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.
Hey! 👐
I think today’s round up kind of sums up life at the moment for me – I’m still really focused on saving money where I can (even more so than ever at the moment to be fair) but I do have more spare money in my budget so right now, it’s less about spending as little as possible on everything and more making sure I get a good deal for everything I do buy.
1) Last weekend, I saw the prettiest bottle of perfume when I was walking out of Superdrug and I couldn’t resist a quick spray.
I have no idea what it is about the perfume but something about the scent instantly reminded me of our trips to New York for some reason – I have a vague sense of walking through the reception of the hotel we always stay in which is very weird I know but whatever the scent reminds me of, I not only love the scent because it smells lovely but I also love it because it evokes some really happy memories in some way. Even if I can’t explain what it is. 😂
Anyway, after spraying it on my wrist, I left it for a couple of hours to see how the scent developed and to make sure I loved it as much after a couple of hours as I did after a couple of seconds and I did so I decided to treat myself. Before popping back on to the Superdrug website, I had a look to see if I could get a better deal and I found it selling on Amazon at the same price but if you use the subscribe and save then I could get it for a bit cheaper so I went for that and signed up for a six-monthly delivery which is probably too long but I’ll see how I go. It was only about £1.75 cheaper but with free next day delivery on Prime so I saved money and got it quickly.
(Aff link – Peony and Peppercorn Perfume)
2) I reckon I’ve mentioned Vinted pretty much every week for the last month but I love it as a way to refresh my wardrobe without costing me anything – I can say without costing me anything because I only buy things using the money I’ve made selling something on there if that makes sense.
Anyway, last week I mentioned that I’d sold a few occasion dresses on there and used the money to buy some replacements for a couple of special occasions coming up. One of the dresses that arrived was absolutely beautiful – amazing quality, perfect style and just the loveliest dress all around. It cost me a grand total of £4 to buy which I was super pleased with but it’s just a teeny bit tight around the top. It’s wearable but I just feel a bit conscious that the fact it’s a little tight makes it quite booby so I’ve passed it to a friend who’s confident that she can make a couple of alterations that will make it a perfect fit.
It doesn’t look much on the hanger if I’m honest and I almost scrolled past it but the price caught my eye and I thought it was worth trying but in person it’s so lovely, it has a gorgeous lace over the top which is longer at the back than the front and it just falls really nicely.
If it can’t be altered then I’m OK with that as it is wearable now as it is and I know it’s not many pounds away from being a perfect fit so it’ll just be for my next special occasion rather than the one I have coming up.
Also, the dress I bought from Vinted in the size down because I loved it so much is now wearable. Not wearable enough to leave the house as it’s a bit tight but wearable in that it fits. 😂. It’s been hanging on the back of my bedroom door for about six weeks now as inspiration and it’s I can’t wait to wear it.
(Find out more about How to sell on Vinted)
3) I was scrolling through Instagram and saw an advert for Hello Fresh which is a meal prep service that I used a little bit through lockdown as I was working longer hours and wanted something quick and easy. I did write about it here if you want to have a look at what we thought about it but in essence I loved it – especially because I got a great deal on my first four boxes so it was convenient and good value but I did end up pausing my subscription when I wasn’t very well as one box was pretty much wasted when I was in bed for the full week and the kids just didn’t bother and then the next box was filled with meals we weren’t keen on because I’d forgotten to log in and choose our meals with me being ill so we got the default choices which were no good for my fussy eaters haha.
Anyway, when I saw the ad on Instagram, I decided to try it again because with the discount, it works out at £28 for five meals for the three of us. I know that’s not the cheapest meals but personally, I’d regularly spend more than that on a meal for us so the fact that these meals are a bit different to our usual meals and come with absolutely everything I need to make the meals makes it perfect for me. Also, the instruction cards are so easy that the kids often cook the meals for us which makes life even easier. I think I’ve saved myself some money this week by re-signing back up so I’m pleased with myself.
Here’s what I’ve ordered for this week:
Just to be clear – I wasn’t and still aren’t working with Hello Fresh – I pay for all my boxes.
(Refer a friend link: £20 off your first Hello Fresh box)
4) On the subject of meal planning and food, every month for the week before payday, I don’t do a full shop. Instead, I spend half an hour listing everything that’s in the cupboards and freezer and make meals purely from what we have in to make space. It does make for some very random meals as often I have just one portion leftovers in the freezer or random bits and bobs that have caught my eye in the reduced section throughout the month so it does take longer to plan and prep each night but usually means a much smaller shop and makes space for the next lot of bargains and leftovers.
5) Last weekend, I made a batch of homemade Febreze but went with more fabric softener than I usually do as the rain weekend meant that the house smelt a bit of wet dog which is never pleasant!
I’ve got a sunshine scented fabric softener at the moment (whatever sunshine actually smells like) and it’s so fresh and uplifting that it was an absolute pleasure to replace the smell of wet dog with sunshine scented febreze.
Come over and join our fab Facebook group – Spend Less, Live Better! We’ve hit 35,000 members in the group now so it’s a great place to be and I’ve got Miss Frugal in there helping me out now.
As always, we’d love you to join in with us by sharing anything you’ve done that’s been thrifty or frugal from your week – whether it’s an Instagram picture (#5frugalthings), a blog post or even a video. Just add your link to the Frugal Friday linky at the bottom of this post.
You’re more than welcome to copy and paste the badge above but it would be even better if you could let your readers know that you’re linking up with the five frugal things linky by adding a little line to the bottom of your post like this one:
I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Frugal Friday’ linky.
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