Freebies, Frugal Measures and Frugal Fails 5

In my fifth post in this series, you'll notice that there are some distinct repetitions, namely the free seeds I get from a free magazine subscription. I will continue to include them, but I apologise if it gets a bit boring for anyone reading.

Frugal fails this post were:

1. I had a bit of a splurge in the first week of the month, buying a few things from the CS and other shops.  I think I spent about £35 in total, on lots of different bits and pieces, but largely they were things that will be used regularly or passed on as gifts.

2. I bought a couple of unbudgeted things in the second week of the month, one being a denim dungaree dress for LB to wear in the summer, which came into the CS and the other being another small Xmas gift for a relative, again from the CS. Sometimes, the items are too good to miss and both of the above were brand new and unused, still with labels.  They cost less than £10 in total too.

3. This frugal fail was very annoying.  I used a cash point on the way to the CS the other day and forgot to take my money. (I rarely use cashpoints and just completely forgot).  I'd only gone a few steps, but when I went back it wasn't in the machine. I don't think anyone took it, as there wasn't anyone else around at the time. I went in the bank and was told that  the machine took it back in and it should be recredited to my account, so I'm now waiting to see if this does in fact happen. I'll be very annoyed if it doesn't.  It was just £10 though, luckily, so it wouldn't be a massive loss, but I'm not one to just throw money away, especially into the jaws of a bank.

Freebies and Frugal Measures this post were:

1. More free seeds.

This time turnips, curly kale and fennel.

2. Three free unwanted trellis panels found outside a house and used to make raised bed covers.

3. I got this Neal's Yard Wild Rose hand cream free with Marie Claire Magazine last month.  Not strictly free, as the magazine cost £3.99, but a lot cheaper than I'd have to pay if I bought it in a store. I don't often buy magazines, but if they have a free natural product with them, that I will definitely use, I sometimes make an exception.

4. After my frugal fail at Lidl last post, whereby I was charged £3 for a packet of coffee that I didn't buy, when I was presented with an £80 bill for last week's grocery shop, I decided to check my receipt before leaving the car park, to make sure the same thing hadn't happened.  It turned out that I had been charged for two bags of compost, when I'd only bought one, so I made sure to get another before I left for home.  Only a 99p overcharge this time, but it would have been very annoying if I hadn't checked, especially as it was for something that I could so readily use in the garden.

5. One of the items I bought from the CS in the first week of May was a real bargain and worth a special mention, namely this boxed set of two new and unused Emma Bridgwater Half Pint Mugs for just £10.  It was a great price, as the two retail for more like £40 and they will make a great gift for someone, whose name I will not mention here, just in case they might be reading this.

6. I also received some money off vouchers to shop with at Tesco this week, so my most of  my weekly shops for the remainder of the month will be done there to take advantage of these.  I haven't had any for a while, so this is good news.