When I read the announcement about Asda's £4.75 school uniform deal on Twitter, I couldn't help wondering "is this for real?"

With three children already at school and my youngest about to start this September, we're only too aware of how expensive it can be to kit the kids out with complete uniforms each year. Four complete school uniforms for less than £20? Surely this deal is too good to be true...

So I popped in to my local Asda to see for myself and am happy to tell you that this offer does exist, though to be truthful we would need to spend £11 in total in order to create a complete outfit for this low price.

Let me explain how this works.

Asda are running a 10 day offer (which started today) where we can buy:

• 2 pairs of trousers OR 2 skirts (or a combination of both) for £5
• 2 sweatshirts for £3
• 2 packs of two of polo shirts/cotton shirts for £3

We then work out the cost of each individual item:

• Cost of trousers/skirt: £5 / 2 = £2.50
• Cost of sweatshirt: £3 / 2 = £1.50
• Cost of shirt/polo shirt: £3 / 4 = 75p

Which works out as the grand total of £4.75 for a complete school uniform.

These offer prices apply to all sizes of clothing, from age 3 to 16. Anthony Thompson, managing director at George, said:

Every child in this country needs a school uniform and they deserve the best quality it can be.

You don't pay more for bigger adults clothing, you don't even pay more for larger sized bras anymore. So it is simple customers should not pay more for compulsory school clothes. (Source)

Even if your child's uniform sweater must feature the school logo, you can still benefit from this great offer by buying only the trousers/skirts and shirts. We have been buying trousers from Asda for the past few years because - despite the low price - these are great quality which really can last a whole year.

The offer runs for 10 days only, ending next weekend. Uniforms can be purchased from Asda Direct as well as in stores across the UK.

After this offer expires, the items will revert back to their original price. If you'd normally wait for the school holidays to buy uniforms for your children, it may be a good idea to change your habits this year and grab a bargain while you can!

Image credit: Tinou Bao

Of all the cleaning we undertake as mothers, laundry is by far the most expensive task. Not to mention time consuming!

Bombarded with advertisements for the latest dirt-busting detergents and a never-ending pile of laundry, we often lose track of how to keep track of our pennies and buy into expensive ideas which claim to save us time (but don't necessarily save us money). Uniforms need to be ready for school; shirts must be ironed in time for work; baby clothes are constantly being changed, and (what with all the mess created by the rest of the family) mums just need something to wear!

So in this post I'll share some ideas for how we can save money and time on laundry days, whether you set aside a particular day for all your washing or (like me) choose to run a load through the washing machine each day.

Organize clothes and wash less often

Whenever possible, sort clothes and other washable items by colour as soon as they need washing and encourage your family to do so too! Those laundry hampers with sections for colours and whites are wonderful (though expensive); having two or three cheap laundry baskets to hand is just as useful. This saves time sorting through clothes whenever you need to put on a load, and also prevents colour leeking from your non-colourfast red socks onto those expensive Egyptian cotton towels...

By organizing loads in advance, you can ensure you only wash clothes when there is a full load of washing. This saves money too, since you'd use more energy for 2-3 small loads than for a single full load on the same cycle (and probably more detergent/softener too!).

Use less detergent for each load...

Unless your clothes are very heavily soiled, you can get away with using half (or even less) of the recommended dose of detergent.

I prefer to use washing powder tablets, and use only one per full cycle of washing (whereas two or more are recommended on the pack). For very dirty clothes, I add half a cup of washing soda - which works out cheaper than that second tablet - which is sufficient to get rid of most everyday stains too!

Boxes of powder may seem cheaper on the shelves, but unless you're really frugal and careful with measuring for each load, you could actually use more than when paying a little extra for tablets. Supermarket own-brands (and also budget/unknown brands from local shops) usually work just as well as their branded counterparts. Go for these cheaper options which enables you to spend a little extra on luxury softener to make your laundered clothes smell and feel wonderful instead.

... Or make your own detergent!

I found this wonderful article over at The Family Homestead which explains how to make your own laundry detergent. According to the author, this works out at around 71 cents (about 45p) per batch, which can clean 64 loads of washing!

That's less than 1p per wash, far far cheaper per load than even the cheapest budget brand washing powder!

Use white vinegar instead of fabric softener

An oldie, but a goodie, white vinegar works out a far cheaper solution than buying fabric softener. Simply add a slug in place of your fabric conditioner in the detergent drawer and your clothes will come out soft and fluffy. Even better, the vinegar helps stop the build-up of limescale in your machine (and is also a cheaper solution to the de-scaling products on sale for our washing machines and dishwashers).

Don't worry about the smell - surprisingly clothes will not smell of vinegar when they come out of the wash cycle! The only down-side is that they won't smell of lovely expensive fabric conditioner either...

Pre-treat stains with a home-made solution

Don't pay through the nose for expensive pre-wash treatments - they really aren't worth the money!

You can make your own by filling a spray bottle 4/5ths full of water, then top up with cheap washing up liquid. Shake to mix well, then spray this solution onto the problem areas and leave to soak in before washing as normal.

For really tough stains, check out this huge page of stain-removal solutions which covers everything from mud to blood, grass stains, red wine and even tea.

Wash on the shortest, coldest cycle

During a wash cycle, the heating of water uses the highest percentage of electricity.

There really is no need to wash at the maximum recommended temperature for your fabrics unless the items are really badly soiled. Turn the thermostat to 30 degrees (or even less if you can bear it). You could save up to 40% in energy per wash cycle (depending how high your usual temperature).

Similarly, use the shortest cycle you can for everyday cleaning. Your clothes will still come out clean as the invigoration does most of the hard work, not the amount of time your clothes are immersed in water!

Wash your delicates in the shower

Our delicate underwear should really be hand-washed, but I'm sure many of you bunk your smalls in with the main washing load simply to save time...

The trouble with this is that delicates can lose their shape and colour; they don't last as long when washed so rigorously.

Instead, take your smalls in with you when you shower, and wash gently with your favourite shower gel or a little soap. This saves a lot of time and makes your underwear smell as gorgeous as you do!

Dry clothes on a washing line

Tumble dryers are a godsend when time is short, but these use up so much electricity to heat and dry our clothes (even the energy efficient versions).

If it's not raining and you have some outdoor space, save yourself the cost of electricity and dry your clothes outside. I'm not sure exactly how much money this will save, but trust me, it's a lot! Clothes can dry very quickly on a line, even when it's not sunny, and smell fresher too.

Use "Dryer Balls"

A while back, there was quite a craze for Dryer Balls which increase air circulation in the tumble dryer, helping clothes to dry more quickly and feel softer without the use of fabric conditioner or tumble dryer sheets.

I personally held off buying them for a while, but when I saw these on offer in Poundland (the actual branded variety, not a cheap knock-off!) I couldn't resist trying them out.

Ladies, these do work! I'd guess it knocked about a quarter off drying times and made our towels very fluffy indeed. If you spot them on offer, try them for yourself! The RRP of £9.99 seems a tad expensive to me, but I'm told they're often found in budget stores and Wilkinsons for far less.

Iron clothes while slightly damp

Remove clothes from the washing line/tumble dryer to iron while still slightly damp: they take far less time to iron!

If you give clothes a good shake before hanging out on the line (especially on windy days) there will be less creases to iron out. Also, take clothes out of the dryer as soon as the cycle is done and shake while still warm to minimize creases and ironing.

Invest in an enery efficient washing machine

I know washing machines are expensive and a purchase we prefer not to make unless absolutely nescessary. But if you're using an age-old washing machine you could be wasting pounds of electricity each year! Energy efficiency is measured on a scale of A through to E, where A offers the best possible efficiency (and uses far less electricity per cycle). Such machines may cost more for the initial purchase but do make up in saved electricity bills in the long run.

Final thoughts

I hope these tips can help you save a little time and money on laundry days! If you have any tips of your own to share, please feel free to leave your comments below and I'll update this article complete with accreditation to your own blog or site.

Image credits: "Better than TV" by BrianU; Spin Cycle by B Rosen; Washing Line by Steve9091. All via Flickr Creative Commons.

I love going to the cinema, but with the high prices for tickets a family trip to see the latest releases can become an expensive affair.

Luckily, for the past few weeks we have been able to see a Saturday matinee at Cineworld for just £1 a ticket! Even when our whole family attend, the total cost is less than a single full priced child ticket, making this a cheap and cheerful outing we can afford on a weekly basis.

Cineworld's Movies For Juniors show each Saturday at participating cinemas. Usually there are three films on offer (a new film is selected each week), all of which start at 10am. These films tend to be older releases, and are movies most suitable for children.

This week, for example, we can choose from Madagascar 2, Hotel for Dogs and Bee Movie. We've previously seen Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Bedtime Stories, both of which were films the kids really enjoyed on the big screen.

To find out more about what's showing in the Movies for Juniors selection, take a look at this page of the Cineworld website.

In order to buy your tickets for £1, you will need to book/buy tickets in person from your local Cineworld cinema. It is possible to book online or by telephone, but a 60p charge for each ticket will apply! Tickets can be sold out quite quickly, so if you're worried you may not get in for the film of your choice, drop in to your cinema earlier in the week and buy in advance.

I only wish popcorn was as cheap for these showings (as our local cinema disapproves of people taking their own snacks into the cinema). However, if you specifically ask for a "Juniors Munch Box", you can get a kids sized box filled with the popcorn of your choice, a Capri Sun juice drink and a small packet of sweets for just over £3 (this may be different depending on the prices at your local Cineworld).

Hope you enjoy taking the kids to the cinema for less!

Image credit: Atomicjeep

With the summer holidays just around the corner, there has never been a better time to learn how to save money on your petrol/diesel bills. Whether you commute daily to work or simply use your car for shopping trips, there are several different tips you can adapt to lower the amount of fuel you use (and which have little impact on the time taken to reach your destination).

In this post, I'll offer my 5 favourite tips to lower the cost of fuel bills for your family car which could help you save as much as 20% from your annual spend on petrol/diesel.

1. Find out which stations offer the cheapest fuel

One of the most wonderful things about the Internet is the ability to compare prices of just about everything, to ensure we get the best possible value for our money.

There are several websites which offer comparisons of fuel prices:

• PetrolPrices.com - Search over almost 10,000 stations across the UK by town or postcode to locate the cheapest fuel stations near you.
• FindCheapPetrol.com - Again, you can search by postcode to locate the cheapest stations close to where you love (this site also compares the prices of supermarket stations such as Tesco and Morrisons). I've just noticed this site is undergoing maintenance though it should be available again in the next couple of days.
• KeepMoving.co.uk - This inenious site offers loads of information about travelling and traffic across the country, and the special "fuel prices" section allows you to search for the cheapest fuel prices along a route - reat for when you're travelling long distances!

You will need to register (for free) to be able to use these sites effectively, though when this could save you up to 5% on your fuel bills the benefits of registration speak for themselves.

For example, when I searched prices for my home town, there was a difference of 9.4p a litre between the highest and lowest prices of unleaded fuel. For someone who fills up with £50 of petrol each week, this could save almost £250 in fuel each year!

2. Make your car more efficient

Remove excess weight from your car, which will lighten the load and reduce the amount of fuel used per journey. So remove any roof racks not currently being used and empty all the junk from your boot!

Switch off the air conditioning unless it's really nescessary as this uses quite a lot of power when in action. Winding down the windows in warm weather is almost as cooling, and uses no excess power.

Make sure your tyres are correctly inflated. Under-inflated tyres can decrease fuel efficiency by around 3% as more power is required to get the car moving. Check the correct tyre pressure for your particular car on this page of the RAC website, and top up with air (if needed) the next time you fill up with fuel.

Lastly, don't completely fill the car with petrol. A full tank adds more weight to the car, which makes it less efficient. By filling only half (or even a quarter) of the tank and refuelling more often, you can increase efficiency and actually use less fuel in the long run.

3. Drive more efficiently

When I was learning to drive, I was lucky to have an instructor who taught me about the benefits of driving with fuel efficiency in mind.

The key to driving efficiently is understanding this:

Each time you put your foot on the accelerator, you are using fuel. 

It sounds simple, but once you keep this in mind, you can easily learn how to use the accelerator less often without reducing speed or the time of your journey. Here are some useful tips:

• Accelerate gradually, without over-revving the engine. A rule of thumb is to ensure you always drive at under 3000RPM.
  
• Drive in the highest gear you can without putting stress on the engine
• Slow naturally, without using your brakes unnecessarily. This is easier if you leave a 2 second gap between you and the car in front, leaving you time to slow using the momentum of the engine (and accelerate more easily afterwards).
• Consider your position in the road. By being more alert while driving, you can reduce the need to slow and accelerate, ensuring a smoother more efficient drive.

4. Find ways to make filling up pay you!

There are several schemes you can join to earn cashback or rewards when refuelling at certain petrol stations. Most notably, the Morrisons Miles scheme (which I discussed in an earlier post) offers a voucher for £5 off your shopping in store for every 500 litres of fuel purchased from these stations. Here are some other schemes you could try:

• Use your Tesco Clubcard when filling up at Tesco petrol stations
• Asda Credit Card enables you to collect extra points when paying Asda fuel
• Earn Nectar points whenever you fill up at BP stations.

However, don't go out of your way to be loyal to a particular scheme: this may cost you more in fuel over the long term than you will receive in rewards. Instead, use your reward scheme when this particular station offers the lowest priced fuel (see #1).

5. Ditch the car (or rather, choose to use it less often).

Of course, the ultimate fuel savings would be based on never using our cars... But for most of us, this is simply not a practical solution! Instead, we can consider ways of using our vehicles less, and making our journeys more efficient so we use less fuel over the course of each month.

For example, run all errands (eg: grocery shopping, post-office, recycling, library) on a single planned round-trip. Between each stop, your engine will remain warm and altogether you'll use less fuel than running each errand on a different day of the week.

Those who work (or shop regularly) in city centres may like to consider a park-and-ride scheme. This involves parking your car in a secure park on the outskirts of the city then catching a designated bus/tram/tube/train to your final destination. Usually these park-and-ride schemes are fee-based, but these will reimburse themselves when you consider how much fuel you'll save not getting caught up in slow-moving traffic or driving round for hours looking for a safe place to park (not to mention parking fees!).

Car-sharing can also offer savings on fuel. If you live close to friends, take it in turns to go shopping together, share the school run or drive each other to work, and share the costs of fuel. While it may be marginally less efficient to drive with more passengers in the car, you'll both be saving money on fuel costs on your regular excursions!

Do you have any more tips to share?

If you have any other tips for saving money on fuel costs, I'd love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave your comments below and if you enjoyed this post, a mention on Twitter would be very warmly welcomed :)

These days we are awed by the sheer number of books available to us, and it's difficult to choose something relevant to our needs. As parents, we are limited in the time we can spend reading, and as frugal families we cannot afford to spend on books we may later find irrelevant. So each Wednesday, I aim to review a book on a range of subjects from parenting guides to home-making, fashion/beauty and cookbooks which are most relevant for fabulous, frugal mums!

Today I will review one of the most important books on frugality I have ever had the benefit of owning: Thrifty Ways for Modern Days, which offers collective wisdom from members of the MoneySavingExpert community and is edited by the money saving expert, Martin Lewis. 


As explained succinctly on the front cover, Thrifty Ways provides "handy hints on living better for less". Essentially, this is a book about living thriftily, offering advice about how to spend less (if at all) on the things we do everyday, from cooking and cleaning to dressing and even entertainment. This wonderful book was written through the success of the Old-Style forum on the MoneySavingExpert site where some of the older MSE's decided to share their thrifty wisdoms with younger generations:

[The Old-Style forum] has swiftly developed into a discussion on living life cheaply, healthily, ethically and thriftily, with all generations together searching for a path to Old-Style bliss.

How Thrifty Ways is organized

Thrifty Ways for Modern Days is organized into chapters which outline the many money-saving tips we can choose to adopt for our everyday lives:

1. Cleaning
2. Shopping - what to buy and how to reuse it
3. Clothes and shoes
4. Home maintenance and DIY
5. The good life: grow your own
6. Presents and home-made gifts
7. Christmas, weddings and other occasions
8. The old-style recipe book

Each of these chapters includes many sub-headings to organize the information even more concisely. Chapter 1 (Cleaning) for example offers a section on the top 5 cleaners, followed by an analysis of the cose effectiveness of natural products compared to branded products. Later on, you can even find step-by-step instructions to clean every room of the house in a frugal and environmentally friendly manner.

(Trust me, I've tried some of these methods and not only do they save money but these can also save time and energy too!)

For me, one of the most interesting aspects of the format is the Preface section (if I may call it that) which offers an introduction to these "Old-Style" ways, complete with a broad overview of what MoneySavingExpert is all about.

The "Do you spend more than you earn..?" section was very enlightening. Here you can find fundamental lessons in debt and money management, complete with tables to help you account for expenditures and budgeting plans, which can help literally anyone find ways to manage their finances better (and even discover they have more money available than previously thought).

I suspect this particular section was written by Martin Lewis himself as the information he provides makes complete sense and cuts through all the fog we tend to associate with our finances, making this an important aspect of learning to deal with any money problems we may have and prevent any wasteful losses of our income.

My favourite chapters

I particularly enjoyed the chapter on cleaning, for while I have used natural (and thrifty) methods to clean our home for some time, I found the sections explaining methods for every room in the house to be particularly enlightening. These sections begin by explaining exactly which products are needed, followed by a run-down of how to clean various aspects of the room, including recipes for home-made cleaning products.

The chapter on shopping proved also very useful. Here you can learn how to make careful choices of what you choose (and choose not) to buy; how to fight the impulse to spend when it's not nescessary, and how to "downshift" in order to make even better savings for your shopping baskets.

This chapter does not only explain how to save money on grocery shopping: almost every aspect of what we choose to buy is covered, from electrical items to beauty and personal treats. Recycling is another important section of this chapter: rather than explain simply how to take your used paper and bottles to the recycling depot, Thrifty Ways offers useful insights of how products may be reused at home - this not only saves on waste, it enables us to save money on expenditure too!

Overview

Although a relatively small format when compared to similar titles, Thrifty Ways for Modern Days is packed from cover to cover (literally - there are tips on the front and back!) with great tips to save money and live within your means. The size of this book is roughly the height of a DVD box, and almost an inch thick making it ideal to stuff in your handbag for light reading on the bus or while waiting in a queue. Being a paperback ensures it's also cost effective - the quality of paper it's printed on is hardly exquisite but since this is a book about frugality, there is no more fitting format for this guide.

As Martin explains in his introduction, "Old-Style" ways are not for everyone; this book offers a "take it or leave it" approach where some tips may be suitable for your means while others may seem too extreme for your liking. For example, I personally prefer not to stock up with free sugar sachets and sauces from fast food restaurants or make gift tags on the computer at home. But on the other hand, the advice about swapping clothes at local parties and investing in my own breadmaker were tips which really worked out well for me.

I sincerely recommend you pick this book up for a read. It's currently only £5.49 from Amazon (the list price is only £7.99) though you're also likely to find this bestseller in your local library or through ReadItSwapIt.co.uk (which was where I sourced mine!). I can tell this book will live for a long time on my desk shelves as I seem to pick it up regularly for thrifty advice on whatever I'm up to.

Buy Thrifty Ways for Modern Days from Amazon.co.uk

Being a mummy need never mean you are frumpy! Just because babies and children force us to budget (in terms of both money and time) does not mean we should forget about our stylish selves.

Here are my top 10 thrifty tips to help ensure you always look - and feel - fabulous, even when you're broke and have only five minutes to get dressed in the morning.

1. Ensure you have a fabulous, fuss-free haircut

The last thing a stressed, time-stricken mum needs to worry about is whether she has the time to wash, blow-dry and style her hair each and every morning. Trust me on this ladies, it's far easier (not to mention cheaper) to have a wonderful, fuss-free style which requires little more than a brush through and perhaps a hairband or simple clip to make us feel utterly elegant.


I've worn my hair in almost every style imaginable: short, mid-length, long, curly, straight and dyed. But for the past six years or so, I've decided to keep my present style: one length in the back with a side-swept fringe which suits the shape of my face and only requires styling "properly" if I'm getting ready for a night out.

The best haircut for any mum is one which requires little fuss to lool absolutely great. Even if you have tightly curled locks, fine flyaway hair or ultra thick unmanageable tresses, there will be a perfect style for you.

The trick is to find a good hairdresser. As friends have often told me, the best hairdresser will perfectly understand your needs and find a style to suit you perfectly. Ask around: friends or family, and even local forums are all great places to find a reliable and experienced hairdresser whose skills with the scissors can tame your tangled masses into a elegant and easily managed mane.

Try also to keep your natural colour, spending the money you would save on regular colourings and root touch-ups on regular haircuts instead. This could save you more money and anxiety than you imagine: you need never be concerned that your roots are showing; your hair will appear healthier from the lack of chemical treatments, and you needn't be concerned about buying expensive products to suit your coloured hair.

However, if "natural" is not for you, try colouring at home instead and ask a friend to help you out. The end-result is undoubtedly better than attempting to reach all areas on your own, and saves pounds each time you'd have visited the hairdressers instead!

2. Organize a capsule wardrobe

A "capsule" wardrobe comprises of several key clothing items which can be mixed and matched to create a multitude of outfits. By having these key items in your wardrobe, you will always ensure you have the perfect outfit to hand, no matter how busy you are or how little time to get ready in the morning.



To create your capsule wardrobe, you needn't feel as though you need to spend loads of money. Instead, take a good hard look at the items you already own. Chances are you will already have several key pieces and may not even need to buy anything new.

What you will need to do is look at your clothes and combinations in a different light.

The best explanation of how a capsule wardrobe will solve all yoru clothing dilemmas is presented by Gok Wan in the new series of Fashion Fix (Channel 4, on Friday evenings). He suggests 24 key pieces to create literally dozens of new looks, and explains this by example when creating a new wardribe for each of his guests.

The 24 key items Gok suggests are:

• 1 pair good fitting trousers
• 1 pair jeans (dark dyed bootcut works well for almost every figure)
• 1 skirt (cut just below the knee is a style which suits everyone)
• 6 tops (including one white shirt and a camisole)
• 2 dresses
  
• 2 jackets
• 1 coat
• 2 scarves (to match wardrobe colour scheme of choice)
• 4 pairs of shoes (2 flat, two heeled)
  
• 2 handbags
• 1 pair of gloves
• 1 wide belt

In the episode I watched on Friday, Gok created a complete new look using red and green as key accent colours with the items in this capsule wardrobe (one pair of shoes, a handbag and the gloves were all pillar-box red, along with the coat and a jacket). I was inspired by his method, especially seeing just how much of a difference this capsule collection made to the lady's sense of style.After the show, I went upstairs and began rooting through my own wardrobe to collect items I could use to create my own capsule collection (and luckily only need one more dress to ensure this is complete).

Think of all the different combinations you can create with these basic items:

• Dress and a jacket, worn with heels for a formal look
• Dress worn alone with flat pumps for a casual outing
  
• Trousers with camisole and white shirt plus a scarf around your neck
• Skirt with a casual top and flat shoes
• Skirt with a dressy top and jacket, worn with heels
• Jeans and a white shirt, worn with pumps and a long scarf
• Jeans with a dressy top and heels for a night out

The list goes on!

If you find there are items missing from your capsule wardrobe then these are the items you should look for on your next clothes shopping trip, not that bargain sequined dress which you know you'll never have occasion to wear!

3. Get rid of any clothes you don't wear

While it may seem daft to get rid of clothes when there is little money available to buy replacements, worry not: having a wardrobe clear-out will help you in many ways!

Firstly, you will be making room for the items you do wear so you can easily see what's available. Secondly, you will be able to see easily which areas of your wardrobe are lacking, and can concentrate on building these up when clothing funds are available to you.



When you declutter, you should look at each item and consider the following:

• Have you worn this item in the past year?
• Could this complement your capsule wardrobe?
• Does it fit you now?

If you answer "no" to any of these questions, it's time to say goodbye to this piece (or at least put it away for storage if this is a sentimental item).

For clothes which are still good, consider selling on eBay to contribute towards your wardrobe fund. Or try swapping/"swishing" your unwanted clothes to update your wardrobe for free...

4. Swap unwanted clothes for something new

Another idea is to swap your clothes for something you would wear instead. There are many clothes-swapping sites sprouting up now including:

• BigWardrobe.com (my personal favourite) where you can trade/buy anything from Primark to Chloe and Stella McCartney!
• WhatsMineIsYours.com - you can even swap furniture here! More "high-end", including designer and vintage items.
• CovertCandy.co.uk - a relatively new site which aims to help make trading easier by using a points system.

"Swishing" offers a more personal approach to clothes swapping, where friends organize clothes-swapping (Swishing) parties to trade their unwanted clothes for something else. It makes perfect sense, and saves the necessity of buying new clothes when we could just as easily swap. Take a look at Swishing.org for more information plus tips on organizing your own swishing party.

5. Try to have loads of plain white T-shirts and shirts

Mums, I hear you screaming "why on earth do we need white tops when our little darlings will stain them so easily?".

This, ladies, is exactly the point. It is far easier to remove stains, spills and baby sick from plain white cotton clothes than any other fabric at all. If you wear plain white often, you can bung all your dirtied tops in the same high temperature wash (along with a little bleach or one of those ingenious whitening sachets) and have these completely clean ready for the next round.



In contrast, patterned, coloured and even plain black tops are more difficult to clean as effectively; they will undoubtedly lose their colour after a few washes and will certainly not last as long as their white cotton counterparts.

White is also a universal colour to suit all skin tones, hair colours and complexions. It is far more flattering than black (which when worn against the face makes almost everyone's skin look dull), and can be jazzed up so easily with scarves, beads and other accessories.

Basic T-shirts and shirts are among the cheapest tops you can buy (such as those £2 Tees and £3 shirts from Primark, Asda and Tesco). Trust me on this and stock up on a few more plain white tops. You'll understand my point in less than a week!

6. When it comes to clothes, less is more!

The average woman wears 20% of her wardrobe 80% of the time ans spends over £13,000 in a lifetime on clothes she will never wear!

Rather than spend little and often on the latest fashions, it is far better to onvest in good quality, timeless pieces for your capsule wardrobe which can be worn almost 100% of the time.



Saving up to invest in one good quality piece which you will wear often will save you time and money. For example, instead of buying ten cheap synthetic Primark tops to get you through the summer months save your money towards one or two longer lasting, good quality cotton shirts. These will wash and wear far better than those cheap tops and will certainly last longer than one season.

Do your research, shop around; buy only the best quality items you can afford and only those which are absolutely perfect - not those which are simply "okay". "Trade-up" if you can: rather than shop for your basics at Primark, save up a little longer and visit Marks and Spencer, River Island or Monsoon; although these are more expensive, the quality if far better making the clothes last much longer (and helping your feel fabulous in the process).

I've been doing this for around six months now and despite shopping for myself so infrequently I honestly feel much happier about what I buy: there are no more "bad decisions", impulse purchases, or clothes which don't suit me (even though they looked great on the store-front mannequin!). Instead, I am simply replacing worn items from my capsule wardrobe and occasionally adding to it with clothes I am sure suit me, and which make me feel happy when I get dressed each day. To sum things up, I am spending less (in the long run) on things which I wear far more.

7. Ditch the Salon for DIY Beauty Treatments

Hair removal, brow shaping, facials... The things we ladies do to make us look pretty can cost a small fortune at the beauty salon! Aside from my regular bikini wax (my only indulgence, because I simply cannot do this myself!), I've always performed by own beauty treatments at home. This works out as a saving of over £70 a month compared to the equivalent treatments at my local salon:

Basic manicure	£10
Basic pedicure	£15
Simple facial	£10	Cost at home: £0
Full leg wax	£17
Chin and upper lip wax	£12
Eyebrow threading	£8.50

It would take ages to explain the methods for my own DIY beauty treatments, so instead I'll give a quick overview and link you up with some excellent demonstrative videos to help you achieve great results at home.

Manicure

As mummies, our hands suffer the most of all our body parts, but with a few tips it's easy enough to keep out hands in great condition.

For beautifully soft hands, slather loads of cheap hand lotion or vaseline over your hands before putting on the rubber gloves to clean/wash up. The heat from the hot water helps the lotion or vaseline penetrate deeper into your hands, and is a great treat to compensate for all the cleaning we have to do!

I personally tend not to paint my fingernails as the varnish chips within a day or two (even when I'm wearing clear varnish). Instead, I keep my nails fairly short and buff once a fortnight with a buffing block bought for less than £2 from the chemist and finish off by rubbing olive oil into my cuticles and skin (usually while watching Desperate Housewives, so it really doesn't take up much time). Buffing makes my nails look really shiny and lasts for ages. This video from VideoJug will show you how easy it is.

Pedicure

Our feet need looking after. Having a pedicure at the salon is immensely gratifying, but it's still possible to recreate the experience by pampering ourselves at home on a monthly basis.

This video explains how to pamper your feet at home. The products you'll need will last you for months; try visiting PoundLand (or the beauty stall at your local market) to get everything you need for under a fiver.

Facials

There are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of home-made face mask recipes available on the web. Take a look here for a huge selection or simply Google to see what I mean.

One of the best I've ever tried is the "Asprin mask". I first learned about this after reading India Knight's Thrift Book and was at first dubious until I saw the results for myself. Basically, asprin contains salycilic acid: a key ingredient in many high-end exfoliating face treatments (and is great for blemishes). This article from Faking Good Breeding offers a complete explanation, along with instructions for use.

For a complete "home facial" tutorial, take a look at this article from About.com.

Hair removal

Waxing is wonderful; the results last for weeks and is ideal for depilation on legs and the awkward bikini area. If you're able to wax yourself (or have a willing friend to help) then good for you! Personally I find home-waxing particularly taxing. My attempts have been rather painful, with less than desirable results.

Instead, I've learned two alternative and very effective techniques which cost virtually nothing. Neither are particularly easy and require some practise to perfect, but both are very frugal and will leave you feeling baby-smooth wherever you use them.

Sugaring is a little like waxing but it's far easier to wash off the residue and does not require you to use rags/strips to pull out those hairs. You can use sugar hair removal anywhere on your body, and since it uses all natural ingredients it's unlikely you'll have any unpleasant reactions.

Here's a video explaining how to create your sugar solution with a quick overview of how this works:


Threading is wonderful for eyebrows and facial hair (you can also use this for your legs, but it takes ages and it's awkward to reach the back of your calves). Ideally, you'll need to partner up with a friend and thread each other's unwanted hair as it's very difficult to apply this technique to yourself. All you'll need for threading is a length of cotton and a little patience. Here's how to create your "threading tool" and here's a tutorial for threading eyebrows.

8. Learn to Accessorise with Style

Accessories are a cheap and cheerful way of updating your look. If you have a classic, capsule wardrobe, you will be able to update your look with the latest trends simply by adding accessories, rather than forking out the cash for new clothes each season.


Now I will admit that I'm not really the best person to ask for advice on accessories. Until recently, I barely wore any jewellery at all, and belts were simply to hold my trousers in place! Luckily, my sister works for Claires and is quite the expert on this subject. She's helped me learn some thrifty style tips to help me feel more fabulous using clever (usually cheap) accessories which can be adapted to make any mummy feel great:

• Have one great, oversized handbag for everyday use: Rather than have loads of different handbags for each day of the week, it's more useful (and economical) to have only one good quality bag which is large enough for everything we need as mums.
  
  A good handbag need not be expensive: my favourite bag ever (which I've had for over 3 years now) is a classic leather bag which cost £20 from TK Maxx. With a huge main section and loads of pockets, I can segregate any "messy" kids stuff from my purse and documents. And as my sister tells me, big bags help you look smaller in comparison.
  
  If you have young babies, you can even ditch the nappy bag in favour of an oversized handbag, which will last you far longer and is honestly a great investment for your wardrobe.
• Wide belts help narrow your waistline: Like many mums, I still have a rather flabby area around my midriff. I prefer longer length tops to hide my little bulge, but have found that wearing a wide belt around my waistline helps pull me in so I look slimmer no matter what I'm wearing. 
• Wear a pretty necklace to dress up a plain top: Necklaces really do help complete an outfit (particularly when teamed with a matching bracelet or earrings). Unless you're wearing a high-necked, fussy printed top, try adding a simple set of beads or pendant to make your outfit stand out more. Chunky beads really suit those with smaller chests (like me) while long thinner strands lengthen and slim the torso as they draw focus down the body rather than across it.
• Coloured scarves can draw an outfit together: An alternative to necklaces is the classic scarf (square or long) in a colour which draws upon an element of your outfit. For example, if you wear a dress which has red in the print, team this with a red silk scarf tied around your neck. Primark do a wonderful selection of scarves from only a couple of pounds each and you can also find these as giveaways on the covers of style magazines. Charity shops too usually have a basked dedicated to scarves and other accessories which you could pick up for as little as 50p!
• Heels will make you appear slimmer: I am a true advocate of high heels and would probably try to convert anyone who would listen! Heels make you appear taller, lengthen the leg and look as great teamed with jeans or with pretty dresses and evening outfits. Recently the trend for "platform" heels has re-emerged, and the latest styles offer a seamless appearance between the shoe and sole; these help you wear slightly higher heels than normal as your foot is not as arched as it appears to be. Try this style (even with a small heel) if the thought of stilettos makes you cringe: they are far more comfortable, and could convert even the most dedicated "ballerina pump" mum!
• Hairbands, clips and bobbles are essential: Mums tend to have less time to style their hair, so try keeping a selection of hair accessories for quick fixes instead. My four-year-old and I regularly raid each other's collection! Even if you have short hair, you can jazz it up with pretty slides and decorated hairpins.
  
  By far the cheapest sources are Primark, supermarkets and your local market. Claires Accessories regularly have sales where you can buy 10 items for £3 so stock up when these events happen.
  

9. Look after your skin

By looking after your skin, you will undoubtedly feel younger, more vibrant and prettier from the inside out. It's really not necessary to spend a packet on expensive "youth nurturing" creams and skin peeling serums: a common sense approach works miracles, while cleansers and moisturisers can even be bought at the pound store.

Drink lots of water to flush out toxins and hydrate skin from the inside out. I promise this will help you look and feel loads better! Tap water is equally as good as those expensive bottled drinks (we pay way over the odds for fancy packaging), so there really is no excuse! Plenty of fruit and vegetables helps too.

Baby lotion is wonderful for the body; the "budget" versions from the supermarket cost pennies, and smell far better than their equivalents in the women's beauty section. Since having an allergic reaction to an expensive (apparently "miracle-working") brand of moisturiser, I now buy from the simple, no-frills range at Superdrug which works wonderfully for me.

10. Make time for you

In most areas of our lives, we pay more for things which save us time and are more convenient: microwaveable meals to save time in the kitchen; cleaning products which promise shine without scrubbing; hair dye which you can rinse away in only 10 minutes...



When we are trying to be frugal, we can save money by spending time instead. Whenever possible, try to reserve an hour for yourself each week. Ask your partner to mind the kids while you have a long soak, de-fuzz and give yourself a manicure, or rearrange housework to give yourself an afternoon off. Don't try to rush: spend time applying products or styling yourself properly and it needn't matter that the things you use cost less money to buy.

As I wrote right at the beginning of this article, many mums have only five minutes to get dressed in the morning before the school run/nursery dash/drive to work. We have barely enough time to brush our teeth and hair, let alone choose accessories to complement our outfits; perfect our make-up and set our hair in rollers.

So save time by rearranging your schedule, and manage your time more efficiently!

Decide what to wear and lay out your clothes the night before, giving you time to iron wrinkled clothes and decide on accessories in advance. You could even spend an afternoon arranging your wardrobe and clothes, grouping outfits together so they can be grabbed in a single sweep. Give yourself a manicure/pedicure while watching your favourite show on TV. Small efforts like these can add minutes to your day, preventing you from feeling stressed and anxious.

By managing your time effectively, you will feel more relaxed and find that there is time for a manicure, time to apply a touch of make-up, and enjoy a coffee with your other half after breakfast. Relaxed mums smile more often and appear more confident: two utterly fabulous qualities which are out of no woman's reach!

So despite your busy days, the endless housework and the rising costs of living, remember that you are important too. Spend a little time and less money on yourself and your confidence will reap the benefits!

Image credits (in order of appearance): Hairdressing by Helmet13; What to wear by Sugar Cookie; Cluttered closet by Darwin Bell; Washing by Daylight.; Clothes shop by *Muhammad*; Pedicure by (nutmeg); Shoes by stevendepolo; Time by Epesara. All via Flickr Creative Commons.

As I'm sure we're all aware, the cost of our family food bills has skyrocketed these past few months! According to the price comparison site, MySupermarket, the average weekly spend for a family of four has increased by as much as 25%.
Shocking, isn't it?

While we have little control over the rising cost of fuel, housing and other household bills, we can control just how much of our hard-earned cash we part with to feed the family. Switching over to supermarket own brands is not the only solution: there are many more ways we can choose to save money yet feed our families healthy and satisfying meals.

I've always considered myself a frugal mum. Compared to my friends and family, our food shopping bills are positively miniscule, and yet we always have food on the table, in the cupboards, stored in the freezer... In short, we are never hungry and I often feel smug in my knowledge of thrifty ways which are helping us survive this credit crunch.

So in response to encouragement from my friends (and all the articles in magazines which seem to teach us nothing new about saving on food bills), I decided to write my own ebook: Fabulous Frugal Food Bills.

This ebook offers useful tips, tricks and a scattering of family-friendly recipes to help you save money on your family food bills. From learning how to organize your food stores for maximum efficiency to saving money at the supermarket and even growing your own, I hope you will find something useful to lessen the burden of your weekly shopping trips.

In the spirit of sharing and of embracing thrifty ways, I offer this ebook for free. No cost, and certainly no advertisements! You can download this ebook in PDF format to read on your computer or ebook reader, or simply flick through the pages in the embedded ebook further down this page.

Licensing

Frugal Food Bills is licensed under the Creative Commons, Attribution, Non-Commercial lisense (which is to protect my rights as the author, and to prevent profit-makers from selling this free guide when it's intended to be free!). Feel free to download, share, re-use and redistribute this ebook however you like. All I ask is that you adhere to these simple conditions:

• Attribution: please credit me as the original author of this ebook.
• No commercial use: do not sell this ebook!

Please feel free to get in touch if you would like to discuss this license or any other aspect of Fabulous Frugal Food Bills, and I'll be happy to help.

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Tip Jar is a collection of money saving tips ranked by members of the online community. Organized into sections like Finance, Kids and Family or Food, this user submitted directory offers useful tried and tested advice to help you save money (which is especially important for us now in this time of economic insecurity!).


Some of my favorite tips include:

Give a gift of a service instead of an item. For new parents, give an evening of babysitting as a gift. If you know pet owners, offer to take care of their pets when they travel. Offer up some lawn care as a gift to a new homeowner (by The Simple Dollar)

Celebrate saving: Discuss with your kids an appropriate and safe place to keep their money (e.g., piggy bank, plastic container, wallet, etc.). Put a picture of the item for which they are saving on the “bank” to reinforce visually. (by Choose to Save)

Turn off the lights in the rooms of your house that you are not occupying. Make it a habit to flip the switch each time you leave a room. Save electricity and save on your bill. (by Crista)

Use your library's online catalog to order books, movies, audiobooks and CDs. My library sends me an email when they are ready for pickup. It's as easy as Blockbuster, but free. (by Johny)

You can also register to add your own money-saving tips, to comment or vote on those submitted by others. Also if you are interested in similar sites of this genre, you will encounter loads of links to other fantastic sites which offer mmoney saving tips and articles, such as The Simple Dollar, Zen Habits and more.

If (like me) you like to spend five minutes doing something constructive in your coffee break, this is certainly a site you should visit ;)