Five frugal things this week (4 May)

Fabulous tulip in the front garden

Current state: very overexcited. Lots of friends are coming to stay for the bank holiday weekend. Meanwhile we had a lovely time last weekend, pottering around the pretty town of Woodbridge. I’ve zipped up and down to London and here in Hadleigh the tree surgeons have been round to trim some of the trees that were bolting skywards.

Without further ado, here’s my round up of our five frugal things this week:

No food photos because we ate it

Feasted on lunch for less

Last Saturday, both children were whisked off on a Cubs trip to Flixton air museum. My husband and I seized a rare childfree day to head over to Woodbridge, and eat the kind of food they would hate. Thanks to a bit of googling, we pitched up in a excellent but hushed Turkish restaurant called The Galley, and feasted from the cheapo “street food” menu (ie a lot of meze and starters).

Shock horror two meals out in quick succession after my birthday meal at the Ram in Hadleigh. Don’t worry, normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Dress for less

Nabbed a cut price dress

While we were in Woodbridge, we also did something else the children hate – shopping.

I needed to find something more suitable for a work event than my everyday trousers and T shirt. Luckily, Woodbridge has a fine selection of charity shops and the Red Cross shop turned up trumps. £12.99 later and I had a Precis dress that may even be vaguely flattering, and for about a tenth of the normal price. At the very least it is distinctly red, and will show up against a sea of suits.

I don’t mind wearing good condition second hand clothes at all, and dresses for formal events tend to be great candidates as they don’t get worn to death. Save money, prevent landfill, support a good cause  – what’s not to like?

Tips on charity shop shopping in this post 

Performance-related pay

Won a ton* of sweets

Our £1 ticket for the raffle at a school concert turned up trumps, when we won a massive tub of Swizzels sweets. (*OK so a ton might be pushing it). 

Think Love Hearts, Refreshers, Drumstick lollies and Parma violets. Came in handy for introducing performance-related pay for the kids. Going rate for finishing your dinner is in our house is currently two lollies and a jammy dodger.

Cleaning cloths for free. Joyful.

Got some freebie cleaning cloths

We have a whole load of friends coming to stay for the Bank Holiday weekend. Woo hoo! This also means we might have to hoik the house up from its normal state to a cleaner, tidier, slightly-easier-to-fit-through-the-door state. Boo.

Handily, I paused during a trip to Morrisons long enough to check the Shopmium supermarket shopping app. It’s offering pairs of Spontex Microfibre cloths with 50% cashback, so you can get them for only £1.75 rather than £3.50. As I had some referral credits, I could even claim some for free.

(More on supermarket cashback apps)

I like Shopmium because it pays out any cashback super fast. I bought the cloths, scanned the barcode and submitted the photo of my receipt on Friday, and the money was back in my account on Wednesday. No fuss, no fees, no waiting for a minimum payout.  Comes in handy when trying occasional treats for less. Short pause for fond memories of Gu mini cheesecakes and Jude ice cream (although I do recognise Spontex cloths might be a tad chewy).

I like Shopmium so much I even did a video for them – have you spotted it on Facebook? I specially booked the children into afterschool club so it would be peaceful for the filming. Then with perfect timing, the snow fell, the roads were blocked and the school closed. So the filming took place with my husband working from home and the kids throwing snowballs outside. Best laid plans and all that. Sigh.

Anyway, if you’ve never tried Shopmium before, use the code KFKKAMKL when downloading the app, and you can claim cashback to get a freebie jar of Nutella. Sign up here.

Now I just need to actually use the cloths…

Bolstered our break down cover

We swapped to the AA for breakdown cover last time it was up for renewal, as it saved money compared to sticking with the RAC. I only signed my husband up for the policy as he does all the driving.

Then recently we got a letter saying he could add someone for £11, saving £23 compared to the normal cost. I figured I really do need to get back behind the wheel, so we paid the extra £11 for the peace of mind that someone will come and rescue me if the car gives up the ghost.

Now – over to you. What was your best frugal win this week? Do share in the comments, I’d love to hear!

I’m linking up with Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Five fabulously frugal things I’ve done this week’ linky.

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