Once again, it's time for the frugal round up and welcome to the couple of new followers who have joined us this week ! A big thank you too to all the people who commented on the gooseberry jam post.
Well, this week'e frugal goings-on have mainly concentrated on the garden as we have had a lot of produce appear, this is great as my shopping list has been very small ! We had the first marrow, which was used in a pot of vegetable soup; some courgettes, delicious fried with garlic; loads of blackcurrants, raspberries and gooseberries- some for jam making and others frozen for the winter months; new potatoes which were delicious in a salad and our first cucumber which together with the second crop of lettuce kept us in salad all week. This has been our most successful garden yet and I even pulled up some onions which have been added to the store. The menu plan has changed quite a bit to make the most of the bounty !
I did some mending and we got the split in the car bumper mended at home, which saved quite a bit. I also found 6 bottles of grape juice for 25p each and these have been put away for the winter holidays. I checked the present cupboard and discovered that I have quite a few things for next year as well as being almost complete for this one. I just need to make a couple of food gifts for my Dad and then we are done. So no need to go sales shopping at all ! I sorted out all the second-hand school uniform so that I know exactly what is needed for next year and won't be tempted to buy more by the special offers.
We made yoghurt, tortillas, bread, breadcrumbs, cake, cheesecake, jam, cream cheese and soup this week and re-used foil to keep our homemade pancakes warm. I finally got a refund for some pension contributions which were too small to produce a pension and had the confirmation that we will qualify for tax credits, starting this month. So a thoroughly good week, I hope you had one too !
A very good week on the frugal front indeed and being organised for gifts is brilliant.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do like to get ahead on the gifts, it does get harder as the children get older though !
DeleteI seem to remember that Aldi is a bit out of the way for you, but if you miss grape soda, they have it on special at the moment for 37p a litre. Although it's red not purple :-)
ReplyDeleteThey also have cream soda and root beer although I'm informed these are substandard in taste (I only like grape soda so can't comment personally).
That is a great price, I'll certainly keep a look out the next time I go past, many thanks for the tip !
ReplyDeleteI've not had a frugal time recently as I'm paying for and living in a reno zone, and last week, because I've no kitchen, spent a whopping 80 dollars on ready-made food at the grocery closer to me. Makes me glad to have a small kitchen and an Aldi nearby. My Aldi doesn't carry a lot of ready-made stuff and I usually make my own. Will be glad when this is done.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your renovation, having an Aldi nearby does help and ready-made food is still cheaper than eating out, so you are doing alright !
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