Five Frugal Things Week Beginning March 24

Every week we try to keep a tab on how we are saving money rather than spending it unnecessarily. This helps to remind us to always be on the lookout for ways that we can keep up with our fantastic frugal living. This not only helps us but also our neighbours and readers of our blog to be on the lookout too.

Here are some of this week’s frugal happenings

Frugal pampering session

The Women’s Ministry department at church organised a pampering session for the ladies on Sunday and we made use of the opportunity to get a manicure, pedicure, facial and even a neck and shoulder massage, all for free!

I was really impressed that there were so many women who had the skills and know how to carry this out. It was a rousing success and visitors and members even asked for it to be done more often.

How much do you reckon we have saved by getting all this done for free? I most definitely would attend again if it is organised.

I really wish I had the skills to be able to confidently offer even one of those services. I wasn’t content with just helping with the cleanup afterwards.

Jo with molasses and honey facial mask on

Leisa was given the charcoal treatment

We didn’t want the foot massage to stop! And castor oil left our feel looking and feeling silky smooth. I’ve since ordered some so that we can try to recreate this at home.

Frugal furniture reupholstering

So we did some renovations to the living room and really wanted some fabric to reupholster a lovely chair that we have so that it can match with the current decor.

A visit to the Bullring market in Birmingham was just what we wanted. After about half an hour and stops at several stalls, we found a suitable one. It only cost £12 for 6 metres!

This will be one of our projects to work on over the Easter break. I can’t wait to show you what the chair looks like when we (unskilled and novices) do finish it.

One upholsterer had quoted £125 to do it if we bought the materials. We thought that was too much so we looked for another one. The quote this time was £200!

Well, we’ve been watching some YouTube videos and will be doing the job ourselves. Watch this space.

Cash out from online survey sites

I have been doing online surveys for a little over a year now. So far I’ve earned about £200. Not bad for a few minutes for a survey, is it? I usually do it when I have to be waiting somewhere or if I have a few minutes spare.

My most recent cashout was from YouGov. It’s for £50 and will be added to my holiday fund, as soon as it is deposited to my account.

My best survey site is Prolific. I cash out £5.00 every few days straight to my Paypal account. I like that the surveys are more sensible and straight forward and you always get paid for completing the ‘studies’. On some sites, after you complete the survey you are told that something went wrong and as a result, you are not paid! This can be really frustrating.

Click here if you’d like to try out Prolific studies for yourself. You just need to create an account and get going.

Get Blogged

Following a referral from one of my blogger friends, I created an account for Get Blogged and had a look around the site, trying to figure it out. I found that they needed bloggers to do a simple blog post which was right up my street and which I had started writing anyway. I like opportunities like this that I can fall back on for a quick buck.

 

If you would like to check them out, here is my affiliate link. I will check every now and then to see if there is anything suitable. My holiday fund won’t reject a boost at all.

Market shopping

When we planned the trip to the Bullring market to get the fabric for the chair, we thought it was a good idea to take a shopping trolley so that we could buy some fruits and vegetables too.

There was an abundance of fruits and vegetables. The atmosphere was lively too, with stall owners from all over Europe selling their produce.

We love to check over the fruit and bowl stalls. The items are placed in plastic bowls and are sold for £1.00 each. So we came away with eggplants, oranges, limes as well as some chicken and fish!

Check out my meal planning post this week to see how we turned some of it into delicious meals.

We are linking with Cass, Emma, and Becky who also share frugal ideas each week.

 

How about you? What have you done lately to save some money in your everyday life? Do share with us or if you’d like, join our Facebook group, Penny Pinchers’ Paradise and let us keep up with the discussion.