Our Frugal Lifestyle

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Passionate about eco-frugality. I used to party hard, clubbing my way from pay-packet to pay-packet. Never getting ahead, just getting by. Then came our much wanted baby with no savings in the bank - only an old car. Changes were made to our lifestyle and we didn't turn back. In the past 6yrs we purchased a flat, found employment, lived below our means, built an emergency fund, purchased a reliable car and saw the financial benefits of our frugal lifestyle. Our only debt is our mortgage. Our aim is to manage our cash flow wisely, pay off our home quickly and eventually work for pleasure, not necessity. Join us on our journey, share insights, tips and tricks to help us and others to get ahead while having a good time.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Entertainment and Education on the Sea

As most of you know I am frugal in the pursuit of financial freedom, paying off my mortgage as quickly as we can and to retire earlier then the norm. So opportunities to save a dollar or better yet not spend a dollar are always up there as a great deal. In my pursuit of Frugalness I keep my eyes open to interesting notices on community notice boards and email outs, and there is no shortage of things to do... But sometimes an amazing offer is available to anyone who bothers to book...

Well last month I saw an offer for a FREE a kayaking tour to see marine animals in our local harbour at a popular beach with a marine biologists. I quickly booked 4 spots for The Rambling Expat, my mum and 2 travelling eco-doco filmmakers crashing our couch.



My mum was nervous as she is nearing 70 and didn't feel she may be up to the challenge of rowing on her own. However we were able to get her into a double kayak with the Rambling Expat and off they went at 7:30am on the beautiful early morning sea for an hour of adventure and learning. I was really happy to be able to grab this opportunity for my mum who loves the sea but would NEVER book herself something so challenging. My mum tried to back out of the event a few times (but I'm a pushy daughter). In the end she loved the experience as I knew she would.

Unfortunately the sea was choppy so they didn't see any Sea Turtles or Dugons grazing on the sea grass but it was a thrilling experience nevertheless. For Dolly and I, it was entertaining to be on the sea edge watching them all go off into the horizon and return with big smiles.

Do you keep your eyes open for FREE activities too? Have you been to anything interesting or fun recently? Have you booked your loved ones into activities for FREE that you know they will enjoy?

Looking forward to hearing you stories.

Have a happy day,

Stephanie at Frugal Down Under.






6 comments:

  1. How wonderful and frugal! But, why did you not go?

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  2. I couldn't go because Dolly is too young. If I went, my mum would have had to childcare. I wanted my mum to have the opportunity as she does so much for us already.

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  3. yes we like free too! British Gas has an offer in the Uk obviouslyfor free swimming for two - not in my area but not bad and I would of definitely if I could of!

    Also locally in a rural community there are often freethings on - there is a scarecrow festival in a few weeks which is always food fun, free outdoor concerts and the museums run free stuff as weel. Once a year we have residents weekend when local attractions open up to residents - I am a regular!

    I live in Northumberland so we have loads of coast and castl ruins to check out being the most castled county in the the UK! There are also great walsk to standing stones, hills, waterfalls so we try to get active as well. A walk can turn up no end of interesting things like slugs, wild flowers, wild garlic, smells. .. beach and rock pools.. don't get me started!


    L
    xxx

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  4. Let's hope they offer this again so you get the chance!

    Our best free pursuit was using my parents annual pass to visit a beautiful historic building recently. It would have cost us £36 but we went for free and enjoyed every moment!

    Next Thursday we hope to attend a local meeting about a new community conservation project which may lead to free activities to help.

    Sft x

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  5. I did a free kayak day with my Mum last summer. I should really look if they're running it again!

    There are a lot of great free things available if you look for them. Because I'm a weird biologist, I signed up to help with some otter post-mortems with the Cardiff Otter Project. They find out the cause of death, how animals vary across the country, diets, ages, that sort of thing. It was a really interesting day, if a little sad. Most of the otters had been hit by cars :(

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  6. What a fantastic opportunity! Id be sure to snap up a free activity like this

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Thanks for commenting - I love getting feedback, sharing experiences and learning from you.