Bag A Bargain

Being frugal means not spending more than you have to. So I am always deligted when I bag a bargain. Especially with clothes, as they are so expensive.

I know a lot of thrifty-ies who obtain most of their wardrobe via charity shops. I am never that lucky, when I go in everything looks like it has been used to clean the bath before being donated. I still have a wander around, but rarely find anything I want / need.

I have had a lot of success with Ebay and get a lot from Dorothy Perkins as they have fantastic pop up sales. This weekend for instance there is 30% off for 72 hours

3 weeks ago whilst in Lichfield, a new market stall appeared selling ex Marks and Spencers clothes. All brand new but with the labels cut out. I bought a georgous red wool coat from them 2 years ago for £15, but have never seen the stall since. So was delighted to see it again and made a bee line.

I bought this.

 

For £7!

Brand new and they gave me the hanger.

Best thing? It was a size 10 and it fit. I reckon it would cost £22 –25 retail.

Must have looked nice on, as I wore it a week later to visit my friend P (she introduced me to The Chap) and as I walked home a man stopped and asked me out for a drink. I am 37 years old, slightly porky and that made my day!!!

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

P.S. No post yesterday as The Chap took me out to dinner to celebrate some good news. A proper restaurant with no vouchers and proper starched cloth napkins. Swanky!!! Cannot say anything just yet, but watch this space

P.P.S No, its nothing to do with babies!

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

Self Fulfilling Prophecy and Thanks TC! x

Hello and Welcome to my new follower - Nim Scutt, thank you so much for visiting! x

I am not spending at the moment, of course I have no spare cash, so the choice of whether to spend is kind of academic. If you have nothing, there is no choice.

So imagine my surprise when The Chap walked through the door yesterday evening, holding aloft a huge box, and a large smile as I was cooking dinner.

“Happy Valentine’s Day Abigail!” (over a week early)

Inside was a Cordless Dyson Digital Slim Vacuum (DC44 Animal).

 

I have been wanting one for months.

Just not sure how I feel about getting a vacuum early for Valentine’s Day, but I sure am delighted at having it.

My sister and my mum both have them and they are absolutely fantastic, so TC decided to buy me one. (Though of course as TC bought it ours has to have the most powerful engine. It is appears he chooses Dysons using the same criteria as buying cars, power tools and lawn mowers!)

It arrived yesterday to his workplace and he brought it home with him.

Yesterday I was vacuuming everything in sight, and working out where the wall charging unit would be screwed in.

This little baby will happily suck up cat hair and dust from the all the sanding The Chap does.

Dyson Digital Slims are not cheap starting at £160, but TC, being TC bought ours off Ebay and it had been used. However apart from a slightly grubby filter, everything else is immaculate. We think it was probably used about 2 or 3 times max.

TC wont say what he paid for it.

The fact remains  Whilst I am delighted to have a Dyson Slim (which makes me uber posh), did I just receive a vacuum for a romantic gift??

It appears this post was a self fulfilling prophecy

Frugally yours

Abigail

x

Ratatouille, A Freezer Favourite

Evening, hope you have had a good weekend. Sunday evening, perhaps the most depressing part of the week.

I went and did a shop on they way home from work, I will update the shopping page tomorrow, but here is a quick look at what I got minus a massive box of soap powder, 6 bottles of coke and some Lidl own brand white rum which comes in at the bargain price of £8.99.

Lidl is very good for some cupboard staples, decaf tea, nuts, coke (39p / bottle) and a large box of soap powder. I bought my last box at xmas so I can definately live with buying soap powder 4 x per annum. Buying in bulk with those things means I reduce the amount of times I go food shopping and therefore reduce those impule (radish) buys. Yea, Go Lidl!

I saw some aubergines, officially my favourite veg and there and then decided to make ratatouille over the weekend, it is so simple especially with a slow cooker. Plus it is virtually fat free, packed with veg and freezes brilliantly.

You will need

• 1 Aubergine
• 1 large courgette
• 1 onion
• 1 pepper - i prefer red
• 2 tins of tomatoes
• 1 small tin of tomato puree
• some garlic, I used garlic granules for the first time
• 2 stock cubes, I used 1 chicken and 1 beef
• and some mixed herbs

Cut all the veg into smallish chunks and bung in the slow cooker with the courgettes at the bottom. Turn onto high and leave for 6-8 hours until the vegetables are cooked and the sauce has thickened.

Leave to cool and decant into Tupperware ready to freeze.

It is great with a BBQ, but I love it best taken to work and put cold on hot toast for a very cheap and healthy lunch. Ooo or add a teaspoon of chilli powder if you like a bit of kick.

Did I mention it is very cheap too - about £3 worth of ingredient provdies abou 12 portions. 25p / portion.

I have told you before I am no cook, but really you cannot go wrong.

Just call me Delia...

Frugally yours
Abigail
x

Fruit n Nut

Back to work today with a bump - like most of the population.

Get up at 6ish. Wash, clean anything needs to be scrubbed. Make bed. Turn off electricals – straighteners etc. Look in mirror to ensure you look neat, when “OH MY GOD!” I screamed. Three ma-hoo-sive spots in the chin area and 1 extra nose growing on the right of my neck.

Spots for me are a physical sign of 2 things – stress and poor diet.

Stress can show its self physically in many different forms  – insomnia, irritability, panic attacks, eczema, headaches, eye twitches… well you get the idea.

I have been very stressed and this last week, a lot of junk food has been consumed with precious little fruit and vegetables. Result – The Big Dipper on my chin.

Work is very difficult at the moment and the bank holiday has mostly been spent eating rubbish with The Chap – Chinese, pizza, bacon sandwiches etc.

There is only two ways for me to get rid of spots, stop being stressed at work and eat well.

Since I cannot stop working, then it is time to try the latter.

So this morning, I deliberately did not take anything into work for lunch. Then at 12 I wandered to Asda. It is not a supermarket I usually frequent as I do not have one locally to where I live. I know from when I do visit it is cheap.

I was only going to buy fruit and nuts for lunches this week, I was expecting it to come in at about £6. Final cost £12. You can see the exact breakdown on my shopping page, but here is the photo I surreptitiously took whilst waiting to pay.

I get most of my fruit nowadays from the market, as it suits a singleton. No prepackaged goods, less waste and I can choose quantities. “1 onion, 2 bananas, 3 potatoes and a leek, please Mr Market Seller”

£12 I thought was ludicrous, but I was caught in the trap of needing food now. It does make lunches this week cost £3/ day.

However, lunch was healthy

(well ok apart from the snack a jacks) and nuts are expensive totaling £3.05, but I felt a lot more alert all afternoon than usual and hopefully a few weeks of lots of fruit and veg will help get rid of my “takeaway tummy” that is making me feel obese.

No wonder kids are eating chips, crisps and biscuits. Buying fresh fruit and vegetables for a family of say 4 must be so expensive. It will be cheaper to give high fat and low nutritious snacks than a banana or kiwi thus creating problems for these kids later when the grow up overweight. Not to mention a highly specialized diet with no exposure to other textures and flavours.

Interesting side point my weight is currently 11stone. I am happy around 10 -10½ stone (well I would like to try Victoria Beckham 7 stone, but NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN!- lol), at the moment I feel big. Trousers are tight, and certain clothes are being avoided.

However I have just checked and for my height 5ft 7 according to this site I am in the perfectly acceptable weight bracket. Goes to show the impact of the media doesn’t it? Never the less, lunch will continue to look like this for a little while, and by the way it was delicious.

(disclaimer – I just googled height to weight chart and this was in the result. I take no responsibility for it’s accuracy)

What physical signs do you get when stressed?

Frugally yours

Abigail

X

P.S. Family, friends and visitors have all been contacting me about the radishes. The truth of the matter is you cannot taste them at all on a pizza. With so much topping – mushrooms, onions, sweetcorn and 2 cheeses. The radishes got lost.

However, I have been ashamed at the thought of throwing away the last of the unending sack of radishes I bought. So watch this space for more top radish information! lol

Monthly March Budget and More Bread!

It is (hopefully) Pay Day tomorrow, I always get so excited at the thought of Pay Day.

I can pay back more debt! Yippee!

I have been setting out my budget for March. It is a little unusual this month as it is a 5 week sales period for me so I will have to ensure that I allow a little more.

I always put aside my bills money on the first of the month which covers mortgage, insurance, tv license etc.

Petrol - £230. I allowed £200 last month, which turned out to be just over what I needed for 4 weeks.

Food - £100. I need to restock, plus I have 2 sets of guests visiting in March.

Savings - £200. A little bit more than last month, but I am prepared to take out £50 if needed at the end of the month if necessary.

This hopefully allows me a weekly budget of £25 to cover any extra costs.

I also have to buy 5 tickets this month to various events and exhibitions I am attending. Total cost £76.50 though £47.50 will be reimbursed by others who I am buying the tickets for.

March is going to be another tight month. But that means debt is getting paid off. Most definitely a good thing.

I have started the ramping up ready for my visitors on Friday. The 2yo will not give two hoots about the state of my flat, but I really want his Mum to feel it is clean and welcoming. Let the cleaning commence!

So this evening I started the necessary preparations.

Here is my shopping, which I have done a day early so tomorrow is not a race when I get home from work.

 Spent £35.15
I will be buying some vegetables / fruit and meat too, but getting that from my local market on Friday where it is cheaper and I can buy smaller quantities to suit my needs.

I also started on the bread that I need for the weekend, making a loaf and these gorgeous thyme and honey rolls. The recipe came from this book, I have been very kindly lent by a friend at my evening class.

 I think they look pretty tasty.

I am becoming cheeky in my old age and asking people if I can borrow items rather than buying them. If I like a few of the recipes then I will copy them out and return the book. I asked if I could have it for 2 weeks. My friend said I could keep it longer, but 2 weeks to me seems a reasonable length of time.

Speak to you tomorrow.

Frugally yours
Abigail
x

Frugality In Action.

Firstly let me say, Hello!! to my new follower - Flourgirl. Thank you so much for visiting! x

Being frugal is an every day occurrence here at W Towers it has to be, to keep to budget and pay back those darn credit cards.

I feel on top of paying everything back and I can see an end date now of December 2012 when I will be debt free, perhaps even earlier when the commission starts flowing again. It makes me feel good to know that I am taking action. I do have bad days when I feel like it is taking forever, but the truth is it is not. "The End" as they say "Is Nigh".
In order to fulfil my goal, I have to ensure that every day thrift is adhered to. I have had 2 No Spend Days is a row, and I feel good.
When I do spend money it has to be on items that will last and are good value.
Tuesday, I bought that cooked chicken for The Chap and I to have. I served it with tinned peas/sweetcorn and the last of the potatoes I bought a couple of weeks ago. Ok, as romantic meals go, it was not the best but it was cheap. The chicken I got reduced for £3.25 and in the end it has served up 4 chicken dinners and there is another serving which I froze for another day. Plus, I boiled up the bones for a good hour and hopefully at the weekend I can make soup. Hmmm, tasty and frugal 5 meals and soup. I reckon that means that the meat has come in at 46p per meal.

I also bought whilst at the supermarket a bottle of own brand caffeine free cola for 60p and a bag of white strong flour for 60p. The food budget for Feb now is down to £15.47. I need a few things and am planning to spend a lot of that over the weekend.

I do make sure now that whatever I buy lasts - I picked up a huge box of own brand washing powder at Morrisons over Christmas and whilst they suggest using 30g per wash I use less and so far my clothes come out clean, I also bought a small bottle of fabric conditioner, then decanted it into a larger bottle and topped it up with water. My clothes still smell fresh. I could probably do away with conditioner all together but when this bottle has already done me 2 months for £1 with still over half left then I can justify buying it.

I air dry all my clothes now and avoid the tumble dryer to cut down on electricity. However, I hate the scratchy towels air drying creates, so instead I air them over night until they are about 80% dry then bung them in the dryer to fluff them up at the end.

I would have liked to do so much this week after work - bake bread, ironing etc but the truth is my family and The Chap came first, deservedly so. My sister has dropped off my nephew with my parents for half term week, at 3 years old he is a bundle of delight, giggles and energy so Monday, Wednesday and tonight I have popped round after work to spend some time with him, bath him and put him to bed. That, if you ask me is a joy. I am taking him out for the whole day on Saturday, and budget be blowed!

Tuesday, was valentines night and of course I spent it with The Chap. He bought me a beautiful card and a box of chocolates in a heart shaped box. I am so touched, no man had bought me chocolates before especially in such a lovely box. 

So, all those pesky chores have got put to one side and I will tackle them on Sunday when I have the time to do it. Bread making here I come.....

To sum up, being frugal this week has not been pesky, and spending time with 2 handsome chaps is never bothersome.

I have also made an extra payment off credit card 1, only £7.01  (such a small amount but it covers the interest payment for Feb and a couple of extra pounds too) I thought things were going so well this month I could afford it, plus nowadays it gives me more pleasure than visiting House of Frasier during my lunch hours. The result today and yesterday I walked round the block in my lunchtime, passed no shops and just felt pious for doing so.

Life really is good.
Frugally Yours
Abigail
x