The need for the 'posh frocks, real coffee and sushi to go'...........just your average 'frugal' nightmare!

Home made confetti from dried  garden flowers - a lovely 'free' contribution to the happy day!

We've had a mad couple of few days off at a family (well the kind of friends which are 'almost certainly' family by now) wedding in the deep south of England, near Brighton! How much fun did we have!!!! Loads and it was amazing seeing it all go very much to plan (timed of course) and everyone enjoy themselves.  Many happy years await the bride and groom I'm sure! I love confetti - this stuff was home made and cost nothing - how pretty!

Its been a funny few months - you know how life can be - no weddings for years and then - low and behold - 5 wedding invites (I kid you not) over a two month period. This is not very frugal at all - we did our best - divided the weddings up between the family we've all gone to one, some have gone to one and some to another - and have managed to only sadly decline one as it clashes with one of the first invites we have got. We've had to dig deep into the wardrobes for our poshest frocks, not our normal wellies and wooly hats!

Digging out one of the posh frocks and the sparkly shoes!

We haven't however gone all out bonkers on the spending! Whilst its a treat to catch up with everyone  when we've managed these things can be very expensive/ But, thankfully from a frugal point of view - aside a new pair of tights for each event - the main 'posh frock' and the posh shoes (previously mentioned!)  have been recycled a few times - which is a result of sorts I guess!  We've put our good foraging and frugal hats on and managed to make a flower from the lovely planting by the carpark by the travelodge (rose, bit of ivy and a hair band to secure it).

The frugal wedding flower - we only took one flower  from the car park where a lovely rose bush was growing!

We've used quidco to get cash back on our flights (OK not much but we've managed to get a bit back), we were able to be flexible about when we travelled, which saved more money. Booking online got us very many good deals! We also raided all the sachets in the hotel rooms and have come come with a couple of those lovely plastic zip bags full of teas/coffees/sugars etc to pop into the supplies at home. Whilst its not going to recoup the price of the flights - it never would, it does make the little things like that seem helpful!

A haul of sachets.........very useful and never take too many, only a few from each time.

Whilst the little things haven't directly contributed to our trip - indirectly by helping us save money and give us the inspiration to check if we spend money we have the best deal - by making sure if we buy something we use it to the maximum and don't get distracted by retail ploys to spend more money. Its hard sometimes to remember to 'think before you buy' I love the mantra on the moneysaving website I particularily find very helpful 'Do I want it, do I need it? Can I buy it cheaper anywhere else?' - we try always to think of that few phrases. And, whilst the spending for the trip was necessary, I knew we had to be careful when we were away - the flights really did stretch the budget to beyond elastic - so as I sat in the airport today - thinking OK I'd love a cuppa -  contemplating which type and what I wanted (1 hour before we departed) I nearly gave myself a good shake......................I'll tell you why - I'd allowed the money for lunch - we travelled all day - hard to take packed food through the airport - and I LOVE sushi - knowing there was a sushi bar in the airport - I didnt buy any treats all day - I had my lovely sushi (which I'd been so looking forward too and had 'saved' my spending money for) and then made my way through to the departure lounge.

My kind of lunch..............yum!

Time to waste after my lunchtime treat - what about a cuppa.......... the cogs began to whirrrr (I'm surprised no one heard them)

Do I want a cuppa - Oh yes I do!!!

Did I need a cuppa - well it would be nice. But not essential

OK, can I get it for cheaper - well in truth - my flight was leaving in less than an hour - the cuppa I saw was £2.70..............cogs whirring at this point - um can I get it cheaper......................

Well, you do get a free cuppa/drink on the plane to while the time on the flight home. Um, silly me - I remembered it just in time and thought - OK I'll wait - now I know the £2.70 didn't really contribute very much to the cost of the trip down. But, its better to keep hold of it and use the cash more usefully at home - it#s the same price as a nice bag of coffee, if I think about it............and I can't grow that at home........Hurray I might be learning eh save money for the cuppa = bag of real coffee, much better value!

 

I'm not giving myself a hard time about my splurge on the sushi bar (wonderful experiences and colourful eating that they are) I chose wisely and whilst my daughter didn't eat (she ate at the other airport - her own choice) we shared some water and kept the cost of the meal down.  It also got me thinking about sushi - wonderful food - so easy to prepare - not many ingredients needed, (while they tell you to make it on a matt - a cloth table mat worked wonderfully for me) - and the food turned out very nutritious and filling. 

I think it makes for a very nutritious frugal food and found a few other folk happy with their making - not expensive to make at home and easy - so I've promised myself I'll try and make it this week! A friend showed us how and we do have rice/soy in the house, we've other 'fillings' in the house and we've even some sushi nori sheet  and some wasabi paste in the cupboard from an attempt ages ago when Yumiko came to stay up here in Orkney!

Frugal sushi - here we come!