Live More, Spend Less: A Savvy Guide to Saving Money for All the Family

225 Pages·2010·1.2 MB·English

by  Sarah Flower

Live More,
Spend Less
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Live More,
Spend Less
A Savvy guide to saving money
for all the family
SARAH FLOWER
SPRING HILL
For my wonderful husband.
To the world, you are one man;
to me you are the world.

Published by How To Content,
A division of How To Books Ltd,
Spring Hill House, Spring Hill Road
Begbroke, Oxford OX5 1RX United Kingdom
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Foreword by Janey Lee Grace ix
Introduction xiii
1 Money Matters 1
The Boredom Trap 3
Keeping Up with the Jones 4
The Emotional Spender 5
Getting the Buzz 5
Kids’ Pressure 6
Financial Contacts 7
2 The Home 8
Utility Bills 9
Gas and Electricity – Top Tips to Lower Bills 9
Heating Your Home 20
Cutting Water Bills 23
Home Telephone and Broadband 26
Mobile Phones 29
Buying and Selling Property in a Recession 32
Improve, Don’t Move 35
3 Cleaning the Home 38
Store Cupboard Essentials 42
Everyday Cleaning Tips 46
Trouble-shooting 53
The Scented Home 56
v
LIVE MORE, SPEND LESS
4 Food and Drink 61
Getting the Right Equipment 63
Putting your House in Order 66
Great Food Ideas 68
Look After Your Fruit and Vegetables 71
Money Saving Tips for Grocery Shopping 73
The Good Life 80
5 Recipes 85
The Basics 88
Meat 94
Fish 98
Vegetarian 100
Soups 104
Baking 108
6 Beauty 115
Main Factors for Good Skin 117
Make-up Savvy 118
Professional Pampering 121
Natural Skincare and Beauty 125
7 Clothing 136
Budget Clothing 137
Designer for Less 142
Vintage Style 143
Love the Skin You’re In 144
You’re Hired 145
8 Raising the Family 146
The Formative Years 147
vi
CONTENTS
Watch Them Grow 154
Teenage Angst 163
9 Transport 168
Cars 169
Rail 177
Flying 179
10 Holidays 180
Holiday Swaps 181
Working Holidays 183
Hobby Holidays 184
Hostels 184
Camping and Caravanning 184
Budget Holiday Deals 185
Eco Holidays 187
11 Make Do and Mend 188
Repair, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle 189
Make Your Own Gifts 193
12 Earning Extra Money 196
I Could Do That… 198
Keep Start-up Costs Low 200
Retraining 202
You’re Hired! 202
Money for Old Rope 204
Cash-back Sites 206
Index 207
vii
Acknowledgements
A huge thanks to my fantastic husband Terry, who has
encouraged and supported me in everything I have done
since we first met. The endless cups of tea, constant
reassurance and supplies of chocolate have made this
happen – though it has not helped my waistline!
To my gorgeous boys, I am so proud of you both. Orri,
you have taken the art of money saving to a different level
– more hippy tightwad than savvy thinker, but love your
style. Tamlin, my beautiful boy – I fear we have a long
way to go on the money saving front. Only five years old
and already a complete shopaholic and your penchant for
drama and ladies’ handbags has me in stitches.
Mum and Dad, for years you despaired, wondering
what would become of a child whose only skills were
storytelling, cooking and being a bossy boots. Years later,
these skills have given me the career I love. Thanks for the
Sunday cooking marathons, the sewing lessons I hated and
for teaching me to create my own opportunities in life.
Thanks to Janey Lee Grace for her support. To Nikki
and the team at How To Books. Thanks for believing in
me enough to make this book a reality. Finally, thanks to
Jennifer McEwan from My Weekly for supporting this
project.
viii
Foreword
I am delighted to be asked to write a foreword and a
section on frugal but fun ways to bring up babies and
toddlers for this excellent book. For many years, I’ve been
passionate about holistic living, writing books and
running a website and forum with the sole aim of
encouraging everyone to take responsibility for their own
health and wellbeing and to look after the planet in the
process. I must confess though, mine is not altogether an
altruistic striving; the reality is I’m determined to be
healthy and happy but I’m also very thrifty by nature. The
current economic climate notwithstanding, I have always
loved seeking out bargains and looking for a ‘make do
and mend’ solution before shelling out any hard-earned
cash. I came from a fairly poor background but I’m
extremely grateful that it taught me to be savvy when it
comes to budgeting and to nurture an uncanny knack for
finding absolute treasures in other people’s cast-offs and
second-hand goods.
To this day, irrespective of how much money I have, I
have always opted for charity shop chic. Why wear
exactly the same kit as everyone else when you can create
your own unique look with a mixture of retro, last
season, designers’ samples and funky accessories for the
price of a pizza? Of course, it’s now seen as being
responsible to recycle everything including clothing and
accessories so I consider myself rather smugly ahead of
the game.
ix