Shopping bargains

I read a lot about dropping a brand in the supermarkets, and have managed to achieve this with many of the products I buy. Sometimes I am too scared to try the really cheap versions of foods in case they are too horrible for words.

Last week I tried a cheap bag of pasta instead of the supermarket own brand. Reasoning that at 20p per bag for 500g instead of 68p per 500g bag, if it was horrible then I would revert back to the supermarket own brand.

Sneakily I decanted the pasta from the bag into our clear pasta jar. I did this to avoid noises of "I'm not eating cheap pasta" etc from the teenager in the house.

As I went shopping yesterday again, I asked said teenager what she thought of the pasta I bought last week, and she said it was fine. Two more bags dropped into my trolley this week after that comment.

Just goes to show that packaging sometimes really is just that!

Other bargains this week have included a 9 pack of toilet roll for £2.29 in Morrisons. Shame I only bought one bag as they had run out when I went back for more.

Noodles were still on offer at 63p per pack instead of £1.25 so I bought three packs. We eat a lot of noodles in our stir frys and they keep well in the cupboard.

Minced Beef Pasta Bake

Mince was in the fridge and needed using up, and the broccoli was fresh from my fruit and veg box this morning. I didn't fancy making anything special with much effort, so pasta bake cobbled together seemed like a great idea.

500g minced beef = £1.70 (50p off in local Morrisons)

1 onion = 13p

1 tin chopped tomatoes = 33p

1/2 bag pasta spirals = 15p (used basics range)

100g grated cheese = 50p (cheddar on offer for 500g block)

large head of broccoli = 98p

I basically browned the mince and onion together, stirred in the chopped tomatoes before mixing in a large oven proof dish with the dried uncooked pasta, sprinkled the cheese over the top and left in the oven for 30 minutes. The broccoli was done to perfection in approx 10 mins.

This provided us with three very large portions, but would easily go to four or five people. You could add plenty more veg to the mince such as mushrooms, sweetcorn, carrots etc should you want to.

A very filling meal for 95p per portion based on four people eating.

Bargain Birthday cards

I needed to get a couple of birthday cards for my daughter's friends when I spotted some value packs of cards in Sainsbury's yesterday. £1.79 for a pack of 12 cards in two designs. Pink for girls and blue for boys. For the price I had to try some so bought a pack of each. These will last us the year for any children's parties DD is invited to.

I was slightly dubious about the quality they would be for the price, but actually they are really good. You really can't go wrong at 15p per card.

The size of each card is smaller than a standard oblong sized card, but they are a decent sized square. Certainly not too small to give for a children's party.

Rounding Down

I firmly believe that not all money saving methods will work for everyone. One that I have found to be very productive for me is rounding down my online bank account every day to the nearest pound. I can't afford to round down to the nearest £10, but I have found that I'm not missing the odd pence in the pound. This is something I now do religiously as I check my bank account every day. I  know where every penny is or has gone to, and at the same time I get the satisfaction of seeing my virtual savings increase.

Realistically you will gain up to £30 per month by doing this. Where would that money have gone otherwise? I can't answer that so for it it's better sitting elsewhere, and then it can be paid off the mortgage when it reaches a decent level.

My Frugal Journey

There are plenty of blogs around that provide you with hints and tips on living a frugal life, making extra money to top up your income, and also to save money enabling you to pay off debts or save money etc.

My frugal journey is my journey toward my end goal of being mortgage free. It’s going to be a long road, but one that I hope will be rewarding and provide satisfaction in the long run.