Frugal February- Week Two-Bally Ann Week

My mother would sometimes announce it was "Bally Ann Day". In other words, the day before pay day -usually Thursday-when there was not much cash about and therefore we had to make do with what we had. I understand it is a common saying in Lancashire.

DH and I are paid monthly and this is the week before pay day, so it is Bally Ann Week. Now we are lucky enough to have bank balances which we could dip into if necessity intervenes, but I like to make the money last as long as possible, so Frugalista February continues apace.

Sunday

• Went to the local hardware store to see if I could find a cheap solution to the problem of cantilever shelves in my sewing room which are dipping down to the front. I wanted some kind of brace but could find nothing ready made and suitable. I told DH about the issue and said: I guess we are just going to have to replace the shelf supports with new brackets, and they are at least $10 each which would be $60 for the lot. DH thought about it and said he liked the idea of the brace, and thought he could make them out of wood. Watch this space! 
• Took some home made soup and bread from the freezer and had it for lunch. We are still eating our way through the freezer supplies. I hope soon to be able to clean one of the freezer shelves where a poorly sealing lid let wine leak out. 
• Went to the local sewing shop and was pleased to come out with three things which together cost me $3.50! I needed some sewing needles with bigger eyes and a new set of thread snips. I bought a fat quarter on special for $0.99c. The first two items were half price! LOL. 

Monday

• Have cleaned the shelf in the freezer and redistributed the stuff there. Still quite a lot left in there, but it is good to see some things being used up. 

• Took cheese, ham, bacon from the freezer for use this week.
• Started some lentils sprouting for later this week. 
• Sent DH off to the shop with a list and a budget. He came back with more than $25 left for this week! Bought fruit, vegetables and milk, eggs . 
• Made a quiche for dinner using some bits of ham I stuck in the freezer -they were little bits left over from the Christmas ham. Added some broccoli that needed cooking, some frozen corn and a few bits of spring onion from the garden. 
• making Tzikiki with home grown cucumber and home made yogurt for the Choir supper tomorrow night. Making double choc cookies for them too. (They loved it) 
• Did some work on the quilt I am making. Need to make the pieced border next. All of this quilt has come from my stash -and in fact from my collection of scraps left over from other quilts. 
• Concert tonight. The tickets were my Christmas present from DH. I love getting tickets as presents! There is not much I actually need in the way of gifts, but I love to go to concerts. 

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

•  My work days, as usual going to use public transport and take my own lunch. 
• On Wednesday someone my DH knows, rang to say she had cooked too much silverside (corned beef) and did he want some? He thought it was a bit odd, but happy to help, he went to see her and came home with a big plate of free food!  
• I downloaded some free Kindle books to read. 

Friday 

    We gave each other heartfelt, personal cards and greetings for Valentine's Day. I cut some roses and smokebush, put them in a vase and added some ribbon I already had, along with a little Love sign and there it was - a little romance for the day! 

On Friday I did my monthly bulk shopping for groceries.

In the evening we went to the community screening of a film -which asked only that we donate enough to cover the costs of the hall.

Saturday 

I needed new curtains, and had researched what was available. The biggest problem with the current ones was that they could not be washed, but desperately needed cleaning. I have a black and white cat, and the synthetic curtains along with the rubber backing, really attracted cat fur and would not give it up.

I eventually bought some ready made dark cotton ones from Ikea with instructions which said that they could be washed in hot water and tumble dried! They were really inexpensive -at least one quarter of ready-mades I had seen elsewhere -but I had to do some hemming to them. 

Whilst we were there we were excited to see a console table which would fit a space in our lounge room. I had been looking for one of these for about 6 months but was unwilling to spend the $1000 I had seen them for in the furniture shops.

This one will be easy to stain to match other pieces in our lounge room. I will use it to showcase piles of finished quilts! 

So there it is -how we spent our frugal week 2. How is your week going?