Have fun on less money

Hi frugalistas! Welcome to another round up of my frugal life. At Shoestring Cottage we know how to have a full and happy life on a relatively small income. Saving money and finding ways to get what we need for less is how we get by. We don’t feel deprived – in fact, we absolutely love searching out bargains and making the best of what we have. It’s easy to have fun on less money when you know how.

This week we even managed to get away for a couple of days. Read on to find out more.

1# Frugal weekend away

It was Mr S’s birthday, so I thought I would surprise him with a weekend away. After yet another prolonged lock down, I thought he would really appreciate a change of scenery.

We didn’t go far; in fact, just an hour and a half’s drive into South Norfolk. I booked a modest – but quirky and comfortable – Air B&B for a couple of nights. The dog came too, with my lovely neighbour looking after the cats.

To keep our costs low, we took flask of coffee and a cool bag with a picnic for our first day and part of our second. We also took some breakfast items, although we didn’t need them as our host had left us loads of food. Bread, milk, pastries, chocolate, non-alcoholic fizz, crisps and some cream cakes! Even Archie got some dog treats.

We treated ourselves to an Indian takeaway via the Just Eat app on our first night. Although the pubs were open, they were still offering a limited menu and didn’t allow dogs inside. It was too chilly to eat outside, as May in the UK has been a terrible month. Really cold and wet! This wasn’t frugal, but it was a birthday treat and budgeted for.

Not very frugal

Another thing that wasn’t very frugal about our trip away was the parking charge at Thetford Forest visitor centre. £8 for three hours!! We will know next time that there are plenty of bits of the forest where you can park for free. A few people advised me of good places to go on my Instagram account.

On the plus side, the forest was beautiful and pristine. Not a bit of litter anywhere. Maybe the high parking charges discouraged the people you see dumping their beer cans and McDonalds wrappers in rural areas?

2# Second hand bargains

One of the towns we visited whilst we were away was Swaffham. It is a lovely, old-fashioned market town, full of independent shops and with a really good market.

We visited on Saturday morning, so the market was in full flow. There was a stand selling gorgeous cakes and pasties, so we bought a huge pasty and a sausage roll to share.

I resisted most of the many charity shops in the town centre. However, one caught my eye as the prices seemed very reasonable in the window. It was the Norfolk Hospice shop and it was brilliant!

I overheard the manager explaining to a customer that he thought it was better to charge cheap prices and keep the stock flowing. He said he thought many charity shops were far too expensive. Hurrah! At last a bit of common sense. I just don’t understand the logic of charging so much for second hand items that many don’t sell and end up going to the rag man for pennies. Worse still, some end up being thrown away!

I bought several really good quality dresses for just £3 each, including a couple from Hobbs. These would have been £15 plus in some of the shops here. Very chuffed!

3# Saving money on groceries

I am always very conscious about the cost of our groceries. There are various things I do to keep ours as low as possible, such as reducing food waste, getting free stuff from Olio and meal planning.

When you are looking for ways to save money, the grocery bill is often the thing you can reduce significantly and quickly. 

I talked about all this in my latest You Tube video, so hop on over if you want to find out more. If you enjoy it, please like and subscribe. 

I have a new video coming out on Tuesday showing a recent Lidl and Home Bargains haul. If you want some inspiration for cooking on a budget, check out my Frugal Recipes page.

4# Letting out the spare room

We have been without a lodger for a couple of months now, as our last one found herself a fancy new job and moved to London. But we have another young lady coming next week. She seems like an easy going and hard working sort of girl, so hopefully we will all get along. We have never had a problem yet, thankfully.

Letting out the spare room gives us a bit of extra money. It makes sense as it is a pretty easy way to earn more money. We use SpareRoom.com. It usually takes a few months, as we aren’t right next to the station or the university. Nevertheless, some people seem happy to come and live in a family home rather than a shared house.

If you want some more ideas on how to make money from your spare room, this post might help.

5# Budget birthday cards

Whilst I was in Home Bargains I picked up some cheap birthday cards. They can be such a ridiculous price for an item that generally finds its way into the recycling bin in just a few days.

I paid 39p for one and 59p for the other – you can’t go wrong at that price! After I left I realised I should have stocked up, so I will do that next time.

So that was our frugal week with some examples of how to have fun on less money. What have you been up to?

I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Frugal Friday’ linky.