Five frugal things we’ve done this fortnight:

Waiting on the slow, slow march of a house sale is definitely tiresome. We’re still surrounded by boxes and I’m feeling guilty about my half-hearted attempts to sell off stuff before the move, but there have been a few tip trips, so the decluttering has indeed commenced!

Here’s what we’ve been doing to save some cash:

Got another bargain thanks to our Lidl Welcome card

Instant coffee is not something we tend to put on our shopping list, but it did make its way there last week, just because I wanted to get some to keep in my locker at work. My breaks can be haphazard when it’s busy, and instant coffee is ideal for that (as long as I remember to take in milk!).

Buying a £20 shop at Lidl got me a huge jar of instant coffee for free! Next week I’ll be so caffeinated I’ll be bulletproof (or should that be workproof?).

Joined a new survey site

Getting a jog on with making more cash from home started to be a ‘thing’ for me, as now that one of our goals (moving house) is coming to its conclusion, another goal (working for myself full-time) is just drifting in the air. I decided to join Prolific Academic mostly to see what the craic was, having heard lots about it… so maybe there will be more to see when it comes to my monthly income reports.

Replaced the bath sealant

Finding a leak is the last thing we wanted right now, as the house is being sold, but find one we did. The bath/shower sealant had come away just at one point in a corner, letting water run under the tub, but after a brief minute of panic, I diagnosed it as a not-world-ending type of leak.

Of course, I replaced the sealant myself. We had to buy a new tube of sealant and a new sealant gun as my husband went all Hulk on the old one and snapped the trigger with his bare hands… but still cheaper than paying someone to do it.

Careful motorway driving yet again

Our new banger is amazingly economical – a 5-hour round trip to Birmingham and back cost the least in fuel that it ever has, and by keeping the speed under 70 mile per hour and the revs low, it barely made a dent in our wallets.

Sure, the car looks horrendous, but it’s a cheap silver lining.

Window shopping with extra restraint

On the way back from that long Birmingham trip we stopped at the Trafford Centre and stretched our legs. As usual, we stopped at Waterstones – love a bookstore – but didn’t get anything this time. Instead, we just had a bit of a look around the shopping centre for ideas for our new house, and chatted about future plans.

A bit of a tightwad’s date night out, I suppose!

Over to you…

What frugal things are you proud of this week? Let me know in the comments below!

I’m linking up with Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Five Fabulously Frugal things I’ve done this week linky.

Read the previous fortnight’s 5 frugal things.