The Diary of a Frugal Family

Seven ways to spend less on fuel….

Cass@frugalfamily — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:05:29 +0000

I drive a 25 mile round trip every day to work which I know isn’t much compared to a lot of people’s commute but to us, it means that petrol makes up a big part of our monthly budget.

But it is possible to change your driving habits a little to make the best use of your fuel so you can get the most out of it.

Keep your tyres inflated to the correct pressure. As well as making your car more fuel efficient, it’s also safer for you and your passengers.
Don’t use your air conditioning unless you have to – just wind a window down.
Turn your engine off as soon as you reach your destination.
Accelerate smoothly without over revving and keep an eye on your rev counter. You should try to stay under 3000 revs when driving and should be changing up a gear when you hit 2,500 revs on a petrol and 2,000 on a diesel.
Drive along speed-humped roads at a steady 15-20mph rather than accelerating between speed bumps and having to brake each time you get to one.
According to the Department for Transport, if you drive at 70mph you are using up to 9% more fuel than at 60mph and up to 15% more than at 50mph. 80mph can use up to a massive 25% more than you would use doing 70mph.
Don’t use your car for journeys where you could just as easily walk – popping to the local shops or going on the school run are great examples of when people don’t always need to drive.

There’s even more information about how to save money on your petrol on The Guardian website. They say it’s possible to save up to £800 a year on petrol if you change the way you drive so I’m going to give it a go. Let me know if you do too and if you see any improvements….

Men! (And by men, I mean specifically my man)….

Cass@frugalfamily — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 18:39:24 +0000

Today I asked Mr Frugal to tidy his computer desk up.

A not unreasonable request considering that it seems to have become a bit of a dumping ground for everything from homework to bills and from Moshi Monsters codes to random bits of paper with children’s scrawl written all over them but you’d seriously have thought I’d have asked him to take a hammer to it judging by his reaction.

I’ll give him credit though, after a bit of general life’s unfair whinging and some muttering under his breath about how he shouldn’t have to do things on Father Day, he did make an effort to tidy it up. And even though we call it his desk, the kids have been using it more than him since they discovered Minecraft and Roblox.

Anyway, after about 30 seconds, he declared he was finished and went off to get ready to play five aside football tonight. I was cooking the tea so I didn’t get chance to look straight away but I should have been suspicious at the speed he tidied it and even more so at the speed he left the kitchen afterwards!

When I did get chance to ~~check~~ admire his handiwork, this was the result:

Now I’m not sure that you get the full effect from the photo but basically any loose bits of paper went in the bin, notebooks were put in a (not very tidy) pile on the shelf underneath and everything else got pushed to the back of the desk while he wiped the front part. That was him done. Now we have a clean front half of the desk and a back half of the desk that has an layer of dust an inch thick and is crammed with crap!

So now he’s out at football, I’m going to do it myself. Maybe.

I might just leave it and sulk with him while throwing general looks of disgust in the area of the computer desk.

(Disclaimer, he is ~~sometimes~~ usually much better than this and does lots of jobs around the house, I just can’t see how he can possibly think this is OK.)

I’m sunburnt and I need your help….

Cass@frugalfamily — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:41:37 +0000

We’ve been watching the weather all week with our fingers crossed for good weather because today was our school’s annual family day. It’s a great day which starts with the whole school performing a concert outside with a local band, followed by a whole school family picnic and barbecue on the field and after that there’s ice creams and rides for the kids (all free) – it’s such a lovely thing for the school to do – the kids look forward to it every year and it always surprises me that so many parents make such an effort to be there. It makes me feel all warm and fluffy and proud to be part of it!

This morning we got up and were a bit disappointed to see the sky filled with clouds but at least it wasn’t raining so we packed up our picnic and bagged ourselves a picnic table in a prime spot in the middle of the field where we could see what was going on. The dark clouds were above us all day threatening to rain and it was quite windy so for most of the day I had my hoodie on. The rain held off for most of the day and we had a really nice day.

But after we got home, I started to feel really hot which is when I realised that despite the black rainclouds, the wind AND the hoodie, I was sunburnt in a big way!

I don’t think the picture quite shows the redness that is my body at the moment but it does give you an idea….

I’m also this red on my face and my arms and it’s more than a little sore at the moment.

I know I should have put suntan lotion on and I do actually have Factor 50 in the boot of my car so we always have it with us because we all burn very easily and I know that the you can still get burnt even on cloudy days. But this wasn’t a little cloudy, it was full on dark clouds and I had a hoodie on for most of the day. The only time I really took it off was when Master Frugal had temporarily lost his jacket on the field somewhere and he was cold so he wore my top for a while.

It’s ridiculous that I’m so red right now – I don’t even have any after sun in the house to soothe it because I’m usually really good with sun tan lotion and when I think there’s a danger of any of us getting sunburnt, the factor 50 comes out!

So now, I need some advice on what’s good for sunburn.

Hit me

What’s your ‘can’t live without’ App….

Cass@frugalfamily — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:01:39 +0000

I’m not of those people who is always playing on their phone. Honest

But I did realise today when I went to work without my phone that I do feel a little lost when I don’t have my phone with me.

Without my phone, I couldn’t check how well my things were selling on eBay and I couldn’t check and see if a payment I was expecting to my Paypal account had been made. I couldn’t check the next train home and I couldn’t Youtube a video that I’d been telling my friends about (this one). I couldn’t see what everyone was up to on Facebook and I missed a fantastic Instagram photo opportunity because I didn’t have my phone camera.

(I know I could have done all this the old fashioned way but you get my point – it’s so much better having information on tap on your phone, isn’t it?)

So, my traumatic phone-less day inspired me to write a post about my favourite App which is definitely Instagram (or Twitter) (or maybe Facebook)…. When I was checking my phone though I found an App that I downloaded ages ago and never really got around to using – Vine.

You all probably know about it already but just in case you don’t – it’s a little bit like Instagram but you take videos rather than photos. The videos are nine seconds long and you don’t have to film continuously for that time – so you can be really creative with your nine seconds…. Or, you could just film your loopy dog like we did for our first video!

It’s really easy to embed into a blog post (I downloaded a plug in that does everything) and the video just runs on a loop without anyone having to press play to start it off.

I think this *may* be my new favourite App!

Now my problem is that if I’ve only just discovered Vine, what else am I missing? So I need you to tell me your favourite Apps so I can go and download them all and make sure I’m not missing out on any other brilliant Apps.

Over to you….

Frugal Fathers Day ideas….

Cass@frugalfamily — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:18:40 +0000

I’m usually a bit last minute when it comes to special occasions like Fathers Day. In fact, last year I was so last minute that I had to get up and make Mr Frugal stay in bed while we pretended that it was taking us ages to make him breakfast in bed but in reality we were making cards and gift certificates for him!

We made little certificates that entitled him to 1 night where he got to choose the film we watched (as long as we approved of course) and one certificate that guaranteed him a win at whatever race car game him and Master Frugal were playing together at the time!

I’d like to say I’m more organised this year. But I’m not

Which is why I love this infographic that Center Parks sent me to share with you. They must have known that I have a busy end to the week and I’m working Saturday so clearly have no time available to sit down for ten minutes, let alone sort out Fathers Day. The site we use for free printable gift coupons is here if you don’t want to make your own.

Can money buy you happiness….

Cass@frugalfamily — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 19:08:08 +0000

Mr Frugal and I were talking about what we’d do if we won the lottery the other day (as you do) when Miss Frugal piped up with what she’d buy with her winnings….

I’d buy a horse, a mansion, a new bed, some dogs, loads of clothes and make up, all of the ultra rare moshi monsters, a Bugati Veyron (too much Top Gear I think), a pink suitcase, another horse…..

I tried to give her a life lesson at this point by explaining that money can’t make you happy but I was fighting a losing battle with this one I think. Her answer to me?

But Mam, if I had all that stuff I wouldn’t have time to be sad.

Difficult to argue with that logic when you look at it that way!

But luckily for me, I didn’t have to respond to that because that’s when Master Frugal looked up from his book to share his thoughts on the subject….

All that stuff won’t make you happy though because you can’t pay people to be your friend can you? And another thing, all I need to be happy is Mammy, Daddy, you, Buddy and the Xbox – I don’t need money!

*proud parent look mixed with smug told you so look to Miss Frugal*

(although I probably just looked like I needed the toilet)

I’m ignoring the fact that he included the Xbox in the things he needs to be happy in life and focusing on the fact that at least one of my children understands that it’s not money that makes you happy (not to mention the fact that he won’t be adding a Bugatti Veyron and a horse to his Christmas list) although I can kind of see his sister’s point too.

So, after further discussion, we’ve agreed that money definitely can’t buy you happiness but it’s definitely an added bonus if you have lots of it!

What do you think?

Where I live – Indoors….

Cass@frugalfamily — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 12:44:40 +0000

I love where my house but I’ve been thinking for a while that it’s in need of a style makeover due to the builders love of magnolia and my lack of decorating since we moved in. So, when I read a post by Michelle from The American Resident about some of the treasures in her home I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t have much to write about from my home.

But then I saw lots of other bloggers joining in and posting about their homes. My inner nosey person was in her element and had such a good time looking at the posts and seeing what other peoples houses were like and I really wanted to join in. So I set off on a tour of my house with my iphone to see what I had that could be classed as ‘Art’ and I found more than I thought (although I do use the word art very loosely).

First of all in the kitchen, we have our art wall which practically takes up one wall at the far end of the room. I don’t put all art up on the wall but it just seems a shame to just put it away in a box or to just take a photo of it and then get rid of the art as I know lots of people do. We add more to it when a new work of art is created and we take bits down to avoid it getting messy and I love our art wall – it never fails to make me smile!

I have a picture of me and my mam hanging on my bedroom door – it was taken when I was younger than Miss Frugal and it’s one of my most treasured photos.

The green heart in the next picture was made by Mr Frugal when we took the kids to a pottery place when they were little - it makes me smile because it cost a fortune even though it was one of the cheapest things there to paint! We went to this little out of the way pottery place that someone had recommended to us and we had no idea how expensive it was going to be. We only stayed because we’d got the kids so hyped up about it and it ended up costing almost £50 for us to paint something little. Needless to say we’re much better with money now and I could keep them entertained for a month on that budget

The girl in the frame was a gift for Miss Frugal at Christmas. I found a site called Fiverr where everything is a fiver to buy and people are offering to do random things for you for $5. Someone was offering to make a cartoon image from a photo so I sent them a picture of Miss Frugal in her birthday dress and a picture of Buddy and she made this for me. The outfit and hairband are exactly what she had on for her 10th birthday and she loves it. It’s on her windowsill surrounded by girly things.

The last picture here are our family rules which was sent to us from Dotcomgiftshop a while ago and takes pride of place in our hall. No one ever walks by them without commenting and we love them.

The top picture here is of a piece of art hanging in my bathroom – it’s custom made from a gallery in a local town and matched the living room in my old house perfectly. Not so much now so it’s relegated to the bathroom. Again, this is from my pre-frugal days and I could do a big chunk of my monthly shopping with what we paid for it!

In complete contrast, the photo collages were made following our trip to Disneyland Paris a few years ago. We signed up for a photo printing service online and got 50 free prints and the frames were from the pound shop so they’re real bargains and the photos are filled with smiles and happy memories. The mini suitcase in between has some old family photos in it and a couple of other treasures (as decided by the kids).

This is my pop art canvas which looks way better in person than it does in the picture. I’ve always wanted a pop art canvas and I love this one. Both of the pictures were from our holiday last year when we were in Spain at the time they were doing really well in the World Cup (did they win? I think they did just after we came home). They were taken on a night that Spain were playing and we were in a bar with all of the locals and the atmosphere was amazing!

Not so much art but I thought I’d share with you a corner from each of the kids’ bedrooms – guess whose is whose….

There you go, my favourite ‘art’ from my house. Not very sophisticated but I love it and I hope you do too.

Saturday is Caption Day – the wet one….

Cass@frugalfamily — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 07:08:15 +0000

It’s been a while since I joined in Annie’s Saturday is Caption Day Linky but even as I was taking this picture, I knew it would be perfect to caption!

We’ve been loving the weather this week and we’ve took full advantage because you never know how long it’s going to last for do you? There’s been barbecues, picnic teas, playing at the park, playing at the beach, ice creams and lots of water fights – in fact, I could do with a bit of rain to keep us in the house so I can catch up on everything

So what do you think would be a great caption for this photo?

Oh and what you can’t see because I’ve cropped it out of the picture is Mr Frugal sitting on a bench behind looking particularly grumpy because he was a) missing some football match on TV and b) whinging in case the car got wet on the way home! It’s a good job we love him!

Can you ever have too many photos….

Cass@frugalfamily — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:58:00 +0000

Last Sunday something traumatic happened to me.

Before I tell you what happened, I understand that it may not have been as traumatic to you if it had happened to you but to me, who takes photos of everything so I never miss a moment or a memory, it was traumatic.

So, I came downstairs on Sunday morning, all bleary eyed and in need of caffeine and found Master Frugal fast asleep under a blanket on the living room floor with his arm around the dog who was also fast asleep. My first thought, naturally, was to grab my phone so I could take a picture before either of them woke up or moved to a less cute position.

My phone was close at hand (as it always is so we never miss a moment) so I lined up my shot and pressed the clicky button but the photo didn’t take. Instead I got a message saying that my phone had no storage space left so it couldn’t take the photo!

And to matters worse, the dog decided to get up at that moment so I didn’t even have the chance to delete something to take the cute photo.

I had a look on my phone and I had 1704 photos and 19 videos so I decided now would be the time to transfer all of it to my laptop which took me forever.

I started by adding some of the videos to my Youtube account and some to the account that I’ve set up for Miss Frugal for when she’s older (she can’t log into it without me yet but all of her videos from things we do together are there waiting for her when she’s a bit older). Then I transferred all of my photos over to my laptop and moved them all to the folders I have set up for each month. I do have an external hard drive that I use to back up my lesson last year when I lost a lot of photos from my computer so I’ll be transferring them over to that shortly as well.

Someone (I’m looking at you here Mr Frugal) thinks I take too many photos but I completely disagree! We’ve been lucky enough to do some really special things recently and it would be such a shame not to have photos to remember them by….

It’s not even just the big things, I’ve caught so many little memories on camera as well, things we probably wouldn’t remember without a photo to remind us….

So I don’t think you can ever have too many photos, do you?

Thrifty Thursday – Five frugal things I’ve done this week….

Cass@frugalfamily — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 09:09:56 +0000

It’s been a bit of a busy week here this week but I’ve still had time to save some money – I even managed to make a bit of extra money as well….

I’m not sure if it’s a new thing or not but my latest energy bill has a section on that tells me what I would be paying on each of my suppliers tariffs. I noticed it when I got my bill earlier in the week as it said that there was a new online tariff that would save me some money so I rang them and changed over. I do review my energy suppliers every six months or so to make sure I’m on a good deal but I was really pleased that my supplier was actually telling me how to save money with them without having to switch!
We had a no spend day on Sunday where everything that we did was free – we went to the beach and paddled in the sea, we went for a long walk in the woods, played on the trampoline in the garden and played some board games.
I made a giant match of homemade tomato sauce and portioned it up to go in the freezer. We use it as a pasta sauce, as the tomato base for home made pizzas, tuna pasta bake sauce – the possibilities are endless so it’s always good to have some in the freezer ready to use.
I’ve listed and sold a couple of things on eBay this week. We had a big sort out of Miss Frugal’s wardrobe and there’s lots of Summer dresses from last year that she’s outgrown so we put them on and sold them for a few pounds each.
I made the most of some early evening sun and sat in the garden with my Kindle reading one of the free books I’ve downloaded. You might not see this as being particularly frugal but I love reading and my Kindle was a bit of a treat to myself last year. I read a lot and our local library is quite small so I’ve pretty much made my way through their books so I was forever hunting round charity shops and at boot sales for new books.

What about you, what have you been up to that’s saved you some money?