Money Saving


Ways to save money and Save the planet 1

If lockdown has taught me anything it’s that I used to be very wasteful. Like, really wasteful. Just being able to be at home and not be out and about at work has made me also realise just how much money I was spending on things that I need and to be honest, I think the Corona-coaster has hit us all hard in the pocket as well. So I have been investigating ways that I can be kinder to my pocket as well as kinder to the Planet. Hurray!  Below are some of my favourite places that I have found, which can all be access from the comfort of your sofa. Recycle your clothes We’ve all dragged a few bin bags worth of stuff down to the charity shops during 2020 after all that time spent at home trying to fill the time. Well, you can actually recycle your clothes […]


Cycle safer on a budget 2

I know I don’t mention it on the blog as much as I used to, but I am a cyclist. Okay, I have a car now so cycle less but I still like my two wheels as a choice. I didn’t like having to cycle regardless of tiredness, weather, and lack of coinage for bus fare. When I cycle now it’s like a nice little explore not a mad dash to get somewhere fast, pulling a tailgator and a grumpy child. Whatever the reason you cycle you really can make a few safety improvements dirt cheap. Lights, high-viz kit, a basic bike tool set, a splash of oil for the chain, and a set of new brake blocks. These are all low cost, but some things really are worth the extra. HELMETS!


Upcycling and wombling 2

Oh I love to womble, to collect things others bin or dump that could be useful. For example when there is a jacket left in the park and it’s soaking and muddy I will take it home to wash it then it goes in our charity bag. If I don’t the council “street cleansing team” will bag it and bin it. I hate pointless waste I really do. When charity bin bags get thrown into a road and get all muddy and run over, I lug that lot home and pop it to a charity of my choosing. My son D calls it stealing, but abandoned things are destined just for landfill. Well this afternoon I was pleasantly surprised to see an abandoned dog crate on a pavement nearby with other scrap metal.


Bank Holiday offers at PetShopBowl

As it’s a bank holiday weekend PetShopBowl are running some great offers this weekend: including Buy 1 get 2 free on Pro Plan Duo Delice, 99p Dentastix, 25% off Almo Nature food and more. This is running from now until Monday 25th August. http://www.petshopbowl.co.uk/bank-holiday-offers/  You might remember Freya Woof recently tested out Almo pet food in cartons and she liked it and the other furry friends got some treats too. The Pro Plan Duo is the best offer, buy 1 get 2 free! This brand looks great, however our woof hates it. If your four legged family like this food buy it now. It’s a bargain! Disclosure : PetShopBowl asked me to post this.


Fundraising with TinyMe 1

You know I am doing that crazy skydive thingyamybob soon? Yes? Well I have come across a marvellous fundraising idea. TinyMe (who I’ve mentioned here before) are being very kind and saying they will donate 20% of sales mentioning Team Matilda Mae to the skydive JustGiving page. TinyMe is great for personalised labels for school uniform, gym bags, lunch bags, and even books and puzzles.


Money saving for your car 2

Good afternoon readers, today I am posting in partnership with Debt Free Direct and the making money go further blog. They were kind enough to spend me a “car money saving kit”, a black and decker car vacuum, jump leads, spare light bulbs and an electronic tyre inflator. Jump leads are boring to be honest, and I hope I never need these but they are likely to come in extremely handy when camping. For some reason we always seem to get approached by camping “neighbours” asking for jump leads and help. Maybe we look all sensible or something? The bulbs are a cheap way to save a few quid – if you are driving with a blown bulb you could get a nasty fine and it would also fail on the MOT test. In fact the only point Custard had on the MOT was a wrong bulb. One tiny bulb cost […]


Bunny hutch roof repairs 8

We only bought Patch a new hutch last year and the roof has already failed. Rain water has been leaking in through the roof felt. I can’t afford a new hutch at the moment. So rather than leave it to get worse and Patch to get damp, I’ve come up with a great cheap fix. I bought a cheap large bit of tarpaulin, £5 for approx 2 by 3 meters in a local shop. Armed with sharp scissors and a normal stapler I made a new roof (kinda). Think of old episodes of “changing rooms” and the presenter obsessed with re-upholstery and staple guns.


Puppy love 3

When I was at the Manics gig this weekend Freya woof was in doggy daycare. Sadly whilst on “the common” with her sitter she lost her tags. When we first adopted her she came with a yellow tag with a password that finds her details in a dog database. Whilst a good idea I thought “who will want to do that if they find a stray dog?” so we went to Pets at Home and had a blue bone shape one engraved on an automated machine. I didn’t like it! The bone was £7 and the colour rubbed off, it felt cheap. So when Freya lost her tags I went looking online and to my surprise on eBay they are a steal. Two tags I like, engraved and delivered in 3 days for £6.50. The heart replaces her yellow tag, mentioning she has a microchip so if found full details […]


Dog health tips – Make parasite control a monthly thing 12

If like me you’re bad at remembering dates when you should or shouldn’t be doing things for your hounds health might I suggest the 1st of each month? About 6 weeks ago I last did Freya’s flea treatment, and I couldn’t remember the date I used the flea spot on at all. So I’ve waited until the end of the month so in future knowing the date its due is easy peasy. Today will also be worming tablet day. I know she’s not going to volunteer to eat a tablet so this will go into chunks of meat from our dinner later this evening. She won’t notice it so much then, and it makes those yukky looking tablets a reward, not something to be wary of.


An Extra Room 5

For a long while I’ve been tripping over Lego and toys and things. The Lego train set takes up lots of floor space and when Dee gets it out he hates being asked to pack it away.  Well today I solved this problem, I made us an extra room. A week ago I asked on Freecycle if anyone had any carpet offcuts so I could carpet the loft as a play space for my boys. A lovely chap responded, and even delivered it to us. It was several bits of long but narrow carpet about 12ft long, but in various widths.


Winning Weekends (27-30 December)

Happy Friday compers and bloggers, I hope you had an awesome Christmas! Please linky up blog competitions below, they can be your own blog comps, or just ones you have seen online and thought “that’s awesome, but not for me”. Maybe a friend is having a blog giveaway/contest for boys things, but your kiddies are girls. Perhaps it’s a chocolate competition and you are a devoted dieter? Linky it up 😉 I don’t really have rules for this but this is for UK competitions please, and I would very much appreciate if you filled in the title (name) box like this: “25/2 win your favourite perfume – blogtitle” rather than “my friends awesomely named blog”. End dates are great because if it’s got a long date it might be worth adding to next weekends as well and it’s also good to know what the prize is before trying to win […]


30 ways to save £1 4

I noticed Jax from Liveotherwise blog about this great competition from Money supermarket and knew I had to enter. It’s called 30 ways to save £1, and the great thing about this competition isn’t the huge prize money, it is that they will give you £1 per tip, if you publish your own post on this topic before 17th of May, so what are you waiting for? Pounds, Quid, gold pieces, dosh! The first tip has to be, enter this competition yourself as soon as you have read this post! Always make sure you use the food with the shortest dates first. Throwing out a few items a week could cost you several pounds. Wash your laundry at 30 degrees when you can to save a little bit in electric bills. Try to save a little bit of gas and water (so dosh too) by shortening you shower by 10 seconds […]