Frugal Friday | The frugal way of life

Shopping

Traditionally, it’s lamb used to make a cottage pie. I want to make a cottage pie and so I checked lamb prices; it is a little expensive! The average family spends just 75p on each meal and I can’t make a cottage pie for less than £2.00 and then I would have to be a little stingy on the lamb! I could copy food manufacturers who pack food out with cheap protein, fibre and flavours.

I could for example add peas to the lamb, they are high in protein and fibre. If I cook some onion with the lamb and get the less expensive New Zealand lamb; I could get the cost down to £1.50; perhaps less. I can simply fry the chopped lamb with onions and put a layer in a foil tray, with peas and cover with mashed potato. I would actually pour a little gravy over the lamb, that I had made with a teaspoon of mixed herbs. The finished cottage pie could be frozen until needed.

Microwave

Cooking food in the microwave is quick and frugal. The paint is coming off the inside of mine and it’s rusty. I only bought it 2 years ago; it’s Daewoo in black, it looks great until you look inside! I’ll buy a new one, I’m already checking prices on the internet and I’ve decided on a microwave with a stainless steel interior; not a Daewoo, naturally. If you’re cooking in a microwave, consider part cooking food and then finishing it off in the oven. Chicken is nice done like that, it browns and looks better if it’s finished in a conventional oven or under a grill.

Frugal is a way of life

I was saving quite a lot of money and thought I was getting too thrifty and frugal, until a lot of annual bills came in; now I am glad I was careful. I still have  a healthy bank balance and a couple more bills to go. It’s always tempting to spend money when we feel a little better off; but it can be a mistake. It is better to get into the habit of being thrifty and frugal and not wasting anything. Enjoyment isn’t a waste and the odd beer is acceptable; I even had a few bets on the horses this week, I spent more than usual after having a 50 to 1 winner. That’s another lesson to learn, don’t spend money just because you got lucky!

Readers in the UK may be interested to know that Sainsbury’s have a new deal to save up to 15p on a litre of petrol; click here for more information. There isn’t a Sainsbury near me, but it might be useful if you normally shop there.

I shall have another frugal day out taking photographs this weekend and I hope to take some as good as last time. I use some petrol but apart from that I sometimes take a drink or sweets to eat to stop us getting thirsty! It’s a good afternoon out, not only relaxing but I get pictures for my blogs!

You might like to read my Neodigital Art blog, those pictures are now in a competition! There is also yesterday’s Thrifty Thursday and of course there are lots more on the Home Page. 

There are more blogs on my Home page that you might like to read. You can also comment and subscribe to my blogs, then you get an email every time I post a blog!

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