Frugal Friday | Only 99p

I went to Aldi last night and did a little shopping, getting fresh vegetables and things before the Bank Holiday weekend starts. The prices of most of the items on my bill,  ended in in 99p. Are these bargains? Not really! I have a bottle of soft drink that has 99p all around the top of the label to make it sound cheap. I think they would sell less if it said 99% water! Soft drinks are 99% water, but we often pay through the nose for them and so prices ending in 99, aren’t at all cheap.

I had three chicken legs for 99p. Where those cheap? They weighed 510 grams and the cheapest chicken I can usually get on offer is £2.00 a kilo and so I think I did have  a bargain with those. I bought chicken thighs last time for £1.99 and didn’t notice until I got home that the weight had been reduced from a kilo to 750 grams. We have to consider what we are buying and all meat tends to be a little expensive, but not as expensive as drinks that are more than 99% water. It is advisable to read labels and try to understand them. The price per kilo is important, steaks can be flattened to make them look bigger, but they should have the price per kilo on the label. You should also watch out for meat that has been seasoned or advertised as barbecue ready. I saw some spicy chicken wings at one supermarket (not Aldi) that were £16 a kilo. They would normally be £2.00 a kilo or less untreated. You could make your own spicy marinade and do you own in 30 minutes for less than £3.00. If you need a couple of kilo for your barbecue, buy them fresh for about £4.00 and then buy the spices and pay a chef £20 a hour to prepare them for you; it would work out cheaper!

The weather has changed in England and it’s cooler today, but my lettuce seeds have germinated. They are very tiny seeds and I planted too many. I also have Chinese leaves seedlings. The beans aren’t doing so well, only three have germinated, but I’ll plant more if it goes warmer. After the rain the ground needs to warm up, but rather than planting more in pots, they can go straight in the ground now. I paid 49p for a lettuce last week, which is cheaper than they have been, but it’s still worth growing a few. I only have to grow one to get my money back for the seeds.

I tried to pay my line rental for my phone and broadband in advance for 12 months, but the website wouldn’t accept my payment. That error seems very convenient for them. Perhaps, they don’t need the advance payments anymore? I will try again. A saving of £5 a month is nearly 20% off my bill.

I have a problem with my car, the engine kept cutting out on the way back from Aldi. It could be a minor problem or a serious problem. It’s worth me having a look before I send it in the garage. I can’t get it into the garage without booking it in and that will be after the long Bank Holiday weekend. The problem could be as simple as the carburettor needing a simple adjustment, which I can probably do or it could be the engine management electronics which would need specialised testing. It is worth learning a little about your car so you can do simple things like adjust a carburettor. It usually costs me at least £80 every time it goes in the garage and so  I might be able to save a few pounds. The problem could spoil my plans to go out and take photographs on Sunday though.

Over on a Zillion Ideas today, I have started a series of weekly blogs about keeping to a diet. These blogs might be useful if you’re trying to lose weight or have to stick to a diet for health reasons. I have covered the subject of protein in our diets today, but will continue next week and with future articles about how to make it easier to keep to your diet. I’ll also be writing  about all aspects of diets, vitamins, minerals and fibre. I also intend to keep in mind the need to keep spending on our diets down and so I called this blog the Frugal Diet. Why not pop over to a Zillion Ideas and check it out. Be sure to enter your email address in the box, in the side bar to subscribe;  you’ll get an email, every time a new article is published.

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