The Canny Lass

Remember how last week I told you my car is in the garage needing £800 of repairs? Well, this morning I got a call from the garage saying their supplier sent them the wrong parts and they would have to send them back and order new ones. Sigh. I know these things happen and the garage people were very apologetic, but I’ve been missing the car. The only good part of this is that I have been walking more, so maybe I’ll be able to take off some of this blubber I have around my body! :-D

So, how has your week been? Hope it’s been good. Today, I have decided to do a no spend day where I will not spend anything at all. That’s the plan and so far, so good. I want to build this up so that eventually, I’ll have a no spend month to try and reign in my expenses and stop buying stuff (mostly books) I don’t need because I’m feeling fed up. That’s the plan. Wish me luck.

Today, I will also do my daily look at my expenses/money and I’ve started to take any extra bits of money from my main account and stash it into another account. The idea is that it’ll build up into a savings account, but the reality is that I break into it every month to cover expenses. I’m hoping though that I will get there eventually. So here’s what you do: say you have £385.64 in your account. If you are feeling flush, you can transfer £5.64 into another account. If you’re a bit skint, just transfer the 64p. You’ll be surprised how quickly it adds up.

I’m also going to do a stocktake of a second shelf of my freezer. I did the top shelf a couple of days ago and used the food there as this week’s meals. I didn’t get through it all, but at least if I know what I have I can use it up BEFORE ordering yet more food. My freezer is packed and I have no clue what’s on half the shelves, which is not good for food planning. So, I thought I’ll do another shelf today and finish it off tomorrow, then I have a great list from which I’ll concoct meals from. Actually, doing a stocktake on the first shelf was a bit like doing a treasure hunt for I found some lovely butcher sausages and half a quiche my mum gave me (her quiche’s are legendary). I had the sausages for dinner two days ago and will have the quiche tonight. Result!

I also used up some bananas we had going black and made it into banana bread. It’s a recipe from Nigella Lawson’s The Domestic Goddess book and is so nice.

In other news, I’ve sowed some thyme, beetroot and sage seeds. The thyme is just sprouting, the beetroot has come up too, but the sage is taking its time. That’s totally fine. I’m hoping to get out in the garden on Sunday to start sorting it out so that I have everything ready by the time the seedlings are ready to go out.

What are you doing to be more frugal? Comment below or email me at: thecannylass@gmail.com

Top Tip

Use up stale sponge cake pieces by soaking it in a mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, and spice and baking into a posh bread and butter pudding.