Every week I share five frugal things that I’ve done during that week just to show you that the small things you do all add up to a great frugal lifestyle where you can learn to live a fabulously frugal life.
Before I start though, as always feel that I should say that being frugal to me is about getting the best value for our money – it’s not about doing without for us or about not having nice things. We all have different financial situations and we’re all frugal for different reasons. 😉
1) I ran out of my favourite lipstick this week. ;-(
I could go out and spend £14 on a new one (and I’m super tempted to be honest) but what I’m actually going to do is use up one that I got free in a free gift when I bought two Elizabeth Arden products last year. It’s a little bit on the red side for me to love it but it’s actually not a bad colour so I’m going to give it a go and use it up before I buy a new one of my favourite colour.
It’s not too red and actually, it looks OK but it’s not my favourite. 😉 😉
2) Master Frugal has had another growth spurt over the Summer and needed some new trainers as his feet have gone up a full size in the last month or so.
The pair he had his heart set on were a lighter colour than I would have liked but he does normally take care of his trainers so I let him get the ones he wanted. We ALWAYS spray new trainers with Crep spray before the kids wear them and that’s genuinely helped their shoes last longer as it does seem to repel stains and keep them cleaner for longer.
But… I went to work the next morning before we’d sprayed them and he went out to the field in them without thinking to spray them and with me being at work when he told me he was going out, it just totally went out of my mind to tell him to do it before he went out!
He came home later that day, looking rather sheepish, wearing trainers that were covered in grass stains! I wasn’t sure what to do because I didn’t want to rub the stain into the fabric and make it worse but something needed to happen. I popped straight to the shop and bought this for £2…
It worked unbelievably well and the trainers looked brand new again after a good 15 minutes of scrubbing! We then dried them, sprayed them with the Crep spray and they’re as good as new – he’s worn them every day since Monday out with his friends and there have been no more stains which I like to think is because we’re so careful and spray them with the spray. It’s a worthwhile investment at £10 as it really does work – this isn’t sponsored or anything but I am a fan so I thought I’d share it as a way to prolong the length of trainers for kids – they cost enough so you want to get the best wear out of them that you can.
3) I have a little patch of skin just under my hairline on my forehead which gets dry and flaky when I get stressed or tired and it looks like I have really bad dandruff. I’ve tried all sorts and there’s only one shampoo that works on it is that expensive T-Gel shampoo which is something like £7 a bottle.
I managed to find it in Costco for £7 for two bottles so I stocked up and bought four while it was on offer so that’s saved me £14.
4) Try before you buy!
I’ve been wanting a bike for ages but didn’t want to buy one in case it was one of those things that I just thought I wanted but in reality, would use just once and then never again.
So instead of buying one, I’ve borrowed one for the Summer from a friend who doesn’t use hers so I can see if I really am someone who bikes to the shop rather than drives and who enjoys evening bike rides to relax.
5) Do you know how much you’d spend on bags for life if you bought four every week when you did your shopping?
You’d spend over £40 a year just on bags for life which is money I’m sure you’d much rather was in your pocket and plastic that I’m sure you’d much rather not be in the landfill.
We have a set of bags that we bought for £7 a few months ago in Morrisons and they’re brilliant, there are three normal bags in the set and one cooler bag which zips up. They’re really sturdy and fold flat when we’re not using them so they tuck away neatly in the car boot.
I know I’ve told you this before but I thought I’d share this with you again today because it’s these little savings that add up – by taking my bags into the shop we don’t have to use bags for life. The lady who served us today when we did our shopping commented that so many people still bought bags for life rather than bringing their own so if you’re one of those people, take your own bags and save money as well as doing some good for the world.
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I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Frugal Friday’ linky.
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