Mighty Money Savers

I love tea, all tea and I make my own ice tea.  It is a fraction of the cost of buying ready made ice tea and we all enjoy it.   If you use a flavored tea they are naturally caffeine free and therefore, perfect for all the family. For every 2 litres, I tend to use 8 tea bags worth of tea.  I tend to use 4 bags of caffeinated tea as a caffeine base (usually orange pekoe) and the other half as decaffeinated flavored tea as a flavoring base. If you don’t care about the caffeine, feel free to omit the orange pekoe base. It doesn’t really change the flavor.  Twinning have just brought out some new teas and I love the sound of  Liquorice Allsorts Earl Grey Tea    and Jasmine Pearls Green Tea to make ice tea with. Cold soaking method Whichever tea bags you choose, let them steep for a few hours (I tend to do mine over night). When removing them, don’t squeeze the bags, as it can make the tea bitter.  After steeping, I tend to add half a cup of sugar.  From there, you can also a

Whilst the rest of the UK seems to be enjoying sunshine we have rain here in N Yorkshire, but I do hope that you are all making the most of the sun and if you do get chance to grab 5 mins with either an ice coffee or better still a Pimms, may I present to you July's Thrifty Families Blog Carnival. Food Never one to disappoint on the frugal food side of things Utterly Scrummy kicks us off with her 6 ways with post........ New to the Thrifty Carnival is Ninja Killer Cat with her Frugal Corn Beef Hash . Now I love popcorn and it is something we often have in The Mad House, however, I have never had air popped popcorn ala Make Do Mum Cass has been busy at Frugaliscious Food using up left over cake (which is unheard of in this house) to make cake pops Crafts Bunting is still all the craze especially with the Olympics (can I say that word) on the way.  So why not try making some yourself.  Just look at how great this bunting is from The Goodlife I adore Lululastic

Forgive me for stating the obvious but eBay is massive. No really, it is! I only started to appreciate the fact the other day when I decided to get rid of some old junk. I had an old digital camera and some books I'd already read. A week later I've made some much needed cash from items that were just lying around unused. Plus, if you're selling things you don't want any more, it's all clear profit. Once you get the hang of it, selling on eBay is quicker and easier than I ever imagined. A little research will pay off in the long run though. Take a look at the simple steps on eBay first. Next check out other tips and tricks oneBay forums , and in newspaper articles and online guides . Here's my guide to how it works... If you haven't already done so, register yourself on eBay and then register for a sellers account.   Now find the things you want to sell and take some time to establish their market value. Compare prices on eBay and other si

Each month across many blogs the subject of making money, saving money, living frugally and being thrifty are shared. It’s a sign of the times and a more careful and caring generation of individuals that we protect our resources, recycle, upcycle and make do.  Becky (from Baby Budgeting and  Family Budgeting ),Cass (from a  frugal family ) and I (I also blog at The Mad  House ) thought it would be a great idea to pull these brilliant posts together so we could all learn from and share with each other our thrifty ways. So each month we are going to hold a Thrifty Families Blog Carnival and we woudl love you to take part, Each month we hold a Thrifty Blog Carnival and we woudl love you to take part, All you need to do is send in a post (on making or saving money, thriftiness, upcyling. recycling or living frugally) you have written in the past month (it can already have been published on your blog.) to me mail@jenwalshaw.co.uk by Tuesday 25 July 6 pm for the carnival on 26 July

Do you have savings?   Three quarters (76%) of the UK’s 3,345 savings accounts* pay less than the rate of inflation according to Moneyfacts. So this is where  MoneyVista   Savings Watch  comes in.  Savings Watch is designed to h elp savers beat inflation and easily keep track of and maximise their savings.    It can identify the current interest rate on your savings account and show you savings accounts that pay higher interest. Savings Watch will send you an alert if your bank drops the interest rate on your savings account or  if a new product that pay higher interest rates become available. Using the widget below, you can get an idea of how much interest you could be making on your savings MoneyVista   What does Savings Watch do? 1.       Identifies the current interest rate on your savings account; 2.       Shows you the savings accounts that pay higher interests; 3.       Sends you an alert if your bank drops the interest rate on your savings account

Are you dreading the summer holidays?  There really is no need.  Myself, Cass from Frugal Family and Becky from Baby Budgeting have put together a fantastic (if I do say so myself) e book to help you through the holidays and have a frugal but fun time. Our book is filled with ideas for frugal and fun ideas to make sure you get the most out of this year’s Summer Holidays without having to spend a fortune. The book contains over 150 pages of ideas and activities to help you make sure that this year’s Summer Holidays are frugal and fun.  There’s a planning week filled with things for you to do in advance of the holidays to get yourself prepared and the rest of the ideas are split into different themed weeks, with each week having five indoor activities, five outdoor activities and five recipes for you to cook with you children. Themes include: The Olympics The Great Outdoors Around the World Heroes and Heroines Home Sweet Home Colours So that is one indoor activity,

I always have white vinegar in the house.  It is part of my cleaning regime.  So here I give you 15 uses for white vinegar  Descaling shower head - detach & sit in a solution of half water/vinegar overnight Descaling the kettle - a few cm of half vinegar/water left over night in the kettle.  You need to rice it and boil new water in the kettle about three times before using Cleaning windows and gglass: 1 part vinegar to 10 parts water (great for shower cubicles too) Getting rid of remnants of sticky labels - dab with neat vinegar Greasy/oily stains - dab with neat vinegar then wash Descale washing machines/dishwashers - run about a cup worth of vinegar through a rinse cycle Cheap fabric softener - replace fabric conditioner with about half a cup of vinegar in fabric conditioner drawer of washing machine (your washing will not smell of vinegar) Unblock drains/clear plug holes - pour approx one cup of vinegar over a cup of bicarbonate of soda  Neutralising smells - dab

Over the last 4 years we have saved £20 each year on our water bill by implementing one small change and an initial one of cost of £30. We installed a water butt. We were so impressed that a couple of weeks ago we picked up another one from Aldi.  We use the water we collect to water the garden in watering cans, which is perfect if you are in an area that has a hose pipe ban.  We have three raised beds, plenty of pots and containers too and harvesting our rain water is a simple and easy way we can save money and make a difference to the environment. We were in Lidl last week and they still have water butts in store, so I am planning to keep an eye on them and see if they get reduced in the sale so we can add another one.

Do you love treasure hunts? We do and this is where Huntfun come in.   huntfun town and city treasure hunts are a great fun way to explore in your own town or when visiting somewhere new. Suitable for children and adults alike, there treasure hunts will have you walking around the streets hunting out information and finding the answers to the clues seeing so many things you would have ordinarily walked straight past! A huntfun treasure hunt takes you past loads of interesting things getting you looking around the area, having some good old fashioned competitive fun in the fresh air for a few hours!  We  had the opportunity to review a personalised hunfun treasure hunt of our local town and it was brilliant.  It really turn a walk round the local town in to an adventure and the boys were so enthusiastic about it.  So much so they have done it another two times! A treasure hunt would be the perfect addition to a holiday this year.  We really fancy doing one the next ti

Check out this great info graphic on the value of Dads put together by  MoneySupermarket .  I have one on mums on The Mad House too.