Just. Don't. Ask. Don't ask about how I ended up coming home from town yesterday with a skirt when all I wanted to do was return a blouse and 2 CDs. Or about why I ended up spending €9 because I had a yen for some fruit (okay, a smoothie, which seemed too skimpy to order by itself in my local rip-off café, which is why I ordered a €5 bagel alongside...). Or forgot to send my brother a birthday card. The important thing is that although I indulged in an Insomnia latte & sandwich combo (and really, €5 in Dublin's swishest postcode is pretty good), I'm back on track.
This evening's tea was the leftover paella from last night. And I have the makings of a gorgeous wrap tomorrow. Did enough grocery shopping until at least Wed lunchtime this evening, and feel confident that I'll be eating very well until then without spending much cash.
Tonight's haul at Tesco came to €13.78 doesn't sound too thrifty, but it does include washing up liquid and cotton wool; tea bags, coconut milk and chickpeas (to replenish the pantry) and Tesco's own-brand of moisturiser which cost €1.86. In design terms, the moisturiser is almost comically stark (I'll take a pic and upload), so I'm curious to see how well it works. The fact that it was in among the goodies aimed at teenagers rather depresses me, as it reminds me that I still have the "problem" skin most thirtysomethings have shaken off by now, but let's see how it goes...

So... it's been a long time since I was last here, and to tell the truth, I've been quite bold... Today was actually a pretty good day: I only spent €7.20. €2.20 on newspapers (I work in the media; today was my first day back at work after a holiday, and I needed to play catch-up) and €5 on the sandwich & coffee deal at my local coffee shop.
I know - what's Rule #1? Don't waste cash on those pick-me-up fancy coffees. But you have no idea how naughty I've been over the past few days and weeks. I'll just say "credit card" and "new camera" and let you draw your own conclusions. What's worse is it's not over yet. Badly need to get my capsule wardrobe up and running, and my car insurance is due this month, so my plans to pay a large wodge off CC are unlikely to come to pass.
Look. I've the makings of a nice veg paella for tmw, which should see me into Monday. In the meantime, it's a matter of making out my meal list for the week and shopping accordingly.
Wish me luck!

Man, I'm getting lazy. Last night's curry turned out very well. Wolfed down 1.5 portions (returned to the pot for a helping of sauce, mopped up with my very expensive rice) before bagging up four portions for the freezer. My frozen food reserves are looking healthy once again. All in all, it was a pretty cheap deal. Today, I'm taking the lamb I bought in the local butchers (about €8 - I know, I know, but bear with me) and making a tagine with winter vegetable couscous. So yesterday's outlay also included a parsnip (€1.16, gulp), ginger (17c), garlic (49c), fresh coriander (€1.29), flaked almonds (€2.35) and a swede (89c) - as well as a honeydew melon (€1.93) and parma ham (€4.69) for the starter. Jaysus. No wonder I walked away €40 lighter. Erm, hope my parents like their introduction to Moroccan food...

So far, so mixed. Picked up eight oyster chicken thighs in the local centra for €2.99 and settled down to make a curry. Had all the ingredients here - apart from yogurt - so it was shaping up to be a very, very cheap meal, something I could eat this evening before bagging the leftovers up and freezing. That was before I got to Tesco to stock up on groceries ahead of tomorrow. The 1kg bag of brown basmati rice ended up costing me an unbelievable €6.62. I've actually had to check that once more. Almost seven euro for a kilo bag of rice. Is this the future? Paying exorbitant sums for cupboard staples?

Yet another day of enforced thrift. Went a little crazy with the laser card on saturday so I'm taking a raincheck on updating my wardrobe and concentrating on planning my holidays and organising flat for visit by the folks tomorrow. Best part of all this is planning how I'm going to use my slow cooker. Thanks to boards.ie and this website I'm all excited about learning to cook cheap cuts of meat verrry slooowly and efficiently. Honestly, I won't know myself...

Very thrifty day in the end... As good as my word, for dinner I made koshari - an Egyptian carb-tastic dish I found on the Frugal Cook's student site. My only outlay was a packet of brown rice, a bag of onions and a tin of tomatoes (still came to over €5 in Centra. grr) and by simply making a yummy garlicky tomato sauce, cooking a few lentils, rice and pasta, I had a feast. My own particular twist was to stir in the gorgeous seeds from a pomegranate. Yum. So that should be lunch sorted for tomorrow. And taking care of the lentils should make for a delish dinner tomorrow night too. *deeply contented sigh*

I spose this counts as being thrifty... Not venturing out... breakfasting on fruit (pakistan orange and - a first for me - half a pomegranate) and bread but it's not mentally healthy, is it?
Just as soon as I figure out how to use up the rest of that blessed pomegranate, I'm off to the shops to buy the makings of a light dinner. You know, after my nap...