No spend week hangover
We came to the end of our no spend week yesterday. I don’t find it difficult generally, especially when I am at work, as there is little temptation. It really helps my bank balance. You don’t always spot the steady drip, drip of money out of your purse, even when you think you are being quite frugal!
Doing a no spend week or month tends to carry over. I find I get out of the habit of spending money. I do need to go and buy new smart sandals at some point. They fell apart over the weekend. I had to hold them on my foot with a hair band I found on the floor and hobble home! I have my walking sandals, which will do until I get round to it.
What the Dickens?
We drove to Broadstairs on Friday night to pick up my parents and aunt. They had the most fabulous sunny week there and said they could have been abroad. We stayed in their rented house overnight and came back to Essex after lunch on Saturday.
It seems a rather nice town with a gorgeous sandy beach. They were fortunate in being there for the annual Dickens festival. They hadn’t planned this and were initially a bit confused that the local folk were wandering round in period dress!
We only had a few hours for a wander but it is a lovely bit of coast line with an interesting history (as well as the Dickens connection, it is known as Viking Bay). Broadstairs could be one to revisit I think.
Lunch ‘out’
My parents treated us to lunch to thank us for collecting them. I am obviously their frugal daughter though, as lunch out meant pie or fish and chips on a bench overlooking the sea! We retreated to the car when the weather broke and it started to rain. Typical English seaside experience.
Both my mum and dad had big operations earlier in the year, within two weeks of each other. My mum had a hip replacement and dad had a stent fitted on his aortic aneurism. It was all rather stressful and worrying at the time so it is nice to see them up and about now. Even though they don’t drive long distances as they used to, they don’t let anything get in the way of living their lives to the full.
Frugal soup
I rescued a chicken carcass with a ton of meat on it from my lodger in the week. She was going to bin it! I stripped off the chicken and froze it, then got another couple of carcasses I had saved from the freezer to make a big pot of stock. Today it will be transformed into a hearty chicken and vegetable soup. I hate waste! This will get another frugal week off to a good start.
I need to do a shopping list and meal plan for the week. I spent barely anything on food last week, less than £20. Now we have broad beans and courgettes ready in the garden so I won’t need to buy much veg.
Has anyone else been on a no spend week? How have you done?
Kirrie says
Are you enjoying having your lodger?
Thought she was moving out to travel in May?
I adore my Aussie lodger, great fun.
Plan was originally until mortgage paid of in Aug/ Sept but as she is no hassle will be until her visa runs out in April.
Not sure after that if I will have another.
Kirrie.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Yes, the lodger is great. She has fibromyalgia though and decided it was too much to do Camp America. She gets on well with us all so happy to have her here
Margaret Powling says
I didn’t set out to have a no-spend-week, but because of the hot weather we didn’t actually go out (unless you call sitting in the garden “going out”!) except to get the daily paper and top up with fresh milk or eggs from our local shop. Therefore it was more-or-less a no-spend week simply because of circumstances than by design.
Yesterday, though, was a different matter. First Waitrose for the food shopping (very early in the morning, a mistake we learned as Waitrose don’t open until 8 am – our branch that is, others might differ – and not all the fresh produce had been put out) and then husband said be needed some things in B&Q, so we made a detour to B&Q. Then, as we’d nipped off early and, also, as we’d not been anywhere at all during the week (it was far too hot) we called at our local sea front hotel and treated ourselves to coffee & toasted tea cakes.
Margaret P
Margaret Powling says
PS What are you doing with a disabled/old folk’s trolley? A trolley dash? A new type of exercise? Mobile installation art?
As for a chicken carcase, I couldn’t imagine throwing one away without first stripping all the meat and then making soup! Right now we’re enjoying having leek and potato soup – that’s nice even in the summer! Leeks were once considered a winter veg but now they’re available all year – I actually prefer the humble leek (when young and tender) to asparagus.
Margaret P
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
I pushed my mother off to have a go