Thrifty ideas to make you richer

The Aldi super-six this week are salad potatoes (1 Kg), chestnut mushrooms, fun-size pears (8 pack), plums (400g), fun-size apples (7) and pineapple. They are all 69p each and the offers end next Wednesday, 9th of October. There will be new offers on Thursday. I went to Aldi yesterday. I had some of those salad potatoes and cooked them with a fresh chicken and broccoli for dinner. Yummy…

I bought a washable mat for 3.99. I was hoping it would fit in my car, but it was slightly too big. I have found a use for it though. I had a bag of daffodil bulbs for 1.39 to brighten up my front garden. I bought some ibuprofen gel (1.49) for the aches and pains I’ll have after planting those!

I still fancy making Autumn soups and stews. The carcass from that chicken will make a nice stock and I bought some parsnips to add to my stock of things to make stew from. I have onions, celery, parsnips and carrots now. My basil plant did well through the summer and so I can add lots of basil. I added just a little chilli powder to the last soup I made and it was a little spicy, but not too hot.

The Thursday special buys include lots of kids Halloween stuff and some kitchen equipment like a 5 piece non stick pan set for 19.99. I wish I could have bought those last week. I have bought two frying pans and a saucepan. It’s more saucepans I need, not frying pans!

The Sunday special buys didn’t interest me much except for the  cleaning wipes for glasses and camera lenses. They are 1.19, so I’ll watch out for those.

I must go to Poundland one of the days. I need stationary. I keep lots of spiral notebooks close by for my research notes. Yes, I do research! The project notebooks are good because they have dividers to divide the topic into different sections. They are ideal for students doing their dissertation. Put your contents list notes into section one, introduction into section two, the body of your work into section three and four, your conclusions and paraphrase stuff into section five and finally your Harvard referencing into section six. 10,000 words is easy with well organised notes!

I read my gas meter wrong a couple of months ago, so  had to pay extra. I’m now in credit, so much so that I am paid up until next spring. It’s better than being behind. A mistake like that can send you overdrawn unless you’re thrifty and frugal. The line rental on my phone is paid up until the end of October 2014, saving me about £60 by paying in advance. I save by paying by direct debit and having an online account too. I also save by paying other things annually, like car insurance and car tax. If you save by shopping thriftily and use what you buy frugally by cooking and not wasting stuff. Save your money and get a little interest from social lending like Zopa and you have more money left for the little luxuries.

Have you spotted any bargains this week? Do you have any frugal tips? Do you have an unusual way to save or invest? Please share your thoughts in the comments box. You can also follow me on Twitter.

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