What do you use your mobile phone for?Apart from the obvious (phone, text and email) I use the camera on it all the time and I've captured a lot of special (and funny) moments that I wouldn't have done otherwise, I share my pictures using Instagram and I have lots of photo editing apps that I love. I also use Twitter and Facebook and have plenty of games downloaded to keep the kids amused when necessary.As well as the fun apps though, I use it to help me save money. There's lots of apps out there that can help you save in all kinds of ways but here's some of my … [Read more...]
Selling on eBay – Your questions answered….
Hands up those of you who have used eBay at some point to sell your unwanted things? If you haven't, you're missing out on an easy way to make some extra cash! I wrote a guide to using eBay before Christmas as a guest post on the lovely Melaina's Transatlantic Blonde blog and I've also mentioned eBay on here a few times so I often receive e mails and tweets asking me questions about how to use eBay to sell unwanted items and make some extra money. The most common questions are below with my answers but if you have any other questions (or answers), please feel free to let me know in the … [Read more...]
How we make room in our budget for fun….
As I've said before, my main reason for being frugal is so that I can afford to work part time and spend more time with the kids.But (there's always a but).... It's also really important to me that, as a family, we have lots of fun together and even though I know there are plenty of things we can do together that don't cost a penny, there are also lots of things we like to do together that do cost money.We allow a set amount of money each month in our budget for fun things, which could include anything from going to the pictures or bowling (doesn't happen often as it costs so much … [Read more...]
Meal Planning Monday – Shopping from our cupboards….
Thanks to a rather expensive (but apparently essential) car repair last week, we need to try and spend as little money as possible between now and pay-day. That means that this weeks meal plan is going to be a 'whatever we've already got in' week. Luckily, my freezer has quite a lot of reduced bargains that we've picked up from the supermarket at the end of the day recently so we shouldn't starve....Monday: Sausage, egg, chips and beans.Tuesday: Macaroni cheese.Wednesday: Salmon Fishcakes in buns with homemade potato wedges and salad.Thursday: Either minced beef and onions … [Read more...]
Five ways to keep your romance alive – without spending a fortune….
We've been married now for almost 12 years and together for almost 17 years! Our relationship has changed a lot over the years and I'd be lying if I said it had all been plain sailing but I think we're happier now than we've ever been.We've learned that we need to remember that we're not just parents, we're also husband and wife and if we want to stay happily married we need to spend quality time together as a couple and not just as a family. If you Google 'cheap dates' or something like that, you'll get lots of suggestions telling you to go for a walk on the beach, give each other a … [Read more...]
Are you paying too much Council Tax….
Council Tax makes up a large part of your monthly expenditure so wouldn't it be great if you could reduce the amount you pay, and even better if you could get a nice fat cheque at the same time?Well, maybe you can. Apparently up to 400,000 houses in the UK have been assigned to the wrong council tax band and it's really easy to check if your house is one of them. If it is, you could have your future Council Tax payments reduced and get a rebate for any past overpayments.It's basically due to the fact that when Council Tax was first introduced, the government needed every house in the … [Read more...]
