I've said it before and I'll say it again - Legal and General's #MoneyHangouts are really teaching me quite a bit. I thought I was quite up to speed on all things property related after remortgaging last year, but actually sitting down and watching their latest hangout on Property has made me realise just how much more there is to know, and also how many problems there are with property in this country at the moment. There is a shortage of houses, especially for families, in certain parts of the country and this means that people are finding it harder and harder to find a home. Knowing how ... read more
Latest charity shop haul – May 2015
I've not been having as much luck as usual in charity shops of late. Despite lots of looking there just haven't been any items of clothing I really liked and Ladybird books seem to have dried up a bit since the publicity push for the 100th anniversary of the publisher. Still, all my efforts have turned up a few gems - so here's my latest charity shop haul. I'd love to hear about what thrifty gems you've found recently. ... read more
Getting to grips with Family Finances – Retirement and Pensions #MoneyHangout
Family Finances. They can be a bit of a headache can't they? There always seems to be so much to think about and the various rules about tax and allowances can leave you feeling confused and unsure about exactly what you should be doing for the best for you and your family. Children in school are not taught about the basics of budgeting and as a nation we don't really talk about money and finances - it's just not a very British thing to do. But, how are we going to get better if we don't talk about things? And how are we supposed to know what we should be doing if there's no one talking ... read more
More charity shop clothing finds
I've not had much luck in charity shops over the last month or so. Lots of looking but very little that I actually wanted to buy. I either found things I liked but in completely completely the wrong size, or the things in my size (or close to it) were just not my style at all. All that changed this morning though with my usual post knitting group wander around. Both Scope and Oxfam in St Albans came up trumps so have a look at what I came home with for under £35 in total. I've also been having a lot of success with my previous charity shop finds. A George black dress that I featured ... read more
Switching suppliers and embracing green #PowerToSwitch
In my dream world this is what the roof of my house would look like. Solar panels and possibly even a small wind turbine too. I dream of being self sufficient when it comes to electricity and as I sit here on a sunny and windy day it frustrates me so much that I can't be powering the laptop I type on with renewable energy. But, I am. Well, sort of. You see, last year I finally got round to going on to a utilities price comparison site. For some reason I'd been putting it off for years as I'd just always assumed that it was going to be a really tedious process to go through and that I was ... read more
Have yourself a very thrifty Christmas
Christmas. Let's face it, it's an expensive time of the year. Well, at least it can be, but here are some of my top tips for having a thrifty Christmas in 2014. Save on Christmas presents If I'm honest here, the really serious thrifty folk will have already done the bulk of their Christmas back in the January sales! Don't despair though if you're reading this in December and thinking you don't have a chance of saving money - you do. Firstly consider who you have to get gifts for. Do they really all need a present? If there are a lot of family members then why not suggest doing a ... read more
A Secondhand Christmas
I try to keep out of arguments on social media. Life's simply too short to go wading in every time you see something you disagree with. Last week though I saw an exchange which just left me speechless. Some blogger friends of mine are taking part in a campaign with the Salvation Army to raise the profile of doing your Christmas shopping in charity shops as a way of supporting charities at this time of year. One particular blogger tweeted about the things that she'd found this year for her family's Christmas presents and someone else (who I refuse to give a link to here - don't feed the ... read more
Featured Post: Turning our attentions to savings
If you've been following my thrifty journey through 2014 you'll know that our attempts to have a Year of Thrift hit the buffers somewhat when we came up against the new mortgage affordability rules. The good news is that common sense has prevailed though and our building society has now agree to remortgage us - yippee! There's still a huge amount of paperwork to complete and solicitors need to do whatever solicitors do in these circumstances, but fingers crossed we're nearly there and we might actually be able to start saving again. Such a relief and it's definitely helped re-energise my ... read more
Kids go free with CBeebies Magazine #CBeebiesMagKidsGoFree
There's no denying it any longer - the summer holidays are here and across the country parents are desperately trying to come up with ways to entertain their little ones without blowing the household budget in the process. School holidays are perfect for days out, but it's not a cheap thing to do. Entry ticket prices can seem very high and then you also need to contemplate the costs of getting there, plus refreshments whilst there (unless you're thrifty enough to bring a picnic). Help is at hand though as CBeebies magazine have teamed up with Merlin Entertainments for a summer long campaign ... read more
Half way through the Year of Thrift
January seems like a long time ago right now and I have to be totally honest and say that over the last couple of months my year of thrift has taken a bit of a back seat in my life. There are plenty of thrifty things that I now do without even thinking of them, but the thing that has most put me off track is actually the response we've had whilst trying to save money on our mortgage. In the early part of the year we went to huge lengths to cut down our outgoings. We changed gas and electricity supplier, we changed our mobile phone contracts and we also shopped around loads for groceries to ... read more