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) Look at my bargain 99p t-shirt.
I have very few t-shirts so I was over the moon when I found this bargain M&S top on one of my charity shop trips last weekend. You can’t really tell but it’s a navy blue with pretty pink writing on it and I love it!
I’ve never been a t-shirt wearer and would much rather have a dress and tights on but I have been on my exercise bike every night so far this year (except for one) and I’ve been out walking a lot more so I’ve bought myself some gym leggings from Vinted and have been on the hunt for some t-shirts so this is ideal!
2) Talking of my exercise bike, it’s developed a really irritating click (a noise and a vibration if that makes sense) on one of the pedals so after trying unsuccessfully to sort it myself, I went onto Amazon to see how much the bike was to buy again. I’m on it most nights for 45 minutes and it’s actually time I enjoy so I don’t want to be annoyed by something like that so I would have been OK with paying the £100 it’s now selling for.
As I was clicking through my orders to find the link to the exact bike I had, I realised I’d bought it last March so I’ve had it just short of a year now which is why I hadn’t even considered reaching out to Amazon for help but there was an option to live chat with someone about the order so I tried it and they put me in touch with the seller who couldn’t have been more helpful.
I can either get someone to fix it for me and send them the invoice or send it back and they’ll refund my postage and send me a new one as soon as I give them the tracking number. How’s that for service?
Look at my two little biking buddies!
This is the link to the bike I have by the way (aff link) as a couple of people have asked me about it on Instagram when I’ve shared some of my nightly stats. It measures distance, time spent (the timer stops when you stop pedalling which I love), calories burned and speed and folds away which is perfect for me. I actually keep it in the corner of my kitchen so it’s not as tucked away as it could be but I like it where I can just bring it out when I have a few minutes as well as for my nightly 25km.
It sounds harder than it is although it took a while to build up to that but now I actually enjoy it and look forward to it.
3) I’m back in the office now a couple of days a week but really don’t want to spend a fortune on food so I’ve been super good and made overnight oats the night before my office days. It doesn’t look pretty but it tastes amazing, is pretty healthy for me and saves me buying breakfast.
My recipe for overnight oats is here or I have one for baked oats here too and if you love the little overnight oats jar with the spoon then here’s the link to the jar I have (aff link) which I got from M&S a while ago. I used mine a couple of times a week at least for overnight oats and porride.
4) I have a pair of shoes that I’ve had for about five years now and I love them – they’re comfortable but party-worthy at the same time so every time I have an occasion that calls for a pair of sparkly heels, these are my go-to! The problem is that they’re a rose gold colour (I had them even before rose gold was a trend – ahead of my time) and despite all my handbags, I have nothing at all that goes with them so I always look a bit mismatched.
And then, I found this little beauty in a charity shop for £2.00! It’s the exact same colour as the shoes and is just the right size for my phone, card and a lipstick which makes it pretty much perfect for me.
It’s not an expensive bag by any means and isn’t in perfect condition but for a couple of pounds, it’s just what I need for the rare occasions these days when my favourite shoes are called upon!
5) OK, this one is an emotional one (for me anyway).
Last Friday night, Master Frugal went to watch the Boro play Man Utd at Old Trafford and this is what he wore. That’s not just any Boro shirt, that’s my brother’s most worn shirt before he died back in 2004 and it was the only thing Mast F wanted to wear to the big match.
Boro vs Man Utd in 2004 was one of the last matches I remember my brother watching and really enjoying it before he got too poorly although admittedly there were probably others afterwards but the fact that Boro beat Man Utd 3-2 is probably what makes it stand out in my head as I remember how happy he was at the score that day – it’s not every day you beat Man Utd, is it?
So, in honour of the match, the shirt and my brother, I did something I never do and put a bet on. Obviously, I don’t have an online betting account so I had to open an account which I did via Top Cashback earning £31.50 if I deposited and bet £10 within three days of opening. It’s not something I recommend and seeing just how easy it was to do is a bit scary but I deposited my £10, made my bet and moved on. I didn’t win my bet but I’m still £21.50 up as my cashback has tracked already.
It’s scary how easy it was and when I clicked on another bet just to send a photo and wind Master Frugal up, I got an option to do a quick top-up that didn’t even involve me having to enter my full card details into the site again to do. It’s genuinely concerning how easy it is to set up an account and start gambling and even though I was doing it myself, I wasn’t doing it for the thrill of the gamble if that makes sense so I could totally walk away. I made the bet, took a photo to send to Master Frugal and can’t see myself using the site again but others I don’t imagine would have such an easy job to simply shut down the site.
(the bet I was messing about with it was Ronaldo scoring a hat trick which would have been betting against Boro – not something any amount of winnings would be worth in my house 😂 )
Anyway, point to the story – emotional moment, put a bet on, made money on cashback, walked away from betting site forever.
Come over and join our fab Facebook group – Spend Less, Live Better! We’ve hit 35,000 members in the group now so it’s a great place to be and I’ve got Miss Frugal in there helping me out now.
As always, we’d love you to join in with us by sharing anything you’ve done that’s been thrifty or frugal from your week – whether it’s an Instagram picture (#5frugalthings), a blog post or even a video. Just add your link to the Frugal Friday linky at the bottom of this post.
You’re more than welcome to copy and paste the badge above but it would be even better if you could let your readers know that you’re linking up with the five frugal things linky by adding a little line to the bottom of your post like this one:
I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Frugal Friday’ linky.
