Simple Pleasures are often the richest kind of pleasures you can have in your life.

 

 

A week of frugal and simple pleasures

Hola everyone and welcome come back to 5 frugal things this week.

 I hope you’ve had a good week and it’s been a thrifty week and you haven’t overspent and that you are feeling good about your budget and your finances.

I have worked so hard this week I’m quite exhausted. My work goes like that sometimes. Being self-employed has its boom and it’s bust and at the moment things are quite intense so I’ve been getting up very early in order to fit it all in and still have time with my kids during half term.

It’s 5 a.m. here!

Needless to say this is going to be a brief 5 frugal things this week with a focus on simple pleasures

 I was thinking about what share and I think what I’ve learnt most from lockdown has been but it’s the simplest of things bring you pleasure, not the money you spend. Whilst I’ve always known that I sometimes lose sight of that in day-to-day life.

 Here are a few things that bought me great simple pleasures during lockdown which cost nothing or very little.

 

5 Simple Pleasures

• I have read more recently than I have in ages and it’s brought me loads of pleasure. At the moment I’m reading a new book called This Lovely City which is about Windrush and it’s fascinating historically and emotionally. It’s also a love story and it’s rather beautiful. It has transported me to a different world in a different time with different struggles and reminded me that having things tough is a universal experience and a timeless one and that the human spirit is resilient. Not a bad life lesson to learn just for the price of a book. Books are magic aren’t they

 

 

• I have been watching on TV a show called Race Across the World and it’s fabulous. it’s all about various couples setting off from one place and aiming to get halfway across the world for the price of a flight. The catch is that they can’t fly so they have to use coaches and trains and hitchhiking and buses and their feet to get to where they want to go. It is absolutely a tour de force in travel experiences and it’s made me feel inspired to travel more. Watching this series has bought so much pleasure to my TV viewing. I find if I am very specific about what I get huge pleasure from TV. If I watch it aimlessly I really don’t it’s just a time sap. My frugal lesson from lockdown is to use my time wisely I think about what I want to watch really or read because time is precious and it’s great to feed yourself with the stuff that inspires you.

 

Simple  Pleasures and socialising

• In terms of socialising my time during lockdown has been spent on the very occasional walk at a distance with a friend, zoom chats, family quizzes online, letters, phone calls, text messages sharing jokes all that kind of thing. I have realised that I have communicated with the people that make me laugh, ae kind and caring or those who inspire me. I feel lockdown hs simplified my friendships to containing just the ones who nourish me and that’s pretty amazing I hope I keep that in my life.

 

 

• When it comes to food simplicity has been the order of the day as well as invention. We have had to make do with what we have been able to get hold of and be creative with it. I have learnt to make bread and my vegan scones are now amazing. I can throw together a Quorn casserole and that’s pretty delicious and I’ve made a few new soups too I would say lockdown has been very good for my cooking skills.
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Simple Pleasures and stayiing in

• Have I missed going out? Well absolutely I’ve missed going out for coffee but generally nope. Taking the kids to the cinema has been replaced by carefully choosing what we want to watch on Netflix and then TV. Going out for meals to be replaced by cooking up lovely stuff ourselves. And going to the seaside? Well, we’ve just spent more time in a paddling pool on the days that are sunny.

I think what I am trying to say in summary is that being considered In our actions and the things we read, watch, cook and who we spend time with creates a richer life. My life has felt rich over recent months despite money and experiences being more limited.

Has yours?

 I hope you’ve had a lovely and thrifty week filled with simple pleasures.

Every week we share five frugal things that we’ve done during that week just to show you that the small things you do all add up to a great frugal lifestyle where you can learn to live a fabulously frugal life.  We’d love you to link up with us and show us what you’ve been doing.

If you could let your readers know that you’re linking up with us by adding a little line to the bottom of your post like this one:
I’m linking up with Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Five Fabulously Frugal things I’ve done this week linky.