There's only 78 Sleeps to go which is just 3 pay days. I now it's only October but I'm going to start my 'How to have a Frugal Christmas' series now because if I wouldn't be a good Frugal blogger if I didn't tell you that you should have started shopping (or at least planning) by now. Christmas happens at the same time every year so there's no excuse - it's not like we don't know it's coming or anything. The first of my 'How to have a Frugal Christmas' is all about presents - don't panic though I'm not about to send you all out shopping or anything but I hope that I can help you plan what … [Read more...]
My Top Ten Winter Preparations….
After this weekend's freakish (but very welcome) mini heatwave, there's a definite chill in the air tonight. So much so, that I've just had the heating on for an hour to warm the house up which is only the second time I've needed it on since before the Summer. Don't get me wrong, I'm not the sort of person who waits until there's icicles on the end of our noses before I turn the heating on but I do try to balance having it on as little as possible with having a nice warm house. I'd love to be the type of person who could just put on an extra couple of jumpers and pairs of socks rather than … [Read more...]
Packed Lunch Ideas….
When Miss Frugal started 'big' school she didn't want to take a packed lunch as most of her friends were going to be on school dinners and the people on packed lunches have to sit on separate tables (what's that all about?) so we gave in and paid the £1.85 a day for her to have school dinners.She came home every night and told us excitedly what she'd had and every night I'd tell her that some grated carrots and cheese with a wrap followed by a small cookie was not enough for dinner but the next day she'd have exactly the same thing again! So by the time Master Frugal (the fussiest eater … [Read more...]
A Sad Day and a New Challenge….
First of all, if you've popped over from Netmums or Tesco - Welcome. I really hope you stick around. You can subscribe if you want to by clicking on the logo over there in the sidebar. Go on, you know you want to ;-) >>Now, on to the sad part of the post - Today's the day I've finally got rid of my gorgeous Smeg Fridge. We've had loads of problemssince we bought it form someone I know from work, the seal went on the door, the freezer compartment door snapped and it started leaking every few weeks so when it leaked again last night we decided to put it in the garage and bring … [Read more...]
How to Save Money….
In our quest to try and live a more frugal lifestyle (note the word try ;-)) we regularly review our monthly budget and try to shave off a few pounds here and there. In the last year or so, we've actually saved quite a bit so I thought I'd share our top tips with you all. I blogged about using cashback companies last year here and I can't recommend them highly enough. Basically, if you register with a company like Quidco you can earn cashback on your internet shopping. I always review my home and car insurance when they're due for renewal along with my telephone and internet deals … [Read more...]
How to Spend a Bank Holiday Monday….
Despite having the last week off work, as of this morning I hadn't done the majority of things on my week off 'to do list' (Yes, I really did write one ;-)) As I'm back at work tomorrow, that left me today to do it all.... Top of my list was to sort out more storage for Master Frugal's room as he has the smallest room in the house with enough toys and books in there to fill five rooms. Ages ago I'd bought some colourful storage crates and some shelves to put them on but I hadn't got around to building them as I couldn't face the mammoth task of sorting the toys out when they were built and … [Read more...]