Handmade 2012: Bunting

I love bunting. Perfect for garden parties, presents for little one's, and we even have it strung up in our bedroom. Plus, it is a fabulously thirfty way to use up scraps of fabric and brightens up any space.

bedroom bunting

My top tip? Don't be too bothered about getting the triangles all the same size, it'll make it look too uniformed. Just judge it as you go.

Petrol Wars

Let the petrol wars commence! This week the UK supermarket giants seem to have gone to war to offer the best price for petrol following the reduction in wholesale prices.

But where should you fill up?

Sainsbury's and Tesco do not publish an average of maximum price, claiming they price locally, but Tesco's are offering their common promotion of spend £50, get 5p off per litre of fuel. This ends Sunday 20th May.

Asda have slashed the cost of their petrol and diesel. With the price of petrol now at 132.7p and diesel at 137.7p.

Not to be outdone Morrisons have also dropped the price of fuel to 132.9p.

Tips For The Hosepipe Ban

With mains water being so precious during summer droughts, why not get creative and save water.

• Use ice cubes in hanging baskets and tubs, they will melt slowly and provide your plants with enough water.
• Utilise rain water and invest in a water butt to store water. They simply connect to the downpipes of your house/ garage/ shed and store water to be used at a later time in watering cans. They're also very handy for re-filling little one's water pistols!
• If you are used to using a sprinkler, switch instead to an automatic drip irrigation system. The pressure reducing valve minimises water waste, which, coupled with a timer for night use (to save water being evaporated) is an easy alternative to sprinklers. Plus, it is allowed in most areas.
• Left over fizzy drinks? Feed them to your plants. They'll love the sugar.
• Keep your borders looking fresh, mix water-gel in with your soil. It holds water close to the roots, reducing the need to water by up to 90%.

Chop Chop Chopping Board Rescue

Wooden chopping boards are considerably prettier than plastic ones, but can crack and become smelly over time. Follow my top three tips to chopping board rescue to prevent this from happening.

1. Water Tight: To prevent cracking caused by dry wood, avoid submerging your chopping board in water for a long period of time, including putting it in the dishwasher.
2. Treat It Right: Your board should also be oiled about once every six weeks. Use a butcher's block oil and some kitchen roll to buff your board, thus replenishing moisture. Alternatively, get thrifty and use vegetable oil. It'll achieve the same outcome, but for less money. Just be sure to wipe off any excess oil after a couple of hours.
3. Win The Scent Fight: Often wooden chopping boards can soak up unwanted food smells and flavours. A good way to avoid this is to have separate boards for meat and veg. If the problem persists, simply rub in a sprinkling of mustard powder using your finger tips and enjoy the more favourable fumes.

Lemon Heaven

We all know lemons and pancakes go hand in hand, but since watching an episode of How Clean Is Your House recently, I was reminded of just how useful lemon's can be around the house. Lemons cost around 20p each so it makes perfect thrifting sense. They not only smell lovely and fresh, but are acidic and can provide some antibacterial and antiseptic properties for cleaning. Below are my five favourite Kim and Aggie lemony tips:

1. Limescale Removal: Lemons are the perfect ingredient when de-limescaling taps and kettles. Squeeze on a generous amount and leave on for about 10 minutes. Then wipe clean.
2. Bleaching: Stubborn stain? Lemon juice acts as a natural bleaching agent. Put lemon juice onto white linens and clothing and allow them to dry in the sun. Stains will be bleached away. For particularly stubborn stains dab lemon juice with salt onto the mark. Leave for a while, then rinse well and wash as normal
3. Polishing Windows: Make your own window cleaner. Fill a spray bottle with a litre of water, 2 cups of vinegar and 2 tbsp of lemon juice. Then shake and spray. 
4. Restore Wooden Floors: To make your floors really sparkle, use this purse friendly solution. Mix equal amounts of lemon juice and olive oil then rub the liquid in with a soft rag. Simple!
5. Microwave Cleaning: Put half a lemon in a bowl of cold water and cook in the microwave for five minutes. The fresh citrus smell gets rid of cooking odours and the condensation from the steam loosens dirt. Simply wipe clean with a damp cloth afterwards.

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.

My Top 12 Uses for Foil

We all have a roll of aluminium foil sitting in our cupboard, and yes it's good to store your sandwiches in, or wrap around a jacket potato in the oven. But there are many other fabulous uses for the stuff to help simplify everyday tasks. Get thrifty, save money and become a foil god/goddess!

Some of these tips I use ALL the time, and some are courtesy of the wonderful Reader's Digest.

In the Home

1. Clean pots and pans - Don't have a Brillo pad to hand? Scrunch up some foil and get scrubbing (works well on barbeque's and silverware too). Foil can also be useful for preserving the life of your Brillo pads. Prevent rust after initial use by wrapping it in foil and storing in the freezer. Go on, get your money's worth!
2.  Move furniture with ease - To slide big pieces of furniture over a smooth floor, place small pieces of aluminum foil under the legs. Put the dull side of the foil down, the dull side is actually more slippery than the shiny side. 
3. Speed up ironing - I hate ironing, it's such a boring chore. So anything to help speed it up is a winner with me. When ironing your clothes, a lot of the iron's heat is sucked up by the board itself, requiring you to make several passes to remove wrinkles. To speed things up, put a piece of aluminum foil under your ironing board cover. The foil will reflect the heat back through the clothing, smoothing wrinkles quicker. You can also use foil to clean your iron. Simply run your hot iron over a piece of aluminum foil. 
4. Sharpen your scissors - I use this method all the time to sharpen up my dull scissors. Fold a piece of foil about seven or eight times and cut a few times with the scissors. It works a treat. 
5. Keep a paintbrush wet - Going to continue painting tomorrow morning? Don't bother to clean the brush, just squeeze out the excess paint and wrap the brush tightly in aluminum foil (using a rubber band to secure). For extended wet-brush storage, think paintbrush ice-pop. Put your wrapped brush in the freezer. But don't forget to defrost the brush for an hour or so before you paint.

Out and About

1. Protect tree trunks - Mice, rabbits, and other animals often feed on the bark of young trees during winter. A cheap and effective deterrent is to wrap the tree trunks with a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil in late autumn. Be sure to remove the foil in spring. 
2. Put some bite in your compost - To keep hungry insects and slugs away from your cucumbers and other vegetables, mix strips of aluminum foil in with your garden compost. As a bonus benefit, the foil will reflect light back up onto your plants. Be eco-friendly and try using Lovechock's biodegradable foil.
3. Keeping your sleeping bag dry - When camping, place a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil under your sleeping bag to insulate against moisture. Stay warm without spending a fortune on gadgets and gizmo's
4. Keep matches dry - It’s a tried and tested soldier's trick worth remembering (I learnt it in Scouts): Wrap your kitchen matches in aluminum foil to keep them from getting damp or wet on camping trips. 

Do you know of any amazing uses for regular household items? Leave a comment, or email me at thrift-queen@hotmail.co.uk.

Hello Again

Hello again Thrift-Queen readers, apologies for my blogging absence. In the past ten days I have had an offer accepted on a beautiful new house and I've also organised and hosted my son's 6th Harry Potter themed birthday party (I feel old). Which was a roaring success.

New thrifty related posts coming soon 'Moving House Doesn't Have To Cost The Earth' and 'DIY Children's Birthday Party For Less Than £60'.

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.

Frighten That Spider Away

Common house spiders are useful for getting rid of annoying insects in the home, and are probably more scared of us than we are of them. I, personally do not have too much of a problem with them. But if you are a bit more on the frightened side then this thrifty tip, recommended by Thrift-Queen reader Jennie, is for you.

My son collected an enormous amount of conkers this autumn, which are now collecting amount of dust in his bedroom. So why not put the conkers to good use? Spiders are terrified of conkers, believed to be something to do with the smell.

Place one conker in each corner of a room and keep spiders at bay. An inexpensive, but effective tactic.

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...

Freebies: Freecycle: A How To Guide

Following the success of a previous Thrift-Queen post on how to buy on eBay [Thrift-Queen's eBay Buying Tips and Tricks], I had had a request to write a How To guide for Freecycle, which, once you get to get grips with, will become a major asset to your every day life.

Freecycle.org is one of my favourite thriftful websites. It is an eco-friendly, convenient, and money saving site, that allows the user to keep their house junk free. Winner! Freecycle groups work by matching people who have items they want to get rid of with people who can use them. The only catch being you have to collect the item from the person offering it.

Getting started can be a trifle confusing, but follow my simple step by step guide and you'll be Freecycling in no time.

Joining

• Freecycle is a Yahoo Group, so you have to apply to have access to the group. To ease the application process, I'd recommend opening an email account and registering with Yahoo.
  
• Next, visit Yahoo's homepage and click on Groups, which will be listed down the left hand side.
  
• A search bar will open, allowing you to search for the Freecycle group you wish to join. Freecycle groups are divided according to area, the results will show you if there is a more than one choice for your area. There are no restrictions on the number of groups joined.
• Type in "Freecycle" followed by the area, i.e the town you live in, and then click on your chosen result.
• At this point you should click to join group and then a) amend contact info: choose which email address you would like messages to be sent. It doesn't have to be your Yahoo one; and b) select your choice of message delivery. I hate for my inbox to be filled with Freecycle messages so always opt for the web view only option.
• Your request may not get approved right away. Sometimes it has to go through the group mediator first.

Using

All items posted on Freecycle must be legal and free. You can give items away or OFFER, which must be followed up with a TAKEN post (when collected). You can also ask for a specific item by posting a WANTED message. This should be followed up with a RECEIVED post.

Once you are a member of the group you will then be able to see the message postings. You are usually required to offer an item before you can request one, but make sure to read all the rules and requirements.

Your Freecycle group homepage will give you the option of Messages or Post. Click Messages to view what is being offered and click Post to post a message. A specific subject line format is expected when posting messages and messages might be deleted if this is not adhered to. The format is ACTION: Item (Area). For example:

OFFER: Drum kit (Bournemouth)
TAKEN: Drum kit (Bournemouth)

and
   
WANTED: Ear plugs (Whitley Bay)
RECEIVED: Ear plugs (Whitley Bay)

 
The post, or message, should then outline what you have/want, a brief description of the item, where you live and collection time preferences (if any). If you see an offered item that you would like, make sure you respond as quickly as possible as some Freecycle members operate on a first come first served basis. When you post an offered item, it is up to you how much time you allow people to respond. I usually wait 24 hours to make it more fair. It is also up to you to choose who to give your item to, but bear this in mind when responding to another members' offer. A sentence of why you want the item can help your chances of being chosen.

If I have missed anything, or not explained myself clearly feel free to leave a comment on this post or send me an email to thrift-queen@hotmail.co.uk and I will try my best to help. Good luck and happy Freecycling!

An Egg-cellent Tip

 

I do a lot of baking and cooking with egg separates. I tend to use egg whites for making meringues or egg-white omelets and egg yolks for baking biscuits or cakes. In doing so, I throw away the part of the egg that's not needed - not very thrifty at all. So you can imagine my delight when discussing this with a friend, I find out that you can freeze the egg separates! Simply freeze in a suitable container and then when needed defrost in the fridge, bring to room temperature and cook. An egg-citing tip that the Thrift-Queen can't wait to try.

Chipped crockery? No problem...

I love pretty mugs, teapots, cups and saucers, so it always saddens me when they get chipped or develop hairline cracks. But thanks to my thrifty solution, there is no need to throw them away. 

Reuse them and make your own pretty planters for your kitchen window, in just four easy steps. 

1. Place some gravel in the bottom of your cup/ teapot to allow for a bit of drainage if you happen to over water.
2. Add a small amount of potting soil or compost. If using a teapot remember to put some up the spout. A handle of a wooden spoon is a useful device to help push this down.
3. Loosen your chosen plant from its pot (my plant preference would be a beautiful smelling herb such as oregano), and plant in your new planter.
4. Add some more potting soil or compost around the top of the plant and compress. Remember to water and hey presto.

Fruit-tea (fruity) Fresh

Instead of buying expensive drawer liners or lavender pouches to keep your clothes smelling clean and fresh, get thrifty and pop a fruit flavoured tea bag in the drawer. The fruity fragrance will infuse beautifully into your clothes and you'll save yourself money in the process. Thrift-Queen winner! This purse friendly solution also works well with peppermint tea bags in smelly shoes.

Freebies: The Sun Newspaper - FREE LEGO!

The Thrift-Queen's top tip for this week: every day The Sun newspaper is giving away a free Lego toy on purchase of the paper. It started on Saturday with a star wars Lego set and suffice to say I had a very happy five year old child. Yes, it meant lowering my standards considerably [in buying The Sun], but free Lego? Yes please!

Thrift-Queen's eBay Buying Tricks and Tips

I'm not going to lie. I ♥ eBay. I use it to buy all sorts of goodies from clothes and toys, to furniture and accessories. But knowing where and how to look can be mind-boggling. So I thought I'd share with you my tips and tricks to achieving eBay buying success.

Where To Search

A must for anyone looking for a specific item, is to remember not everyone can spell! Spelling mistakes are rife on eBay. If you're looking for the perfect wedding dress, for example, try searching instead for a 'weeding dress', or let Fatfingers.com do the work for you. They search eBay for hidden treasures that would otherwise end up no bids, as nobody can find them!

Another top tip that I often use, is to remove the word 'and'. A higher itemised result can be found if you were to search for 'Lyle Scott' as opposed to 'Lyle and Scott'.

How to Search

My ultimate top tip in searching for anything on eBay, albeit a generic 'antique furniture' search or a more specific 'Harry Potter Lego' search is to personalise the search. There are many tools for you to do this and sniff out a bargain. The three that I have the most proven success rate with are:

• Dictate to eBay how you want the results to be arranged using the 'Sort By' drop down list. The options include 'Ending Soonest' and 'Price: Lowest First' but I always opt for 'Nearest First'. This option will ultimately save you money as you'll be able to collect the item as opposed to paying for postage or shipping by couriers. It's not uncommon for eBay sellers to up-quote the cost of postage and packaging to make a bit more money for themselves.
• Narrow down your search by searching in a chosen category - this option is particularly useful if you know what you are searching for. Choose from a drop down menu along the top of the search results page. But be aware that items often cross over into different categories. When this does happen, eBay lists (on the left side of the page) the actual categories where the search items were found.
• Set a price limit. The light yellow column on the left-hand-side allows you to choose the amount you are willing to spend in the form of two boxes. In the first box you enter in the lowest price and the second, the highest price you want to pay for an item. Such as £0.01p - £28.77p. A much more purse friendly way to search. Some websites might recommend u looking at forums, for the average price varying items should be sold for, but I say just go with your gut.

How to Bid

Congratulations! You made it this far.

There are various tricks of the trade to eBay bidding. I would advise, if you're buying more than one item from the same seller, to contact them and ask if they offer combined postage (if you're unable to collect, as previously mentioned). Sometimes sellers might have a 'Best Offer' option whereby instead of straight bidding, you are able to offer them a price which you are willing to pay. The advantage of this is that you can see the previous offers that have been made by other buyers, to gauge how much to pay and provide the change to haggle.

My golden rule for bidding would be to wait until the last few minutes before entering your offer. Bidding too early will boost the price of your wanted item and you might thus miss out. When using this method, I tend to enter the highest possible amount I'd be willing to pay for the item, such as £43.77. Then I just hope that I am not outbid.

Unless paying cash on collection, I would always advise using 'Paypal' as they offer payment protection on items that are lost in the post.

Follow my simple guide and you too could enjoy eBay at its thrifty best! Need anymore advise? Drop me an email at thrift-queen@hotmail.co.uk and I'll be happy to help.

Food For Thought...

The Thrift-Queen's top tip today - keep cakes fresher for longer, by adding some orange peel to your cake tins. Inexpensive yet very worthwhile.