Saving energy and other frugal stuff #5frugalthings

Welcome to this week’s round up of frugal stuff I do on a day to day basis to save money.

I have been thinking a lot about saving energy this week. Not just at home, but in the car too. I don’t want to sit in a queue for petrol for hours at a time, so instead I am just using my car as little as possible and walking whenever possible.

Saving energy at home

All of a sudden, our Indian summer is over here in the UK and it has turned very chilly! Mr Shoestring is still in his shorts and sandals, but he will catch up eventually!

I haven’t put the heating on yet. I refuse to do so until it’s October, but even then I will delay it as long as possible. With all the talk on the news about a looming energy crisis and the likelihood of our fuel bills rising dramatically, it’s even more important than ever to keep our usage low.

There are quite a few things we can all do to make sure we don’t waste gas or electricity. Most are common sense, but how many of us are completely focussed on being energy efficient all the time?

I published a video on my YouTube channel with ten ideas for keeping your bills as low as possible. Do pop over and check it out. I would love it if you gave it a like and subscribe whilst you are there. I am currently uploading two videos each week and really enjoying this new challenge.

I have got some throws out to keep in the lounge, to make us snug in the evenings. As well as that, I have sorted out my cosy jumpers to wear, both on my dog walks and at home. Layering up is the answer!

The DIY continues…

The bedroom makeover is taking shape. This week I transformed another little bedside table. It is the same soft baby pink as the chair I painted a few months ago. I finished it off with some nice porcelain knobs I found on eBay.

It is much cheaper and more frugal to upcycle the furniture you already have than it is to buy new items.

As I said in last week’s round up, I have also painted some of the woodwork and half of the walls. This saved me having to clear the room of furniture. That’s not an option as we don’t have any space to put it. 

New to us curtains

Also on eBay and second hand, were these lovely pink curtains. I am really pleased with them! A second, much longer pair in a similar pink are on their way, which will cover the wardrobe area.

I am doing well at finding everything second hand, as I am buying nothing new for the whole of 2021. It is saving us a fortune! Currently, I am perusing Facebook Marketplace to find a nice second hand chandelier type light fitting. The current one looks as though it should be in an office and not at all the shabby chic style I am after.

I still have two walls and two more chests to paint and then I’m done. The little and often approach to decorating works for me.

A freebie

We went for lunch with my parents at the weekend and, amongst a pile of pictures they have decided to get rid of, was this cute little porcelain mirror.

I immediately bagsied it as I know just the place for it. As part of our bedroom makeover, we have moved the furniture around. You now see the side of the wardrobe I painted white as soon as you come in the door, and I decided I needed a picture or something there. This mirror will be perfect there! Love a freebie.

Charity shop bargains

You wouldn’t expect my weekly round up not to include something I bought from the charity shop, would you? This week I picked up some bits and pieces for the Christmas hampers I have planned for my nieces and youngest nephew. To keep with the spirit of my second hand year, I got each of them a mug for £1 a go and the two girls a makeup bag each, which cost 50p. The latter look like new.

I also found some more tea towels. They had a big box of completely unused vintage ones for 50p each. Clearly somebody had collected them over a number of years.

The flower picture will go in the bedroom too. It only cost £1. I am planning to get several blousy, vintage looking ones on a flower theme to group together.

The shoes are leather M&S Footglove ballet flats and were £3, and the Father Christmas candle holders were £1 the pair. Holidays are coming, holidays are coming…..

I am so lucky to have such a reasonably priced charity shop so close to where I live. It’s only about 10 minutes walk away. 

Did you have any good second hand buys this week? Please let me know what frugal stuff you have done in the comments, and come over to my Facebook group and share them too!

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