The Diary of a Frugal Family | Living a Fabulously Frugal Family Life

Our Victorian Fireplace Makeover….

45280Leave a CommentOur+Victorian+Fireplace+Makeover....2026-04-27+14%3A31%3A10Cassandra April 27, 2026 By Cassandra
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Today, you're going to see my favourite makeover so far in our new house - our original Victorian Fireplace.When we moved house at the end of February, I was off work unwell and awaiting an operation so despite having the biggest plans for our new house, I could only manage the smaller jobs which I found so frustrating as you can imagine. The fireplace was my first project and I thoroughly enjoyed taking my time, making it look exactly as I wanted it to look while my poor partner was tasked with the bigger jobs in the room like getting rid of the giant emerald green strip … [Read more...]

6 simple things I do before bed to make mornings easier….

1587740 Comments2026-04-26+09%3A10%3A11Cassandra April 26, 2026 By Cassandra
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What would you say if I told you that just doing a few things before you go to bed can make mornings easier? I've perfected my night time routine so I thought I'd share some of the quick and easy things I do before I go to bed which make the next morning easier.Do you know that it’s an actual scientific* fact that if you spend ten minutes before you go to bed getting ready for the next day then the following morning will be at least ten times easier? (OK, it may not be scientific but it really helps me and I just read a book about science* so humour me and we’ll call it a … [Read more...]

This month’s pre-loved bargains {April 2026}….

45362Leave a Comment2026-04-25+15%3A57%3A36Cassandra April 25, 2026 By Cassandra
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Welcome to my monthly pre-loved bargain post - one of my favourite things to write because it gives me an excuse to share the second-hand treasures I’ve brought home lately. 😀 I said at the start of the year that I really want to take my love of pre-loved shopping to the next level. I knew we'd be moving house in the first few months of the year and was looking forward to searching out things that would look great in our house but I also wanted to take it a step further and buy things that I could resell for a profit as well as some things that could do with a bit of love so I can try … [Read more...]

Five Frugal Things we did this week {24th April 2026}….

45061Leave a Comment2026-04-25+10%3A53%3A48Cassandra April 25, 2026 By Cassandra
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Every week I share five frugal things that I've done during the previous 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. Hey!It's been a good while since I've shared these posts weekly and I've properly missed it, especially as so much has been going on in my life while I've been away from my laptop. Miss Frugal was a good little blog caretaker for me while I wasn't very well - replying to emails, sharing some posts from the archives and updating and sharing a few … [Read more...]

Applying for a UK Civil Partnership Visa UK: What to Expect (and How Much It Really Costs)….

45354Leave a Comment2026-04-25+10%3A53%3A27Cassandra April 25, 2026 By Cassandra
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This is one of those topics that you don’t really think about… until it suddenly becomes very real. Whether it’s you, your partner, or someone close to you, the idea of building a life together in the UK sounds simple enough, but once you start looking into visas, forms and costs, it quickly becomes clear that it’s anything but straightforward.It’s not something I’ve had to deal with myself, but it’s come up in conversation recently and it made me realise how complicated it can be — especially when you start looking at the cost and how easy it is to get things wrong. And if you’re anything … [Read more...]

Fixing a leaking shower for under £20….

45348Leave a Comment2026-04-25+10%3A23%3A29Cassandra April 25, 2026 By Cassandra
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**I used to panic when something went wrong in the house as my first thought was 'how much is this going to cost?' but I'm learning that there are so many jobs that you can do yourself at a fraction of the cost and I want to start sharing a few of those with you!**When we moved into Sherbet House, I naively thought the bathrooms would be one of the “easy” parts. You know… a quick clean and a quick refresh of the rooms but the house gods were not smiling down on us. 😂 Both bathrooms had carpet in them. Carpet. In a bathroom. I still don’t understand the logic. And just to … [Read more...]