Thrifty
Long live cheap shower gel
For the past two years, we have tried to live as frugally as possible. Some people might think we’re absolutely crazy in our thriftiness, but it has served us well. Recently, I reflected that one of the things we have saved money on is shower gel. Yes, shower gel. I know some would laugh about [...]
Get discounts on utility bills with direct deposit
Living within your means can be very difficult if your means are already limited. Furthermore, if you have bills that are paid quarterly, it can sometimes be hard to plan ahead when you have emergencies. We’ve found that if we know in advance what our utilities payments are, it helps us to plan better.
Shared ownership and rent-to-buy with HomeBuy scheme
When I hear news about the housing market, it triggers a Pavlovian response in me. Having rented for the past 7 years, I want to be able to own my own home again. But how will I be able to do this? As I’ve mentioned previously, we don’t even have a credit history, so we’ll [...]
Train cheaper than bus, sometimes
It never used to be the case, but it seems that for short distances the train is cheaper than the bus. Recently, I had to travel in to Haywards Heath from Burgess Hill. The local bus company charge GBP 3.70 for an adult return fare, and children travel for GBP 2.40 each. I went ahead [...]
Travelling via train and bus with PlusBus
I’m a regular train traveller and recently discovered PlusBus. It’s an economical way to travel via bus in addition to train. It was great because I had to take a side trip one day, which meant I was unable to use my regular train route. PlusBus is available at various towns across England. For around [...]
Getting a refund on your tax disc
If you are getting rid of your car and you’ve already paid your taxes on it, you can get a refund on the unused portion of the tax. However, you need to do this as soon as possible. We found this out too late and lost two months’ worth of taxes when we left our [...]
Free WiFi in Uckfield
If you are mobile near Uckfield in East Sussex and need to jump on the Internet then we’ve found the connection in the local Costa Coffee in the main street is very reliable. In fact, we prefer this Costa to the one in neighbouring Haywards Heath largely because it seems more spacious and less noisy. [...]
Chicken Dinner for Under a Pound
I’ve spoken before about Morrison’s supermarket and some of the ways they can help when trying to live on a tight budget. However, last week I discovered another. I popped in to our local Morrison’s at 8:30pm, a half hour before closing time, for a loaf of bread. I got the loaf and then headed [...]
Get discounts when you buy foods close to expiration date
Those who enjoy finding ways to cut corners have probably already discovered this method – buy foods on a short date. Yes, especially now, when they are discussing changing the “Best by” and “Use by” dating system. Many supermarkets have a scheme in place, where they offer foods on a short date at incredible discounts. [...]