Freebies, Frugal Measures and Frugal Fails 13

Frugal Measures and Freebies this last week or two have included the following:

1) I decided on a very quick visit to T K Maxx one day a couple of weeks ago, and although I realise this is quite a dangerous thing to do for someone who is trying to stick to a budget, I did manage to find something from my wish list at a very good price.  This set of two Kitchen Aid kitchen towels came home with me for the great price of £3, as opposed to their usual price of £5.99 in the same store.  I love this brand as they are very good quality (I have some already). I'm still sticking to dark colours as you can see, to help disguise any accumulated food stains. It seems to be working as a strategy.

The only other thing I bought was a Christmas gift for someone, which was also on clearance.

2) More free seeds - Perpetual Spinach, Lettuce and Sorrel.

3) I used another £3 off a £30 spend at Tesco voucher on the grocery shop. 

4) I defrosted the freezer, so that I could freeze lots of this year's allotment and garden produce, which saved it going to waste (although some of last years produce from the freezer did have to be thrown away). I'm going to try harder to use it up this year, so the same problem doesn't recur.  I also pickled some beetroot too which I took with us when we went away and have been eating in my salads this past week.

5) I gave a small leather satchel that I had bought for myself, but only used once, to my niece as a birthday gift.  It was in immaculate condition, but I just know that I will never use it again and she loved it, so that saved the money I would have spent on her gift. I did buy her a few small gifts to go with it too.

6) We got a free week's break in Yorkshire this week, by volunteering to housesit for some relatives that have lots of animals that needed taking care of. It turned out to be very peaceful and relaxing, which was just the antidote to our normal everyday lives in London.

Frugal Fails have included:

1) Being overcharged for travel on my Oyster card, which I had a rant about in a previous post. TFL still owe me £7.20.  If I remember, I'll try to claim it back next time I travel on a tube or train.

2) I forgot to take my water bottle to work the other day and ended up buying a very nice donated Klean Kanteen instead.  I don't regret it though, as these stainless steel bottles are beautiful items and seem to keep the water nice and cool.

3) When we went up to Yorkshire for a week, LB forgot to take anything suitable to wear for her cousin's 21st birthday party, so I had to buy her something whilst we were there. I tried to keep spending to a minimum though.

4) LB also needed a wetsuit for a short break she is taking soon with some friends, so I had to purchase one for her, as I didn't know anyone who had one that would fit her that I could borrow from. This cost £25, which was a bit of a blow to last month's budget, but I'm sure it will come in useful occasionally and I can always resell it at a later date.