Make sure you have the best deal available to you....With the ever rising cost of gas and electricity, we should all be making sure that we're not only getting the best deals available to us but also that we're only using what we need to use and making the best of what we do use.It sounds like a lot of work but it's really not and to be fair, you're probably already doing a lot of it and the Summer is a great time to make sure that you're doing as much as you can so you're ready for when the cold weather kicks in.The first step is to make sure you're paying as little as possible … [Read more...]
Urgent Money Saving – Do you wear a uniform for work….
I've just read on the MoneySavingExpert website that if you are required to wear a uniform (even just a t-shirt) for work and you wash, repair or replace it yourself, then you could be eligible to reclaim tax you have paid and although it doesn't add up to too much per year, I believe that you can apply for repayment for the past four years which will get you a nice little repayment that could come in handy. It's worth looking into if you can say yes to the following:You wear a uniform that shows you've got a certain job, like a branded t-shirt or a full uniform. You are required to … [Read more...]
A Frugal New Year – Saving energy around the home…
I'm working with Britmums and British Gas at the moment on a campaign to help educate people about energy conservation which is perfect timing as my next post about how to have a Frugal New Year was going to be all about reminding you how to save energy as a family. I know I'm always going on about saving energy but it really is important and to make sure you really get the message, I'm going to share with you something that my daughter was taught at school: Using Less Energy = Lower Energy Bills + Less Impact on the Environment To a 9 year old it's a no brainer really, why would you not … [Read more...]
A Frugal New Year – Let’s start with meal planning….
Meal planning is probably the single biggest change I made when I started out on my frugal journey and it's something that I continue to do (almost) every week. I'm not perfect though and if I'm honest, there are plenty of times when we don't stick to the plan for one reason or another but on the whole, we do quite well and have managed to reduce our food shopping bill by a fair bit.I'm not going to insult your intelligence by telling you what meal planning is or how to do it but I will tell you how I do it and hopefully, if you meal plan too, you might share how you plan your meals in … [Read more...]
Change the way you shop – savings at the supermarket….
Tonight I got some very odd looks while I was doing my shopping - It may have been because my trolley was filled with this little lot:It's for a community project at work where we're donating toiletries to some local homeless charities. We've all been asked to take in a few things and encouraged to buy value products so we get more for our money, which ultimately means that we're donating more to the charities. I bought 5 cans of shaving foam, 10 tubes of toothpaste, 5 packs of 4 toothbrushes, 8 bottles of deodorant and 8 packs of 10 razors - all things we've been told are … [Read more...]
Family Friendly Frugal Meals – Microwave Sponge Pudding….
Another lazy week this week as I've just been signed off on work for another week with this stupid chest infection.Monday - Left over Pork from yesterdays roast - sliced cold with chips.Tuesday - Home made fish pie.Wednesday - Chicken Curry with naan bread for the grown ups and naan bread pizza's for the kids.Thursday - Pasta Bolognaise - recipe next week.Friday - Macaroni cheeseSaturday - Chicken fried riceSunday - Some sort of roast - whatever meat is on offer with yorkshires, roasties and vegI've heard a rumour that the weather's going to turn a bit nasty … [Read more...]
