Savings Rate is King

Example for an average savings rate.

Ie It doesn’t matter what you bring in, just what you keep. 

It also doesn't matter what you do for a living.

I read recently about Doctors who earn hundreds of thousands per year, but because they ‘keep up with the Joneses’ they spend it all, and in fact on the bottom line are no better off than you and me. This was unexpected to me, but seems to make sense - they likely have expensive houses, social arrangement, golf, the ‘right’ kind of holiday, private tuition for kids etc.

So once you work out your savings rate, you can see if you save 20% and the Doctor saves 20%, in real terms you are on a par with someone on a doctor’s salary, because your expenses overall are less and with the SR to compare, you are on an equal footing!

This was a breakthrough for me, as I had always looked at the amount saved, not the ratio. I can now see that perhaps 30% is feasible for us with ‘easy’ cutbacks and lifestyle changes, maybe more if we can increase earnings some more.

So savings rate shows us a much more realistic picture, against which we can measure goals, income and what we want to achieve. I have set up a spreadsheet to keep myself accountable on this, and can see that over the past 6, 3 and 1 month this savings rate is continually improving and the more I learn the more I hope to achieve. It won’t be easy but my mindset has really changed, as to how much we were consuming, and what we really need on a daily basis. I will update here as I go, anything I learn that has helped us and that may help you out and your comments in turn will teach us all alot too.

Do you know your savings rate? Would you take measures to improve your SR if you knew this would bring your retirement forward?

How much should I save and what is a good retirement age?

This is a question I have been thinking about alot lately.

Particularly as this year I decided to leave ‘the rat race’ and go freelance. It was a very tough decision, as a regular job allows security and holidays, bonuses and approval from others, training etc. I decided that I had been working so hard for so long that if I did not make a change now, I may never do so. I had also been thinking, it’s my only way to control my own earnings, so that I can decide when and how to retire.

You may or may not have heard the term Early Retirement Extreme (ERE for short) but it’s a website and a lifestyle that I have become increasingly interested in. It started with me hearing about a site called Mr Money Mustache, and once I read his site from start to finish, I was hooked. 

The simple premise to financial success is: Spend less than you earn, save and invest the difference, retire early.

Sounds simple, but many of us have thought to save 10% of our income is normal, and ‘what everyone else does’ I consider myself ‘good with money’ and I have never considered that if I were to save 50% of my income, and make this a solid goal, I could have a ‘real’ life after work, and before I am too old and wrinkly to enjoy it. 

After all, what’s the point of working your fingers to the bone and then having arthritis on that long promised cruise, or on hike up the dreamed of Peru trek?

So with this in mind, and after several years of focus on Junior, this year has been the career-changing, finance analysing big full stop, with a view to starting a new clear sentence. 
(I get the feeling that for a while it may well feel like a prison sentence...)

From June this year I knew my income would change, and I knew this freelance work was a stepping stone to the lifestyle change and early retirement we want to achieve.

With this in mind, I shaved costs and have done things like:

• Selling items on ebay - 2 old phones which unexpectedly yielded £180, and they are  over 2 years old and not of the fruit brand variety, so I was pleasantly surprised.
• Cutting down on groceries and wastage - we were spending close to £300 per month for 2 adults and one 5 year old, this is now close to £220 and healthful, with much less waste as I am home more to plan meals & think (thinking time is the hardest part of meal planning, isn’t it?)
• Calling British Gas and requesting a smart meter be installed in October, hopefully this will help us save money
• Increasing our savings and retirement amounts - a permanent Christmas standing order is in place now, at £60 per month until Dec. Then in Jan will be £20 per month until June, and start increasing then. Our retirement standing orders are higher too now, and need to go out before everything else, we simply live on the difference.
• Reduced some of our emergency savings to be ‘enough’ and invested the extra, especially as Santander have announced they will reduce their interest rate, which will decrease in October.
• Reviewed pension funds fees, and swapped where needed to less expensive index funds, which I have read alot about recently and seem to make more sense given that I am not an active investor, and that I don’t want a fund manager taking large chunks of my cash for their bonus. Some of my funds are still ‘rockstar’ fund manager ones, but less so.
• Continuing to overpay on the mortgage, I know what we need to pay per month to pay it off in 10 years, so this is my target. Sometimes we hit it, sometimes not, but on average it’s been a shade under the right amount every month which I am really happy with and over the coming 3 months we’ll hopefully smash it for 2016.

One key expression I read in one of many financial books recently (thanks to the "Miracle Morning" routine by Hal Elrod, but I will get to that in another post) sometime) was ‘Mind the Gap’ in terms of how much comes in, how much goes out, and keep trying to grow that gap and invest it. 
This is what changes someone to having no power to having the power to change jobs, feeling freedom and make decisions they may not have made. I know for us just having an emergency fund in place has always been helpful, I’m the sort of person that really dislikes not being able to pay for unexpected bills.

So we are now finding what ‘our’ preferred savings rate is - which by the way many early retirement websites disagree on how to calculate this - personally I divide savings into our income for the month. Right now we are hovering around the 20% rate, which I hope to increase, probably more in early 2017, as Christmas is looming (yes, I did say that). 

Mr Money Moustache has this interesting 4% annual withdrawal article. If you have never done so, spend these Winter months reading his blog from start to finish, he's an inspiration.

As to the ‘ideal’ retirement date, for me this is moveable as I want to bring it forward. I suppose I would like to be financially neutral first (ie investments & savings = the amount we still owe on the mortgage).  Then retire by 55 at the latest.

I do NOT want to be 67 when I retire. Moving towards a gradual retirement at some point would be fantastic, where we have ‘enough’ and spend ‘enough’ but don’t over-consume.

What is your ideal retirement date and how much would be enough for you? Would you continue to work, or do you have other plans? I love to hear what people’s dreams are, as for all this hard work, there should be something to look forward to at the end of it... 

Mmmm, I love the taste of vinegar in the morning...! Apple cider vinegar - Fact or fiction?

Ok, so that's not true. But I have been absent for reasons linked to being EXHAUSTED... all the time... possibly a tiny teeny bit related to having a toddler running amock... is that how you spell it? Oh you know what I mean anyway... to put it simply, with Autumn arriving, it has just cemented my tiredness.

My low enthusiasm for much more than couch-potatoe-ing. And that's definitely not a word but more of a state of being past Toddler-O-Clock. One glass of red wine, dinner, some Greys Anatomy or Breaking Bad episode (one or half a one), and I am dead to the world. What weekend excitement eh.

So, this got me thinking about food, nutrition, exercise etc. Note I said thinking, not necessarily doing...
So as I love research, I researched some of it, to at least get me into the mood of 'getting to' the doing. Actually, all jokes aside, food isn't the issue, it's the thinking time involved! Between work, toddler, my business run from home, and house, and of course hubby, sometimes we just survive the day.

Is that enough?

So the point is, what can I do that's easy, quick, and will boost energy on those hardest days when the sofa is calling?

Drink yummy(ish) apple cider vinegar, that's what. Here are 15 reasons why you should. 

My main faves are:

1) easily regulate your PH balance (ie, that extra Costa coffee you had made your body more acidic, and you didn't know or care).

2) easily gets a selection of good stuff - b vitamins, potassium - which it turns out you need lots more than 1 banana a day to get the right amount (in a top 10 potassium foods list, banana comes 10th, I thought it was top 3 at least but no!!!) You need potassium every single day, because what you got, or had, gets used in a flash. So this vinegar gives you something towards that and other good stuff too. Banana vs Apple Cider Vinegar. - ok so the banana is bigger but will put more weight on if you tried to get all your potassium there...

3) Save a bunch of money cleaning the house, and even as a lovely hair rinse and other beauty uses. Like a (ok slightly smelly) facial tonic, great hair, added to sugar scrubs, cupful in the bath and more.

There is alot of fact vs. fiction out there, old wives tales, wishful thinking, and marketing hype. So what about facts - let's check out some:

Facts you didn't know?

• Use it as a natural 'personal lady wash' to balance things down there.
• Rinse with it as a mouthwash to naturally get rid of dental plaque. You may also get rid of romance though. And less enamel.
• You might lose weight - there's lots of talk out there that this works. Why? Because it helps you feel fuller for longer, and stabilises your blood levels, so less snack attacks hopefully!
• Give it to your pets - staves off allsorts and they won't notice it in the water supposedly. Less fleas = happy everyone. 
• Good for diabetics and lowering cholestorol - one of the key facts,
  See here for more facts.

Ok, as you expect, I have got some fab links for you to save you any work in looking into this stuff. 
But let me leave you with this:

• ONLY buy the apple cider vinegar - regular vinegar or regular cider vinegar won't do.
• Only buy it if it has the Mother in it. The Mutha baby. This means all the good stuff has not been processed out. The label should state this clearly. I personally buy Biona in the UK, but over in the USA the Braggs brand is popular.
• Drink it with honey and lots of water. Only other way is neat on salad. Do not take as a shot unless you want painful throat and no more tooth enamel. I love it with water and molasses - that way I get my potassium and my iron for the day in one drink.
• As with anything, do not overdo it! You still want some teeth, and stomach lining!

Combined with a healthy diet I'm sure it can't help to try, and at less than £3 for a big ol' bottle, I'm sure going to give it a go. I know it's not a miracle food but worth trying as an addition to my salads etc.Let me know how you get on!

My experience so far:

- I do feel more energetic - this could be down to anything, but seems to have helped somewhat.

- As a face tonic, this has smoothed my skin, so I have made a tonic with green tea and apple cider vinegar as per the link below, I'm sticking with that from now for sure, as a bottle of toner now costs me pennies.

Before I forget, a special thank you to Aurora from Freya's Rainbow for your link, much appreciated, and so nice to be in the ethical/green-minded community - thank you!

Youtube links:

Benefits of apple cider vinegar

Apple Cider Vinegar Toner (skip to around 1m 40 seconds to skip the intro)

Apple Cider Vinegar Facts

Braggs Video (ok so it's self marketing, but interesting to watch. I love that Paul Bragg was a Life Extension Specialist. What a job title!)

Have a great weekend all!

xxx

Top 5 Savings Now Posts - Have you read these?

Hi everyone.

I finally got round to tecchy-mode and was checking the stats on my site to see what you folks enjoy reading the most.  So this weeks' post is about sharing the most popular blog posts so that new readers can have a read through and existing readers can perhaps get inspired:

Washing up liquid for £0.10p.
Yup, a whole 10 pennies. Maybe these days it's £0.15 with inflation!

Bagels for £0.05p & Comfort food ideas
Another popular one and bagels can be eaten all year round, so yummy you will never go back to store bought!

Bulk buying bonanza - save on shopping
This is one of the key ways to reduce that shopping bill, try to start in June and see if you can stretch that shopping budget.

Cashback site - Quidco
This is one of the leading cashback sites, have you joined yet? Don't buy a thing online unless you go via the Quidco 'doorway' first.


and by far the most visited page is....


Shabby Chic Kitchen
By far one of the most viewed articles on this blog, I'm glad so many others share my passion of shabby chic and got to see my journey with this kitchen! So much more to be done still.


So there you have it, I hope these articles inspire you in some small or big way, drop me a line if you have any challenges you are trying to beat right now, or have your own blog to share x

Are you ready for Christmas?? (I did say that, so did it get your attention!)

That's right. The old chestnut of, 'oh it's Summer Christmas is aaaAaaaAaaaAaages away'. Well, it's not! Not when you consider that the average family spends around £300 on the seasonal festivities and gifts.
Where will that money come from when the time hits?

• How much did you spend last year?Are you still paying it off?
• Did you eat or drink everything you bought for Christmas AT Christmas? Or was some still being eaten in January or even February?
• Did everyone enjoy their gifts?
• Did you charity shop or sell amny of the gifts you got given?

The reason for my post it, if you start planning now both in terms of finances and gifts, you can make Christmas 2013 a much less expensive and more enjoyable experience.

Here are some ideas that might get you started in the thinking-about-it-as-a-minimum-starting-point:

- Start saving now - a regular saver of £30 a month will help massively and be less painful than paying for it all out of November and December wages (and January and February and March....)

 

 

- Start collecting ideas - Check out Pinterest and start pinning ideas now that might come in handy - I''m thinking big jars full of goodies like: Christmas flapjacks in one, a 'movie night in' in another (ie popcorn, dvd, chocolate, unusual facts about the actors of the movie), peppermint sugar foot scrub in another (brown sugar, olive oil, peppermint oil, MIX!), a bath salts treat in another (SO easy to make - some bath salts from the £1 store, some aromatherapy oil, mix  - DONE!), some vanilla essence in a bottle (250ml vodka, 8 vanilla pods from ebay, split pods, store in cupboard for 5-6 months, shaking gently weekly). I will blog from Summer onwards with ideas to keep you inspired. What about a jar full of homemade laundry powder? Grated soap, some borax, some washing soda crystals, some baking powder, some aromatherapy oils...  This link even has a lovely printable, too cute - see pic below!

Another would be some homemade eye make up remover (maybe jojoba oil, rose aromatherapy oil. water, witch hazel)

- Make a list - Start adding ideas for presents onto a list. This could be in your diary, on Evernote, on a document on your pc. Just somewhere so you don't forget! I like to take photos when I see a present idea, and Evernote it so I know what to look at around Christmas time.

- Buy now, save later - That's right. How about buying items at boot fairs or on ebay, or making some of the gits now and keeping them to one side? Vanilla essence, laundry powder etc can all be made now.

OK, so that's probably alot to even think about right now.

So how about just two baby steps?

1. Start a list
2. Start a regular savings account

Make life easier on yourself - take just these 2 steps now, to save your sanity in 7 months time.

Yes I am mad, but this will hopefully at least get you thinking about the subject and saving your whole family some stress come Christmas time. I will try to think of other ideas as the months go by too so we can all work on it together.

Have a fab week everyone x

Anyone for coffee? Create a shabby chic coffee bar at home

Hi all, and hope you had a fab Easter!

Now the Easter break is over, and I have finished a bunch of stuff for work and my other business customers, I felt like I could get creative again even if just for a few hours here and there.

In the past few months have discovered a world of interesting videos on YouTube, from making soap to making your own diaries. I had looked before, but not had the time to try out these things properly. Wow, people are amazingly creative!

In my family we have a soap maker, so I was very inspired to try and create some soaps - I have now made a basic castille soap, and in 3 weeks time it will be ready to use, so I will report back here with the results and more info on another blog post.

Anyway, all this to say that with the extra time, I decided to copy an idea I saw on Malitose79s videos (Organising tip of the day), she made a coffee bar and I loved it! Anything shabby chic is great by me, so I thought I would come up with a project to do something similar.

I had already bought some chalkboard a3 sticker sheets and this was the perfect way to use some of them - I didn't even know you could get chalk pens, these are so amazing and much better than regular chalk! My stationery addiction is now 100 times worse, so I think most things in my kitchen are now going to get chalk labels...

I got the green oilcloth from Dunhelm Mill, it's a great vintage cutlery design, and I bought half a metre I think, and have lined drawers with it, done this coffee bar, made some cash envelopes (for the Dave Ramsay Cash Envelope System) and still have loads left. Oilcloth is fab, I will need to get more...

Then I reused my Bonne Mamman jars as I love the lids so much, i think they are always so pretty especially if you have a group of them. You do need to make sure they are sterilised if they are going to store liquids, dry stuff you can be a bit more relaxed with a quick wash in soapy water.

The coffee bar is a great idea, it can be as customised as you like, maybe even a tea bar instead? A very specialised selection of fine teas, perhaps some mini marmalades? I plan to get some sugar lumps, some thin pots to store cinnamon and also some of those coffee syrups like hazelnut, then it will really feel like Costas.

And maybe as a result I will save a ton of cash!

What are your latest projects and where do you get inspiration?

The Pricebook returns - can it help me pay down the mortgage?

Well as you know Evernote is now firmily in my life (see last post) and I can honestly say I love it and it's really got me organised!

This morning was the time to get back into my pricebook mode. This first year with baby has meant I lost my mojo on this sort of thing - tidyness, the blog, batch cooking, pricebook all went out the window pretty much. But no more!

How do I do it?

I have a notebook inside Evernote called 'Pricebook', and it's easily editable both on my pc and my phone. So when I am in the supermarket, I can edit prices, and it's all synched up with my pc.

Here is an example of the work I have done so far - some data is missing but I will fill that in next time I find that product:

Butter - Olive oil type £0.89p ALDI

Cheddar cheese 400g £2.39 / 5.98 per kg ALDI

Coffee (instant) - £       £0.72 per 100g / £7.20 per kg ALDI

Ginger (ground) 50g £0.50p / £10 per kg
Marmite £      £2 per kg ASDA

Mayo Squeezy 475g £0.89 / 1.80 per kg - ALDI

Nappies Size 4 (56) £0.10p each ALDI

Oregano fresh Mexican £3.50 per 100g / £35 per kg - Ebay

Paprika

Peanut Butter (Special) £1.29 / £3.58 per kg - ALDI  

Rice basmati 5kg - £6 / £1.20 per kg  Amazon

Teabags x 440 £1.49 / £0.01or less each - Approved Foods

Tinned tomatoes 400g £0.31 / £0.78 per kg ALDI

Toilet paper x 9 rolls Saxon - 1.99 / £0.22p per roll - ALDI

Tomato concentrate puree 200g 0.35p / £1.75 per litre ALDI 

Toothpaste 75g - £0.20p / £2.67 per kg - Approved Foods

Washing conditioner 1500ml £0.99p / £0.66 per litre - Approved Foods

Washing liquid bio Time £0.75p / £1.02 per litre / £0.03 per wash - Approved Foods

Washing Powder Radon non bio 800g £0.99 / £1.24 per kg / £0.08 per wash - Approved Foods

Washing Up Liquid - Magnum - £1.00 per litre ALDI

So I'm really happy with how it's working for me so far. Much better than a piece of paper, or a notebook - this is virtual and I will not lose it because it's 'in the cloud'.

What products are on your list? What are your secret weapons to save money on shopping?

I can't wait to add more to my list, sad but true!  Would much rather be saving that cash for baby or putting it against our mortgage. In fact, that may well be a challenge to myself now we are at the start of the month!

 

Bulk Buying Bonanza - Saving on shopping

Ok so here is a short but hopefuly useful post on what I have achieved so far!

I bought 10kg of (broken) dishwasher tablets on ebay, 2p per wash this way. I will also carefully monitor the salt levels and use soda crystals so that the machine runs well and is happy overall.

I am keeping an eye on Amazon Grocery as they can have good deals too, never bought food from there before but when the have deals and also offer discounts for regular orders, some golden deals may be had there.

I'm going to use www.mysupermarket.co.uk more to compare prices and see deals, then if need be do my weekly shop in the best supermarket to bulk buy. It may involve slightly more petrol, but if we can bulk buy and make a family day out of it, it may work out!

Will keep an eye on local boot fairs and markets as they often sell boxes of veg very cheap, so I can make more pasta sauces, casseroles etc and get that slow cooker working for me again...

I will keep my Pricebook up to date, so far I know that 2p per dishwash, 10p per nappy (when I buy some, only buy 1 pack at the moment per month), 6p per clothes wash are best prices to aim for. Next ones will be things like toothpaste, loo roll (can I beat 22p per roll at Aldi!) and olive oil etc. None of them run out, so no danger of wastage - if you have any ideas please do share!

Summer and new posts time!

Hi everyone, I'm sorry the blog has been so delayed, our little one is nearly 1 - crazy how time flies! Anyway, we're more back to normal now, I'm back at work, and money saving is definately something we need to re-focus on. So I aim to at least write one blog a week, maybe more, as and when I have any ideas or deals that you guys might like. I do hope you will subscribe and continue to support the blog, and can only say that normally my money saving drive is un-swayable - but a small baby does have a way of over-running that - and money literally drains through your hands! My first money saving tactic for July has been to place one large order with Tesco online for delivery. i got some great deals for his birthday party, plus could see the total as it went along. Then I got £10 off using a voucher - great result. Even better? I didn't have to go out in the rain to get it, it all arrived with us - no petrol, no temptation in the aisles, no chicken grilling or deli samples- just what we *needed* went in the shopping trolley. Do you spend too much on food? What tips do you have? It's definately our 2nd highest cost each month and I can't wait to save some money in this area.

Bouncing into Autumn

Hi everyone,

Many apologies again for the delay, things are getting into a rhythm of sorts now so I do hope to be able to chat to you more about what i am learning and how we are coming along.

Lately we have continued to save money by using washable nappies, just terry squares with good quality outer wraps. I have also bought 'pocket' nappies on ebay quite cheaply but these do not seem to have the absorbency of good old terries - if anyone has nay tips on the best inner boosters to use I would be most grateful as the pocket nappies are certainly easier to use.

Sainsburys have a third off baby stuff, so have bought some nappy rash cream and value wipes. I do use washable wipes but the disposable ones always come in handy.

I have been batch cooking things like Cottage pie - plus today have a lasagne ready to part cook and freeze (bit naughty as it was frozen mince but there you go). Also planning to cook some macaroni cheese, naughty but nice in this cooler weather...

We bought lots of clothes for little one at a Sunday bootfair, around £0.20p per item, some of which I will be able to resell on ebay as they are branded. Every penny counts!

I am now keeping an eye on freecycle for any items that we might use over the coming few months or even in Spring. Baby activity centres, garden tools, things like that.

We also want to sell our car for something more practical now the little one is here - first we need to find a new car, so that will be our next mission as I am getting fed up of getting into the back via folding the front seat to get his baby seat in.

Also have bought my first Christmas pressie, couldn't help myself, it was a bargain on Amazon and I know hubby will love it.

How is everyone, and what are your favourite money saving tips this month?

September update

Hi everyone,

Well our little bundle is now 7 weeks old and growing massively every day. Not to mention the changes in his personality and how much more alert he is!

I guess our money saving efforts have been slightly less, but, our focus has been on bulk cooking food, then also using washable nappies. These 2 things are the main ones I have time for right now and do save us some cash.

We buy things like mince meat, eggs, fish etc in bulk, then try to bulk out the meals. Jacket potatoes are easy, batch cooking soup then freezing it helps, plus making muffins that can be healthy snacks for example is useful. My last batch was 12 banana walnut ones, I should have made 24 though to make best use of the oven being on...

Enjoy the last rays of sunshine everyone, seems Autumn is already round the corner!

How to save money on Summer cooking!

Hi everyone,

Well I have started maternoty leave now! So this has inspired me to have a big week of cooking next week, and I am looking for inspiration from you folk and online generally.

What can I cook now that will be easy to freeze and make for easy meals once the baby arrives next month?
Of course there are things like spaghetti bolognaise, cottage pie etc but they are not very summery... I will make some as back up meals though.

Also on my mind recently has been saving money on bills even more than normal in preparation for the year ahead.

Here is what we have done so far:

- Paid our tv licence bill in advance until September 2011
- Paid our water bill in advance until March 2012
- Fixed our gas and electric tariff onto a fixed tariff that ends in 2013

That's about as much as we can do on bills, apart from save money on usage, food, petrol etc.

So as to the cooking, here are some of the items I have come up with:

- Quiche - could be frozen in portions - not as good as fresh but still nice
- Pasta sauces - can be put into sterilised jars, or frozen, either way super quick with pasta
- Macaroni cheese - can be half cooked then frozen, then popped in the oven to finish and crisp up
- Pizzas - buy basic bases then add our ingredients on top and freeze. Super easy to chuck in the oven, plus handy to eat with one hand if needed!

So over the next few days I hope to come up with some more food ideas - generally some light items that can be quickly heated up, any suggestions you have are much appreciated!

Money saving for Summer

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the delay, baby is busily growing and my mind has been focused elsewhere... so much to prepare for, but I think we are nearly there!

Freecycle and Ebay have both been a godsend so far, so many products that you can easily use second hand and saves so much time and money. Not to mention recycling perfectly usable goods, and then either Freecycling or Ebaying them when done.

For now we are focusing on the main things... nursery is becoming a mess but I am sure in the next couple of months we will get sorted.

Aaaanyway, my thoughts for now for everyone, are to try not to overspend on BBQ food and drinks this Summer - a bit of a challenge but post your suggestions, as bulk cooking is so much harder now!

For me to save money on food I am considering growing tomatoes and courgette only this Summer, so that we only have 2 things to focus on, and they are items we would buy anyway. Also, bulk making things like Cous Cous and potato salad etc.

What about you?

Shabby Chic £15 TV unit and tiny steps approaching!

Hi everyone, hope April has started well for you!

Well lots has changed in our houehold over the past few months - hence the dip in my blog posts. The big news is... we are expecting the pitter patter of tiny money saving feet ;o)

That's right, so it means that money saving, money making, and home improvements are top priority on our list, even more so than before. So when energy permits, I have been undertaking various projects, to get the house ready for our little one.

I have shown below my latest project - revamping a £15 nasty orange pine tv unit.

Here is the 'Before' image:

The process I followed this this unit was to: Clean the unit with a damp cloth, you can also use sugar soap depending on how dirty it is.

• Wipe down any sanding residue and allow to dry.Sand down the whole unit, taking care with any detailing.
• Paint with an initial coat of primer, to tone down the colour and save on paint later.
• Choose a good paint suitable for wood - here I have used Wimbourne White by Farrow & Ball - not cheap, but I was painting some other chairs with it (also shown on this blog) so in a way it was more money saving than buying a new tin.
• Use a good brush that doesn't lose bristles and make sure you wash it after each coat. If you are unable to wash it and the coats dry quite quickly, wrap the brush in some wet cloth rag, so that when you come to use it again a few hours later it won't have dried out. Never leave the brush with paint on it overnight (new brushes are very expensive).
• Paint around 3-4 coats depending on the item, you may wish to finely sand each coat before applying the next coat, and allow to dry after cleaning any sanding residue.

For this unit, I did not paint the top, instead I used Danish oil - this required around 6 hours between coats. I applied 6 coats in total. Once fully dried, you need to polish the surface with a clean, lint free cloth as it really brings out the shine. Our stairwell hand rail also got this treatment and looks great plus feels so smooth to the touch.

Once finished, I bought 2 new clear heart shaped handles from ebay to really add a finishing touch and these cost £3.50 for two plus postage. Here is the finished product:

All in all, I think this project took me around 4 hours but it saved us buying a new unit, as this one fits the spot perfectly size wise, I just didn't like the colour. I have seen similar in Laura Ashley that cost alot of money, so we are pleased with the outcome!

Do you have any makeover tiips or a blog showing some projects? Do drop me a comment so we cal all learn and share tips!

Fantastically Filling Flapjacks - Frugal fun!

Hi everyone,

Hope you are doing well and managing to cope in these cold Winter months! once March is here and the evenings get even longer I am sure we will all feel better... There are signs of Spring in our garden so lots of hope it won't take long now.

I wanted to share with you the idea of making your own flapjacks - maybe you already do, but to me this was a new idea and I am not much of a sweet tooth, but, I wanted to get something filling and not too expensive that would stop me spending in the shops. It's great to have as a snack at work or keep in a bag when travelling, or add to kids lunchboxes.

I have tried my own variations, and this is a good basic recipe to start with:
http://www.flapjackrecipe.com/healthy/

Porridge ensures you have slow release energy. It has less butter and less sugar than other recipes I have seen. What I tend to do is reduce the sugar a little more, and add raisins for example to increase sweetness more naturally. Also no need to use heavy maple syrup, honey is just fine.
To this I also add broken walnuts and also sunflower seeds, for added crunch (plus sunflower seeds are so inexpensive and very good for you.)

A tray that's low and square is best, mine happens to be rectangular from Sainsburys to I just pad out the mix.

They only take half an hour in our fan oven, and when you remove the tray you just need to score the mix lightly where you want to cut, allow to cool, then cut and place on a wire rack if you have one.

I do other variations like:

• grated apple and cinnamon
• mashed banana and walnut
• cranberry and dessicated coconut
• chocolate chips and hazelnut

Be warned, you can freeze them however they go down so quickly you may not have time to!
Experiment and have fun!

Happy 2011 - here's to a money saving start!

Hi all and hope you had a lovely festive break and some wonderful pressies, without breaking the bank toooooo much!

This is  a short but sweet post to say hello and to recommend my top 10 tips for saving money straight away in 2011, so you're set for the year ahead for some inspiration - please share your tips with us here too!

1 - Make a fixed budget for shopping each month. Take cash out of the ATM if you need to - just don't go over it or buy bad tempting (expensive!) foods.
2 - Cook in bulk, and when you do, pad out the meals with red lentils for example in spag bol and chilli, or pasta shapes in soups, cous cous and things like bulgur wheat and green lentils in stews.
3 - Make a personal budget for yourself, again take cash out of the ATM each payday and make sure it lasts til the next one...
4 - Call your energy / tv / broadband cuppliers and renegotiate. Also check price comparison websites for life, car, pet, travel insurance to see what cashback you can get. See the cashback section on the right for more info, you can make hundreds of extra pounds this year. If you change energy supplier, do it via a cashback site.
5 - Reduce car travel, less petrol, less expenses and walking more helps feel that little bit better about the fact we don't go to the gym...
6 - Reduce gym costs if you do go - are you going at least 3 times a week? If not, maybe take up running, walking or exercise at home maybe by buying a 2nd hand cross trainer or step machine if you have little space.
7 - Get your other half to agree to cut back, maybe have a goal you are both aiming for, and one person controls the finances and had a good overview of what's what.
8 - Use a cashabck credit card when you can, if you have no debts. Many offer at least 1% cashback on all your purchases, which is a great bonus each year.
9 - Spend those Boots / Nectar / Tesco points you aren't using and get the maximum value out of them - see each website for details. Often on Nectar's website they offer better deals than just spending the points at Sainsburys of Argos for example.
10 - Keep a spending diary at http://www.spendingdiary.com/ - easy and quick to log into, super easy to use. Then you can see what's being spent where of your personal monthly allowance, or shopping budget for example.
11 - A bonus one - sall stuff you no longer want or need - unwanted Christmas pressies? Ebay or Amazon them, or see musicmagpie.co.uk, or go to a boot fair. You may also want to Freecycle items if they are unsellable - someone's junk is almost always someone else's treasure. We got a free bathroom suite, ironing board, cd player, 12 magazines, books and much more that way in the past 12 months.

Any idead and tips you would like to share are most welcome - what's the most significant money saving tip for you?

Happy 2011 and thanks for supporting this blog - it inspires me to keep saving money and hopefully help others too along the way!

Heated White Christmas? 1st year in our new home

Hello everyone and apologies for the delay - the reason being that we have finally finished out bathroom (and learnt alot about contractors and project management in the process) and I have also been learning to drive this Summer so am preparing for my test.

The bathroom has been done on as much shoestring as we could find... the flooring is black glittery industrial vinly, from ebay, the shower screen is glass and rounded on the top, also from ebay... bath and sink came from Freecycle, and tiles were cheapest we could find at B&Q. We also did our own tiling. Even so, this was soooo much more expensive than expected, so we were naiive in our hopes for costs! Even so, we are so pleased to have done it now and hope to have finally paid it off this month.

Last year around this time, we were 2 weeks away from moving in. When we moved in, it had snowed the day before so we had ice to content with, a massive hill, and freezing temperatures. This alongside the cleaning of our old (rented) property and the joys of dealing with the landlady to get our much needed deposit back. Plus when we finally did move in (after a second bout of snow, moving in one single box at a time as we slipped and slid up the hill), we had NO central heating.

So now, we are enjoying having heating, warm carpets and a bathroom we can be proud of. Year 1 has definately been expensive and testing, but we made it and we hope that year two will bring less DIY and more fun and enjoying adventures!

I will soon also update you all about my new cashback guide, it will be much easier to get the information and see which sites are best - please see the right hand side menu for now for the sites I have currently listed and the basic technique.

Stay warm and i will blog again soon when I have an update on the next stage!

Avocado be gone - sorry 1970's! Plus banishing bannister gloss...

Hi everyone,



Great to have your comments and as promised here is a little more about what we have been up to– my update today covers lots as you will see!

 We have now completely sanded down the banister – the layers of gloss on there over the years were pure hell buut I am so pleased to have it fully stripped back now. Here are my suggestions for anyone looking to do a similar job!


1) Make sure that if you are trying to remove gloss, you use either a paint stripper or a mechanical sander with quite high abrasiveness. I used paint stripper then tried to sand the rest by hand – impossible with gloss! The paint stripper is a gel that can be brushed on, left for around 30 seconds, then scraped off. Cover the floor with newspaper and definately, definayely used gloves and cover all your skin, this is nasty stuff so open windows too. Make sure you use an old tin can, I washed out an old cat food tin, and an old brush for the gel. Once you have stripped all the goo of and it is dry, clean it down with white spirit.


2) Use a fine level of abrasiveness for the final sanding – I chose to do this by hand as the banister is pine, so needed a gentle touch not to dent the soft wood or remove too much.


3) You can stain the wood if you want to show the grain more. I may do this, though I am torn as I have also head that oiling it is good – I am not sure of the difference but I have stain, whereas I don’t have wood oil! Have also heard a lot about waxing, I have some beeswax at home which I have used for some other furniture. However have also heard that waxing is no good for areas that may get wet and as the bannister is near the bathroom it may be people have wet hands after washing, so I may have to oil the wood instead of waxing.


Any recommendations greatly received!


Our other project has been our bathroom, this started as a small job to simply replace the bathroom suite which was avocado… and has now turned into a full bathroom refit! Needless to say we were not expecting to pay for this level of work, these things just have a way of creeping up on you, each decision you make can lead to more expensive decisions. Be warned!



What we have learned from this is that:


1) Get at least 3 quotes from reputable traders from a site like checkatrade.co.uk. Try to use local companies, as they will charge less generally as there is less travel. Sometimes an out of town company may charge less if they have other jobs in the area the same week for example. Also worth getting contractor quotes for the whole job (they will do all the sub work too), then getting individual quotes for plubming, tiling, plastering etc and seeing which works out cheaper for you overall. Depends how much time you have as well because if you hire various different people for different jobs you will have to be more involved.


2) Once all quotes are in, don’t always go for the absolute cheapest – are they busy? Have they done this sort of work before? Just in chatting to them do you get the feeling they may take shortcuts? Of course it’s hard to foresee everything but some will charge little on the basis that they are in and out with little regard for details or your actual needs.


3) Always, always know the measurements and details of work before they arrive to quote. Give each person the same brief, so that when costs come back you are comparing like for like. We did not do this and with each contractor we learnt more, so by the end we had a better idea of what we actually needed, and so then called the first two to add more detail for a more comprehensive quote. Knowing the square footage for the tiling we wanted for example would have saved us time, and given us more accurate costs for the tiles.


4) Find out how long the job will take and when they will need access, how will you get keys to them, or will you take time off? If they are reliable they can perhaps collect keys from you the night before, and if you end up taking time off, factor this in as a cost, as you would surely have preferred to be having a nice day out instead!


5) Don’t walk into the big DIY warehouses and buy all your fittings and accessories. Take your time and plan ahead. We have bought only basic materials from there, flooring came from ebay, the bath panel came from another online company, taps came from another and the shower screen from ebay. A custom mirror and glass shelf will be bought locally for just £85, a fraction of ready made ones and these are custom size for our bathroom. We are also considering making our own bathroom cabinet, as these can be so expensive. If we make our own, it will fit our bathroom much better (we hope!) and make use of all available space, a premium in a small bathroom.


6) For finishes in a small bathroom, use mirrors, gloss furniture, pale colours and chrome if you can. This means not only light is reflected but also that the look can stay timeless, and you can just change towels/accessories to update it.

 To save cash we are doing our own tiling, this saves around £240 in labour costs. Sure it may not be as perfect but we will have to live with that for the savings, and let’s face it, any improvement on the old bathroom is better than nothing! These will be plain white tiles, 40cm x 25cm, in a brick style layout.





So there you have it, I will hopefully add picks next time but as Flickr have changed how images can be used, I will have to find a new way to show you our latest adventures!


Please share your comments, thoughts and tips so we can all learn how to save cash and improve homes on a shoestring x

A £5 chair makeover in 60 minutes

Latest project - reupholstering a £5 chair, ultimately cost £11.25 and I have 3 more to do - much cleaner and fresher in the new green colour which is subtle but fits in well with our furniture. Not to mention much more comfortable!

The old set of chairs was purchased second hand and had red coverings but the wadding is very worn which makes sitting in the chairs uncomfortable.

I bought the material, pad and wadding from Dunhelm Mill which is a large household and fabric store. It was lovely to choose the material ourselves rather than buy a modern and expensive chair where this had been decided for us. We chose a thick material which allows more wear and chose a colour which we felt added light to the room and also worked with our table.

It took me around 1 hour as I was unfamiliar with the process but I think now around 45 minutes per chair will do, I might even finish off the pads next weekend.

The next project after that will be to tone down the varnish on all the chairs as I feel it is currently too dark and that make them feel more natural which I think will finish them off nicely.

Some light sandpaper then wire wool and possibly a light varnish may do the trick - I will need to research thoroughly first!

So now not only do we have more comfortable chairs, we also have lighter and prettier chairs for around 4 hours work - roll on next weekend so I can finish them off!

Shabby Chic kitchen progress & clueless about apples!

Hi everyone,

Another post to show my latest progress! As you can see from my last post kitchen was mostly dark - I have now repainted most cupboard fronts, just 4 more to go.

The door fittings came from ebay, ex MFI stock, and by buying in bulk, we were able to get them very inexpensively compared to standard DIY store prices.

Other progress is that we have obtained a full bathroom suite from Freecycle, white and fairly modern, completely free. This will be our next project as soon as money allows, possibly late Autumn, as our current suite is avocado green. It has saved us at least £200 on the main fittings, so we'll now keep an eye out for tiles at our local stores that are not too expensive. Of course if something suitable crops up on Freecycle that would be amazing too!

We have obtained a bathroom mirrored single cabinet for free from a house that was gutting their bathroom, it was in fairly poor condition inside but after a wash was acceptable. I then covered the shelves with some nice Cath Kidston paper and for now it's certainly much better than it was, and better than having nowhere to put things in! This would have cost at least £15.

Left you can see our crab apples have started to blush - we have no idea what to do with them! They are edible so hubby has started to take them to work, saving us around £1.50 per week, but I will look online for recipes as to what we can make.

Any recommendations for recipes, and indeed care of a crab apple tree? We are learning so much this year, it's hard to keep up with ourselves!

My next (small) project will be to repaint a Welsh dresser we purchased for £40. I will post pictures soon to ask for your inspiration and advice. My ideal result would be something like this (on right), which I saw a very talented MSE member complete on the Shabby Chic thread!

It looks amazing and I can only hope for such a result - only thing is I worry about the cost of paint and varnish - I guess it may cost around £30 but then at least we will have something we love - right now the pine colour is not my favourite!

Thanks for reading and do post your thoughts and comments, I will post another update very soon with hopefully a finished kitchen!