Tidying up, money off and a new baby #fivefrugalthings

Welcome to this week’s frugal Friday round up, where I summarise the goings on at Shoestring Cottage.

Money off

As my lovely daughter has been doing the food shopping whilst she has been staying here during lockdown, I have lost control of the budget a bit. Not that she is extravagant at all. It’s just an extra mouth to feed I think.

She did spot that in the Christmas Lidl magazine there is a £5 off coupon for a £40, so that saved us some money. I notice today that I have a further £2 off on the Lidl app for next time I go in. Love the Lidl app! Make sure you download it if you shop there.

The great kitchen clear out

My daughter also completed the great kitchen clearout, and incorporated some neglected groceries into the weekly meal plans. Bless her, she went through every single cupboard in the kitchen, organising and decluttering as she went. It’s so much easier to find what we want to use now. I honestly think she could make a career out of this if she put her mind to it! 

Woe betide us if we don’t keep them to this high standard of tidiness for when she comes home for Christmas. We will be in big trouble!

Joules bargains on eBay

If you like Joules, did you know they have an outlet on eBay? You can buy end of season bargains for up to 75% off. I really like their clothing, but it’s a bit on the pricey side for me usually.

Mr S’s niece just had her first baby, an adorable little girl called Birdyblue, or Bibi for short. I found this cute little jumper for for £11. Full retail price would have been £31, which is crazy for an item she will grow out of in a few weeks!

So Mr S is a great uncle. His niece is more like a daughter to him and he is over the moon. Look how gorgeous she is! Can’t wait to meet her. Hopefully we can go over once lock down finishes, although we still might have to stay outside.

It’s hard enough to be a new parent, without getting all the family support that you might usually expect. Let’s hope she doesn’t grow too quickly, and we can make do with daily pictures and updates in the meantime.

I beat the ironing pile!

I really dislike ironing. If I can shake something out and put it away with a few creases I will. When I hang laundry to dry I make sure to peg them as straight as I can. Nevertheless, I always have a huge ironing pile sitting there looking at me accusingly.

It’s not as bad as when I went out to work in an office and was expected to look smart. Mr S rarely wears anything except T-shirts and jeans, which don’t require ironing. Mostly, in fact, the ironing pile these days consists of things I have bought to sell on eBay.

This week, because my daughter was home and being so helpful, I finally got to the bottom of the pile. I plugged myself into an audiobook from BorrowBox and steamed through it.

It’s not as if I can get out to source new stock as it’s still lock down here in England. So it was an opportunity to rediscover what I have already. Sad I know, but this felt like a real achievement!

Food bank update

We are still collecting bits and pieces for our #foodbankadvent donation box. This week I have added some treats for Christmas and a large bag of dog biscuits.

If you want to help families in need at this difficult time, it’s not to late to begin. You can read more about it here.

The food banks generally need non-perishable tinned foods, toiletries, nappies, etc. If you check the Trussell Trust website you will see what your local bank is most in need of.

And this week the dog ate….

I feel as though this sentence will feature on my blog for some time to come yet.

Despite being taken for long walks, given lots of rawhide type chews and toys, and always having our company, Archie continues to destroy things.

I turned my back on him in my office to make a cup of tea, and when I returned he was eating my laptop charger. As a result, we had to do an emergency Amazon order, my laptop is out of charge and I am having to write this on my phone.

He really is a little sod! He will be a year old in a few weeks and we are hoping that he will miraculously stop being Archie the Destroyer very soon.

So that’s my frugal Friday round up. How has your week been? If you want ideas on saving money, check out the post I published in the week, How to get stuff for free (or really cheaply).

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