Every week I share five frugal things that I’ve done during that week just to show you that the small things you do all add up to a great frugal lifestyle where you can learn to live a fabulously frugal life.
Hey! 👐
1) Let’s start with my favourite way to start one of these posts…
Not bad for a pound a bunch, hey?
2) Did you see Sunday’s Mexican Pasta Salad post?
I basically emptied the contents of my fridge and cupboard into the version I made last night for everyone’s lunch while I’m at work. This one has no Mexican seasoning in it so it’s much plainer in taste but I added a tin of mixed veg (tiny cubes of carrot, peas and green beans) along with the usual tin of sweetcorn that I usually add in.
I was going to go with some Nandos Peri-Peri seasoning to give it some flavour but in the end, I decided to go plain.
It’s a great value meal, especially considering that it’ll do all of us a really good lunch with some leftovers that I know will be eaten by someone in the next day or so as I think this will keep for a couple of days if I store what’s left in an airtight container.
3) I know lots of people are really struggling financially right now and I am so so grateful that, at the moment, that’s not something that I really need to think too much about. Nothing’s certain though and I’m pretty sure we have a rough few years ahead of us as a country with the economy taking such a hit with everything that’s going on which is why I’m trying to make sure that I’m in the best place I can be financially.
I checked my credit score on Experian last weekend, which is something I have the option to do every month with my free account but I haven’t done it in ages. It’s gone down a little bit as I’m sure it was 999 last time I checked but I’ve taken out finance on my little car since then so I think that’s why. I want to try and get into the excellent section which means increasing my points to 961 so I’m going to have a look at paying down the credit card I do have quickly because I reduced the limit to right above what my balance was a couple of months ago to make sure I couldn’t spend more and that now shows that I’m utilising most of my available credit which isn’t a good thing.
There are a few companies online where you can your own credit score online free of charge but I use Experian as it’s one of the biggest credit reference agencies and the level of info that you get seems to be better. You can use my affiliate link if you want to sign up for a free account and see your own credit score. From memory, it took less than five minutes from starting the sign-up process to seeing your score so it’s worth a couple of minutes of your time.
(** An Experian free account lets you access your Experian Credit Score for free which is updated every 30 days when you log in. Each lender views the data on your credit file differently so what’s good for one might not necessarily be good for another but your score gives you a good indication of what to expect and also where you can improve so you know you’re in the best position possible if ever you do need to apply for credit. The free account is available to UK residents aged 18 years or over and subject to identity checks.**)
4) I absolutely know that it’s too early to start thinking about Christmas, I really do and even if it wasn’t, it’s not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things but… I suspect Christmas is going to be difficult for many of us this year. I don’t know what my own situation will be like when it rolls around but I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be as comfortable as it may have been in the past.
So, I’ve cashed in the Amazon vouchers that I’ve earned so far this year from Swagbucks and will add them to my Amazon account as soon as I get them. I’ve also been lucky enough to win some Amazon vouchers in the last month so they’re on there too which is going to give me a great head start with my Christmas budget – as long as I remember not to use them to pay for anything that I buy in the meantime as I know the payment method automatically defaults to pay with gift card balance when you check out.
4) This may not be the nicest looking meal ever but last Sunday’s corned beef hash was amazing and was inspired by two packets of corned beef that I bought super cheap at 36p a pack.
I fried up some leftover boiled potatoes, added a tin of beans and the packets of corned beef and got this amazing meal that was just what we needed to end the weekend. The meal I’d been planning to cook lived to see another day so we had that on Monday instead.
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I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Frugal Friday’ linky.
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