Thrifty Thursday: Halloween preparations

The Aldi super-six this week are chantenay carrots (500g), parsnips (600g), cauliflower, leeks (500g), mild onions (4 pack) and baking potatoes (4 pack). They are all 69p. Those offers continue until next Wednesday.

Today’s special buys at Aldi includes lots of tools. There are some replacement wiper blades for cars too; I’ll have to check those out.  The jet washer is 199.99, but would be useful if you’re going into the business of cleaning cars or driveways.

The Sunday special buys are mixed but includes a thermal base layer to keep us warm this winter. I’ve already got my thermal clothes for the cold weather, I’ll be dressed like an eskimo this winter!

I looked at the offers at Tesco, they aren’t bringing their prices down enough to compete. 500g of seedless grapes on offer for £2.00 compared to 1.39 at Aldi. I can’t eat Mr Kipling cakes because I’m a coeliac, but they seem to have the new ones on offer. The apple pies are good with cream in summer or custard in winter. They now have new ones, like toffee terror whirls for £1 a packet. I fancy apple pie and custard…

Tesco also do a credit card with no fee for a balance transfer. The 0% is only for 12 months on transfers and purchases, but still useful. If you want a longer period and a 2.99% fee try Barclaycard.

There will be no more tax discs on our windscreens after this month. Some people are trying to sell their old discs as collector’s items on Ebay. Good luck with that! My tax is up at the end of October, so I’ve already renewed it online. They will take the money on the 3rd of November. I have paid for the year, rather than pay extra for monthly payments. It’s still a direct debit, that is the only payment option.

Remember you can still get a reasonable rate of interest by saving with Zopa. I’m getting around 4%, but you can do better than that by lending money out over 5 years. You also get money for introducing people. If you lend over £1,000, I get £25 and so do you; over £2,000 and that’s increased to £50. You can also borrow money from Zopa, if you have a good credit rating.

Poundland has some LED lights in for Halloween. These are much safer than candles or tea lights. Be careful at Halloween and on bonfire night with fireworks. Children get burnt and injured every year. It’s better to go to organised events, where there is more safety.

Remember all those autumn foods now to keep us warm. Bangers and mash, hot dogs and roast chestnuts are great for Halloween and bonfire night. Aldi will probably have cheap pumpkins to carve in a  couple of weeks too. You can also carve swedes and turnips for Halloween. Turnips were used originally. Save money, by preparing for Halloween in advance, make your own decorations and plan meals with a Halloween theme.

What are you doing at Halloween? Please share your thoughts in the comments box. You can also follow me on Twitter.

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