Wales Weekend Away Bargains

David and I have just returned from a wonderful weekend away in Porthmadog in North Wales. We stay at Greenacres  caravan site which we had booked through the Daily Mail newspaper. I have written about these deals (£9.50 per person for Friday to Sunday nights or Monday to Thursday nights) in a previous posting that you can read here

As is our way we looked on Sunday morning to see if there was a local car boot sale on and when driving down the high street we saw a sign for one and followed the signs for about half a mile to a small field where there were quite a few stalls. There was a mixture of traders and genuine car booters who had cleared out their homes and were wanting to get rid of stuff they no longer needed or wanted. 

I bought this lovely Vaseline lipcare tin which had originally held 3 tins of Vaseline but now just held one. I opened the tin to check it was still as new and had not been used and when happy that this was the case I asked the price. At 50p I thought this was a good buy. I am a fan of lip salves as I seem to get dry lips all the time. The tin that I bought contains aloe vera so this should give some extra calming and moisturising properties. 

I found 4 DVDs for 50p each. Three had been watched whereas one was new and in the cellophane. At 50p I think they are great value and although I keep some I sometimes watch them and then pass them on to family or charities.

I also found 3 magazines, Country Living, Red and Ideal Home for £1 for all 3. They are not recent copies as they date from 2011 and 2012 but at this price I am happy with a flick through them for an evenings entertainment. I sometimes get crafting ideas or recipes from them. I then pass them on to my Dad to give one of his neighbours.

My last purchase was a black vase. I asked how much this was and initially the lady said £2 but then immediately dropped this to £1. I love black pottery and think this will look great in either my toilet or living room on the window sills. It is Wedgwood which is a brand I like and I have found similar on ebay for around £10.

David bought a double CD for 50p and a pair of trainers for £2. These were new and he wore them

straight away after trying them on. My sister and her husband bought some shirts and polo shirts for £1 and 50p each. 

We had already been to some charity shops on the Saturday and noticed one independent charity shop had a sale rail with clothing all at £1.50. This is a good price as charity shop prices have now become expensive with clothing selling for a minimum of about £4.99. We call this the Mary Portas effect after she did a TV series on a charity shop and thought the prices were too low so increased the prices saying that she thought people would be prepared to pay the higher price. We now rarely buy charity shop clothes unless they are reduced in a sale. I found an "as new" red t shirt which will be great for on my holidays next week. My sister found a top for herself, a t shirt for her husband and a dress for her daughter all at £1.50 each. I also found a beige lightweight coat reduced to £1 and a brand new DVD for £1.99.

We also visited an outdoor shop which is warehouse size and which had a clearance section. We found two pairs of navy walking shorts for David for £2 each and my brother in law had a 10% discount card which we used bringing the price down to £1.80 each. 

We spent Saturday evening on Black Rock sands beach walking along the sea surf as the sun was just starting to get low. We also spent Sunday afternoon on Abererch Sands beach as it was a beautiful sunny day. We took a picnic and the newspapers and enjoyed having a relaxing few hours looking out over the sea towards the mountains in the distance. All very good for the soul.

Sunday night, my sister and her family had to return home which left David and myself alone for the evening. It was a lovely balmy evening so we went out for a meal in Tremadog. We've been to this bistro a few times over the years and as usual it was a good value meal with excellent service.

We spent Monday in Abersoch walking around the village and stopping for a coffee (or in David's case a beer) at Zinc bar & grill. The weather was so lovely for this time of year that we sat outside overlooking the harbour and boats in the sunshine. Just perfect as an end for a great weekend. No matter how busy we are and how many chores that need doing, we always find time to recharge our batteries and spend some time together to chat and enjoy each other's company. Holidays and weekends away are important to us and on that note I am going on holiday on Saturday for two weeks to Turkey so will not be able to post for a couple of weeks but will miss this so much I am sure I will write a post as soon as I get back.