargain, but we really didn’t need more flipping chocolate. I will give them to my daughter as she is super skinny and can eat what she likes. I don’t want any temptation in the house once I start my diet!
Incidentally, Thrifty Lesley has a brilliant post on her blog, a Month of Low Syn Budget Meals. This must have taken her an age to put together and has a lot of vegetarian options for me. I plan to explore this properly once I get into the swing of Slimming World.
So that’s my frugal week. How has yours been?
sam says
It’s tougher to find new ways to be thrifty, but I keep plugging away at tried and true options like filling up gas in the car with coupons and buying loss leaders at the grocery store, and trying to maximize leftovers. I couldn’t resist the 1/2 price chocolate and jelly bens, but brought jelly beans as a treat for trivia night.
Chris says
Hi,there is a new zero waste store opened in Tiptree see https://zerowastenear.me/unpackaged/the-reco-store/ I thought you may be interested. I have not been there yet soI can’t vouch for it.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Thank you so much, Chris! I will check it out
Eloise says
Slimming World is a great way of eating healthily as it has so much flexibility. Most of your usual recipes can be adapted. My big tip is….stay to group so that you get your money’s worth and benefit from the group support.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Thanks. I intend to give it a good try
Jennie Botham says
I have bought the Pinch of Nom book that is based on Slimming World and there are some lovely recipes. The Cajun dirty rice I made using Quorn was delicious.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Ooh, thanks. Maybe I can make Quorn taste nice!
Julia says
My frugal bargain was to buy the May edition of the Gardener’s World mag.
I don’t normally buy mags but got this one because it contained the annual 2 for 1 entry card for gardens around the UK. We used it tons last year, saving over £50!
An added bonus was that it also contained a free pair of gardening gloves and 6 packs of seeds – besides the magazine itself, of course!
All for £6.99! 🙂
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Oooh, thanks for mentioning this. We have bought this for the last two years and it’s such a great bargain!