Thursday 28 February 2019

Last Day of February, Ins and Outs and Frugal Bits

Symbolizes discounts and prices drop. White word



 As usual I've been keeping a note of a few Small Frugal bits from the month...........
  • Made a huge pasta,salmon and broccoli bake which divided into 6 portions (Salmon tin £1.69, broccoli 58p, Pasta.15p, 1½ pint milk from milk powder 30p?, 1oz willow butter 15p, tablespoon flour.... pennies, grated cheddar 50p?)
  • Dried some bay leaves in the boiler cupboard
  • Made a batch of chicken and leek pasties with one chicken breast and leeks from the garden 1 to eat and 4 into freezer ( Flour pennies, baking fat approx 50p chicken breast approx £1, leeks negligible white sauce of butter, flour milk approx 30p)
  • Eating homegrown mange tout, peppers and courgettes from the freezer 
  • Reading free library books
  • Bargain offer of fruit bushes and plants from T&M via the Money Saving Expert website
  • Beetroot from the garden ...... now finished............ the last lot were cooked on the 21st.
  • Batteries from car boot sale saving a little.
  • £1.50 Tesco voucher 
  • Picked up  a whole wheelbarrow full of twigs and bits from the meadow and put them in to dry for kindling wood.
  • Discovered a random Lemon Balm plant growing in the veg bed when I weeded so don't need to look for one in boot sale after all (where has it appeared from?)
  • Using the leeks from the garden, made a big batch of veg curry with leeks , apple,onion. spinach from the freezer and small potatoes. Ate 1 portion and put 4 boxes in freezer (leeks cost negligible, apple 16p, frozen spinach approx 15p, curry powder pennies, flour pennies, onions approx 20p , dried apricots approx 20p, home made chutney pennies) 
(So this month I've made 16 meals for around  £6.50, if my maths are right, and most are still in the freezer)
The Planned Expenses for February were.............

House and contents insurance, negotiated to last years price;  6 Month water bill; Food for me and the cat; Diesel for the car and petrol for the mower; Phones and broadband direct debits; Seed Potatoes. Dual membership for small WI; Walking shoes.

Unplanned Expenses
More peanuts for the birds - they are suddenly eating them like crazy!; The special offer fruit plant collection;
Bulk online purchase of soda crystals which I use for laundry(better overall than driving to Ipswich and car park charges just for slightly cheaper washing soda at Wilkos).

And I'm still sorting and getting rid.......OUT  went
  • Some shirts and tee-shirts  of Colin's to the charity shop
  • A suit of Col's to charity shop
  • Suit cover to son
  • Jug to charity shop 
  • Vase to the charity shop
  • 2 Metal Filing Cabinets from workshop to son's garage 
  • 2 Wooden trestles and some tools as above
  • Jigsaw Puzzle into the car-boot box
  • Couple of old strap things from workshop into bin 
  • Small bag of bits of electrical and plumbing odds and ends from the workshop into the bin
  • Few old books to charity shop
  • Craft Papers and some other card making stuff into the car boot box
  • Old useless leaf blower that was here when we came off to the Household Waste Recycling centre AKA The Tip
  • Old Pressure Washer that no longer worked .....as above
  • Old Radio that was falling to bits......as above
  • Pipe bender and a handful of tools from workshop to Brother in Law S.
  • 3 small things that had been in the present cupboard for ages went to the Charity Bring and Buy stall at WI 
  • Books from the cupboard to granddaughter
  • Biggest out was the grey Fiesta..........finally I got organised to use the new car all the time and sold the old one to the local car repair workshop where they want to use it as a cheap-to-run  loan car.
Quite a good list

Back Tomorrow
Sue

15 comments:

  1. That looks like a very satisfying list! Wll done - wish I was half as organised and methodical as you are.
    xx

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  2. Sending my admiration to you for organising and achieving all the 'OUTS'. Gosh, I bet that feels good.

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  3. Well documented and must be satisfying seeing your achievements in print .

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    1. I think that's why I like writing - my only chance to see my writing in print!

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  4. Goodness me, you have been busy. All I’ve done is washing, weeding and look after Ruby!

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  5. You have been busy. I have sorted out lots of very old book they are so old they have not got the ISBN number on them. I brought 20 small germanium and have repotted on them, they only worked out to 20p each.
    Hazel c uk

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  6. A satisfying month all round. Accomplishments in all areas, well done.

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  7. Well you did have a good month Sue. I have been doing lots of bits of sorting out, keep one bag for the Cancer Research shop and another for YMCA. But like you right now I’m collecting everyone’s unwanted Christmas gifts etc. For a coffee morning in aid of Marie Curie and the AGM of Ladies fellowship where we have a fund raising table at the same time.

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    Replies
    1. The more I can clear now the less there will be in 10 or whenever years time when I have to move.
      It's handy being at the charity shop - I can take some in each time I go

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. Sorry Sue - made a mess of it.
    I'll start again. The trouble is that on the big things - like you sorting out your car, you are probably like me - I take ages to dither about doing it. When I finally do it I feel good. I have been going to sort out my finances for weeks - this afternoon I did it although I didn't feel like it. It didn't take long and I feel really good now. So well done you

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  10. Well done Sue, a great list of good things done and saved and made and sent out. The meals made and frozen at such economical costs are especially praiseworthy.

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  11. Ooo you've had a fab Frugal February! Well done on the decluttering and the 16 meals!!

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  12. What a lovely Frugal February. Having some meals put away for a day you don't feel like cooking is great.

    God bless.

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