Five Frugal Things we did this week {8 February 2019}….

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.

Before I start though, as always feel that I should say that being frugal to me is about getting the best value for our money – it’s not about doing without for us or about not having nice things.  We all have different financial situations and we’re all frugal for different reasons.

1) I have a couple of dry skin patches on my face that have really flared up this Winter.  Both patches are quite small but look quite red and any makeup I use just seems to sit on top of them and make them look even worse.  

I’ve tried all sorts of creams and moisturisers and none of them has worked – not even the more expensive things that I’ve tried out of desperation.  When someone suggested trying Rosehip Oil I was almost convinced it wouldn’t work before I started using it as nothing so far had worked but I did actually have some Rosehip Oil in one of the big boxes where I keep things I want to use to make things for blog posts so I thought I’d give it a go.

I’ve been using it for five days now and the results are noticeable already and considering I’ve had this Rosehip Oil in my stash for a good while, I could have fixed my problem when it first started rather than trying all the creams I’ve tried.  So the moral of this story is to always have a quick google to see if there’s a home or natural remedy for whatever it is you’re trying to fix because you never know, something you already have in the house might be just what you need.

I can’t for the life of me remember if I bought this myself or if someone sent it to me as a gift but either way, I would definitely buy it again based on how well it’s worked on my dry skin.  I was really conscious about the red patches and this has cleared it up brilliantly!

2) Last Saturday night, I made a mushroom risotto in the Instant Pot and it was a complete triumph!  Honestly, it was syn free so great for me on Slimming World but it tasted like good old home-cooked comfort food and is now my new favourite food. Just look at how amazing it looked…

I shared how I made it on Monday but I wanted to include it here too as it was super frugal!  I’ll not go into it all as you can read that post if you want the recipe but I’ll share the frugal part of it.   I used pudding rice instead of Arborio rice because I realised just before I made it that I didn’t have any risotto rice in and I added some carrot and spinach that were looking more than a bit pathetic in the bottom of the fridge.

3) I made a batch of my homemade shake and vac at the weekend to give the carpets a bit of a refresh.

I love the fresh scent that this gives my carpets and even though I was the only one who could smell it, there was a distinct wet dog vibe going on thanks to the fact that the dogs were in and out constantly last weekend.  Monty especially loves playing in the snow but isn’t a fan of the cold so he’ll run around like a loon in the back garden for a while then he’ll come in for a warm before going back out and doing it all again.

4) I’m not a games console kind of person but everyone else in the house is so I try and keep an eye out for free games and bargains that I think might interest Mr Frugal or one of the kids.

I’ve written about this before but if someone in your family is an Xbox Gold subscriber then they can get free games each month.  This month is one of the Assasins Creed series so Mr Frugal has downloaded it and is happily trying it out as we speak. 

It’s a game that’s currently selling for £19.99 online so it’s a great deal and now he’s downloaded it, it’s his to keep.  

The games change every two weeks so I always try and check and shout up when I know what games are free.

5) I’m off out tonight to a black-tie ball with work and I didn’t even consider buying a new outfit or pair of shoes.  My first thought when I got the invite for tonight was that I had a lovely dress that I’ve worn before that would be suitable.  And I haven’t even considered a new handbag for the night which believe me, is a huge deal. 

 

It’s Christmas party night tonight and I’m pretty sure I win at handbags.

A post shared by UK Thrifty Family Blogger (@frugalfamily) on Dec 14, 2018 at 10:52am PST

I’m going to wear the same dress as I wore to the last work’s party that I went to and the same handbag that I used for the Christmas party.  It might not seem like much to you but it’s definitely progress for me.  As frugal as I am in most aspects of life, I’ve always liked a new outfit and handbag for a big night out and this is the second one in a row that I’ve not bought anything new for.

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As always, we’d love you to join in with us by sharing your five frugal things from your week – whether it’s an Instagram picture (#5frugalthings), a blog post or even a video.  Just add your link to the linky at the bottom of this post.

You don’t have to share five things you’ve done, anything thrifty or frugal that you’ve been doing is perfect.

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I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Five Frugal things I’ve done this week’ linky.

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