Thrifty Finds

Since i was a youngster i remember being dragged out of bed early to go to the bootfairs with my mum and dad, at stupid o clock in the freezing cold, sitting in a van teeth chattering while i munched on a sandwich!! As i am the youngest of 3, my sisters are 11 and 13 years older than me, so were mostly out doing there own things. So along to the bootfairs i went, while my mum and dad would sell and take turns to have a wander and look for bargains. I remember loving it when i was brought loads of toys and clothes as a kid, always something new to play with or wear and receiving big black bin bags of my cousins hand me downs felt like christmas looking through at all the goodies!! Then when i hit my teenage years i would turn my nose up and be miss snooty!! wanting only new things direct from the most fashionable shop! uck im not wearing or using other peoples rejects!! lol i look back at my attitude then as a young teenager and cringe at myself but now chance would have it since getting with my hubby at the age of 24 i started to see things my parents way and have developed a wise head or turned into my parents you could say! I now watch Antiques roadshow, bargain hunters, cash in the attic as well as a number of other programmes in similar nature and absolutely adore trawling through the charity shops, wandering up and down the aisles of bootfairs on a sunny day and keeping an eye open for bargains as well as jumble sales & garage sales.. and now it is even easier to do from home getting the occasional bargain from ebay and even the facebook for sale groups i must be a member of about 15 different ones mostly in my area!! Just love a bargain why pay full price when u can grab a bargain for less than a quarter of the original price you might sometimes pay in a shop! or better still if someone gives it to you for free!..Here are some of my thrifty bargains for your perusal!

This stand i bought at a bootfair the other week for a £1..i now use this to store my cake Decorating bits

This Wooden wine box i found in a charity shop for £1 which i have attached to a large beam next to my cooker and use to store my olive oil bottles! they fit perfectly and can be hidden away.

These Decorative heart storage tins were purchased from a bootfair again for £1 i love everything hearts & shabby chic so this stands proudly on my kitchen dresser

This set was a special buy i love everything Emma Bridgewater and this is practically the same as her hearts design but this was a fraction of the price at £5 for the set! this i purchased in a local shop in my village a converted barn which a lady sells house clearence items and antiques! Always beautiful items on display i will only ever buy from there if there is a sale on though.

This set of decorative plaques were purchased from an indoor Tablesale which i paid £2 for the prices states on the back they are from Next and retail value is £19.99 these fit perfectly in my Sitting Room with my Shabby Chic decor

Some more decorative wall art which i purchased from a charity shop for £2 love the light pastel colours & Roses are my fav..

These very cute cats a Draught Excluder and a Felicity Purring doorstop made by Doramouse & Company these really fit in at my country cottage i bought these at a local bootfair for £2 i am not sure how much they are new but they are very good quality

This heart notice board or photo frame which i use it for was purchased at a bootfair.. I had gone to one stall where a lady was selling a pink one for £5 i oohed and ahhed a bit as have been wanting one but decided to think on it and come back to her but i did purchase a string of decorative sewed hearts in beautiful materials with crystal beads which i now have draped in my bedroom for £2 but on turning down the next aisle i spotted this white one i asked how much and the man said umm £1? Yes please! just shows you should never impulse buy as something of a better price might be just around the corner! :)

These lovely cushions were given to me from my Auntie who actually lives next door to me she originally had these hand made and they feather cushions they must have cost a lot to be made but she gave them to me as she was changing her decor, I had recently changed my decor from chocolate corner sofa to 2 cream sofas with cream curtains and the shabby chic country cottage look and was looking for some nice cushions and was thinking of pastel colours maybe but when given these they fit perfectly so very grateful for these

Lastly for now.. we have this small shabby chic style mirror which i purchased from the same tabletop sales as the wall plaques for £2 which hangs in my hallway

On looking around my house i have an array of thrifty bargains which i treasure more than the shop bought items.. I love anything that has a history much preferring solid antique furniture to modern i will do some further posts of my thrifty finds when i get a chance Xx

Quote for the day

                               “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”

                                                                                               By William Morris

Ways of using up stale bread

I was forever throwing out the last few slices of bread and crusts straight into the bin but now im thinking and being more frugally aware i am now looking for more ways to use items of food or packaging up before throwing it out.
Here are some ways to use up your stale bread, just make sure you check all over and be sure its not mouldy first.

1. Croutons for soup

2 .Croutons baked in oven infused with garlic and olive oil or herbs makes a nice crunchy snack alternative to crisps

3. Breadcrumbs...used for Rissoles/Meatloaf, macaroni cheese or pasta topping,or anything you might make homemade thats breadcrumb coated i have been making my son homemade chicken nuggets as he a fussy eater and likes most things crumbed so thought this would be a healthier alternative for him and he loves them :), also use breadcrumbs for my bread/onion sauce to accompany a tasty roast dinner or honey roasted gammon with mash!

4. Stale bread dipped in egg and fried (french or gypsy toast) or just fried to go with a nice fry up, under grill with some nice cheese or again fried as a ham and cheese toastie

5. Just plain toast if you have frozen the slices

6. Added to soups or broths to bulk it out so it is more filling used to love beef broth as a kid with bread chunks

7. Bread Pudding! i do not have a recipe for this as not too keen on it myself but you can find a variety online

8. Garlic bread or pizza bread topped

9. Bird food, or take a trip to the local ponds and feed the ducks

10. Bread Souffle

What do you do with your stale bread?

Xx

Orange & Banana Peels

Before just throwing my peels in the rubbish bin which i would normally do without a second thought i decided to look into both and see if there was any uses i could make of them both after starting my frugal journey and was surprised by the amount of uses i found for both so here they are

firstly the orange peel, to name a few

1. Candied Orange peel .. which you can also use grapefruit peel and lemon peel.. make a tasty treat by boiling the peel a couple of times then dipping in sugar letting dry and finally dipping in chocolate.. i will be having a go at this myself shortly having saved up my orange peels for this purpose.. look up recipes and methods online!

2. Orange peel Kindling!..Orange peels are flammable due to their oils so apparently make ideal kindling and will also leave the room with a nice citrusy scent whilst cosying up by a toasty fire.

3. Exfoliating sugar scrub.. this can be made from the zest of orange peel and some sugar mixed with olive oil

4.Cat Repellant .. adding orange peels around your plants in garden will keep cats at bay as they apparently do not like strong smells.. I remember my grandad doing this around his borders of his bungalow

5. Ant Repellant .. Place some orange peels around problem ant areas and this should keep them away, also helpful when camping or picnicking!

6. Mosquito repellant..rubbing orange peels on your skin when outdoors should repel mosquitos from nipping at you

7. Brown sugar preservative.. adding a small amount of orange peel to a bag of brown sugar should help to keep the sugar soft

8.Rubbish Bin deodoriser..the stong scent of orange peel can help to fight the nasty smells which accumulate over time, this is also meant to keep bugs away.

9.Slug Repellant .. orange peels spread around the soil in your garden should keep slugs away

10.Aromatherapy.. the oils of orange peel can be used as aromatherapy to treat conditions such as depression and anxiety

now for Banana Skins!

1. Banana peel can be used to shine your shoes

2. I have recently watched a video where banana peel has been used to help remove scratches and marks from Cd's & Dvd's

3. use to shine your plant leaves

4. Psoriasis..The inside of a banana peel can be used to rub on the affected area of psoriasis is meant to help reduce the redness after a few days

5. Acne.. again using the inside of banana peel rubbed on affected area is meant to help reduce appearence of acne within a few days

6. Also for warts and poison ivy same actions as above should be applied

7.Teeth whitening using insie of banana skin

8. Removal of splinters.. when pressed down on affected skin area

9. Beautiful skin .. rub banana skin on face leave overnight and wash and is meant to leave your skin soft and radiant

10. Failing these use for composting!

Hello and welcome to my new blog!!

Having just finished 8 years of employment working for a healthcare insurance company, I am now to be a stay at home mummy to my 1 year old daughter and my 3 year old son.  I have been working since i left school and am now taking a year out so as to spend some quality time with my kids before they both start school next september,without the stresses of work life.
My frugal journey begins now, I have had some practice already where money has been short on and off but now we are going down to one salary i am going into Frugaldom & Thriftyness full time and am looking forward to the challenge :) to experience more joy from the simple things in life, to find a use for everything, to cut back on leftovers. to make more homemade meals, homemade gifts, learning to sew and making do and mending! 

So starting today we have had a pretty productive day so far...
I went through my bread bin and had about 3 packets of bread in there with a few slices and crusts at the bottom of each, normally i would not bother using them assuming them mouldy or stale and would sling them in the bin.. but having been learning more about being frugal i have gone through the bread the mouldiest bits i have slung out but have checked over all the rest about 9 slices bagged them into freezer bags and frozen so when we need some toast we can grab a few slices when we need it..
we were also given a large bag of hotdog size rolls the other day when friends came round for a bbq there was a large bag left so have bagged them up and frozen too so they can be used at a later date for garlic bread & homemade pizza bread..
we had some strawberries in the fridge that were starting to look less than appertising, again i would have thrown straight in the bin but i went through them took the manky looking bits of skin off and was able to use the whole lot in our breakfast fruit salads with yoghurt this morning they were perfectly fine under the skin and very tasty still..
My sister brought us round 3 large marrows

which her neighbour had given her she was given 11 large marrows in total and was worrying about what to do with them all so gave us 3, i will be doing stuffed marrow for dinner later with 2 of them using a minced beef recipe and have given one to my next door neighbour who is actually my uncle he loves marrow and is looking forward to eating his too..
My sister also gave me a cars single duvet cover for my son, a waterproof undersheet for a single bed which we can use for my daughter when she has her single bed,

a purple hippo cushion

 which you can use to put your pyjamas in so my son or daughter can have this and a star trek cushion rucksack thing!

 which is a bit scay looking so might see if i can sell it for a bit of cash sis is happy with this as wasnt too keen on it either! lol
My husband has been busy all day making a cat shed for our kitty who is now getting used to being outside and caught his first mouse yesterday

spot the kitty!

.. hubby has been using left over bits of wood he has found around the garden and some leftover felt for the cat house which is big enough for the cat bed & his food,so if he decides to be a dirty stop out and stay out for half the night he has a nice cosy warm place to go..
I find now that everything i use i am now looking for an alternative to just throwing the item out ie i had just enjoyed a nice juicy orange and then wondered if there was anything i could use the orange peels for, after looking into this i found lots of uses for orange peels to name a few.. candied orange peel which sounds delish..orange peel kindling for the fire which will also fill the air with a lovely citrusy smell mm .. also a beauty product zest the peel mix with some sugar and olive oil to make an exfoliating body scrub, also good for rubbing on skin as a mosquito repellent and keeping ants away and cats off plants and so many more as well as the banana skin, read a number of ways to use these too for cleaning plant leafs shining shoes fixing scratches on cds and dvds .. found this very interesting and informing that i will be doing a 2nd post re uses for fruit leftovers shortly..my Aunt also bought me a beautiful cake topper..( I am very into my cakes at the mo)

 from the bootsale for a £1 it is brand new in box with a price of £10.95 so am very pleased with that and popped up to our local tescos got a loaf of bread reduced to 49p which i will freeze until needed and used my free gift receipt of a free tub of tesco finest ice cream

 they only had 1 left which was a creamy latte one but was very tasty indeed and free :) shop price £2.75..to finish off my list i was also given a posy of sweet peas

 from my godmother which fills the air with a most gorgeous scent.. and the kids were both treated to £20 each from nanny and a ladybird and turtle rucksack bag each

 to take on our camping holiday this coming weekend as well as some choccies :) ... x