Hello Dear Reader,


We all have times in our lives when big bills eat up our incomes and we have to go without for days, weeks and months at a time. I know many of you reading this are having to spend everything you have on new school shoes, uniforms, coats and bags for your children’s return to school in September. It may be a time of car tax renewal, or home insurance or putting money aside for the dreaded ‘C’ (not to be mentioned within my earshot or sends me into a fit of melancholy). We are all doing everything we possibly can to save every penny even if it seems insignificant to the point of penny pinching.


Last night, even though it was the last day in July, was wet and cold and I still had damp washing hanging around so I lit the fire. It was a rainy day! I was glad of the scrimping and scrounging I had done whilst I was burning wood from the builder’s yard and had lit the fire with kindling made from old pallets. It’s a rainy day and we drew on our resources.

A long while ago, it might have even been a year ago, I bought the Tesco Value bath foam for 30p a litre, it is now 40p for the same bottle, which shows how drastically prices have gone up. I bought it to top up the hand wash bottles and had no cause to use it until today. A bottle of hand wash can cost 50p and I use it because it saves water. Cover hands in hand wash, rub in and don’t turn the tap on until I rinse off, not forgetting to flush the toilet with the hand washing water!

I now have two hand wash bottles, full and ready to go. They will last us for months and months and both a full for 15p each. You could use that bath foam or shower gel you were given for Christmas and have never used. You could fill up your old pump dispensers and use this as shower gel so you only use a squirt on a flannel at a time. Also, by refilling a ‘nice’ bottle, you don’t have to look at cheapy containers which are quite frankly uninspiring!

It is the preparations that we all make for rainy financial days that get us through life’s bad weather. It may well be penny pinching and miserly but all of these tiny savings add up to a gas bill, a car service, a train season ticket to get to work, another debt repayment or in my case a mortgage over payment. It’s because of this that I could overpay my mortgage again today and that drives me to economise and save for all the rainy days.


Until tomorrow,


Love Froogsxxxxx