Thriftiness

As always I'm mindful of the money I spend as much as the money I earn, "a penny saved is a penny earned", as they say. But and this is an important but, I don't want to live a life eating cheap food and I don't want to fill my life with cheap products. In an ideal world I like to eat good quality food at reasonable/reduced prices, and I try not to buy anything unless it is a considered purchase. Frankly 99% of the stuff I buy is second hand, and there is soooooo much stuff about, you can cherry pick the best. Just today I have bought two items from a local charity shop, both still in their original wrappers but way under half the commercial price. I have been following this course for a few years now and I find it very satisfying. It means I'm not buying stuff I really have no need of, I'm not putting lots of debt onto credit cards, and the best feeling in the world .... getting a bargain. It also means that I can save up for large items or for very nice holidays.

I have only made a couple of purchases in 'the sales', because I do feel things are only a bargain if you really wanted them in the first place, before they were reduced.

Lots of my chums have been telling me about the merits of a slow cooker, so I have been considering buying one for a couple of months now. Last week on Huge Furry -Wintercoat's show he showed us how to use up left overs and how to cook up some delicious stews. Prompted by this I finally took the plunge and bought a rather sexy black slow cooker from the Co op. I used to shop with them regularly when they were our local store, because although they only stocked the basics, they are very ethical, especially where animal husbandry is concerned. I had £7.00 in loyalty vouchers and they had the cooker on sale at £19.99 reduced from £29.99. Whey hey was I happy. Now I can buy good quality cheaper cuts of meat and it will be slow cooked into wonderfulness. I'm going to try Hugh's recipe for sausage stew to start with. I haven't tried a sauage stew before because it sounds like it would be full of fat and not have a great taste. But I bought some Duchy of Cornwall chipolatas, mightily reduced at Waitrose, and I have a bottle of pear cider somebody brought round to ours sometime ago, so I'm now thinking , this could turn into a family favourite.

Looking forward to lots of tasty stews, with leftovers for lunch and of course more money left in my purse.

He's a good ole boy.


(image of Hugh via music.ihatemornings.com)