Frugal Things We have done this week of Filming

Hi Savvy Shoppers! I hope that it’s ok to call you this by now. We’ve been shovelling out great tips to you over the past couple of months and we hope that you are taking heed and grabbing some good deals at bargain prices, or better yet, free! You will reap and be able to share with friends and family.

So you may know by now that we have been selected to appear on a television series #shopsmartsavemoney. This week we were called away once again for filming. As we had to be away from home for two days, we thought we would put plans in place for the running of the home whilst we were away.

Childcare Cost

Filming is all-consuming, well for us novices at least. As we are not yet pros, it takes a while to learn our lines and to deliver them with confidence. It means childcare has to be trusted so you don’t spend your time worrying about issues at home. So we are blessed to have a trusted childcare provider who takes care of the home and family whilst we are away. I count it a frugal cost that this care is consistent, top quality and dependable. I can just imagine the catastrophic cost of things going wrong if we were to leave a stranger in charge of home and kids for 2 days plus an overnight stay. The financial cost is one thing, but I am sure it would be costly in many other ways if we were to entrust childcare to a total stranger. I take a mental note of what a blessing this is.

Special Birthday

A lovely friend of ours is celebrating her 50th soon. We wanted to present her with a special gift that is bespoke, practical and handcrafted. Being very hands on where craft is concerned, we thought we would put hand to heart and create something really amazing for her. We decided on one of those deep framed art pieces. All the supplies we had before as we do a lot of craft whenever time or opportunity presents itself. So using tiles from an old scrabble that we had purchased in a charity shop we made the beautiful piece you can see below. The card part of the ensemble was actually from a card I had received for my 50th. Personally, I think it looks amazing and I just know she will be pleased.

Meals for the Week

In preparation for the time away and to make it easier on the childminder, we cooked and packed away meals that the children could have. From the previous week, we had purchased some boneless chicken thighs. From this, we made a batch of fried chicken and a batch of sweet and sour chicken. These are meals we know the children love and it was not very costly as we used our homemade tomato sauce as the base for the sweet and sour sauce. See how to make your own. This is so tasty and offers peace of mind when you know that the ingredients going into the sauce are ingredients that you trust. So take my advice. When there is a glut of tomatoes on the market, they are usually cheaper, so buy them then and they make the base for many sauces.

Free Compost

I was admiring my back garden in all its splendour and thought how beautiful it is. The floral display is truly delightful. Do you want to know why I think my flowers are so beautiful? Well, I will tell you. Free compost. Since I have learnt about composting, I have embraced its values and I can certainly sing its praises. It is quite easy and rewarding to have a compost bin. Most of what comes through my letterbox daily get shredded and placed in my compost bin. All my fruit and vegetable peels, half-eaten fruits, grass cuttings and soggy vegetables get put in the compost. Then at the very start of Spring I ‘reap’ my fresh, free compost and use it to inject life into my garden. It cost me nothing to make and is so good for the soil and the plants.

Free Pizza

I’ve noticed that many of the phone companies now have offers (freebies or reduced price) which they promote to their customers. So I was pleased last year when I learned that my mobile phone provider (Three) were offering similar products and services on the Wunto App exclusively to Three customers. There are offers on daily. Some are via various competitions which I have tried to enter but no luck yet. This week, however, we were fortunate to have three free pizzas which served as dinner with some fresh salad. It was quite quick and easy to do and by the way, the Dominos pizzas were delicious. There is a new Dominos open nearer to home now which make it much more convenient to pick up the freebies. Be sure to check out Wunto if you are a Three customer.