1) One of the things I wanted to do this year was take care of myself a little bit better and start making time for me and I’m really trying to stick to that. I’m really pleased with my progress at Slimming World and I’m feeling quote good about myself at the moment even though I’ve got a LONG way to go.
As part of my new ‘me’ regime I bought myself some new nail varnishes and a new lipgloss from our local Pounstretchers – not bad for a pound each!
2) If you pay your council tax over 10 months then this month and next are no council tax months (or at least they are for us). In the past we might have wasted the extra money on a treat because we saw it as a bit of a bonus but this month I paid it straight off our holiday before we had chance to waste in on something we didn’t really need. It’s a small thing but I’m really pleased that we can be sensible enough to do this now – does that mean we’re growing up finally?
3) Did you see my lovely thrifty wall art that I made earlier this week?
It was made using buttons from my Mam’s button box and it really does look even better in person….
It just shows that you can make something beautiful out of not very much at all doesn’t it? This picture has special meaning for us because they were my Mam’s buttons and we chose a poem that we loved to go with them but we’ve made other pieces over the last few months just by printing out quotes that we like and framing them in frames from the pound shop.
4) I started saving for Christmas!
Yes, I know it’s only February but I like to be prepared so I’ve started buying gift vouchers every time I do my weekly shop. I know that Miss Frugal is going to want make-up and perfume (trust me, it’s a given knowing her) so I’m starting with Boots Gift Vouchers so I can use them when the time comes to start shopping. When I’ve got enough Boots vouchers then I’ll start with Amazon as I know Master Frugal will want games for his Xbox. Ten pound a week is the amount I’ve set myself to reduce my shopping budget by so buying that much in vouchers means that I don’t miss it at all.
I know you might be wondering why I buy gift vouchers instead of saving but I only buy a certain amount that I know I’ll be spending and I find gift vouchers are easier to set aside. If it was actual cash then I’d be borrowing from it all the time and would end up with nothing come Christmas time.
5) One thing I’ve been after for a while is a recipe book holder to stop my cookbooks from getting food all over them when I’m cooking but I haven’t seen any cheap ones that I’ve liked the look of and I didn’t want to spend £20 plus to get one I did like when I knew I wouldn’t use it all that often.
I came up with my own version this week though….
It obviously won’t work for the big hardbacked recipe books but there’s plenty in my collection that my new coat hanger recipe book holder can hold. Oh, and the recipe you can see in the book was delicious!
What frugal or thrifty things have you done this week?
Don’t forget to follow the ‘Five Frugal Things’ Pinterest board as I’ll be pinning all of our frugal things photos on there. You can find it here if you want a quick peak….
Follow Cass bailey’s board 5 Frugal Things I’ve done…. on Pinterest.
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Image credit: Shutterstock, Gstockstudio
