T6 thought of the day

"Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship."

Benjamin Franklin
(& the T6 Crew)

One thrifty step forward, three or maybe four steps back...

On the 31^st May, I sent the following text:

‘Ken, I’m a fraud – I’ve not tried to be thrifty at all this week.  I’ve gone out of control. SOS!’ 

Following a month  where I ate lots, drank lots, went out lots and took taxis.. lots,  I fell off that ‘Thrifty six’ bandwagon with a massive thump. I just don’t know what has happened. It’s been one massive sunny haze of excess where all my money is now lining the pockets of others but certainly not mine and I am left dazed and very confused. I reflect back on T5 and falling off the ‘Thrifty six’ wagon doesn’t feel good. In fact, it’s pretty rubbish, almost the same as when your parents say they aren’t angry with you, just disappointed but there are no parents, just my conscience.  However, I’m 26 and mature enough to admit my mistakes and as a mature adult, I’ll be visiting Ken tomorrow and return to where it all began – Nottingham, in the hope I am enlightened once again (I hope to start the trip off positively by spending £3.95 departing from Worksop instead of Doncaster which would have cost £15.)

But I should sandwich the bad with some positive thrift tales:

 Arty times in West Yorkshire

 I have done some things which were free including my afternoon of culture in West Yorkshire!  First stop was the Hepworth gallery.  Besides holding collections of art created by Barbara Hepworth, there are plenty of other workshops and activities that seemed to be going on as we strolled through this wonderful building.  My favourite piece was the 'winged figure' We only saw the prototype and it was pretty amazing.  I think the real one is at John Lewis HQ.  Click on this link to find out more www.hepworthwakefield.org

'Winged figure'

 Following our stint at the Hepworth (armed with my free balloon) Jenny and I drove to the Yorkshire Sculpture park.  By parking on a side street outside the Yorkshire sculpture park, we avoided the £7 parking fee which we would have paid if we were there all day but this was justified as we just wanted to nip in to see the Miro exhibition which made me all nostalgic for the good times I had when I went to Barcelona, particularly when I saw the random lady legs sculpture – something I never thought would come in to my life again.  

Miro - common themes in his work include birds, constellations and...women.

Fitness

I would also like to blog about an extremely friendly and welcoming fitness company in Sheffield which was recommended by my friend Kirsty called www.fairplaysport.co.uk .  It’s mainly personal fitness training but I attend their group circuit training sessions which I am going to for £4.50 a time and it almost feels like you’re getting your own personal training session as groups are so small.  Alice (the owner) is very encouraging and supportive even when despite her patience and excellent instruction, I’m yet to master the v sit-up.   Combined with circuit training, I am gearing up for the summer by getting involved with some tennis at school (free courts!) I think you can also check out Bingham Park and Weston Park if you feel inspired enough to get your tennis on and want to do so for free.

The number of tennis balls which I have hit over the school fence :(

 Music

 In an effort to redeem my bad T5 ways, I have also been streaming music whilst I’ve been writing my blog confession and currently enjoying the delectable delights of the new Hot chip album for free.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CGQQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fmusic%2Fmusicblog%2F2012%2Fjun%2F06%2Fhot-chip-in-our-heads-stream&ei=sd_RT6_JNsaX1AWb5aSWBA&usg=AFQjCNFVhv5vKx-cpmg9MRhNqJcioU2mtQ&sig2=MXkO4-8AptV-2-zH8myhog

   Warning: This video makes me a bit sick when I watch it.
   Click and you'll find out why. 

Keeping my fingers crossed for a better T6 month. Until the next post, take care.
Peace and T6 love,

Chi x

The Pennies Jar

Good morning thrifty people!

Firstly, many apologies for my lack of posts  - however luckily Chi has been all over it with a series of hilarious and informative thrifty tales! A particular highlight being the errors and fails section...Chi...I FEEL YOUR PAIN! Ebay is heralded as a great thrifty place for scrimpers and savers...however the pitfalls are endless! Great tips from Michelle on remaining strong and winning the ebay race.

Anyway, today's post brings a thrifty positive from what was frankly a major fail! Fiona and myself, accompanied by her friend Ciara attempted a Car Boot sale last Sunday. In theory this should have been a brilliant thrifty trip...Fiona was selling and I was attempting to find some thrifty bargains (in particular I was after a jar in which to save my pennies - as mentioned in a post about a piggy bank back in T1...). The car boot didn't go so well...clearly no one else was stupid enough to go car-booting in a torrential downpour that lasted the entire day - we were the only people that actually turned up! However, the positives gained are as follows:

1. This failed event has not put me off car booting - we will return!
2. Wetherspoons do a bloody good breakfast for £2.99 at 8am on a Sunday morning.
3. Fiona was kind enough to donate one of her demi-john jars from home brewing cider to my penny saving cause - and here is the result:

Big thanks Fiona! Just need to put a few more pennies in it now....!

Ken x

Swishing

I had never heard of the concept 'swishing' until my friend Helen mentioned it to me a few weeks ago. Sounding a little bit ominous and conjuring initial images of car keys thrown into a fruit bowl etc, I decided to find out a bit more. It turns out swishing parties involve the swapping... of clothes and is very legit! Everyone needs to bring in an item of unwanted clothing (still in good condition), socialise a little bit whilst browsing and then swapping commences.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed Helen will run one but if not, I think Ken and I should definitely get some 'swishing' on the go. What could be better, upcycling 'new' clothes', good social times and saving money? It's what T6 is all about!

According to www.swishing.com, running a Swishing party is simple, just follow the rules of the rail:

1) Everyone must bring at least one item of quality clothing.

2) You will have half an hour to browse before the swish opens.

3) No item may be claimed before the swish opens.

4) As soon as the swish is declared open, everyone may take what they want.

 5) Remember no scratching, spitting or fighting.

Vintage kilo fairs

If you happen to be in London or Edinburgh on these dates, pop into a kilo fair ran by www.judysvintagefair.co.uk. Pick your items, go to the scales and pay for what they weigh.   That simple. At £15 per kilo, there's every chance you could get several bargains!

• The Vintage Kilo Sale Edinburgh 21 Apr 2012

• The Vintage Kilo Sale 29 Sep 2012 London

• Bethnal Green Kilo Fair 12 Oct 2012 London

• The Vintage Kilo Sale 15 Dec 2012 London

'One man's trash is another man's treasure.'

Chi x

Human errors, wins and fails

As we approach T4, I need to perhaps confess this month has not been as plain sailing as one would have liked and hoped for. Like Ken, I too have made a few slip ups albeit ones with good intentions. Like Ken, pre T6, I would have reacted similarly and just buried my head in that metophorical money sand pit until it all hopefully blew over.  However, following Ken's posts and realising that if I just blogged it out, other T6er's wil take stock and realise sometimes there are times when  I shouldn't lead by example.  So here's my comprehensive list.... 

Errors and fails

• Ebay

Personally, I have nothing against Ebay when used responsibly. Around the time of T3 and at work, I wondered over to the reprographics room for no other reason than to drop some papers off and procrastinate with the repro lady legend that is known as Michelle.  During our conversation, Michelle said she got all her clothes from Ebay saying it was great for bargains and she recently bought a Monsoon dress for about £3 which looked practically new. So I thought yes, definitely a thrifty way to buy clothes (my Achilles heel). Anyway, I signed up and hunted for a Topshop tshirt I have had my eye on for a while, setting my budget no higher than £10. Like I said, I had good intentions. As the bidding frenzy ensued and I was clicking that 'place bid' button, the excitement of winning my potential item took over to the point where I ended up getting that t- shirt for £11.26. So, over the intended budget when P&P came to £4.00 too.  Here's the life lesson and one which I reflected upon. As you're clicking on that 'place bid' button to get one over the other bidders, you don't win. No, what you end up with is an used dinosaur t-shirt and paying more than you would because you want poll position in the eBay bid battle.  I can only blame my childhood memories of 'Sports days' where getting that 'good effort' sticker for taking part does not make you feel any better for coming fourth in the wheelbarrow race.

Anyway, if you are sensible like Michelle, Ebay can still be a place for bargain hunting. Just go in with a sense of awareness and use the tips below:

• Set your budget and don't go any higher, unlike me. Be strong!
• My sister told me to bid at the last minute as this is when you are more likely to get the best deals so bookmark the page and keep an eye out on the watch list before swooping in with your bid.
• Watch out for P&P costs. They add cost to your bid which only gets added on after you are the 'winning' bidder.

• Rail ticket fodder

I can only blame human error for not making the mistake once but twice! As you may recall around T2 time, I placed my tips about getting some good deals which I still stand by but not when you do stupid, frivolous things.  My friend Paul and I went to Liverpool on Wednesday but I can only blame myself for the mistakes before.

Error 1

When your friend texts you to say he is free to go on Wednesday 11th April, don't book your tickets for Tuesday 10th April. So, I got those bargain tickets but on the wrong day! Oops. Train companies don't let you change the days for free either. I rang their customer line and was told the following fees would result. So if you wish to amend your tickets, there is the initial admin fee of £10 then a charge of £10 per ticket you wish to change!Wanting to change four tickets is pricey! Being told this, I opted just to book new tickets.

Error 2

Yes, book two single tickets as they're cheaper but always check you put in the right information! I put in the wrong days again for our outbound journey didn't I? Because I am an idiot.... When we got to the station, to see if they could change it, the computer does always say 'no'and thus, it ended up with not a very thrifty costing trip.  We did have a great time though despite the farce that is me. See below. Thanks for reccommending Crosby beach Ken - loved the outdoor sculpture 'Another place' created by Antony Gormley! We got acquainted with number 64 and it has become one of my favourite places to visit.

'Crosby beach' with our main man '64'

 To get here: Walk to Liverpool Central station, head for platform 2 for the train to Southport. Trains depart every 15 minutes and you can get a ticket for 3.50 which can be used as a public transport pass all day. 

Albert Docklands - also showcasing some very blue skies :)

Spent sometime pondering where 'This morning' was broadcast.

Despite these errors, we should take stock and move forward. Rachel is a teacher and she says that when she conducts parents evenings, she tries to use the positive, negative, positive sandwich when meeting parents. So, despite the errors above, I will apply this sandwich metaphor accordingly.

Wins

• Blue rainbow Apartments...

have been a nice discovery. I went to a hen do recently in Manchester and stayed in these apartments where we paid £38 per person for the night which I thought was great, particuarly when some hotel rooms for the same standard can cost more and are less convenient for socialising in.  Costs were also kept down as we bought food and drink in too.  Here's the link. We had a great stay. Thanks blue rainbow apartments!

http://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/blue-rainbow-aparthotel-manchester-central.en.html?aid=311076;label=hotel-36120-gb-K9zOf1BsbzWLmN7FplL_1AS10600685820;ws=&gclid=COyq2tO3tK8CFYwMtAod1UBFjQ

• Ipod headphones

I like music and I listen to it alot.  I am fully aware following my degree where I was made to study audiology that my hearing is impaired and I predict full loss in the year 2022.  This means I have gone through a lot of pairs of ipod headphones which are v.pricey at £27.99 if you get them at HMV. However, my sister Po is a smart cookie and she took out this great insurance where you can hand in your damaged ones and get a new pair for £3 so definitely worth checking out!

• Summer Camp

Along with continuing thriftiness and good times. I paid £5 to go see a band called 'Summer camp' at the Harley. I knew nothing about them and am happy to say, the duo were definitely a lot of fun to watch.  

Don't let the red polonecks and cats put you off.

• Spotify

I'm not on 'Facebook' but my younger, much cooler sister is, so if you want to stream your music for free, I think you log through your fb account and sign up to 'Spotify'. On the other hand as I'm about five years behind when it comes to catching onto tech trends, I suspect everyone and their pet dog is spotifying as we speak.... I still find it advanced, we can watch 4od for free - I have been amusing myself with the delights of series 6 'Peep show'. Just ace.

Nothing to do with thriftiness but I am very glad I made a few rail ticket errors and it hasn't left a permanent reminder on my face...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2128662/56-stars-tattooed-Belgian-womans-face-visible-year-planned-laser-surgery.html

Keeping my fingers crossed my T6 fortunes will change. Until next time, like Ken said, keep the faith!

Chi x

London T6 Style!

Hello all!

Had to share this thrifty wonder...

http://uk.megabus.com/megatrain.aspx

Me and my mum went to London last week for £27.50 return (yes that was for both of us!) thanks to the MegaTrain! Absolute bargain!

Here's a cheeky tourist snap of St Pancras to prove it...



Ken x

Hitting a thrifty bump in the road...

Well.

I've got to be honest.

I've not been doing quite as well on the old thrift this month.

Chi - you've been an absolute legend with all of your thrifty ways - I am truly inspired! Things are not quite so rosy down here in Notts..

A good friend of ours, Jess, once compared saving money to being on a diet. It's really hard to start with but then once you get into it, it starts feeling really good, and becomes a habit. This is very true. However, as I have discovered this month, when you hit a time of stress - all sensibility can tend to go out of the window. This month I have definitely become a bit lax on the old saving - buying lunch rather than taking a packed one and going on a fair few impromptu dinners out (I'm afraid the list goes on...)

HOWEVER. Before T6 I would have given up and started ignoring my bank balance - shoving my head very firmly and quickly into the sand. But I am a changed women. Tonight I sat down with my online bank and my Filofax and forced myself to face up to my spending this month (which turns out wasn't as bad as I had initially thought), and make a plan for the month ahead. In doing this I have realised I will soon be back on track with my saving plan, and it's served as a good wake up call for future thriftiness!

So to all fellow T6ers...keep the faith!

Ken xx

Sharrow Lantern Festival - Sunday 1st April

For those amongst us who enjoy a bit of willow, tissue paper and general craft, I invite you to spend  a Saturday afternoon (12-4pm)  at the current lantern workshops which are taking place at the Old Junior School on South View Road, Sheffield.  All workshops run up until 31st March and it's all in aid of the Sharrow Lantern festival where other lanterners will parade their efforts around the local community  on Sunday 1st April (weather depending).All materials  are provided at the workshops. Our friend Lu and co from the Creative Action network manage this event which has successfully been running for the last eight years and there is a great community feel with people of all ages getting involved. This years theme is magic!  When Ken and I did this event a few years back for their folklore theme, I had a great time making my toadstool. Ken made an apple. See below:

Favourite moment: When two young men started chasing my toadstool down London Road shouting 'shroooooooommm'.  It's a toadstool, damn you!

If the lantern workshops don't take your fancy, but you still want to be a spectator, all the lantern action starts off at Mount Pleasant Park, 7pm  where we are led 'pied piper' style by the Sheffield samba band! The parade finishes at the General  CemeteryPark. My favourite part is when it starts getting dark so the lanterns are properly illuminated to full effect. See some of the shots from yesteryear.

Another bonus. Both events are free. For more info on the festival and other community based projects ran by CAN, follow this link: http://www.creativeaction.net/ .  I want to try one of their cookalongs!

Chi

Minding the pennies T2 style

I've enjoyed the cultural exploration from your last blog Ken.  It seems Ken has been on it with the blog chat having published three blogs in my absence! Good work and blogging! I apologise for my absence – I have been out in the thrifty wilderness still being thrifty as possible but failing in my responsibility to report back.  As Ken documented, we had an excellent time in the Lake District with our friends following four days of eating, drinking, walking and mourning for Whitney in our own way.... See my photos below for a brief overview of our lovely time in the Lakes.  'We are truly Lakeslovers!'

Day one

Shout out and thanks to Ken's mum who made this. It was AMAZING!

 Now we are out of the thrift closet, having came out last month to our friends and sharing our blog,  there seems to be plenty of thrift commentary which has entered our social conversation and it is much welcomed. I have learnt the following:

1.       A random one but people seem to have loads of tips about using up a ‘whole’ chicken.  At the moment,  current tips people have shared include buying a whole chicken and using it up for lunch instead of buying the packets with cooked chicken pieces .

Price comparison from my local cooperative

£3.48 – Whole free range chicken (I may look into Organic pricing too as I should try to be thrifty as well as ethically aware).

2 packets of BBQ chicken - £4.50 so a small saving. (One thing to add though, from experience, you definitely do not get a whole chicken’s worth from the packets)!

Rach suggested for true thrift, you use up the bones to make stock which is a good idea to share which I have yet to try and will at some point once I am in the mood for soup.  When I commented about my whole chicken purchase  (random work break chat as I thought chicken might go off pretty quickly) a work colleague of mine passed on a chicken pearl of wisdom.  To strip the cooked chicken and freeze it and when I need a bit for lunch, defrost it in the fridge so thanks everyone for the tips!

 Railing and gallavanting

        With train fares aver increasing and the fact I have left the safe haven which we would call the 18-25 age bracket and making me ineligible for a ‘Young Persons’ railcard, it’s prompted me to reflect what ways have I tried to be thriftier on  the travel front?

·         I have a series of long distance trips coming up and was recommended this website by my friend and fellow T6er Helen  http://www.splityourticket.co.uk/ which I think is useful for last minute bookings.  However upon further google searching, I think it’s all about the advanced and single ticket bookings!   I have been using this website http://www.mytrainticket.co.uk/    where you can get up to 80% off!  My day trip to Liverpool will cost £14.00 for two singles (at the times I want) compared to open return - £31.90. T6 saving:  £17.90

Car  sharing and taxi sharing has helped too. Pooling people together to get a taxi home can sometimes work out the same or even cheaper on a night out so I’ve been doing this.  However, at the same time, if there are no extra people, I have been getting the bus into town (using my student card which costs me 50p) and getting the taxi back on nights out (which is bad, but busses stop at 11 and I suppose I am saving money on the way into town)!  I think Ken will be blogging about nights out in general as mentioned on one of our T6 catch ups so hopefully she can pass on some tips for cheaper fun times.

3.Whilst we were away in the Lakes, it came to our attention and others that we may slightly indulge in keeping up with current affairs not of the Syrian conflict variety (which I know is bad) but of the ‘light’ and ‘fluffy’  world of Grazia and Glamour which I like to think provides me a form of escapism for at least 15 minutes of the day. I worked out that a purchase of Glamour at £2 a month and ‘Look’ at a weekly cost of 1.40 will add to a annual cost of £163.20. So in an attempt to kerb spending, Ken and I will be doing a magazine/book swap. The first which will be happening  this weekend so looking forward to seeing you soon GK for the swap and a cup of tea!

I also like to indulge in a bit of reading from time to time and I generally book swap between friends  but I may extend this further as suggested by Rach (who seems to have many tips, so thank you) at work and leave any of my books in a box and people can leave their unwanted ones too for people to pick up and read. I suppose this would work on a courtesy system where I like to think people would not grab them all. I don’t think they would anyway.   I also have become a little obsessed by the secondhand bookshop down my road, ‘The Last Chapter’ which sells books for £1-3 which is generally cheaper than ‘Amazon’ following P&P.

4.       Fruit/veg and other food mantras

I think this section is probably less about thrift and more value for your money.  Last weekend, upon recommendation from Jenny, I investigated the Sharrow Marrow fruit and veg shop on Sharrowvale Road. It is definitely worth checking out . Apart from my positive  (civil) shopping experience which you don’t always get from your supermarket trip, the quality was so much better. I definitely felt like I got more for my money. A brief example and what I remember - I bought two avocados for £1 compared to £2 Coop and the peppers were huge! I spent £15 and it has lasted me all week. 

This lady owns the Sharrow Marrow and was very helpful!

5.   (Prescription) Drugs

Another random one but if there are any fellow asthmatics out there or those who require regular medication, I feel you may appreciate this slightly more. Over the years, prescription charges have risen to £7.20 per item. My last order came to £28.80 and as you can imagine, this can get pretty pricey if you are like me and lose your inhalers ALL the time so I decided to sign up for a 3 month medical card. You can collect them from chemists and it entitles you to your regular prescription for 3 months which prompted  me to stock up! Sorry a bit of a lame one to mention but definitely a money saver over the long run! You can even get an annual prescription  for about £104.

Whilst I’ve documented what I have learnt, I am still very far away from being thrifty but thankfully there is still 4 months to go. I’m happy to say as I enter T2, I am noticing that small changes can make a difference. Oh- for the first time in what feels like forever, I am not in my overdraft.... good times J

PS – a dedication to Whitney. As GK said, ‘a voice of our generation ...’

Minding Pennies

Another little post about the wider world of thrift - rather than our own personal penny pinching! I was flicking through Left Lion last week and stumbled upon this delightfully thrifty art project. Kristy started by deciding to pick up every penny she found in order to save them up and donate them to charity - which then blossomed into an art project where she photographs pennies in situ before picking them up. In doing so she is attempting to challenge the wasteful attitude of modern day living....

Minding Pennies, Kristy Guest

Here is a link to the article if anyone else is interested in reading more:

Art Works: Kristy Guest - Nottingham Culture - LeftLion.co.uk

Inspirational Stuff! Thanks Kristy!

 

 

Ken x

A breakthrough!

Right.

I have got my first thrifty milestone to post! Yesterday, I reduced my overdraft limit by £400. I realise this may not seem an awful lot to shout about but it's definitely progress, and means my overdraft limit is smaller than it's been for years - and this is all down to thrifty six!

Wahoo! Just need to keep it up now...!

Ken x

Lakes Lovers

T2

First and foremost....I can't believe we've been blogging a whole month already, which means we are now officially into T2 - the second month of Thrifty Six!

Secondly, there has been a serious lull in posts due to me and Chi taking a cheeky trip to the wonderful Lake District with some friends...an excellent time was had by all, whilst being seriously thrifty in the process! This post was supposed to be a joint blog, but clearly we were far too busy eating stew/drinking cider/singing Whitney Houston tributes to actually manage this - but I hope you'll add some further thoughts on our frugal times Chi, and possibly some photos?!

My three thrifty highlights of our trip are as follows:

1. Group Savings Galore - by going as a group Rachel managed to find us this amazing house which was only £100 each for 5 days stay (in comparison you'd be looking at about £20 per night for a shared room in a hostel)



Thankyou Lakes Lovers! http://www.lakelovers.co.uk/cottage-details/701

2. Cooking at Home - we went on a big shop at the beginning of the week and all put £30 into the kitty. From this we got four delicious dinners (so hard to chose a highlight of these - but mine and Chi's beef Stew was clearly a standout dish), breakfasts and packed lunches for every day. Oh, and enough wine and cider to get suitably merry every night! If we had eaten out every night it would have been easy to spend £30 on just one dinner...so pretty chuffed with this level of saving! And most importantly...the good times were not compromised!

3. Wholesome Walks - Despite some initial grumbles from myself, couldn't think of a better way to spend a bright winters day with excellent company! And completely free!


Ken x
      

Simple Snowy Savings Smugness

Exciting times in the T6 camp - we've starting to show people our blog and been getting some great feedback! It is amazing how many ideas and tricks people have about money saving, so will be posting these in the forthcoming weeks! We can also look forward to some guest blogs in the future - thrifty crafts and homemade cosmetics are just a couple on the horizon!

I thought I'd also post a quick blog of a simple saving I made just last night. As we've mentioned, the aim of Thrifty Six is not to stop doing fun things completely, but to make small cutbacks that will eventually add up. One of my biggest unnecessary expenses before T6 was going out for dinner - it really is one of my favourite things to do. However it also ends up seriously adding up when happening on a regular basis...! So last night, had dinner before I went out with friends (thus avoiding temptation) and just had a drink whilst everyone had their main course - and then joined in with the pudding. I still had a thoroughly enjoyable evening and made a saving of £12.90 (average cost per head was £21.00). I won't be doing this every time, but it all adds up!

Good Times!

A rather snowy Ken x

Thriftiness at the weekend....

Before I start blogging away, I need to comment on the great work, Ken has been doing to create our 'thrifty' visual scrapbook - frankly Ken, it looks bloody great - you've done a great job! Also, following an excitable phone call from Ken, I google searched 'thrifty_six blog' and we are on, in fact we are top of the google search! So some great progress made in three weeks. I suppose the next step is to actually get people to read about our endeavors.....

Here are a couple of mine this weekend where I have tried to channel as much 'thrifty' zen as I could in the lovely city of Sheffield. In celebration of Chinese New Year on Monday, I took a trip down to the Weston Park Museum where I not only enjoyed free entry but also perused their current exhibition, 'China: Journey to the East' where I learnt lots about my people. For instance, apparently, we created the production line.... very efficient. But seriously, there was plenty of things to see such as a lovely shadow puppet display and other historical bits and bobs. I would recomend a little visit if you're feeling a spot of culture and thrift. I think the exhibition is available for the public until the 12th April.

Highlight of the trip - seeing the shadow puppets. They make them from Donkey's skin. My mum was right about the Chinese, 'waste not, want not'

One thing I would also check out is Cafe Rouge where my workmate Helen and I had some good food times at their Ecclesall Road establishment with her 50% discount voucher (a potential thrifty sixer in the making) . I think there's only two days left though but maybe a quick weekend trip, Ken?http://www.vouchercodes.co.uk/caferouge.co.uk

I ordered the Confit du Canard

On Sunday afternoon, along with our legend of a friend Jenny, we drove to Burbage.One of my favourite things about Sheffield is the fact, the Peak District feels like it's at our doorstep. I spent an ace (albeit very windy) FREE afternoon scrambling around rocks and hills, getting some fresh air  - and generally feeling very wholesome amongst the heather. At some point, we shall return Ken and reenact Kate Bush 'Wuthering heights'. I think that would be amusing. I think I will spend more of my weekends exploring the Peak District and upload some pictures on here of my adventures because people need to know how great the Peaks are! Unfortunately on Sunday, I thought I was going to be blown off the edge so that overrode any amateur photography.... but please see below because simply, the Peak District is ace.

Before I sign off, I will leave you with one more thing... Kate Bush

Chi x

The Frugalocracy

Whilst not strictly about our saving efforts - I still wanted to have a little blog about this. I stumbled across the term "Frugalocracy" when reading (admittedly my mums) paper on Saturday.  Apparently it refers to high flying, super rich people living thriftily, so it would appear we are in good company Chi! And the poster girl for this movement is the wonderful Zooey Deschanel...who apparently saves "$73,000 of her $93,000 a month earnings". Well done Zooey, I guess it's all relative....!

Ken x

The Humble Piggy Bank....

I got this really rather delightful Chelsea piggy bank for my birthday - the perfect inspiration for more thrifty ways! I am trying to put in £1 whenever I remember - this one's just for the golds! Hopefully this will tot up nicely over the next 6 months. My next aim is to find a suitable pot to start saving the pennies in too....more on this to follow!

Ken x

Food, glorious food...

I'm sure Ken and hopefully likeminded T6ers out there would agree that one of the things we should not compromise on and which definitely makes life good is food. If I reflect back on my expenditure, a big portion of it does go on food. The easy solution would be to revert back to my students days where my diet consisted mainly of pasta and pesto, which don't get me wrong is great but I think the novelty would wear off quickly.

As food makes me proportionally happy to a degree, the lack of good food will compromise on my mental health and we can't have that.I know I'm not starving and yes,I could survive on my former student diet but that would compromise on good food times so I suggest this - we start compiling some ultimate thrifty recipes which cost under a fiver and will ultimately save us some pennies. I'm certain we can still eat like kings! We just need to be clever about it so this was my first atttempt!

Last night, still fired up from the excitement of starting our blog, I decided if I could spend under £5 and took a mini trip to my localsupermarket.Whilst not entirely within the boundaries of the budget, I spent a total of £5.49 and used a few basics which already existed in my cupboard and ended up making in my humble opinion,a pretty tasty chorizo stew. This recipe is from our good friend Rach who adapted from the Rick Stein's mediterranean recipe book.I thought I would post the recipe here for Ken and hopefully it will inspire her for Thursday where she will embark on her own 'Come dine with me' challenge! Oh, one more bonus thing, it's dead easy! See below:

Chorizo stew (serves 2)
Ingrediants
Some olive oil
1 chorizo ring
1 onion (in cupboard)
1 jar of roasted peppers
1 tin of chick peas (in cupboard)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (in cupboard)
Bag of spinach

1. Heat some olive oil in a pan until it is hot. Fry off the chorizo until it is crispy on the outside. Use a slotted spoon and set aside. When frying the chorizo, you should notice that oil is left in the pan. Leave this in the pan as this gives the stew flavour!

2. Fry the onions until soft then roughly chop the roasted peppers and stir in. Add the tomatoes and throw the chorizo back in and bring to a boil. Once it's boiled, simmer for 15mins then add the chickpeas and simmer for another 15 minutes. Just before serving, throw in the spinach and serve with some couscous. DONE.

Now, I would post a picture of the result but the issue is I, er...
ate  it before thinking it would be nice to post thrifty recipes
 on our blog. It would seem I do my best thinking post dinner....

I will, however add a picture next time I end up making a stew which I suspect will be very soon.

Hope this has inspired you Ken for Thursday!
Chi x

Monday January 2nd 2012

A wonderful German fellow took this photo of us outside the Nottingham Contemporary, where we had enjoyed some delightful free art. Chi very much enjoyed the vegetable anatomy sculpture. I enjoyed all the monkeys. And this was the moment where we had the idea for our blog!

The thrifty six chapter begins

T1

Hiya, we're the T6 crew - Chi and Ken (maybe not the biggest crew but there's more than one of us). If you've stumbled across our blog, you might be curious as to what we're all about.  Well here's the thrifty six story...

We're not big spenders but we never seem to have any money and there's only so much we can blame on inflation. We've had enough of this. It stops now, and Thrifty six begins.   The thrifty six concept is as follows:

• Aim is to save as much money as we can within the next six months WITHOUT compromising on the things that make life good.

As well as blogging about our thrifty ways, we want to encourage others in our T6 movement because we believe we're not the only ones in our predicament. So the challenge begins....!

Ken and Chi