As a parent, I like to think I have quite a relaxed style of parenting but no matter how laid back I am, I wasn't prepared for the question Master Frugal asked me last weekend: Please can I go to the park with my friends today Mam? My immediate thought was absolutely not - he's only 10 and the park is about three quarters of a mile away. I quickly thought out all of the worst case scenarios in my head which ranged anywhere from him being kidnapped to falling in the lake and from falling of a swing to being bitten by a rabid dog.(Not that I'm a worrier you understand ;-))I opened my … [Read more...]

A couple of week's ago I told you that my word for 2016 was Happy and that my plan was to do things that make me happy and try not to do things that don't make me happy.  Sounds simple, doesn't it?But my focus on being happy isn't just limited to what I do or don't do - it's also about appreciating the smaller things in life that aren't really a big deal to anyone other than me because these small things add up to make my life a happy one.  I thought I might get into the habit of sharing a few of them with you every month....I love how happy Master Frugal is at school - he's such a … [Read more...]

I'd say that Miss Frugal is a pretty typical 13 year old right now.She's permanently attached to her phone or her iPad and seems to be in constant contact with her friends be it on Messenger, Instagram or Facetime.  If you ask her then she'll tell you she loves school but isn't keen on the lessons part of it (?!?) and the only reason that she enjoys it is because of her friends.She loves clothes although while the weather's so miserable she's more often than not in a pair of pyjamas when she's at home and she has a bit of a makeup obsession that she funds mostly by using her … [Read more...]

I've recently had 'the talk' with Miss Frugal.Not the birds and the bees talk, that was years ago and to be fair that was more her sharing her horror with me about what someone had told her at school and me putting her straight on a few things that she's heard.No, the talk we had was about the dangers of the internet and social media because, as much as I hate it, I've come to realise that I can't monitor everything that she does and even if I could, there are plenty of ways that she could get around my rules if she wanted to seeing as she can access the internet in so many different … [Read more...]

I’ve read lots of blog posts and social media updates over the last few weeks where people have been sharing their word of the year - the word that represents something they want to focus on in 2016.I'm a big fan of having a word of the year (last year I had more than one) and I’ve really enjoyed reading and hearing about what everyone else had chosen for their word as well as being inspired by the reasons everyone has for picking their own particular words.I didn't have to think very hard about my word for 2016 as it's something that's been playing on my mind for a little while … [Read more...]

Everyone's circumstances are different.Some people are frugal and thrifty because they have no other choice than to save every penny they can to pay bills and for their day to day living expenses.Some people are frugal because it's the way they were brought up and/or they just don't like to see waste.And then there's the people who are frugal through choice so they have money available to spend elsewhere that they wouldn't have necessarily had otherwise.I fall into that third category which I know makes me very lucky.We started to live frugally after a couple of family … [Read more...]