Saturday, 12 January 2013

Back On The Bandwagon ... Thrifty Snippets ... Saving The Pennies

Hello ..Hello...
are we all back into the swing of things ?


 All the decorations have been taken down .. all the glitz and glitter now a memory past ... reality hits ... its a cold wet January.



Thinking what a waste to just put the pretty cards in the recycling bin .... I cut them into gift tags.



I found some oddments of ribbon to string them ... all ready to be used next year.... and no doubt next Christmas will come all too soon. 

Moving on from the festive season .. it must seem a long time for some until payday ... money is always in short supply.
Hubby P and I had a sit down and a good old chat about our finances and areas we are going to try and improve on ... saving where we can .. shaving off a penny here and there.

Shopping was one ... I don't know about you but the cost seems to being going up and up.
We decided to make more effort checking prices across the shops available to us .... time consuming .. but we must just fit it into our life.  
 

Lidl was our choice this week ... to see what bargains they had to offer. Our haul included onions... great big bag full 5kgs for £1.99.
 A lot of onions! but they keep well and if they show signs of getting a bit tired I will chop and freeze them ... but we eat a lot of onions ... onions are good for you!



British beef mince 800 gms .... that's enough for three good meals for £2.49. I divided it into three packs and put two in the freezer ... we had Shepherds Pie for tea ... made with the last portion .. it was very nice ... very lean mince. 
Hubby P was on the case... and in the interests of 'Quality Control' ... you understand .. he had to eat two portions (....until there was none left!).... He did declare it 'Smashing' 
So there you are .... Lidl Mince ....



Peppers .... nice and fresh were on offer .. three for 89p. I chopped them and popped them in the freezer .... I mostly use them in stir fry type meals.
  

As part of a Christmas treat I bought some nice grains to make my muesli ... just love this yummy stuff for breakfast.



I have these large glass sweet jars to store my muesli and porridge oats. Who remembers these lovely big jars full of allsorts of everything on the sweetshop shelves ....
Ohhh ... the agony of choosing ... sherbet lemons or pear drops...
pineapple chunks or mint imperials ...
the shopkeeper must have had the patience of a saint.

Anyway enough .... I'm off to do more bargain huntin ... I think we all will be on the same trail if we are to survive these constant price hikes.
So whats your bargain of the week ... do tell .. we need to share and pull together. 

xx   take care .... snow forecast next week   xx

Posted by at

19 comments:

  1. Mum12 January 2013 at 12:44

    I've wanted to make my own muesli. Did you get the rye flakes etc from Lidl?
    Love from Mum
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bryallen12 January 2013 at 12:57

    There is a new sweet shop in Cornwall that has the old style big jars of stuff lining the walls! :) It's cute.

    I love peppers in just about anything! They're good in chilli and fajitas, also I made a quiche with them in the other day.

    The ribbon was a nice touch to your new Christmas labels!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown12 January 2013 at 12:57

    Hi Mum ...I got the sunflower and pumpkin seeds & apricots from Lidl. The rest I got from a (not so cheap) Health Food type shop. I'm trying not to eat so much wheat, so there are oats rye pearl barley and quinoa flakes, but of course you can use anything really .. I ring the changes with chopped prunes, sultanas, various nuts etc.
    I would be interested to know if anyone knows where to get reasonably priced Wholefoods ... if there is such a place!

    Vicky x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Betsy12 January 2013 at 13:37

    You have made great choices. What is murseli?

    ReplyDelete
  5. willow12 January 2013 at 13:43

    I've found Lidl's white bread flour makes lovely bread in my breadmaker.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown12 January 2013 at 14:03

    Hello ,,,i hauled an old granny blanket out of the landfill, bought it home gave it a good wash, its now on my armchair...free!! that was my bargain, and two bent tins on toms from the supermarket :-)
    you did good bargain hunting x

    ReplyDelete
  7. thriftwood12 January 2013 at 14:09

    Chocolate limes and liquorice and black currant! Great bargains xxx

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lyn12 January 2013 at 14:32

    Food is so expensive these days you need to save money where you can.well done to you. Xxx

    ReplyDelete
  9. Scarlet12 January 2013 at 14:35

    I buy my grains at Holland and Barrett. Around £1.25 for 500g of rye flakes or barley flakes. I use them in my breadmaking and they seem to last for ages.I got linseeds cheap from Approved Foods a while ago. Your onions were a good buy. We've used all those we grew so I will get some from Lidl - thanks for mentioning them.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous12 January 2013 at 14:39

    prices are sky rocketing here as well, you and cook so much alike.I would have done the same thing with the mince only here in Canada we call it hamburger which is stupid because its not a burger is it!Your muesli looks like it must have been wonderfful!

    ReplyDelete
  11. jann12 January 2013 at 14:46

    If you can get enough people interested you can order from Suma directly in bulk. They sell to food co-ops. I was in one up above Caernarfon some years ago, and the wagon used to come up to Y Fron at the top. I know they went over to Ynys Mon so it may be something you want to explore or ask about if anyone near you already has a food co-op going. X

    ReplyDelete
  12. jann12 January 2013 at 14:48

    If you can get enough people interested you can order from Suma directly in bulk. They sell to food co-ops. I was in one up above Caernarfon some years ago, and the wagon used to come up to Y Fron at the top. I know they went over to Ynys Mon so it may be something you want to explore or ask about if anyone near you already has a food co-op going. X

    ReplyDelete
  13. thriftwood13 January 2013 at 00:43

    I'm following you officially now ... Sorry, I thought I already was! Had you on my blog feed but noticed I wasn't on your followers list ...

    Love Claire
    (Your newest follower!) xxx

    ReplyDelete
  14. Just Original13 January 2013 at 02:28

    I did'nt realise until this week how many vegetables can be frozen from fresh to add into various meals!

    Keep up with the thrifty meals!

    Vanessa x

    ReplyDelete
  15. Cat14 January 2013 at 13:50

    Good tips there Vicki!We also tend to buy in bulk when its cheap...and we are trying to use freezer bits up this month as the money is very scarce.I got a big lump of yeast from tescos bakery for 10 p. and have been baking wholegrain buns and danish pastries.Lidl is def. very good value.Yummy cereal...a good start to the day then!xx cat

    ReplyDelete
  16. ted and bunny15 January 2013 at 23:47

    hi Vicky- yes you're quite right about the eggs!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Windy Island Handmade16 January 2013 at 04:28

    Hello Victoria. My best bargain this week were the four vintage doilies I bought from you at Valley yesterday! I told you I'd leave you a comment! If you'd like to visit me, I'm here...http://windyislandhandmade.blogspot.co.uk/ Will see you again soon. Karla.xxx

    ReplyDelete
  18. Unknown18 January 2013 at 04:00

    Nice. Thanks for sharing your experience. I wish to spend beautiful anglesey cottage holidays too.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Reginas Cottage22 January 2013 at 05:04

    hello
    great bargains. i love peppers too.
    how do you freeze the onions?
    here in germany cost 5kg onions 1,99 euro.
    great blog!!!
    HAVE A NICE WEEK;
    REGINA

    ReplyDelete

I do so like to read your thoughts and my blogg-y doings ... Thankyou for leaving a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)