I’m really enjoying reporting on how my frugal living is taking shape. Of course, sometimes we do have frugal fails, as we did last week. To be honest, there is a major frugal fail that I need to report this week too, but I will leave it for further down. You won’t want to make the mistake I did!
Now for the positive frugal things
Pancake Day
I don’t think we had ever made pancakes before we came to live in England. We soon realised that Pancake Day is a real thing and so we have immersed ourselves a little in the tradition. Nothing bad about making a meal of it.
In our case, we made a dinner of it on Tuesday. It was Shrove Tuesday. Don’t ask me what that means but I reckon it has something to do with indulging in food etc, just before Lent. Just so you won’t be tempted to overindulge during the 40 days of Lent.
Instead of going out and buying commercially made pancakes, we made our own and had a fun evening of it. We used the best recipe out there to make a batch which was then separated and coloured according to what the little ones wanted. They then took turns, with adequate supervision, to make their own pancake, adding their toppings, and devouring it, to then take their place in the queue for the next one. The toppings were all bought at Aldi because we think they are the cheapest, so we mostly shop there now.
The fact that the kids had so much fun and learnt how to make pancakes from scratch, is absolutely priceless. We did plan to take a photo of a stack of pancakes with syrup oozing down them as in the pic below, but the pancakes were each gobbled up by its owner as soon as it was made.
Valentines Day
We always include the kids in Valentines Day celebrations and, just like for Christmas where we start preparing from July, we start looking around for suitable items from much early before the day. It doesn’t take much to get some gift bags and put a few candies (from the after Christmas sales) and chocolates etc in it. We even bought a box of 4 blueberry muffins for £1 and wrapped them individually in each gift bag. The kids really couldn’t wait to get home from school to receive their Valentines Day gifts. The look on their faces, again, was priceless. So, a few little items exchanged and a movie night in, and the love was all around. Feel so much better for resisting the temptation to spend a lot on gifts, and also paying for watching a movie. On average, each bag cost about £2.15 so that is good, isn’t it?
Would you consider making this a tradition in your family?
The big Frugal Fail this Week
I can’t skate, but as the kids love to, I took them skating last Sunday. What do you do when they want to spend two hours in the freezing cold and you don’t want? Well, I decided to browse Pinterest on my phone and pin a few items to check out later as well as catch up with friends on the phone.
After an hour or so I felt peckish and went to get lunch. On my return, I got back the same spot I was in a few minutes earlier. The parking lot wasn’t very full so there would have been enough space anyway.
I got back to check out Pinterest and Instagram until the kids came out, red-faced but happy with their skating exploits. I was happy for them too but told them there’s no way I would spend two hours in such a cold place if I could help it.
Imagine my shock on Tuesday when the mail came with two parking tickets for a total of £200! I had been going to the ice rink a lot and did not realize that they had begun to monetise. If I pay within 14 days of the notice, then it would be £120 plus an additional £10 for processing fee! What would you do? Send your suggestions my way, whether you’re a lawyer or not.
I guess I will have to get selling some stuff after I do a bit of decluttering to make up for losing money this way. Or what about sending us your recommendations? We really need to claw some of this money back. Afterall, next week is the half term break so there will be younger ones to feed and entertain for a whole week! Help!
Thanks to the bloggers below for letting us link up and learn with them each week.
Oh no!! Gutting. All you can do is ask them – tell them you had no idea and ask if they will at least let you pay just one ticket. If the signage is inadequate you could argue it on those grounds. You won’t be the only one so definitely worth a go.
I agree with you about Aldi – we bought our frugal Valentines dinner there.
Jane
We will try what you suggest and see how it turns out. Thanks for that.
Oh no! I hate when frugal wins get eaten up by fails! I hope you can get out of those tickets! Very cute ideas for the kids’ Valentine’s Day surprises!
You have to help me pray! Check back next week to see what happened.
I’m afraid the Parking powers that be take no prisoners and accept no excuses – been there and done that. Very bad luck. Hope you manage to claw some cash in from somewhere
regards from an ex-Brummie !
Oh no! I think Martin Lewis has some great advice for parking fin challenges so definitely check that out and let us know how you get on!
Thanks for joining in with the five frugal things linky this week x x
You are right – pancake day is the opportunity to use up sweet things and unhealthy things before the leaness of Lent kicks in.