It’s been some months now since I first began the challenge of living Frugally, it’s a quest even as early as six months ago I could not have foreseen myself upon, One indeed I doubt if I had had the remotest choice about I would not of undertaken, but though I protest the path did lead me on this never ending journey and although it’s not always proven the most scenic, there’s always some joy to be had if one really sees rather than just looking..
Monday.
Last night was mine and Jesse pizza night, We are both as you well know real foodies, it’s a joy neither of us is prepared to forgo and make no apology for, food is our one true weakness😁, the other pleasure we enjoy about our Sunday Pizza nights, is that making our of own…ok we don’t make the bases 😁, Jesse buys cauliflower bases, which we just can’t get over here in the UK just yet(sure we will catch on eventually though) So I will go for instead, a wheatfree option by Schlar at £3:75 for 2…they are a somewhat different texture to those that are wheat based, but turn out perfectly for all that. slightly crisp and golden around it’s very edges, yet soft,pliant but never soggy in its centre,
Jesse never strays from his choices in toppings, loving, his peppers,onions, cheeses and pepperoni slices, where as I’m all over the place😁, I regularly change from a strong cheddar/Goats cheese collaboration, with spinach, red onion and pepperoni, to Blue cheese, tomato, garlic, spinach, sweet corn. There really is nothing I’m not afraid of trying..I say this somewhat tongue in cheek as I flatly refuse to consider anything in a cheese and pineapple, (I know it’s popular folks and many like it, but the mere thought of that sweet, soggy, healthy fruit on my not quite so healthful combination just leaves me all of a shudder.😁,
Last night’s pizza night was to be slightly different however, because I had in fact run right out of pizza bases, now I know what your thinking,So why didn’t I just get online and have Morrisons deliver some more,?, That’s the usual way of course.But In my defence though, in order to order😁 those pizza bases I would have had to spend a further £40 or most likely more, Now my weekly budget allows for just that amount only, (it’s a figure I adhere to strictly, I have thought over even more greatly, some weeks ago now, the original budget being £50.. I had already spent this weeks allotment on Tuesday, it however with some great determination that i would wait a further week to buy more groceries, …So it’s Sunday and Its still Pizza night, so what do you do about it?, well You cut two thin slices off a loaf of bread you made fresh just yesterday, Cover it in your pizza sauce, Garlic paste, pesto, spinach, cheddar cheese, blue cheese, pepperoni, and put it in your air fryer oven for 12 minutes.. I hadn’t told Jesse of the great pizza base shortage as of yet😁,. Quite simply because he would do one of two things, order them from Amazon or call off this great weekly event(and that my friends just ain’t happening). I sat waiting for that most elusive of sounds, the ping of the bell saying it’s done..I will never understand why 12 minutes feels like a whole day when your waiting for food and very hungry.?
When I do finally rush out to the kitchen and open the little airfryer/oven door, it’s to find a sight to behold, The cheese is now golden, bubbly and even distributed, the bread base is cooked to perfection, And that glorious cheesy smell has filled my kitchen…I cut it into squares, as I do I can even now feel that slight crunch under my knife, the cheese stays perfectly balanced upon the other ingredients, As i get to enjoy this wonderful concoction, it’s as glorious as it’s pizza cousin, I was not to be disappointed or feeling left out of our usual Sunday night feasting, if anything I was delighted at its simplicity, but morishness, I finished it in quick time.
This has though in its wake created somewhat of a dilemma, I love pizza and I loved my Italian Rarebit,(a spin on that good old fashioned delight of Welsh Rarebit, cheese on toast) But I could save nearly £8 monthly by going down the Italian rarebit route, no great shakes to some right?,(agreed) but I look at that breakdown over a year. The figures are an impressive £96 a year, again your sitting there saying so what right?, That’s over two weeks grocery bill, two months paid off one of my utilities, in the great calculation of things it is in fact a very big deal…
Over the weekend I also learnt another thing, (I know right this old dogs learning a whole gambit of new tricks. Right so ponder this?, let’s talk dirty…..dirty laundry😁… When those civilised amongst us do a load of washing, how much detergent or powder do you use?, I bet you, like myself too at one point fill up that bottle cap to the very brim right?. This being what I remember the grinning perfectly Coifed lady doing on the tv adverts, so it just has to be right?, Well actually no,would you be shocked if I said it could in fact be wrong?, The detergent we use is mostly double strength to begin with. And if you check out the handy measuring cap there is down at the bottom of it, two faint lines, A and B,. A being for the clothes that are not really that grubby, B being slightly more so…but both are no where near that whole Cap full we have been lead to believe we need to use,. Why did they show that on the commercial?, I won’t insult your intelligence by proffering an answer, . And most of us never get our clothes in a state bad enough to need that second line let alone a whole capful, so the math is plain to see. No wonder we never get as many washes per the bottle as it states.
If this wasn’t enough after that little Gem I started seeing all sorts of possibilities, I was already getting a further weeks teeth cleaning by merely squeezing the tube to the bottom,. Adding water to shampoo bottles gives two to three further washes, I do this to detergent, washing up liquid, mouth wash, the list is endless, …so this in mind on Sunday after a trip to the bathroom, I saw a bar of soap I had bought weeks previously, that not only didn’t really larger up, but to add insult further it didn’t smell of mint, in fact actually it didn’t smell of much of anything…now in my no waste lifestyle this neglect was non allowed 😁, especially as I have run out of hand wash, also I had to factor in cost, this wasn’t just any soap..nooooooo this was in fact A environmental animal friendly mint and lavender soap…(still didn’t pong any better though folks) so what shall we do with it?. No not throw it in the bin(the old me would have too readily done this very thing). An idea but out of nowhere..I did no more than boiled the kettle up for coffee 😁….ok plus used the left over water to melt down the bar of scentless soap…I had to stir vigorously for some time before the white bar began to disintegrate into a liquid state..this achieved it still didn’t smell right?, Wrong I added a few drops of Sandalwood essential oil, tipped my newly fragranfed soap into a reusable pump bottle and hey Presto I now have a full bottle of hand soap…and scented😁, .
So let’s go back to my original question here?, some may call this penny pinching, others of you thrifty, there are even those on the other hand that have been pretty nasty, calling it miserly, they are of course entitled,. And in truth I wouldn’t not inflict this lifestyle on everyone, not even myself if it wasn’t I need to do this until I’m Solvent again, But what I have gained from this there cannot be put a price tag upon, ..For the first time in as many many months now, I realised something while sitting enjoying a rare moment devouring a scone complete with jam on, The taste had somehow increased, no that’s wrong!, Not just increased, but each and every mouthful exploded with flavour, it had been so long since I had indulged in anything this frivolous, That’s not the end of the story though, I’ve also learnt to really appreciate the things that in the past I had in fact taken for granted, Simply things, like an unexpected letter from my daughter, a text from a friend I hadn’t heard from in a while, that first coffee while sitting listening to the cool crisp notes of a Blackbirds song at dawn, the smell of fresh line dried laundry, that months supply of sweeties from Jesse I wasn’t expecting, it’s strange how by giving up something that in truth, really didn’t bring me any joy,(being part of the great consumer rush) I’ve gained so very very much more. So is this in fact penny pinching, frugal, or just being blooming careful…you decide ?😁 well enough for now folks I’m going off to enjoy my dinner, I’m starving …so whatever you get up to folks enjoy and as always take care of you ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤x
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