Save money growing food #fivefrugalthings

Welcome to my weekly roundup of five frugal things I have achieved this week. It has been a hot, hot week! The garden is looking pretty good, although it has been too warm to do much work out there. One of the things we have been aiming for is to save money growing food. Now the fruits of our labours are starting to pay off.

Everything in the garden…

Despite starting with good intentions, we haven’t done as  much as we wanted on the veggie patch because of the arrival of a certain  little dog. If you dig, he wants to join in, which means everything gets destroyed! But if you shut him in another part of the garden, he continuously barks. As I have neighbours who let their dogs do this day and night, I don’t want him to be as annoying as their animals!

Nonetheless, we do have some lovely things coming through, which should help to save money growing food. I have just picked our first courgette, with the promise of many more on the way. 

The redcurrants on one plant have started to ripen. There is lots of fruit on the others as well, but they are in a shadier spot so will start to turn a bit later. We love to mix these with frozen berries to have on our yogurt or porridge each morning.

Talking of fruit, we have had loads of raspberries. Our best crop ever so far! They are delicious. I might even need to freeze some if we can’t eat them fast enough. 

The runner beans are also coming through. Unfortunately, they have black fly, so I made up some soapy water spray and have started to attack them with this every night. I hope it works as I love home grown runner beans.

If you want to save money in the garden, check out this post.

New sandals

I finally found a decent pair of walking sandals online that fit me; I have already returned two pairs. It’s tricky buying footwear when you can’t get out to the shops to try things on.  These were from Mountain Warehouse, and reduced from £80 (which I wouldn’t have paid!!) to £30. Now that we are walking Archie twice a day, I need a good pair. Hopefully they will prove an investment and last a long time.

Excuse the lack of a pedicure! I don’t have the most attractive feet.

I had been wearing some that I bought second hand at a boot sale for £2, but they are a bit past it now and don’t have much grip.

Back to the charity shop

I  went to my favourite £1 charity shop this week – what a treat! It wasn’t too busy and was well organised. I am intending a tour of all of them today.

I found four new summer tops for myself plus a dress. Not bad for a total spend of £5.

Actually, I went to a boot sale first, my second so far, but it was rubbish. Just the same old traders selling the same tired old tat they optimistically bring out every week. I don’t think the boot sales will be good again until those of us who had a good clear out venture back to hire a pitch and get selling.

This week I will focus on the charity shops. It’s too hot to take Archie round the boot sales anyway.

Cash back on flowers

It was Mr S’s mum’s birthday this week. She doesn’t bother with birthdays or want presents, but we usually get her some flowers and this year was no different. We chose a beautiful bunch of yellow roses and freesias.

We got them through e-florist via Top Cashback*, as they had a massive 20% cashback. It’s the second time we have taken advantage of this offer recently, as we also bought a bouquet for the couple who run our local post office. They have been working constantly through the pandemic, and we thought they deserved a treat.

Yes, it is possible to buy cheaper flowers in Lidl or somewhere, but I am still avoiding supermarkets whenever possible. Plus, it’s lovely to have a delivery to flowers to your door!

*This is my referral link and if you use it I will earn a small commission.

Aldi bargains

We always take a bottle of water and a little bowl out for Archie when we walk him. Very often we end up giving water to other dogs too. They are always charging around over the park and get so thirsty.

However, this arrangement was quite bulky to carry about, so I was pleased to find a special doggy bottle with built in silicone bowl to hang off my bag when we go. It was only £3.99. 

Whilst I was there I also purchases some collapsible silicone feeding bowls in a little carrying case, which will be useful for days out. You get two in the case, priced at £6.99. What a spoilt pooch he is.

So, that’s a wrap for another week. Are you trying to save money growing food? If so, what have been your successes so far this year?

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