Frugal Friday and the end of the month, so time to reckon up the accounts and see how we did ! As I said at the start of the month this is a more expensive month for us, with 5 weeks shopping to pay for, additional biscuits required for 'exam fuel', four family birthdays and an MOT and service needed for the car. So that meant no savings this month, but this is alright as we did not overspend either. We were even able to pay for an international flight for MasterShoestring to go and see USAShoestring in July, so all the penny pinching was worth it. It was also good to have a fully funded CAR REPAIR fund so when the brake pads and discs needed doing we could just ask them to go ahead. The brake pads have been needing doing since last year, but we wanted to save up and pay for them when we had the money, so it was good to hear that they actually had 1mm of wear left on them and the car did pass the MOT. But with such a small margin of error we knew that now was the time to get them done! So quite a bit of essential spending this month but also a few savings this week.
We got a free Sunday paper and a free evening paper, so that is building up into a good fire lighting stash for the Winter. I also bought cheap dental floss over the internet, much cheaper than the one I usually buy. I need unwaxed floss which is woven specially to get in between very tight teeth and normally I have to buy special floss designed for cleaning behind braces. This new offer gave me 10x as much floss for the same price, so I hope it is good. I also bought cheap, generic hay fever medication for MrShoestring at two and half times less than the named brand and it has exactly the same active ingredient.
We made granola, yoghurt, bread, gabriel potatoes (these turned out so well I'll be sharing the recipe), pizza, birthday cake, soup, breadcrumbs and quiche. We cancelled a trip away when one of us did not feel so well and saved the petrol money and just had a nice day at home instead. I also got a birthday present for free, paying for it with Love2Shop vouchers from the Royal Mail survey. I filled a stamp card from Waterstones which entitles me to a free book, cost up to £10, so I'm saving that for a Christmas present . I picked lots of lettuce out of the garden and got 3 packets of free seeds from our free subscription to 'Kitchen Garden' magazine.
I downloaded a few free ebooks and got the car washed and valeted for free as part of the MOT and service. It was a 'Thank you' for making us wait whilst parts came in, but we didn't mind waiting and the car looks like new now ! We enjoyed a birthday meal at home for much less than the cost of a restaurant meal and enjoyed some lovely weather so we could dine outside !
How was May for your spending goals ?
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