Boost My Budget uses affiliate links.
This week has been a very frugal week for me because I’ve basically done nothing!
My husband has been away for a week and I decided it would be a good time to have a financial and health detox. We had quite an exhausting couple of weeks before he had to travel, so I’ve taken this chance to have some quiet time and look after myself.
As it turns out, staying in by myself is a great money saver!
Here are five ways I’ve been keeping it frugal this week:
- Gone vegetarian for the week: I like to eat veggie because it’s healthier, lighter and so much cheaper. We usually have one or two veggie meals each week, but on my husband’s cooking days his meals are very much on the meaty side! Since I’m by myself I decided to go meat-free for the whole week. My entire weekly shop was only about £11, which was mostly fresh fruit and veg. I topped this up with things from the cupboard and freezer. This whole frugal thing would clearly be a lot easier if I was single!! (Just joking… kind of 😉 )
- Using up meals from the freezer: A few weeks ago I made this lentil bolognese recipe. It made absolutely MASSES… and then my husband confessed that he doesn’t really like lentils! So we’ve basically had a freezer full of the stuff. While he’s away I’ve eaten it several nights for dinner. It saves cooking and it saves buying more food! I think the recipe’s really nice anyway. It doesn’t even taste ‘lentilly’ if you add some wine as suggested.
- Made packed lunches every day: I’ve been on and off with my packed lunches recently, depending how busy I am, but this week I managed to take my own lunch to work every day. As part of my health kick this week I had different salads every day. Not sure of the total cost because I used the same ingredients in other meals, but definitely under £1 per day.
- Enjoyed some surprise flowers: Each year on Mother’s Day we do tea and cakes with my mum, grandma, aunt and cousins. Everyone brings flowers for all the mums, and it usually turns into a big old flower exchanging fest. This year some of my relatives kindly brought flowers for me too, even though I was the only woman there who’s not a mum! It was a nice surprise, because I love fresh flowers but usually don’t buy any for myself because of the cost. I came home with three bunches of flowers and they’re still going strong.
- Got back into running: Last weekend the clocks went forward, and the lighter evenings have inspired me to start running again! Last summer I ran every other day, but over winter I barely managed once a week – it’s just not the same when it’s dark before and after work. Running is definitely one of the cheapest ways to stay fit. It can get pricey if you’re into your kit, but as long as you have good shoes (and a sports bra!) nothing else is really essential. I would love a fancy GPS watch one day but for now there are free apps like Strava that do pretty much the same thing.
How has your week gone? Have you got any great frugal tips or achievements to share?
I’m linking up with Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Five Fabulously Frugal things I’ve done this week’ linky.
