Every week (ish) I share five frugal things that I’ve done during the previous 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.
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1) Last Saturday’s planned tea was BBQ pulled pork with jacket potatoes.
A few years ago, I would have 100% cooked this meal from scratch but over the last few years I’ve got more and more relaxed with my meal planning and the last couple of times we’ve had pulled pork, I’ve actually bought it ready made from the shop.
I know, I’m hanging my head in shame – I can’t even say it’s because I don’t have much time as I know I’m lucky enough to work from home four days a week so I can easily pop something jn the slow cooker in the morning.
The last time we had a convenience version of pulled pork, it was so fatty that I didn’t even serve it. It was awful and I probably should have complained but I threw it away and we haven’t had it since – until last weekend.
I bought a shoulder of pork and made my own version of pulled pork in the slow cooker which tasted amazing. I made myself smile as I had to quickly google how to make it and my recipe came up from way back when. 😁
I bought a shoulder of pork from Asda for £6.18 and it did us both for tea on jacket potatoes on Saturday night but also made a big portion for Sunday’s packed lunch mixed with rice for my partner who had a fun 12 hour shift to get through. And I had some for my lunch while he was at work with some potato salad and coleslaw.
2) This is the snapshot of our energy bill – not from my house but my old house where Master Frugal and his Dad are currently living. I still pay some of the bills for that house and this is one of the bills that I pay so I’ve been nagging encouraging them to be as energy efficient as possible and I think it’s working.
I’ve been super impressed with Octopus since they took over Bulb energy who we were with before – so much so that this week, I used the refer a friend link from my account in the old house to sign up for it in the new house which they said was OK to do as the energy bill is in my partner’s name here.
It means that I get £50 off both bills as the referral bonus as the current offer is to split £100. I’m all about sharing the love too so if you want to split another £100 with me and sign up for Octopus for your own energy – just use this link if you do.
3) Batch cooking is back on the menu!
This week, I found a big pack of lean mince in Asda in the reduced section so I bought it and popped it in the slow cooker that same night and cooked a big batch of bolognaise overnight that night. I already had tea planned and sorted for the next night so I’ve frozen two family sized portions of bolognaise ready for the next couple of weeks for tea.
The mince was £3.29 for a big pack and that will do two meals for the four of us as I added in some grated carrot as always and I’ll serve with some spaghetti and salad or garlic bread.
4) Remember me telling you about Il Makiage foundation?
Well I had to go back to my old foundation as I just couldn’t get away with the slightly darker colour than my usual foundation. I managed to give the Il Makiage foundation to a friend who was SUPER happy with her freebie and then I set about finding a good deal for my old faithful foundation.
It needed to be a good deal as I’d just wasted money on a foundation that I used for less than a week but I couldn’t find anything under £30 for a 25ml bottle. I decided to have a look on eBay and found a company selling travel versions of my favourite brand in my perfect shade.
I got 10 x 5ml tubes for £14.99 which I was over the moon with as it’s half the price for double the amount.
I don’t wear make up every day but I do wear it when I need a bit of confidence so it is important to me that I have the right one at hand to put on so being able to stock up at this price was a huge bargain.
(I almost didn’t include this in my post today as it started with a big spend that wasn’t frugal but the savings on my mini bottle was so big that it was worth sharing.)
5) I usually forget my bags for life when I go into a shop.
It’s a fact of life so I’ve learned to live with it rather than get frustrated that my brain seems to black out whenever I walk into a supermarket. I tend to push my trolley back to the car and pack my bags there when I forget and that’s always worked for me.
Until I lost my trolley token, that is.
I’ve been using baskets for the last six weeks or so as I rarely have a pound for the trolley but most shops don’t allow baskets outside the shops so if I’ve forgotten my bags then I’ve had to buy a bag for life in the shop.
So this week I bought a trolley coin for £1.29 to replace my lost one.
That’s going to save me money in no time at all as I can go back to packing in the boot of my car again. 😁
So, there’s this week’s five frugal things – I hope you’ve all had a happy Frugal week!
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