Guilt Free Shopping

The Chap is very industrious. He springs out of bed on a weekend morning, grabs a hammer and starts building / laying / demolishing something in the kitchen.

Good for him.

I on the other hand needs two cups of tea and a good 45 mins before facing a Saturday. I also like to have some "me" time when I am not doing chores but just relaxing. Last weekend I just sat in the garden for an hour and a half had a rum and coke and called a friend.

This weekend I went out armed with my birthday money and vouchers.

The inlaws gave me a £70 M&S voucher, I spent £41 on an outfit for work.

Photo credit - Marks and Spencers

The skirt was £29.50 and the top was in the sale at £12.

Photo Credit - Marks and Spencers

I still have £28.50 left on the voucher and am planning on buying their classic blouse when it is back in stock.

I then added £4 to my £10 Boots voucher which was a present from my Aunt and Uncle, and had a real treat, proper posh skin care. A Clinique soap for facial cleansing.

Photo Credit - Debenhams

These last for between 9-12 months really leave my skin feeling clean and soft and blemish free.

Some lovely treats.

Then off to the Post Office to buy some Premium Bonds.

I had such a lovely morning, pottering around by myself and I also had a wander around NEXT and Dorothy Perkins and Hombase.

I returned home and then quite happily settled down to dig over the front boarders, planting our two new Poundland Rose Bushes (not hopeful, but lets see what hapens) then 50 bulbs. Come the summer if our front garden is not a riot of colour and planting then I will be most unhappy!

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

Busy Busy Busy and A Trip To Dorothy Perkins!

Hello Folks!

Good weekend?

I seem to go in phases, nothing on for ages and then suddenly everything is on at once.

Friday night, The Chap and I stayed in, but Saturday I was up and out by 8am. I had a dentist appointment at 9.

Three fillings, a deep clean and £23.00 later (I paid the other half of £25 when I had my check up) and they also took xrays. Luckily nothing else to worry about for another 6months. Thank goodness for an NHS dentist. Getting onto to the list was so difficult and involved basically begging. They are 30 mins away from where i live, but they are BRILLIANT!

Adam, my dentist know how pathetically frightened I am and keeps rubbing my cheek with his hand saying things like "Come on, Open your eyes Abigail it will not be so bad if you open your eyes as the system will concentrate on the pictures and not the sensations". He is very kind, and cheap. All a good combination, and after careful consideration, I would gladly give up a couple of minor toes before parting company with the practice....:o)

I was out and completely numb in the mouth at 9.30am, so I popped up the road to see my friend Emma and her 3 kids, she lives about 200 yards from the surgery. I think I gave them a bit of a shock turning up early and a bit tearful, but she let me use her loo and we had a nice chat for half an hour.

By 10, I was back on the road and 15 mins later dropping my car for it's service (6 months late, oops!). The MOT was fine back in September, but I just have not had the £150 required for the service until now. The beautiful little thing only needed a new filter, 3 new spark plugs and a new registration bulb. Those were all included in the price of the service - Brilliant. Thanks Mr Tyre! As a female who knows as much about cars as I do Quantum Physics or Chainsaws, I am always incredible grateful for a garage I can trust. The Chap was asking about oil changes etc. So I nodded and sagely agreed with his advice before doing exactly what I wanted to do initially. The sign of a happy relationship!

Whilst waiting for the car to pass its physical, I tootled off to meet a good friend Lisa for a drink, she had some exciting news, so we had a good catch up that involved copious amounts of tea and chocolate brownies. Yum!

I then went for a bit of a shop. I really needed some new jeans. My current pairs have started fraying at the hem. I like Dorothy Perkins for jeans, as they fit nicely and come in multiple fits, colours and lengths. My lucky day they were doing 2 pairs for £25. I have two pairs of skinny jeans and a denim boot cut pair, so over the weekend I picked up an indigo and a black pair of boot cut jeans. The fit over the bottom is lush!

Of course, we all know it is rude not to then have a wander whilst in store, and I just fell in love with this jacket.

Really Chanel like, and it fitted so beautifully. It is a perfect wardrobe staple that works well with the black jeans I picked up and can also be worn for the office with a black skirt or dress. Cost £45.

I then picked up a little T-shirt to go under and be worn out on the Sunday lunch 40th we had been invited to yesterday.

I am a huge believer that jeans must be tried on, so I stalked my way to the fitting room with about 15 items. Jeans in every variation of length and size and colour and fit, plus 2 sizes in the jacket and tshirt.

The girls in Dotty Perks are always cheerful and helpful, it is a pleasure to shop there. Not bank breaking, but most items are good quality, and affordable.

But the best thing about DPs??? You should never ever pay full price. As high street shops go they are continually recognising the hardships shoppers face. And offering deals and vouchers. If you sign up online for their emails, hardly a week goes by when they do not offer a % off everything.

Whilst in the fitting room I used the Voucher Codes App and managed to bring my bill down by 20% from £80 to £64. That meant a discount of £16, so basically a pair of free jeans plus another £4.

I got an email today from Dorothy Perkins offering me 25% off everything, which would have been more useful, but it is unclear whether that is just for online ordering and you do have to pay a delivery fee for orders under £75.

Anyhoo, a friend at the same event on Sunday said I looked like a Beckham in my new duds.

Check me out guys!!!!

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

Win!

I did my shop last night and bought the big ticket items we needed / wanted.

Cast iron casserole dish                

Whiskey

Mattress cover

I also bought a pyrex dish with plastic lid (I chucked all my old Tupperware during the move as it just looked tired and stained, so now is a good time to restock at a discount)

The final bill came in at £163.59. I nearly fainted!

But this thrifty blogger got it down.

The promotional stickers I have been collecting reduced the casserole dish to £29.99 from £79.99 and the pyrex dish from £7.49 to £2.99.

I bought some minced meat 2 for £7 and that went straight into the freezer, I am not planning any mince dishes over the next week, but yesterday was a good opportunity to stock the freezer.

This brought the shop to £107.09, at which point I presented my other voucher of £9 off a £90 shop, bringing the total spend to £98.09.

And finally, I used some additional vouchers to get 50 extra Tesco points on the shop, so managed to clock up 169 clubcard points including some “green points” as I always use a collapsible pallet to store the items at the checkout – another Tesco purchase when they were on sale for £2 over Christmas (very useful when I was moving house) and I do try to do my bit to save the environment.

Tesco then gave me enough stickers for 2 more pyrex lidded storage containers and a voucher for 5p off a litre of fuel valid until 14^th March. So I will run my current tank down, then fill it back up next week to get full use of the discount.

The Chap was pretty impressed I have to say, he does not have to watch his money like I do. But I think it amuses him to see my penny pinching ways.

I appreciate not everyone would want the casserole dish, but I have wanted one for ages and a similar item from Le Creuset comes in at £115. Now that is way out of my budget.

As a full time worker and being in charge of the cooking, I am currently trying a new system. Not killing myself to produce culinary heaven every evening for my beloved.

Last night, after walking through the door, dinner was ready 20 minutes later. Chicken breasts sliced into quarters and dipped in beaten egg then coated in breadcrumbs. I fried them off (should have grilled but we still have not found the grill pan after moving and fitting the new kitchen) and filled some reduced seeded buns. I teamed it with a salad and some coleslaw.

Probably not the healthiest of meals due to the frying, but I am happy that we ate chicken breast and not reconstituted rubbish chicken burgers and the salad counts as good stuff doesn’t it?

I am never going to be Nigella in the kitchen, but I am giving TC considerably healthier meals now we live together. I cannot remember the last time a chicken nugget or microwaved burger was eaten by him now.

By the way he tucks in, I don’t think he will be complaining any time soon.

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

A Little Bit Of Planning, Nets A Whole Lot Of Discounts

I am a big fan of a voucher. Most Frugal people are.

So as I perused my Tesco discount vouchers the other day I noticed there was one for £9 off a £90 shop. That is 10% off your total bill. Normally I would never use such vouchers as spending £90 one shop for two people is just ridiculous.

However, as today is Pay Day I have been planning to go and get some bigger ticket items with my shop.

I have enough stickers to collect a cast iron casserole dish in the Tesco promotion. RRP apparently is £79.99, I will be able to pick it up for £29.99.

Also The Chap asked me to grab him a bottle of whiskey, and I also want to pick up a mattress protector. I was planning to grab another double fitted basesheet too, but the cheapest in Tesco is £4.50, “grubby little shop around the corner from work” are doing the same quality as the supermarket for £3.49, so that was a bit of a no-brainer this lunch time.

I have planned out meals for the next week, taking into account we are out on Sunday for lunch and we always have a pizza mid week.

The freezer is crammed full of chicken breasts, but we do need some mince meat, and I like to eat fish one night.

When preparing for a big shop, I always work out meals for 7 days and ensure that I am buying if possible in bulk for daily use items such as toilet paper.

I also make sure I visit brand names websites to check for coupons. It is rare I am lucky, but it does happen often enough to make checking worthwhile.

Whilst there is a little processed food bought to grace the tables at Southfork, generally I try to keep it to 1 meal per week. Pizza night allows me to have one evening when I get in and slump on the sofa. It was last night as I watched Child of Our Time and Lighfields.

As a rule, I like to ensure TC and I eat a good mixture of meat and vegetables. However this does take a little cunning as TC would consider rice and potatoes as veg and looked at me funny when I fished out a cabbage from the last shop.

A little pre planning can save you a fortune at the shops and I am hoping that today I will return home this evening with a saving of well over £50 (from voucher use).

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

Ummmm, I Did Buy Them.

Firstly Hello and Welcome to my new follower. I cannot see a new name on the list of members. So please leave a comment to say Howdy! Thanks for visiting. x

***

A theory suggests that a woman’s hemline rises and falls according to stock prices. Therefore, in good economic times we get miniskirts (60s) and during periods of recession hemlines drop to the floor (70s).

If this was the case, then I would currently be walking around the office with a 20ft train to my suit!

I have new theory, heels drop in height according to one’s age and experience

In my teens and twenties I tottered along in 6 inch heels and platforms (if appropriate) bearing burning soles and stiff calves in the pursuit of elegance and high fashion.

I also of course wore black velvet hot pants. (Oh the naivety and arrogance of youth!)

Earlier this week, I mentioned my work shoes were walking their way to the great fashion catwalk in the sky. I measured them, they are 3 inches high and for the last 12 months have been a little uncomfortable by the end of the day.

I might even have said “Ahhhhh” as I kicked them off in the evening.

Yesterday I found them walking their way outside to the bin, I think they took offence when The Chap said “Have you taken your shoes off?” whilst gagging the other night in the lounge.

Normally, of course I smell sweetly of purity, virtue, and rose petals. My feet, have other ideas…

So today, after trying on the same pair of shoes in Wallis for 3 days and egged on by a couple of site Visitors (I blame you Out Of My Window & Amanda) I decided to buy them.

They were perfect for my needs, under £30 and smart.

I also adored the little heel with the large surface area.

As I get older, I am really chasing comfort in work attire and the cobbled streets around our offices coupled with the 15min walk to the town centre did mean I wanted to be at ease during the stroll. 

High heels and stilettos do not promote this. Plus after breaking my kneecap 3 years ago, I get nervous about falling and causing more damage.

It appears that growing up for me these days does not mean getting taller but getting shorter and as I get older more experienced, my car insurance is not the only thing reducing in size....my heels are as well!

I am terribly concerned that another few years and I will be walking around in flat brogues and elastic waisted skirts! Lol

On a quick aside, there are a few good deals around this week. WH Smiths are giving away free sweets everyday with O2, this week our office have enjoyed Moshi Monsters, Fruit Shoot Jellies, and Guzzle Puzzles as we cold called our way through the county.

And finally, Tesco have a new voucher scheme on. I am not a huge fan of pyrex cooking dishes. I find them a little ugly, but I do really fancy the Cast Iron casserole dish for £29.99 with 10 stickers. Each sticker is given out with a spend of £20. So you need to spend £200 before you can buy the pot for another £29.99. That is an expensive way to buy a casserole dish!

However, if you do shop at Tesco this could be a month’s shopping for a family, plus of course you get vouchers with petrol purchases too.

I have as always put a call out to family and friends. So far I have 2 stickers, but my mum has secured another 5 today for me.

I think Tesco have now wised up to the fact vouchers are being traded, which is possibly why they have changed from vouchers to stickers. But, I have managed to peel them off when our office cleaner gave me one yesterday. I also checked the terms and whilst they cannot be sold there is no mention that they cannot be gifted to a family member or friend.

Frugally yours

Abigail

X

Look At What I Did Not Buy.

These are my work shoes, and they smell.

They smell really bad!

I have been wearing them for about a year, 12 hours a day, 5 days per week. The insides are worn and I keep having to dig out plastic bits from inside of the heel.

Truth be told, they have not been the most comfortable of work shoes as they are slightly too large and the left shoe tends to flop off a bit if you walk into town.

I once went out to visit a client and walked to the top of the stairs only to have the shoe fall off and clatter to the bottom. That was a bit embarrassing.

So I have been keeping a weather eye open for a new pair. I bought these off Ebay, but I think I prefer to try shoes on.

I found the perfect pair today in Wallis for £29.95. Low heel with patent toes and in black. These are the same pair but in brown / black.

http://www.wallis.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=1&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33058&storeId=12557&productId=8744256&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=221016&parent_categoryId=&pageSize=200&refinements=Price{2}~[20|30]^category~[700028|221016]&noOfRefinements=1

I toddled off to WH Smiths whilst I thought about them. WH SMiths are currently offering free sweets everyday this week for O2 customers. Yesterday was Sour Patch Kids and today was Fruit Shoot Jellies.

That made me think of vouchers, so I sat down outside the shop and searched O2 online, Quidco, Voucher Codes and MSE. I even, I am ashamed to admit, rang up Wallis Customer Services who also stated there were no deals currently available.

I guess I am not getting any new shoes soon then.

I then went off and grabbed a free can of Cola from Greggs with another voucher.

I think I am slightly obsessed with vouchers now as well as socks.

The poor Chap, having to share a house with these offending articles. If something pongs so badly it affects the owner / wearer then you know it has to be bad!! Lol

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

Unicorn Poop

I am still feeling absolutely lousy, but I dragged my sorry ass into work today. Really wish that I had not bothered, no thanks and no sympathy. After 14 years with the same company you would think I would learn that my employer expects me to be dead before I take a day sick.

Harrrrumph!

However, now is a really good time to buy stuff.

Normally I would never advocate you buying anything, unless you honest to goodness need it. But if you do honest to goodness need it then buy it now.

I had Friday off to enjoy a long weekend. So off I tootled to my local town centre for a mooch and to visit the bank. As often happens The Chap also asked me to do 101 jobs for him, as he hates anything which could be even vaguely entitled as “shopping”.

I was delighted to do so as our road still had an inch of ice on it, TC had picked up 2 bags of rock salt and was going to have a go at clearing it with a spade. Now I would have cleaned a ticklish elephant’s bottom with a soft toothbrush to get out of that job.

One thing I really did need was some moisturiser for my face. As I hurtle towards 40 at break neck speed my face is just getting dryer and dryer or is that drier and drier??. The cheap supermarket pot I picked up for under a £1 was irritating my face a little by causing a slight burning sensation.

I would love to have picked up a Clarins pot, but at £40 I could not bring myself to do so.

However, I did come across a voucher for The Body Shop. I rarely enter The Body Shop as the last time I went in I found it a little too flowery for me.

Plus I thought it expensive.

However, they were offering an excellent deal with this voucher. Spend £40 instore and get £20 off your purchases. That is a 50% discount. So I ended up getting some day cream, night cream, hand cream and aftershave balm for The Chap. Total spend £41.50, price I paid £21.50.

This is not worth doing unless you really need something, but TC was delighted with his aftershave balm and utterly convinced it will make him look devastatingly attractive to women. I told him he did not need the lotion for that.

He still thought my face cream was expensive, and he is probably right, though I absolutely refuse to admit it to him. The situation was speedily resolved by telling him it contained Unicorn poop.

I like the moisturiser and would (so far) buy it again, but probably only if there was another deal. I was wondering if it was worth stocking up for birthdays / Christmas?

I accessed the voucher using my O2 priority moments, but  think you can also get it (or something similar) at vouchercodes  / voucherclouds and a link on the moneysavingexpert website and finally on their own website.

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

Well That Was Worth Doing!

Firstly, hello and welcome to my new follower - Mad Maison. Thank you for visiting and your kind comments. x

Remember December? All that festive good humour and anticipation of time off to celebrate Christmas?

I do. I remember writing my Christmas cards, and getting cramp in my hands.

I remember buying all the stamps and being in a mood for a while after, as it had cost me so much.

I also remember getting our local magazine. You know the type of thing all glossy pictures and text, telling you of local businesses and some photos of posh people in expensive clothes opening something or other or at a fancy pants dinner.

I like getting this magazine, it comes every couple of months and I always have a read through. I shove it in my handbag and grab it out one lunch time for a mull over.

Well they always have competitions. I do like a competition.

In December they had three, 1) win a dinner for two at a local posh steak house 2) win a gold pendant from a local jewellers studied with semi precious stones 3) win a £50 voucher for the local high street to spend at one of 5 stores.

I entered all of them, some of them twice. Most you enter with an email. The final one you had to send a postcard and the answers to some very easy questions. As I had a couple of stamps left over, I entered twice.

I only went and blooming won! I got home last night to find a letter from the posh mag saying congratulations and I just needed to take the letter in with a proof of ID and “Bobs your Uncle”. £50 of free stuff.

There are limitations to the stores it can be used at

2 menswear shops

A jewellery shop

A photographic studio
A kitchen / cooking supplies shop.

A local museum shop.

I squealed, yes an honest to goodness yelp of delight passed my lips in the manner of an Enid Blyton heroine.

The Chap looked vaguely concerned, and I passed over the letter. My thoughts whirling as I mentally decided between some earrings, or perhaps a locket (I have always wanted one).

“Oh Good!” he stated, “We can get another saucepan or two”

…

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

Bag A Freebie

I get so excited about a voucher.

I mean spine tingling, pupil dilating excited! I can shop for free! If you are a chap, it is the equivalent of getting a ticket to a sporting final.

So imagine my delight when I checked my O2 priority moments App this morning.

O2 are celebrating their Anniversary, so are giving Priority Moment customers a voucher for £10.00 for either Argos or Debenhams.

Now there are some Terms and Conditions, so watch out! You  cannot use it on sale goods etc.

Off I toddled at lunchtime today, as Argos is about 100 yards from office.

A flick through the Argos catalogue and I spied a cat bed in their value range.

At £8.99, it fitted into my budget, of paying.... well nothing!

It is quite small, but as Twinkle and Belle are still pretty little it will fit one, plus they like to roll into a ball to sleep.

With a little bit of luck, it might stop them from sleeping on my Calvin Klein coat (that is where I found one this morning!)

Priority Moments do have quite a good few deals on when I checked today
1- Halford are offering a free de-icer and car scraper
2- 45% off Odeon cinema ticket
3 - Free regular sized drink at Cafe Nero
4 - £20 off a £40 spend at The Body Shop (not sale goods)
5 - Free weightwatchers book at WH Smiths

I still have this headache and now my left ear is making a sound like crackling or a log burning. It is most disconcerting! Paracetamol / aspirin and Ibuprofen are just not touching it. I even tried a decongestant, and no luck. Sorry to moan, but at my wits end!

Frugally yours
Abigail
x

Where There's A Will..

Firstly, hello and welcome to my new follower Fostermummy. I've heard of you! Famous in the frugal blogging world. Thank you for visiting. x

A while ago, I mentioned that I had started collecting vouchers so I could purchase the Alessi cutlery currently on offer at Tescos.

Well, here is the finished article.

The full set of cutlery.

• 12 boxes of starter sets of cutlery. 1 small knife, 1 small fork and 1 soup spoon.
• 12 boxes of main course sets of cutlery. 1 large knife, 1large fork, 1 large spoon, and 1 teaspoon
• 3 boxes of pastry forks, 4 forks / box
• 2 serving sets. ( I may buy 2 more sets, tbc)

I completed the purchases yesterday after work as I got given another voucher £5 off a £40 spend on cookware and they let me use it at the same time.

The offer finishes on Christmas Eve but vouchers will still be accepted up to early January.

A voucher was given with every £20 spent in store or on petrol, and 5 vouchers were required to be able to buy 1 box for £4.99 (£7.49 for the servers).

Now that is an expensive way to buy cutlery! There was no way I was going to spend that much money, nor could I afford to. So from the first week of the offer I have been

• sweet talking cashiers
• Facebooking friends
• Putting wanted adverts on local websites
• Using freecycle
• Swopping homemade cakes for vouchers.
• And some of you readers kindly sent me some too.

Facebook worked really well and friends were sharing my post and then sending 20 or 30 vouchers at a time as they collected them for me from their friends.

I needed 145 vouchers to complete my set.

I have spent £149.70. Getting the vouchers alone should have cost me £2900 on in storre purchases, before I spent the £149.70 on buying them.

In actual fact I have spent no more or less than I usually spend in Tesco on food and petrol. Everyone else just helped me.

To buy a box of Alessi Nuovo Milano (24 items) on Amazon costs £200.00. I have over four times as many. That is a huge saving. And, I would never have been able to afford this cutlery before.

I have had to promise friends and family I will never change my cutlery again!

I do now have c. 190 vouchers left,

enough for over a full set the same as mine. If anyone wants them to use before 6th January 2013. Or even just half of them - please leave a comment with your email address and I will be very happy to send you some.

Thank you to everyone, including readers who sent me vouchers with no thought of asking for anything in return. I really appreciate it.

Mission Accomplished, I would say!

Just need to buy a table big enough to fit 12, and then a house big enough to fit the table.......:o)

Frugally yours
Abigail
x

The 4 Ps of Christmas Shopping.

Preparation Prevents Poor Performance! 

I have the day off tomorrow and have quite a lot to do.

8.30AM the new agent is turning up to look over my flat and take photographs ready to market it.

Then I am off to complete the Christmas Shopping.

As stated before, I do have a limited budget and so I have spent some of today ensuring that I am aware of any relevant high street deals before handing over my hard earned cash.

Some of my shopping has already been completed, buying on line I have ticked off my sister, part of my brother in law, part of my nephew, part of my mum and part of my mother in law’s gifts too. Buying them all on line I was able to get it all free delivery and at cheaper than high street stores.

There are downsides to Internet Shopping :o(

·        Lack of opportunity to check quality

·        Often a long wait at a sorting office to pick up items when it is convenient Last year I spent 1hr 30mins queueing in the snow at my local sorting office to pick up the Michael McIntyre book for my bro in law. I would have happily paid the extra £5 it would have cost to visit my local book seller and purchase it after 90mins standing the cold. I am afraid none of us were full of the milk of human kindness when someone tried to queue jump.

I need to ensure that what I buy tomorrow is bought for the best possible price.

With this in mind I have already written a list and spent some time investigating prices.

The Chap wants some clothes and whilst the stores he likes are not offering any vouchers, I have found that by buying gift cards through Morrisons in advance to make my purchases with, I have been able to get a considerable amount off my next tank of petrol. See here for more information.

I have also noted that The Early Learning Centre & Mothercare are offering 25% off TOYS (to 5^th Dec). I have read the small print, this is in store and on line. See here.

Looks like my nephew will onto a winner with this especially as I have also changed my £5 Tesco voucher into £10 to be spent on Toys (also can be spent in other departments) please note this offer finished tomorrow Friday 30^th, though it has been extended until 11^th December on clothing and Tesco Direct. Tesco Exchange.

I think every time I use a voucher, “How wonderful!” my friends / family would not have been able to have this if it were not for this voucher.

A couple of other deals I think are worth noting today.

·        Marks and Spencer are currently running their £10 meal deal. But if you are an O2 user you can use their discount code and get it for £8. I picked it up lunchtime today. A main, a side, a pudding and a bottle of wine for 2.

·        The Body Shop are offering £15 off a £30 in store spend on voucher codes. Expires 2nd December.

·        Wallis are offering up to 30% (ends Saturday) off at the moment as are Dorothy Perkins.

·        BHS are also offering up to 30% off across all departments.

·        Fancy dinner out tonight or tomorrow? Frankie and Benny are still offering their November Voucher - £10 off a meal for two consisting of 2 mains. Beware you cannot use this on their special menu of two courses for £10.95. We used it at the beginning of the month and had two drinks and two mains at a price of £10.45. It is being used again this evening before it expires as a little treat.

Be canny this Christmas folks!

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

£1.33

Things are very tight at the moment. Paying off my credit cards has meant that the savings have been severely reduced.  It is time for major belt tightening.

A difficult time compounded as I got another flat tyre last week. Same tyre as I replaced about 3 or 4 months ago. I went into work late on Friday, as I visited Mr Tyre in the morning and they put the spare on so they could look at the offending article.

Another blasted nail. And again it is located at the edge of the tyre so it cannot be repaired. Luckily I know that Mr Tyre have the cheapest tyres around me at £51 per tyre. So on Saturday I went off to have it replaced.

4 new tyres in less than 6 months, plus I know that the last original one will have to be changed early in 2013. According to the nice garage men, it has about 5000miles left on it.

The Plumber came round on Saturday to service the boiler and prepare the gas safety certificate required to let out my little flat. Whilst I had his undivided attention I also got him to have a look at the bathroom sink which was draining slowly. The waste pipe was full of the most revolting gunk!

He also re-programmed my heating so now no heating in the morning and no hot water. An effort to reduce the quarterly bills. Not that I will hopefully be paying them for much longer.

And finally, he checked the shower. It is completely bust. If it was up to me I would just live without it, and have a bath only. However, as the flat has to get rented then it needs replacing.

Sigh…. Always money to be spent that I can currently ill afford. But, it has to be done, so we are both hoping I can get one for about £60 plus fitting costs.

Oh, did I mention the telephone bill arrived £90…

So, I need to reduce my food bill in November.

I had a £15 voucher from Tesco, and spent some of Friday going through the store cupboards to work out what I had in stock.

This is how it got spent.

Pasta                                  .98

Eggs                                  1.19

Cheddar                            1.99

Smoked Bacon                1.64

1x Tin Butter Beans          .69

1x Tin of Peas                   .21

3x tin of sweetcorn           1.45

Chorizo                              2.00

Lard                                    .39

1x Courgette                        .46

Celery                                 .89

1 x Butternut                     1.48

Potatoes                           .99

1x red onion                     .15

1x onion                            .12

1x leek                              .74

Wholemeal Loaf              .47

1xjar peas & carrots        .49   

Total                                     16.33

Voucher                               15.00

Left To Pay                             1.33

This food combined with the freezer and store cupboards will have to last me until 29^th November with the exception of buying milk.

I researched my purchases using mysupermarket.co.uk to ensure that I was getting the best deal and so I knew what my final spend would be. For example  the website told me the cheese was on special Lake District Mature Cheddar was reduced to £1.99 from £3.98 for 350G. I only like cheese melted on pizza or used in cooking so that amount will last me ages.

I did buy a Butternut Squash.

I have eaten it before, but never cooked it. Looking at the size of the thing I am not sure what to do. I was thinking one third roasted and put into a quiche and one third to make some soup and one third mashed with butter. Unless, you have a better idea?

£1.33 is the sort of shopping trip I can get used to!

Frugally yours

Abigail

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