My money saving week 10th July #fivefrugalthings

Welcome to this week’s five frugal things round up, where I summarise my money saving week. Having had a bit of a spendy week last week, I have tried to avoid unnecessary spending as much as possible.

This is what frugal living is about, of course. Sometimes you have to splash the cash, so I aim to get the best value possible when I do.

We need to be as frugal as possible at the moment. Our lodger will be moving out in a  month or so, and we may have a gap before we find another. Also, her room will need a bit of a repaint, a new mattress and some other odds and ends.

Planning a trip away

I also have a yearning for a little holiday with the dog. We won’t leave the UK. I know a lot of people are booking holidays abroad, but I am not ready for crowded airports or to breathe in other people’s air on a plane for hours at a time.

We were thinking about Scotland this year (before Covid-19 hit), but think that might be too far to go with Archie for a first trip. I really love Wales, so that’s a possibility, or maybe Norfolk, which is a bit closer to home. Wherever we choose, it will need to be done on a shoestring and saved for in advance.

Next week I will sit down and write a budget for this and any redecoration costs in the next few months.

Still saving

I have been using the Chip app to stash money since the beginning of the year. Despite my income being a bit patchy at the moment, I have still managed to put away over £800. 

Each time it hits £400, I withdraw that to my savings account, because that pays interest (even if it is a pathetic amount!). I have found Chip to be a really good way to put money aside with a variable income like mine. The Chip bot scans my current account to decide how much, if anything, I can move across. It happens very painlessly and I never even notice the money has gone!

This will definitely help towards the holiday/decorating fund.

You can get a £5 bonus with my referral code: VPKLKGTE (I don’t earn anything from this  – just thought it might be helpful! It is a limited offer).

Dog food for a fussy mutt

Up until now, we haven’t bought anything for Archie other than your bog standard tins and kibble. When he was really small he was permanently ravenous and ate pretty much anything. However, now he has become incredibly fussy. We have a cupboard full of dog food that he just won’t touch!! He will literally eat nothing rather than a tin of Pedigree Chum, or the biscuits I bought from Tails.com.

On the basis that it is not frugal to keep buying food that isn’t going to be eaten, I did a bit of reading up on fussy cockerpoos (which are apparently a thing) and decided to try a raw food diet. 

My nephew recommended Naturaw, so I bought a starter box containing sixteen 500g tubs for £35 including delivery. Archie doesn’t have a huge appetite, and is currently only eating one tub, which works out at £2.19 a day. However, he wouldn’t touch it in its raw state and I had to cook it!!

Silly mutt. Still, I am impressed with Naturaw. The food is good quality and comes frozen in compostable tubs. I will keep trying to see if he will eat it raw. At least he is finally eating something nutritious!

This was the most I have spent on any one thing during this money saving week, but I think it was worth the expense.  I also plan to investigate local shops to see if I can find something similar more cheaply, but at the moment I am just glad he is eating again.

Eco friendly dish washing

I was really pleased to find some eco-friendly dishwasher tablets when I popped into Aldi on Monday.  I usually buy the Wilkinson’s ones, but I am avoiding going into town still unless it is essential.

The Aldi ones were £1.99 for 30 tablets, which are phospate free and made from plant-based ingredients. They are very similar to the Wilko ones, although they only give you 25 in a box and charge £3.99! The Aldi ones were a bargain and I wish I had stocked up now. I hope they still have some when I go in next week.

DIY hair dying

As usual, I did my own roots on Sunday. This costs me about £2.50 a time, as I only mix up and use half a box.

Touching up my own roots must save me a fortune compared to hairdresser’s prices, not that I have been able to go the the hairdresser during lock down, of course. 

I have finally managed to get an appointment with them for a cut and blow dry, but not for a couple of weeks. They have been swamped with people desperate for a do! My hair style is pretty much the same as Archie’s at the moment… a shaggy, messy blonde mop.

I usually go to an out of town one in the shops near to our house. They are much cheaper and I have got to know them over the years.

So that is my money saving week. How has yours been?

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