I was thinking about the freebies that I have acquired up to now during this year of eating cheaply but well, and decided to start listing them at the back of my diary so that at the end of the year I will be able to see how I benefited from them.
Obviously most of them up to now have come from cashing in my Nectar points and using my M&S vouchers, but some have been the Booths card holder offers that give you a free product or a sample of a 'new to you' product.
But I also still pick up the sachets and various items that you get given when you eat out, and Alan does like to go out for a bacon butty at Booths at least once a week and for a coffee somewhere else on another day,. While I rarely eat out now, I would never turn down the offer of having a nice coffee bought for me, so I usually accompany him.
This week after a tough couple of days away and a nightmare of a drive back from Berkshire late on Tuesday night he wanted to go out for breakfast on Wednesday. This time I did join him in having some food, and I had a toasted teacake while he munched on a very full bacon bun.
Usually when he has this at Booths they automatically give him two brown sauce sachets and I bring them home, as he's not that keen. As you can see from my little 'freebie pot' in the first photo the brown sauces were building up nicely, so I told him to start asking for tomato ketchup instead when they went to put the sachets on his tray. They had already given me two little pots of Flora for my teacake when we placed the order, so when the teacake arrived with three more my eyes lit up and I didn't send them back.
As you can see from this photo I also bring home any unused napkins that we have, and have recently started picking up any I see on the other tables on our way out. Waste not want not, I usually use them for things like catching potato peelings or wiping up doggy dribbles off the floor ... Suky is a very messy drinker, and this means that my paper towels last so much longer than they used to.
I just hate the though of unused items being thrown away, as they are when they are left on tables.
When we got home my Booths quarterly voucher was lying on the doormat, the highest one I have ever had. Twenty whole pounds to spend before the end of the month on anything I need or want. There was also a little list of the freebies that are available this month and next.
It all adds up to me not having to spend money on a couple of things, although Alan will benefit from the teabags as I don't drink tea. It's only fair to share some freebies with the man who buys me coffees. 😄
I was asked via email for the recipe I used for the large pan of dahl I made the other day, and this photo shows the ingredients that I used this time. Dahl is very forgiving and you can play around with amounts and alter the ingredients to suit the flavours that you like.
This time I simply used one and half onions, two tomatoes, three cloves of garlic, a couple of heaped teaspoons of cumin along with red lentils. I topped the pan up with enough water to cover everything, and once it was hot I dropped in a couple of spinach pellets from the freezer (not shown in the photo) and gave it all a good stir. I added more water later to stop the lentils from drying out. Once it was cooked I seasoned with salt and black pepper until it tasted just right for me.
Now I have to get one of the tubs out of the freezer to thaw in time for my tea, as just writing about it has made me want to have some more. It's very handy to have a ready made stash. 😀
Sue xx
That is a very useful set of freebies from Booths. Whenever I get stuff like that which I don't eat I add it to the FoodBank bag.
ReplyDeleteLove the simplicity of your dahl, x. You know I make mine in bucket-sized quantities for the freezer and always add a bag of Sainsbury's frozen spinach. There is a cheaper version (not chopped) but I like this one and it goes a long way: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-chopped-spinach-1kg
Yes, I've done that in the past, especially when it's been things like nappies or baby food. Hopefully someone else really benefits from the sample packs.
DeleteOh I forgot to mention that I added spinach to my dahl too, although the frozen pellets weren't there for the photo, and yes the exact same pellets as in your link are in my freezer. I can't imagine the size of the bags of spinach that go to producing a 1kg bag of those pellets!!
I've edited the post to include this now, thanks for the reminder. :-)
🙂 👍
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DeleteAs a family, we always have mayonnaise with our chips. I was extremely amused this week when my eight year old granddaughter proudly showed me a little mayo sachet "I ALWAYS carry one in my backpack, Grandma. You never know when you might have chips, and sometimes they don't have mayo, just salt and vinegar". Like BEG above, I put freebies we won't eat in the Food bank bin. Especially using the vouchers for nappies and sanpro packs which I will never use but are appreciated by other people.
ReplyDeleteNow there's a little girl that will go far, emergency mayo is a must. :-)
DeleteI do very similar, keeping all unused napkins sauces and sweetners. I dont use sweeteners in drinks but they comevin gandy in recipient I want less sugar in. I have a Bluelight card and belong to Asda rewards so I regularly get money in my cashpot. My credit card us Tesco so I get vouchers from them. It all heloszalong the way.
ReplyDeleteIt just makes sense to make use of these offers doesn't it. I used to have a Tesco credit card when we did most of our shopping there when we lived in Wales, but I got rid of it when we moved and just kept my M&S one to simplify things. We don't have a Tesco anywhere near where we live, I do miss it sometimes.
DeleteIt should read it all helps along the way......fat fingers!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt took me a minute, but I guessed in the end. :-)
DeleteThe only loyalty card I have is Superdrug's and get my accrued points deducted from my bill. £20 is a nice little treat, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteMy dhal uses yellow split peas along with fresh ginger & green chillies and curry leaves (as well as tomatoes, onion, garlic, cumin seeds and salt) - I'm quite fancying some now! xxx
That's a good treat, I've not lived near a Superdrug for a long time now, so that's one card I don't have ... but I kept the details on the Stocard App just in case. :-)
DeleteI think dahl is like peanut butter or hummus ... the more you talk about it the more you want it. :-)
Definitely good to have ready made meals to go at!
ReplyDeleteI have a Morrisons and a Nectar card. The latter is money off the bill and the former is sometimes money of specific items and sometimes a fiver to take off the bill. It all helps.
xx
It definintely all helps ... homemade ready meals and supermarket cards. :-)
DeleteGreat freebies and it’s nice that you can treat Alan to some tea. Is the £20 voucher time limited to this month? Think my only loyalty points are Sparks and of course my M and S Credit card vouchers. Catriona
ReplyDeleteYes, the Booths vouchers are always time-limited to just under a month after you receive them. Sometimes I get in by the skin of my teeth, but this time I think I will purposefully go in next week and buy some of the things that are on offer that I can add to my store-cupboard. I know they have a good deal on Mutti tomato products at the moment. I can't afford to forget about a £20 voucher.
DeleteVery good idea to collect up the unwanted freebies from the cafes - so much gets binned , although I do remember years ago popping some unwanted butter pats into my bag following a light lunch out........I'm sure you know what I'm going to say.......only remembered them several weeks later 😮
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
Haha ... or should I say YUK!!
DeleteI am very careful when I pick up the butter pats that Alan sometimes has over on his plate and usually wrap them in a napkin to put in my bag to make sure I spot them when I get home. I wouldn't want to forget them or melt them!
Yes - I also pick up freebies like this and I keep all our unused napkins. If we go out and have tea / coffee out my husband takes sugar in his but I don't so on the basis that I've paid for the tea and sugar I take two sachets home. Last year we rented a cottage in Ambleside and my sugar sachets kept him going all week. Fiona xx
ReplyDeleteYes ... coincidentally I remembered when we were out today that I used to always do this. As I take my coffee black and without sugar I really save the shops a lot of money, so I used to take two brown sugars home with me. I use one occasionally in my porridge. 😀
DeleteMy sachet stash always comes on holiday with us. 🙂
When I was first divorced, and teaching colleagues said they had spare veg from their gardens I accepted them all, everything was a penny saved and I needed it, we ate an awful lot of stuffed marrows!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard at the time living like that, but it teaches you a lot of skills and resilience for the future doesn't it. Yes, marrows fill you up when they are prolific, but you have to work hard to add flavour don't you.
DeleteLike you I've always watched the pennies, even during times when it wasn't so vital.
ReplyDeleteAs a rarity the other day I treated myself to a coffee and sausage roll in Costa.
I asked for the sausage roll to be heated and when it arrived it was only hot on the outside; the inside was quite cold.
That didn't seem safe to me but rather than send it back I wrapped it up, took it home, sliced it and fried it with an egg and toast for my tea!
I think that once you have lived through a time when saving pennies and avoiding waste was vital it's a very hard change to make, and would anyone in their right mind even want to suddenly go spending mad. I doubt we would.
DeleteThat definitely sounds like a safer way to eat a meat sausage roll. It's not good when a 'treat' turns out not to be so good though isn't it. :-(
Having a ready meal in the freezer is a sanity saver some days.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Yes, it really is. There are lots of days when the thought of cooking is just not on. xx
DeleteI sure admire your $100 a month goal! It's very inspiring :)
ReplyDeleteIt keeps me on track when I have a goal like that. It might all go to pot at some stage, but it's worth a try isn't it. :-)
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