Thrifty vs Cheap

Ok, ok. I love to boast about my thrifty bargains. Recently, I have been making some bargain buys for our new home including Laura Ashley wallpaper on eBay and a gorgeous antique school desk for my son. Also, I bought a stunning vintage map of Surrey from a charity shop for £1.50 (see photo); and my sister-in-law, for Christmas received from me two beautiful vintage tins, which I haggled heroically on the price of, in an antique shop in Matlock.

However, on seeing 7p Smart Price Valentine's card for sale in Asda, I couldn't help pondering the difference between a thrifty find and being plain cheap. There is defiantly a fine line between the two.

 Ultimately, thrifty is cool. Cheap is not.

Merry Christmas

Just to wish all my Thrift-Queen readers a very Merry Christmas. Posts to look forward to over the next few days include 'My Thrifty New Year's Resolution' and 'What To Buy In The Sales'.

Have Yourself A Very Thrifty Christmas: Stockings

PANIC NOT! It's not too late for a few cheap stocking fillers to be purchased. I personally think no stocking is complete without a bag of chocolate coins and a satsuma. But for those of you who are looking for more adventurous, yet thrifty inspiration, there are some great websites who are still accepting guaranteed Christmas delivery.

 
Stocking-fillers.co.uk sell an amazing variety of cheap Christmas gifts and Christmas essentials. They have price brackets as low as £1 and under, perfect if you have kids, or even for the 'big kids' in your life! Their last order date is 4pm on Thursday 22nd December.

For those of you looking for more class, less tack, a couple of years ago, The Guardian compiled a list of the best Christmas gifts for less than £5. I would also recommend Find Me A Gift who have a very good 'Secret Santa' section. They also are accepting orders until 4pm on Thursday 22nd December.

Or why not get truely thrifty and make your own stockings? This step by step Guide is even suitable for sewing novices.

Pre Christmas Weekend Deals

With Christmas only a week away, we all need a bit of thrifty goodness in our lives, and thankfully there are some cracking (no pun intended) deals to be had. No need to break the bank, just read on for my weekend's favourite money saving potential Christmas gifts, as sourced from HUKD.

Stuck for a present idea for your bachelor brother of hard-to-buy-for husband? Head to Currys and pick up a Whoopie Pie Maker for a mere £7.99 reduced from £34.99. This 'idiot friendly' pie maker is perfect for pot pies, fruit pies, quiches and more. Simply combine ready made dough with fresh, frozen or canned ingredients, and cook. It's cheap and easy to use, an ideal gift.

Thrift-Queen Misprice Alert: News of another brilliant supermarket pricing mistake. Tesco's are selling Binatone B350 Sat Nav's for £6. They're usually priced at around £60 on Amazon, this is a misprice worth investing in. Some stores are also selling Logiteck Ultra Flat Keyboards for a bargain £1.25.

If you've managed to not spend all your money on Christmas gifts, why not make a thrifty investment in summer 2012 with this elegant Stone Falls Water Feature. It is currently being sold at B&Q for £20, reduced from £199.98. An absolute snip! Tight on space? They're also selling a smaller Bubbling Barrel Water Feature for £10, reduced from £99.98.

Know of any other amazingly thrifty deals? I'd love to hear about them. Just comment below, or on my Thrift-Queen Facebook Page.

Asda Misprice

Thrift-Queen Misprice Alert: Asda 8m x 0.45m brown paper roll marked at £1.20, but scans at fabulously cheap 2p! Could make for some thrifty Christmas wrapping paper?

Have Yourself A Very Thrifty Christmas: Food

Saving money doesn't mean you have to become Scrooge, it is possible to serve fabulous food over the Christmas period without breaking the bank. Try following these few simple thrifty tips to save money at Christmas to help you on your way.

• Share The Load: If you have friends and family coming round for Christmas or Boxing day lunch, ask them to bring a dish with them. An extra trifle, piece of Stilton or bottle of wine will always come in handy over the Christmas period. Besides, people like to contribute.
• Make It Yourself: Don't be tempted to buy everything ready made, get creative on the run up to Christmas and make your own chutneys, cranberry sauce and stuffing and save yourself a fortune. Christmas desserts and cakes can also be baked by you. Not enough time? Delegate!
• Home Grown: If you've grown vegetables throughout the year, Christmas is an excellent time to serve them up. My parents always have masses of potatoes left from their haul earlier in the year to get roasting and mashing.

• Set a Budget: and stick to it.
• Write a Shopping List: Before you go shopping, write a list of everything you need for all of the festive period. No matter how appealing the fresh lobster looks, if it's not on the list, don't buy it.
• Use Your Leftovers: Get thrifty in the kitchen. A turkey (or any poultry) carcass left to boil in water, vegetables and herbs will make a wonderful stock which you can use as a base for turkey curry's and soups. Even leftover vegetables can be fried up for some bubble and squeak This Busy Cooks website is full of wonderful inexpensive ideas and recipes to serve up delicious meals, from leftovers, for friends and family.

Have Yourself a Very Thrifty Christmas: Cleaning

With Christmas fast approaching, it's a good time to get organised in the home before hordes of friends and relatives descend, keen to fill your home with festive cheer, gravy stains and a million tiny shreds of wrapping paper. Not exactly thrifty, but important none the less!

The 4Homes website has drawn up a comprehensive list full of pre Christmas mayhem-reducing advise. My favourite five are as follows:

1. Child proof your home by moving precious ornaments out of harm's way.
2. Prepare your guest room by tidying up any clutter that has accumulated over the past year. Leave out spare blankets and create some hanging or drawer space for guests' storage.
3. Dust your decorations. An easy method for this is to secure part of an old pair of tights over the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner. Works well on dusty garlands, tinsel and artificial trees.
4. Be organised with your washing-up and fill the dishwasher with all the stuff you will need when everyone gets hungry for their next feed. Including cutlery, plates, and glasses. Put straight on for a quick cycle. 
5. Recycle what you can. 4Homes suggest recycling wrapping paper, drink cans, glass and plastic bottles which is cheap and easy to do. Further to this, the Woodland Trust has a card recycling scheme available throughout January at Tesco's, WH Smith and Marks & Spencer. You should also find out from your local authority where you can recycle your tree. 

Have Yourself A Very Thrifty Christmas: Decorations

Looking to save money this Christmas? Look no further thanks to the Thrift-Queen's thrifty Christmas tips, starting with decorating.

When decorating your house, it's important to remember less is more. It is easy to get caught up in the spirit of Christmas and end up having to live in a glitter-tastic, sparkling frenzied house. But equally, decorating doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive to look fabulous. Some people like to decorate the whole house - inside and out - whilst others decorate one room or only the tree. Whatever your preference, avoid the wrath of the recession and get thrifty. Below are my top three thrifty tips to achieve a beautiful, yet inexpensive, festive home.

• Be Natural: Add some free natural cheer to your home. Use ivy to wind round your banisters or drape over the mantelpiece. Pine cones make excellent Christmas tree decorations. For a more elegant look, they can be sprayed silver or gold. Or why not fill a bowl with them as a simple table centre piece. Tree branches arranged in a tall vase can look stunning as a decoration or as a Christmas tree alternative. Add colour and hang some pretty baubles on them.
• Get Kid Creative: If you have young children in your family, encourage them to help with decorating the house. Make paper-chains, use empty toilet rolls to make fairies and cut snowflakes out of paper. You could even let them loose with a can of fake snow to spray window. Disney's Family Craft website is an excellent source for cheap and easy Christmas decoration ideas. My favourite is Santa's list, with a twist; using a painted thread spool (see below.)

•  Make Existing Decor Seasonal: At Christmas I like to make other things in my house look festive. I decorate candles and mirrors with tartan ribbon, and add candy canes to fruit bowls or scatter them on my dressing table. Instead of a table runner, I alternate candles and either pine cones or nuts in a line. It makes the table look festive yet elegant. When I bake, I make Christmas shaped cookies and display them on a cake stand in the kitchen. The key aspect of this thrifty method of decorating is to use what you have and dress it up with either garland, ribbon, pretty beads or some other Christmassy items.

Gumtree Goodness

I recently posted a thrifty article on an amazing Gumtree Daily Deal Paypal Cashback Deal, after a heads up from a reader (thanks Kieran). I am now well and truly hooked and I'm especially loving their Twelve Deals of Christmas. Today is day five, so subscribe soon to receive some amazing money saving offers on the run up to Christmas.

They have deals ranging from experiences to products and potential presents.. My favourite today? Hard to call but given the time of year and my distinct lack of transportation it has to be the amazingly good value £29 6ft artificial Christmas tree which is delivered to your door.

Hot UK Deals

Just a quick Thrift-Queen recommendation: Hot UK Deals is an amazing community website which searches the best money saving deals to be had. They find and share the best deals, promotional codes, special offers and vouchers from on and off the web. A perfect site to visit before embarking on Christmas shopping. Go on, get yourself a bargain.

My favourites deals at the moment?

1. Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard. £7.99 at Staples.
2. Muddy Fox Hustle Mountain Bike. £25 in store at Tesco.
3. Binatone F350 UK SatNav (with full 12 month warranty). £27.98 at Argos.

It is no secret that I love a bargain, but I love a freebie more. I am happy to report there is even a section for this! Other great deatures include competitions and deals in your local area.

It's Been A While...

Sorry for my absence in the blogging world. I FINALLY managed to sell my house, but it would seem the finding somewhere to live and relocating 180 miles is pretty time consuming. But I'm back, with a vengeance.

Hope Halloween's were appropriately spooking and bonfire nights' sizzle-tastic. For those who like to cook, I'll be blogging about my favourite pumpkin recipe's shortly. With many other top thrifty tips to help save you money on the run up to Christmas, heading your way soon. Watch this thrifty space...

Alphabet Accessory

 

When your child has outgrown their alphabet building blocks, why not re-use their forgotten treasures to make your own unique and thrifty word displays. You could spell out 'Noel' for the mantelpiece at Christmas, or use them for a feature in your bathroom with the word 'Relax' spelt out. Display words can be quite expensive in the shops so save yourself money and make your home style-savvy.

Money Saving Website

Just wanted to share with you all this amazing new [to me] website I've found. It's called Cheap Bargains (UK) and is Thrift-Queen heaven with top tips galore on saving money and deals to be had. My recommendation of the moment is to buy the Skullcandy Full Metal Earbud Headphones on play.com for £14.99 (RRP of £79.95) which is a massive saving of £64.96. Perfect for a thrifty Christmas present. Check out other bargains to be had at http://www.cheapbargains.org/

So Long Summer

The evenings are darker, the kids are back at school and the post-summer holidays blues have kicked in. Sounds like a perfect time to get thriftful.

Sell any summer clothes or accessories that you no longer want on Ebay  or Gumtree, late summer holiday go-ers will snap them up. But don't go crazy for Autumn/Winter clothes just yet. Get style-savvy and save yourself money by updating your favourite summer clothes for the cooler weather. To a pretty summer dress, try adding a pair of leggings and a mac. Or team your favouite shorts with tights and a wool knit jumper. Reinvention is the key to thriftful wardrobe sucess!

If you have children, hit the pre Autumn/Winter sales and buy the next size up clothes for them to wear next summer. Similarily, maybe you could partake in a car boot sale for any outdoor toys your kids no longer play with/ have grown out of. As for their school packed lunches, instead of buying pre packaged single serve items, use tupperware or other reusable containers. It will save money in the long run. My five year old son's favourite lunch time snack is humous and cucumber/carrot sticks. Easy and cheap. But don’t forget, lunch boxes aren’t just for kids. Taking your leftovers to work the next day will also help save money.

The beginning of autumn is a good time to get thriftfully prepared for the change in season. Shop around using a price comparison site to check you're getting the best possible deal on your services, such as gas and electricity. Some companies are introducing fix rate payments over the next couple of years, and with fuel costs predicted to rise it's a good time to be prepared. As for Christmas, now is the perfect time to start shopping for gifts to help spread the cost. Plan for your next trip abroad and invest in a set of portable digital luggage scales. A good quality set will set you back a mere £15 and as http://www.digital-luggage-scales.co.uk/ notes, "for every kilo you are over your bag allowance it could set you back at least £7.50 with some long haul flights even charging £30 per kg extra". Thriftful preparation at it's best.

Get The Crafting Bug...

Have you ever looked at a hand-made card and thought to youself "I wish I could do that"? Well, with the Thrift-Queen's top tips now you can, and cheaply.

What I love most about card making, is that anyone can do it. For basic hand-made greeting cards the materials used are items most people have anway, including card, scissors, glue and glitter. However, high street craft shops (I am a massive Hobbycraft fan) stock embellishments, stamps and shape cutters which are very inexpensive. The internet is a useful source for ideas and tips, and online magazines such as Papercrafts http://www.papercraftsmag.com/index.html offer free downloads to enhance your cards. The best bit? It's inexpensive, easy, and has a lovely personal touch.

My son loves to help me make our Christmas cards, and our family and friends love receiving them. Instead of buying generic gifts, I often include recent photos (presented prettily) or write a nice long letter. Why not take up a new hobby and have yourself a very thriftful Christmas!