Thrifty Thursday | Little luxuries

Prawn Salad

You might remember my gourmet food blog that featured an Icelandic prawn salad. I was looking forward to making another one on Sunday and went foraging for another little tub of prawns in Lidl. The price went up! They were £1.19, up from just 65p a couple of weeks ago. I still had them but made two meals this time with them. I used half the tub on Sunday with half a tin of white crab meat and a little iceberg lettuce, tomato, Branston and chips. The white crab meat was from Poundland. Yummy…

I had 10 eggs for 85p and so my most frugal meal is taken care of, I have egg and chips once or twice a week. The legs of chicken were more expensive at £2.65 but still cheaper than other supermarkets; they are £1.89 when they’re on offer. I had 4 cans of Pepsi for 99p, buy the four pack; they were 3 for 99p loose. I usually buy chocolates for my guests at Christmas and I’m trying to get a few things early. I managed to get brandy liqueurs for £1.19. I’ve treated them this year to Christmas crackers at £3.99.

Clothes

I had 4 pairs of jeans for £10 in a sale at Asda some time ago. They are OK for everyday wear but they weren’t cut very well and so the waist size varies and one pair aren’t cut very straight and so are difficult to iron. The more expensive designer jeans are cut better, fit better and are subject to more quality control in the factory but are ‘high end’ products and so the price is loaded. I used to get some designer jeans at a wholesale warehouse, but it closed down. I wanted some because they will fit me well and they will be smart casual for a special occasion. I found some on special offer on a website but at the checkout I couldn’t pay;  I had to open a credit account! The idea is simple, extend credit at nearly 40% and take me for a ride after charging too much on what I’ve bought. I’ll pay it off when I get the bill! I also ordered a jumper and a Christmas present. We all need to be thrifty now as the economy deteriorates further and that means getting value for money. Some designer clothing is poor value for money and some of the George brand in Asda is good value for money. If you look at jeans for example make sure the denim is quite thick and that they hang well on a hanger.

Thrifty, Frugal or stupid?

We can’t waste money and neither should government, national or local. My local council is going to try to save money by doing ‘virtual’ visits to elderly people and they intend to ‘keep track’ of them, in case they get lost, with Sat Nav technology. This blog costs me nothing and is secure; the chief executive of my local council has a blog that costs over £5,000 a year. He can run a council but can’t set up a WordPress blog and he is worth his £100,000 a year plus bonus and pension. There is thrifty, there is frugal and there is stupid. You decide…

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Related articles

• Thrifty Britain (mike10613.wordpress.com)
• Thrifty Thursday | Poundland (mike10613.wordpress.com)
• Thrifty Thursday | Every little helps (mike10613.wordpress.com)
• Frugal Friday | Preparing for Christmas (mike10613.wordpress.com)
• Thrifty Thursday | Shopping around (mike10613.wordpress.com)

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