Frugal February Day 4: Ode To Murraya

My family used to go for Indian all the time at a restaurant in our suburb; the flavours were amazing, but the service not so much. Eventually we stopped going and, after the other Indian around the corner closed, we basically stopped eating Indian because nothing else came close.


One day, James took me out for a surprise date. When he told me we were having Indian I was secretly a bit disappointed - after literally years of trying every Indian restaurant in the area and being let down every time, I didn't expect much.


I changed my tune after my first bite at Murraya. The flavours were just as good as our old favourites, the meat was lovely and the ambience and service were great too. I told my parents, they told their curry-loving friends (partners in the Search For A Decent Indian Restaurant for many years) and now everyone goes there all the time. Considering how busy they are, I'm pretty sure we are not the only people talking about it.


I went there tonight with my family and some family friends (hello Jayne & Alan if you're reading*) for a pre-birthday dinner for Dad. The Bet-Dawg and I shared tandoori lamb chops and butter chicken, just like we used to back when we still went to that first place, and were in primary school. We drank champagne and cocktails, which we did not do when we were in primary school. Much.


I also saw James's parents (hello Joanne and David if you're reading*), who originally discovered the restaurant and recommended it to James (thankyou!). I think they had lamb chops too.


And it turns out Murraya is run by the people who used to have the place near us that sadly closed down. No wonder it's so good. I want to move in.


Mum and Dad paid for the food so it was an extremely thrifty night out for me, but even when I'm footing the bill I do think the restaurant is pretty good value. You should go there right now.


To up the Frugal Factor I wore a Witchery dress from Salvatore's Boutique with DSW shoes and a vintage Glo-Mesh clutch. At the risk of being a hipster, I was into Glo-Mesh before it became popular again. I'm glad I stocked up when you could still get the bags for five dollars instead of fifty. I think the total cost of my outfit was twenty bucks.


And my friends Tobias and Lisa got married today! Congratulations Toby! Best wishes Lisa!

Spent today: $0

Spent this week: $12.50

Spent this month: $12.50

*Hahaha, good joke Ship!

Frugal February Day 3

Today I went to work (byo sandwich and hot drinks). Turns out we didn't get paid for the first fortnight we worked this year, so today I got all this extra pay I had forgotten about!


I was invited out tonight but since I was tired and stingy I stayed home to eat Thai takeaway and watch The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants 2 on TV. It was not very good. The books are much better. A fifth one came out recently; has anyone read it?


Happy Weekend!

Spent today: $0

Spent this week: $12.50

Spent this month: $12.50

Frugal February Day 2

What is going on with this weather? I just put the last of my Winter clothes away and I had to get some back out today. I went out in a COAT, people. I had to get a pair of boots out! What is this madness!


Tonight I went, in my coat and boots (with a dress underneath!), to another Trivia Night. I had to catch the train (oh Nicky, come home!) and it was already pulling up when I got to the station so I didn't have time to buy a ticket. Thrift: 1. NSW Government: 0.


Last time I went to the pub I won a $10 voucher in the raffle, so I put that toward some drinks tonight. I bought another raffle ticket but this time I wasn't so lucky. Still, in all my life I've bought about five $1 tickets and I've won a meat tray and that voucher so I'm on top.


The run of bad luck continued - for the first time in living memory, we didn't win anything at trivia! I think we were absolutely robbed. By people who knew more useless facts than we did.


But on the bright side I barely spent anything!

Spent today: $2.50

Spent this week: $12.50

Spent this month: $12.50

P.S. Here is a REAL Harry Potter trivia question, which you can answer in the Comments: What creature is in Professor Lupin's office the first time Harry visits him there? In addition to scoring a bonus point, anyone who knows the answer will have the distinct advantage of being able to tell the real Harry from an impostor.

Frugal February Day 1

In the interests of increasing my savings and decreasing my clutter, I have declared this month Frugal February. It does what it says on the tin - I'm going to be even thriftier than usual this month.


Today I went to work and calculated my budget in my lunch break to help me stay on track. After work James and I went to South Hurstville RSL aka The Pinnacle for dinner (date night) and trivia.


I had a burger; it cost twelve bucks and was so big I couldn't finish it. Thrifty! I only had one drink, which James kindly bought me. Thriftier!

The trivia wasn't great but we won some free beers and fifteen dollars. It didn't go far between ten people so we blew it all on the pokies - there's a Sex and the City machine!

I probably won't go back because the trivia wasn't as good as other places and a bartender was rude to me, but it was a pretty cheap date. Frugal February is a success so far!

Spent today: $10

Spent this week: $10

Spent this month: $10