Free food!

The best kind of thrift is getting food for free - it's almost free if you grow your own, but you can find food around that you haven't planted and tended.

There's loads of fruit growing on public land - if you check out the Fruitfall website http://fruitfall.ning.com/, you'll see what I mean. That's just in the Milton Keynes area, but you could start one where you live. Don't all come to Milton Keynes and chomp your way through our fruit though!!!

Apple and Blackberry Crumble from free, fresh fruit tastes delicious.

Half-fill a pie dish with lovely blackberries and chunks of apples (cooking or eating, it didn't really matter to me), dot with butter and sprinkle over some sugar (brown or white - you choose). Top with a crumble mix of 8oz plain flour, 3 oz butter and 3 oz sugar. Cook in the oven until the top is golden brown - yummmmmm.

Swedish Interior Shops

Here's a good money-saving tip:-

Go round the Swedish shop with your trolley or large yellow bag as usual.

1. Fill up said trolley or bag with unnecessary goodies - serviettes, glasses, crockery, RUGS, kitchenalia etc.

2. Go to cafe for free tea or coffee (free beverages offered with loyalty card), leaving trolley or bag in trolley/bag parking area.

3. Enjoy free tea or coffee, with gorgeous Strawberry Tart or Dime Bar Cake.

4. Leave cafe and head for food shop, selling meatballs, coffee and pear cider. forgetting trolley/bag parked in cafe.

Saving - £55 usually.

Getting started

The first thing I did years ago was to sharpen my eye liner pencil instead of throwing it away. It's quite hard to hold now its only a centimetre long, but I'm managing and when I throw this one away, I won't use eye liner at all!

I've downgraded my shopping - instead of 'Finest' ranges, I buy 'value'. Not always though, because sometimes it's a false economy. If no-one will eat the rubbish you buy, you'd be best not to buy it at all.

I used to shop at Waitrose, and although it's good value because it's so gorgeous, it all costs more, so I can't do that any more. If I feel rebellious I still go in there and just buy a few bits, and I really enjoy them!

I don't always take part in a 'BOGOF' offer - sometimes I only want one of them, and often the price of the offer is more than buying just one thing that you'll use and enjoy. This week I saw some not very nice bacon in a supermarket in a BOGOF offer - meaning I would have spent £2.49 for two packets of bacon I wouldn't like - instead I bought just one packet of nice bacon for £1.79. Now I won't be throwing away an unused packet of bacon on dustbin day!