Frugal February

 Hello, Dear Reader, & welcome to Frugal February.
Perhaps you didn't realise that  it was Frugal February because I didn't tell you earlier.
I meant to tell you sooner but I was too Hot.
But now that you know, you can Start Straight Away.
I do recommend it.

 Perhaps you are wondering How It Works. Never fear, I will enlighten you......

But before we get into the Nuts & Bolts, I must admit that Strictly Speaking I didn't make it up. No, other bloggers did & then I, as usual, Shamelessly Copied. That, by the way, is one of my Major Dictums in Life - Shamelessly Copy Whatever You Like & Then    Make it Your Own.
I saw it on Lady Jane's Blog. Thank you, El Jay.
I did make my own title up, though.

Anyway, here's how Frugal February works: Don't buy anything.
 Unless you really have to. Or if you absolutely have to buy something, buy it at the cheapest price you can find it for.
For example, look above at Me & Yesterday's Lunch in the Staff Lounge. Everything on the table, except for the cans of 'Diet Coke' which were generously donated by Trixie Drew, was brought from home. Moist Lasagne, salad with mashed avocados & chick peas & cottage cheese.
Note my new Insulated Lunch Pail. I saw one at the Supermarket & resisted the urge to buy it because I felt sure that I could find it cheaper at the Two Dollar Shop up the road.
I was right. Imagine my Squeals of Joy when I discovered it hiding under a pile of Larger Than Life  flesh coloured plastic drink bottles in the shape of a Man's Private Parts. I am absolutely Not Joking. I would never joke about such a thing.
Can you imagine someone walking along the street whilst swilling from such a bottle? Or at the gym?
Or sitting up in My Classroom with one perched on the desk next to their Pencil Case?
 In case you haven't been in a classroom occupied by teenagers for a while, let me inform you that No One enters them nowadays without a drink bottle. It's almost part of the uniform. It's like everyone is terrified that they're going to become Dangerously Dehydrated at any moment. The only time I ever drank water when I was a teenager was when I was swallowing an Aspirin.

Anyway, this is a perfect segue for me to bang on about Our Recent Heatwave.
Whilst Janavi & Rebecca & Darla & Zizzi felt like their toes were about to fall off up in the Northern Hemisphere, I nearly died from Overheating.

 Here I am on saturday morning looking surprisingly cool in the park across the road.
It was all an act. In fact, I was already melting.
The temperature that day reached 41 degrees celsius.
At midnite, the temperature was 33 degrees celsius.
I know this because throughout the nite I kept feverishly checking the weather on my newly-acquired iPhone 4. So much so, that on monday morning I received a text message from Telstra, the phone carrier, to inform me that already I had used up 82% of my Internet Allowance for the month & I'd only had the phone for four days.
I was Shocked & Appalled. Now I can barely look at the phone.
In fact, I have Sent it to Coventry.
I bet it's been a while since you've heard that phrase.

Anyway, so much for Frugal February.

 When things turn a little sour, I always think that it's Wise to Turn to Outfits. They Never Fail to Entertain.
Here I am above, on the first day of school for the year which was only a couple of weeks ago, but it feels like ages ago. I'm standing in the newly-refurbished dance studio which has a sprung dance floor. It was wisely installed by The Nuns almost a century ago, but steadfastly ignored until 'So You Think You Can Dance'  made it necessary to introduce dancing into The Curriculum. Sadly, I won't be teaching it, although I do regularly rhumba through the rows of desks in my classroom.
You can tell by the showy pose that  I'm Desperate to Dance.
In fact, I'm so desperate, that I'm going to go to Zumba Classes as soon as I can find a class in between After School Staff Meetings, twice-weekly therapy sessions, Boot Camp on thursdays after school & Body Balance twice a week at 'Fitness First'.
Note I'm dangling yet another Toy Louis Louis Handbag that I freshly thrifted from 'BednobsEtc' before 'Frugal February' officially started.
I'm not sure about Gladiatorial Sandals. They've been colonised by Backpackers.

 In yesterday's picture, above, I had just shown an extract from Zefferilli's 'Romeo & Juliet' & was feeling rather miffed that I couldn't wear a sumptuously beaded & embroidered Renaissance outfit just  like the ones that everyone in the film, except poor Juliet's Nurse, who was sadly swathed in what looked like white sheets, wore in the film. You can see that I have done a little portrait of her on the whiteboard.

Does anyone remember that Olivia Hussey was only fourteen when  she starred as Juliet in the film? I remember taking  a special interest at the time, because I was almost the same age as Olivia.  I almost convinced myself that I could have played Juliet & may well have been picked for the role except that I had a chin full of pimples. This was the same fanciful part of me that was convinced that I looked v. like Hayley Mills & Twiggy all rolled into one.
I wonder what happened to Olivia? What an unfortunate name. Not her first name. Her last name.  The nuns liked calling us 'Brazen Husseys' when we spoke back to them in class, which was rare.

This dress is getting The Toss.
It makes me look Far Too Lumpy. I've had  it since before my daughter, Maeflower was born & she's just about to turn 23. In fact, I think that it's older than me. Like it's sixty.
It's almost worth double clicking on the image to get a close gander at the mess of white necklaces I'm wearing. I made them myself.
Now that's Frugal February.
Happy Not Spending.