Save money and prevent waste #fivefrugalthings

I’m not sure I have done anything spectacularly money saving this week. It has been quite busy, firstly preparing for my dad’s 90th birthday party last Sunday then catching up on work stuff. I let this slide a bit as the weekend before we hosted a baby shower, as I said in last week’s round up. These things always take longer than you anticipate. But still, being a bit of a habitual frugalist, I do find small ways to save money and prevent waste day to day. So here is what I have been up to this week.

Finding ways to save money and prevent waste

Planned expenses

June tends to be an expensive month, as there are so many birthdays in the family. Even buying second hand gifts or making my own, it still chips away at the budget. So I suppose one of my frugal things is saving and budgeting for things I know for sure will happen, such as birthdays and celebrations!

I put money aside each month for these, as well as Christmas and holidays. It means that I don’t go into my overdraft or pay for anything with my credit card. It is comforting to know I have money in a pot for these things as they come up.

A home made present

As I said in my six month review of buying only second hand, for my dad’s 90th birthday present I made an album of photos, memories and letters from the family. I just thought it was pointless buying him more stuff. There is really nothing else in the way of stuff he needs at this point in his life.

The album took me ages, but was well worth the time and effort. I went through bags and bags of photos from the family, begged others from friends and cajoled everyone to write their thoughts and memories of dad. Then I wove them into a story, starting with his parents and sisters, going through the memorable and significant events of his life up to his grandchildren. 

Everyone loved it and he was so pleased. It made us all a little emotional! I wouldn’t have thought to do this if I hadn’t pledged to buy nothing new for the whole of 2021. The challenge has made me much more creative in my gift giving.

Using up the leftovers and scavenging 

As we were clearing up the party, I made sure that all the leftovers were taken away to be eaten later. We took the remaining sandwiches that I had made and ate them over the next couple of days, along with some crisps and cake.

Not the healthiest diet, but I hate food waste!

I also rescued a large bit of bubble wrap that had been thrown away (as if you chuck away bubble wrap!?), and some wrapping paper to use again.

I know my family think I am a little eccentric, but I am happy to lead by example.

Reusables and reducing waste

I volunteered to bring most of the decorations for the party, as I have a large bag of fabric bunting. Better than the single use variety. I got caught out at the baby shower, because Mr Shoestring’s sister turned up with loads of disposable cups and plates. She thought she was making it easy for me and reducing the washing up, but really I have plenty of china plates and lots of glasses and would rather have used those.

I thought I would try to stop this happening again at my dad’s party, so checked in advance that everyone had reusable plastic items available to eat and drink off. Luckily they did, especially my younger sister, who seems to have a good stash from her kids’ parties. We also dug out the plates, bowls and mugs that we used to take camping and gave those a wash. 

I took wipe clean table cloths along too, so we avoided disposables there. We did have balloons, though! I have yet to find a reusable version of those. If it was just down to me, I wouldn’t have bothered, as they’re not exactly essential.

Charity shopping

I did find the time to hit the charity shops this week, and found some really useful items, including a Hotter bag for £1, a 60th birthday pint glass for Mr S’s brother and some other nice bits.

Take a look at my haul on YouTube to see everything I found.

Holiday prepping

We are off on our frugal holidays soon, so I have been prepping to make sure we can keep costs low whilst we are away. Generally we will have a couple of meals out, but the rest of the time will self cater. As I know that there is only a tiny convenience store in the village, I have made a shopping list and will hit Aldi before we go. I will take wine, beers, snacks and some basics, as well as a picnic and flask for the journey.

It’s a great little dog-friendly holiday park, right on the Norfolk coast. When we went last year we had wall to wall sunshine, but this time it looks as if it will be more of a mixed bag. So the wellies and raincoats will be packed, along with the beach towels and sun cream! Typical British summer…

I can’t wait! Love a British holiday and will happily avoid airports and customs for a staycation.

I hope you have had a good week. Let me know about your frugal wins and how you save money and prevent waste in the comments.

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