Hey Skint pals,

I hope you’re all having a great week. Mine’s been loads of fun so far, and surprisingly frugal too, since, despite having three big events on, I denied myself anything new to wear and pulled some of my oldest vintage stuff fromthe back of the cupboard instead. I also got talking to a hairdresser and learned so many money saving insider tips that I reckon I’ve saved myself a bomb on future haircuts. (I’m going to share them all in a post, coming soon. Hint: one of the tips involved paprika and it’s a corker – are you intrigued?)

Now, with another holiday weekend coming up, I wanted to share a little love with you by showcasing some of the best frugal-living and personal finance blogs across the web. I was delighted to be included on a recent list that MoneyAware put together of their favourite money-saving blogs. And because I really rate the others on the list and read most of them regularly I thought I’d share them with you  – a list of blogs so fun and thrifty that you can literally feel yourself saving money with every word you read.

Heh, If you make it through them all you’ll practically be a millionaire by the end. The following, in quote marks, is an extract straight from MoneyAware’s post - here are their fave 20 blogs about being thrifty.

“1.   Martin Lewis at MoneySavingExpert.com

Okay, so some of you might argue that with his celebrity status and regular spots on Daybreak, Mr Lewis doesn’t count as your average blogger. Let me tell you, he does.

Martin still faithfully updates his blog with debt news, special offers and hot deals. He also talks regularly with his Facebook and Twitter fans.

One reason why we love Martin: He played a huge part in  a recent landmark decision by Parliament to make financial education part of the national curriculum. Safe to say he’s a top bloke in our book!

2.   PennyGolightly

Penny’s motto is simple: “find a way to enjoy the finer things in life for less”. Her mission is to prove that you can enjoy yourself on a budget. Follow her blog for tips for smarter spending and you’ll see the rewards in no time! Penny also guest blogs for us from time to time.

One reason why we love Penny: the freebies and samples section on her blog.

3.   Blackbullion

Our friend Vivi released an excellent book last year to help kids get smarter with money. She’s got a finance background and has a special understanding of the problems that may arise in a person’s life with money. Sign up to her blog for updates and take a look at our review of Vivi Friedgut’s book ‘Money Smarter’.

One reason why we love Vivi: her article about kids, financial education and the piggy.

Nice image from pennygolightly’s site. I like.

4.   Ask James at Experian

James Jones knows all you need to know about your credit file or history and what you can do to keep it in tip-top condition. Pop over to the Ask James section on the Experian website or send him a tweet.

One reason why we love James: His no-jargon responses to questions like “Can I avoid my husband’s debt mess affecting my credit history?” 

5.   Happier.co.uk

Just the title of this blog alone is enough to make us feel all fuzzy inside. We love the Happier.co.uk blog for its witty writing style, useful tips and no-nonsense outlook on money and debt.

One reason why we love Happier.co.uk: Their awesome guide on the 33 ways students can save money. 

6.   Help Me To Save 

You’ve got to love a blog that does exactly what it says on the tin. Canny lass Karen Bryan shares our mission to help you get the most out of life for less, and she’s got some great guides on her blog on how to do just that. 

One reason why we love Karen: The article she wrote to accompany Virgin Money’s infographic on the cost of lifestyle. 

7.   Baby Budgeting 

Before our colleague Pav went on maternity leave she found Baby Budgeting to be a lifesaver. It’s packed to the rafters with tips and tricks on how to save money on your bundle of joy. They also post links to some fantastic competitions! 

One reason why we love Baby Budgeting: Their plain English guide to the benefits changes.

8.   MakeDoStyle 

Girl about town Kate Battrick has lots of tips for looking chic on the cheap. She’s also the author of refreshingly funny eBook Girlynomics. It talks about the mindtricks we ladies sometimes play on themselves as an excuse to spend money. 

One reason why we love Kate: Read our review of ‘Girlynomics’ and find out! 

9.  MyFamilyClub 

This is a fantastic resource for parents (and non parents) to save money on their family and household all year round. On the blog you’ll find tips and guides on money-saving and budgeting, as well as vouchers, offers, deals and discounts, and where to find your household essentials at the best prices every week. 

One reason why we love My Family Club: They spoil us with this list of top 50 money saving tips!

10.  Moneymagpie 

If you’re stuck on ways to earn a little extra income, this is the place for you. The good folk at Moneymagpie, lead by journalist and TV personality Jasmine Birtles, are experts at finding those hidden opportunities in life to make some moolah, and want to share their expertise with you! 

One reason why we love Moneymagpie:  Their brilliant guide on how to save money and make money every day in May. 

11.   CashQuestions 

You can count on Cash Questions founder Annie Shaw and her team for sound money advice. Annie has also written an excellent article for us in the past about why you should never trust your finances to fate. 

One reason why we love Annie: Her hilariously-titled blogposts (e.g. Beware the hiss of an angry pensioner).

12.   Diary of a Frugal Family

We love seeing a journey of money mastery unfold before our eyes, and Diary of a Frugal Family gives you exactly that. Money-savvy mum Cass takes us through the highs, lows and in betweens of bringing up kids on a budget. 

One reason why we love Cass: Her step-by-step guide on how to organise a family funday for under £10.

13.   Skint in the City

From tips on how to make money selling lost luggage to finding out the best times for picking up kerbside treasures, Skint in the City has it all. There’s also some great guides on updating your wardrobe for cheap. 

One reason why we love Skint (aw shucks): her tongue-in-cheek observation of the most depressing day of the year.

14.   Savvy Woman 

Personal finance journalist Sarah Pennells is determined to help women everywhere become a little richer. Her website Savvy Woman was named 5th in ‘50 top websites to save you money’ by The Times earlier this year. 

One reason why we love Sarah: Her 10 easy ways to make the most out of your money.

15.   Miss Thrifty 

Miss Thrifty has also been featured in The Times ‘50 top websites to save you money’ and it’s not hard to see why! She tackles all cash problems: beauty, fashion, holidays, weddings, personal finance and food – all while bouncing a growing baby on her lap! 

One reason why we love Miss Thrifty: Putting together the 10 commandments of savings by the Thrifties. 

16.  And Then We Saved 

We don’t just limit our favourite blogs to the shores of Blighty, no sir. American blog And Then We Saved run by Anna Newell-Jones  is one of our faves for straight-talking money tips and encouraging success stories. 

One reason why we love Anna: Her jawdropping list of 56 things to do instead of spend money.

17.  Savvy Scot

From working as a bouncer and taking internships in Texas to studying a masters degree in mechanical engineering, SavvyScot certainly has experience in the upheavals life can throw at us. If you like your money advice with a healthy pinch of snark, you know where to go!

One reason why we love Savvy scot: Their straight-from-the-heart guide to living within your means. 

18.  The Frugal Path 

The great thing about The Frugal Path is that its creator Justin knows that one person’s journey to debt freedom is hardly ever the same as another. You can read stories from various people taking their own steps towards their financial goals. 

One reason we love Justin: He has a simple guide to finding your financial path that anyone can follow.

19.   Chilli, Sage and Lemon

If you follow our Twitter account you’ll know that we’ve started a #cheapscran hashtag so we can share any cheap and cheerful recipes that we find. Jess and her hubby Dave at Chilli, Sage and Lemon have been a great source of inspiration for us!

 One reason why we love Jess and Dave: Their brilliant guide to preventing food waste.

20.   Discountcoder 

Katie and Jenny are dedicated to saving money, the environment and your social life. DiscountCoder will show you how to spend less on the things you genuinely need and how to get the best value from your hard-earned cash. 

One reason we love Katie and Jenny: 8 tiny money-saving ideas that build up to big savings!”

And My Top Five That Were Born in the USA

I’m going to add to MoneyAware’s list with three of my favourite personal finance blogs from the States. The personal finance blogging community is a lot bigger in the States than in the UK and there’s so much to learn from its terrific writers. If I had to save any in a fire I’d pick these three:

Budgets are Sexy - This site, written by the mysterious J$ has such a strong voice. It’s his readiness to lay bare all the details of his financial life, such as how much he’s worth etc, that partly make this site so compelling.

Afford Anything - Paula is among the most thought provoking of US personal finance bloggers, with a fresh take on all the big money issues. You won’t catch her writing about saving a few pence on a latte  – she goes for the important stuff like how to build a property portfolio and how to make those really tough decisions about prioritising what you want in life.

Get Rich Slowly - One of the biggest of the US personal finance sites with no-nonsense advice on every money issue under the sun. And some great readers stories too.

What about you, Skint pals? What are your favourite sites – with a money slant or otherwise? If you share we can get a little site-swap going – kind of like a bloggers book club . . .  I’d love to hear which blogs float your boat . . .

Skint xx 

PS – If you want to find out more about those money-saving insider tips from the hairdresser – including that paprika one – subscribe here.

Photo credit: PennyGolightly

Hey Skint pals,

‘I prefer to keep my money right where I can see it – in my closet.’

What messages does your mind give you when you think about investing? Are you all Richard Branson about it – yep, bring it on, give me more, do it now? Or are you more Carrie Bradshaw, who when asked about investing in property came out with the quote, above? 

Hmm, it’s an investment portfolio of sorts I guess – but might a pension be a better bet? Whadya think?

Me? I’m veering into Richard’s camp now. I’ve spoken before about how I’ve been a financial ostrich in the past but it isn’t something I’m proud of and neither should Ms Bradshaw be. These days, things are quite different.

I’ve got some savings now, not much but something, and ISAs, and all the stuff we ought to have, but lately I’ve been thinking about making the next step – into investments rather than just savings. I’m not talking big money by any means – it’s small beans really. But I’ve got to start somewhere and, I’m questioning the wisdom of having money lying idle in a savings account, on low interest rates, and I’m thinking about investing it. So, how to invest money, starting from zero? 

Lump sum conundrum

Knowing what to do with savings is something that comes naturally to many, but not to me. I’m naturally quite risk-averse, so I’m not sure that investing in the stock market is the way forward – especially in the current climate where the markets are so volatile.

When I left my previous employer though, after paying into a stakeholder pension for many years, I had the choice of whether to leave the money in the pension or take it and invest it elsewhere. So far, I’ve left the money where it is but I really don’t know if it’s getting me the best deal. This is my current conundrum.

Stakeholder pensions are seen as good for making a small lump sum grow, and are pretty easy to understand, but would I be better off looking at high-interest savings accounts? Although it can be hard to find one that offers significant returns in the short to medium-term, some still have pretty attractive rates – even in these tough times – if I’m willing to lock cash away for the longer term.

Pensions or ISAs?

For some people, pensions are not the best way of building a portfolio – where, for example, their work pattern is erratic. Here, cash ISAs may be a better bet, being either tax-free or tax-efficient, which help to protect your savings from dwindling due to levies.
According to the folks at Yorkshire Building Society, who are providing some of the information for today’s post, benefits include:
– No tax to pay on your interest. (Within a certain yearly limit)
– You can open an ISA for as little as £10
– Withdrawals do not penalize the amount of interest you earn.
– Instant ISAs allow access to your funds immediately, although this is not the case with many ISA’s.
But as I’ve got a bigger lump sum currently invested in the stakeholder pension and don’t care about instant access, am I better to wait it out there? Have you guys got any experience of taking money out of a pension? How are you investing for the days ahead, when walking frames will matter more than fashion footwear?  I’d really love some advice on this one.
Skint x

Hey Skint pals,

An extra- glamorous post today, to celebrate the premiere of the Great Gatsby this weekend – (for U.S readers – May 17 for the UK) –  I was very happy to be chosen as one of this week’s best style posts by the very chic tribe over at International Fashion Bloggers. Seems they liked my post on getting your wardrobe summer-ready, skint-style – and I like the rest of their picks and want to share them with you. Want to learn how to do easy Great Gatsby make-up? Or how to shop for clothes without trying them on? Then read on pals . . .

To bring you some extra Great Gatsby glamour for the weekend, I’m sharing the full list with you here – the very best of style posts from across the web from over the last week. Enjoy, Skint chums. And if you’re new to this site (and only if you like it!), please take a second to subscribe using the box on the right, to make sure you get all the forthcoming posts on living the high life on a shoestring budget. There some extra-good great stuff coming up soon – including giveaways you won’t want to miss!

Anyway, on with the show . . .  Here’s the IFB list of what it thinks is making the world more stylish this week . . .   

With all the dazzle of this week’s Met Gala and the upcoming excitement of the Great Gatsby, this summer is going to be all about glam.  This week’s roundup has just about everything you need to know about looking fabulous, how to find the best deals in most unexpected places and how to save yourself money by buying kids clothes! 

Links à la Mode: May 9th

• DIY Dyonne: A Primer on Primer: Madge’s Beauty Picks
• Fashion & Beauty INC: Steal Daisy Buchanan’s Glam Great Gatsby Makeup
• Fashstash: Shoes of Prey x Romance Was Born
• Hunting in Heels: Designer Uniforms
• I Can Style U: How to Catch A Geek’s eye
• Inspirations and Celebrations: How To Wear Animal Prints
• Knocked Up Fabulous: 4 Items to Buy for Yourself at the Children’s Department
• La Petite Pear: The Beginner’s Guide to Pattern Mixing
• Lesimplyclassy: The Ultimate Guide: How to make your lipstick last longer
• Lollieshopping: Shopping for Clothes without Trying Them on
• Olive Brown: Unerrated Fashion Icons: Nina Simone
• Rose & Pine: Top Ten Best Dressed Ladies at the Costume Institute Gala!
• Slightly Oddley: How to: Shop online (disappointment free)
• Skint in The City: Six Ways to Make Your Summer Clothes Sing
• Spy Girl: Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s: Review
• Storybook Apothocary: Why I Can Never Be Anorexic (Despite Past Attempts)
• Style Curated: Gatsby Glamour
• The Occasional Fashionista: Why should we care about the Met Ball?
• Wilde Hunt: Wilde Hunt Corsetry – Antique Textile Adventure
• We Are Ready Made: Gender Confusion

 So, that’s all for now, Skint pals. I hope you have a fabulous weekend. Doing anything stylish? Don’t let being Skint stop you! Anyone going to see the Great Gatsby? Early reviews seem mixed – I can’t think how it will beat the book, so I just intend to sit back and enjoy the style! 

 Skint x

Hi Skint pals,

Hope you’re all doing great. Today’s post is generally, though not exclusively, for all the lovely Skint girls . . .

It’s time at last to drag the summer clothes out of hibernation, but boy, are they a sorry sight!  Covered in fluff, missing buttons, and more crumpled than a binful of sweet wrappers, so I thought that today I’d round up some advice that will help you getting those summer clothes strutting their stuff once more, with minimal outlay.

Wonder if the person who owns does her own shoe repairs?

 Sure, we all know that taking good care of our clothes is a no-brainer, but it can seem like a drag compared to the instant thrill of buying something new. Nonetheless, if we want to keep that cute little blouse or fabulous vintage cardi looking as chic and stylish as the day we fell in love with them, proper maintenance is a must. Learning how to fix a zipper and carry out other minor clothes repairs will save you a small fortune over the years.

 Don’t believe me? Just wait till you’ve replaced that zip in your favourite skirt that’s been busted for a year. You never got round to taking it the tailor’s, right? Me neither. Who can find the time to schlep across town to drop it off, then make the same trip days later to collect it? Plus, the repair will cost £10 at least, plus travel: a third of the price of a new skirt. Just wait till you’re replacing your own zip from the comfort of your couch whilst watching a DVD – and all for the princely sum of £2.

 Here’s a lowdown on keeping your clothes as good as new.

 Emergency Surgery for Clothing 101

So many problems, so little time! I confess to having stuck hems up with sellotape (!) when in a hurry – and yep, they invariably come unstuck at a particularly embarrassing moment. To avoid those tape-on-a-hot-date tangles, try to tackle repairs as they come up. You know, a stitch in time and all that … Here are some of the most common repairs that you can cheaply and easily do at home. 

Fix a zip:  Zips have a shelf life that is sadly often shorter than that of their host garments. If you’re a fan of vintage you’ll be very familiar with this problem: old zips become sticky and then slowly grind to a halt. Skint girls learn how to mend their own. The web is a wonder for learning new skills. For an online tutorial log this one on replacing zips is good and clear. If you’re in a mad rush, with no time to replace a zip, try rubbing a sharpened pencil up and down the stuck part. The graphite in pencil lead acts as a lubricant, buying you some time till you can do a proper repair.

Vintage prom dresses like these often need their old, sticky zips replaced

Defluffing 1: You know how it is: you bought a beautifully soft jumper and now it’s covered in pesky little balls. That’s no reason to bin it though: what you need is a razor. Just pull the fabric tight and lightly draw the razor over it, cleaning the blade as you go. Takes five minutes to do a whole jumper’s bobbly bits and knocks five years off its appearance. (If only there was such a quick fix for faces.).

 Defluffing 2: Another sneaky tissue found its way into the wash, leaving your dark clothes covered in white fluff? You can buy purpose-made sticky rollers for this defluffing job but I like the satisfaction of winding a massive chunk of sticky tape round my hand and pat-pat-patting till the fluff’s all gone. Kids love doing this job too – they’ll happily tackle a big pile of clothes in return for a packet of crisps.

 Shoe repair: Getting your shoes and boots heeled as soon as they need it and resoling boots when they start to look thin can prolong the life of your footwear by years. If a sole is coming away slightly I’ve always found a dab of superglue to do the job in an emergency. To keep heels looking as good as new, paint on a coat of clear nail varnish when you buy them. This stops heels scuffing and it isn’t noticeable.

 Weatherproof: Leather shoes, bags and anything else that was once alive still deserves TLC. Spray leather when you buy it to protect from rain and those ugly salt stains and then feed with leather cream every now and then, or good old-fashioned Vaseline. If it’s too late though and the weather gets to your shoes before you do you can remove salt stains on shoes (those pesky white marks you get after walked on streets salted in the snow), by rubbing them with a cloth drenched in white vinegar. For water marks, try rubbing them with a saddle soap bought from a cobblers.

 Dye it: Love the cut but hate the colour? If that lemon top looks so last season, just pop it in the wash with a packet of dye. Choose your colour, chuck in a couple of your craggy greying towels too and you’re good to go!  Be sure to match the dye to your fabric: check out fibrecrafts for dyes appropriate to just about every fabric under the sun. 

Hopefully these little tips will help to get your summer clothes dancing in the streets – and if you’d like to find out any more you can click the links below or sign up to follow this site if you don’t already do so. And what about you, Skint pals? Got any budget-busting clothes tips that have saved you a fortune over the years? Do let me know. 

Like this post? Then you might like to check out these . . . 

Save a Fortune on your Dry-cleaning

Washing Vintage Clothes

Breathe New Life into Old Clothes

Spring Fashion Trends on a Budget

Photo credit (shoes): inmyhousedesign

Photo credit (dress): natashabailievintage

Hey Skint pals,

One of the things I love about writing this blog is that I’m always learning about new ways to make cash. That’s what happened this week when Mr Skint arrived back from a trip to Dublin without his luggage. Somewhere during a  forty minute  direct outward flight the airline had managed to lose his bag – meaning that Mr Skint spent three days in Dublin making emergency trips to buy socks and the like.  

Anyway, the random ways of making money I was talking about? Whilst taking a look at the process for claiming for lost baggage earlier I came across a phenomenon I previously knew nothing about: buying up lost luggage for cash.

Buying up Lost Luggage for Cash

Here’s the deal: loads of people lose bags every year whilst flying and these bags land so far away from their owners that it’s impossible to reunite the two. Who knows why a Dublin-bound bag ends up in St Louis, but that’s the kind of adventurous life our luggage leads.

So, these poor orphaned bags get spend a while circling the globe, then end up sitting in some huge baggage purgatory for a few months before the airport folks get fed up with them and send them off to be sold. And then?

Well, it turns out that there’s a whole industry devoted to buying and selling this lost luggage, with buyers taking a chance on the contents and hoping to strike it lucky. In fact, in America, the Unclaimed Baggage Centre in Alabama is the state’s biggest tourist attraction, with people flocking from all over the USA and beyond to see what they can snap up. 

Just one of the outfits that apparently turned up a treasure haul at the Unclaimed Baggage Centre. Bonanza!

So confident is the Centre of its appeal that it encourages people to plan their whole vacation around a treasure hunting trip to its warehouse. And it seems to work because their visitors’ map has pegs from Australia, Greenland and China. If you’re a US based reader and have been to the centre – what’s it like? Did you snag any bargains? 

I can understand the appeal of buying lost luggage – it’s like a gigantic lucky dip, isn’t it? Imagine, just for a moment that you bought Carrie Bradshaw’s suitcase at auction – what a treat for magpie eyes that would be. Or Victoria Beckham’s (like her luggage would ever get lost), snagging yourself a caseful of designer dresses for £50. 

For UK readers, we don’t have a one-stop shop like the Alabama Centre  - here lluggage tends to go to auction houses close to major airports . All of British Airways’  unclaimed baggage eventually makes its way to Greasby’s auction house in London, which holds sales every Tuesday morning. You won’t get a chance to root around in the bag before bidding though, so you’re taking a gamble, based only on the appearance of the bag itself.  Luton’s lost bags go to Hertfordshire Auctions,  whilst the sad orphaned cases from Gatwick, (imagine how many thousands a year), end up at this Bristol auction house. If you sign up for the auction houses newsletters you’ll get to know when the baggage auctions are taking place – they’re not every week.

The cost of snapping up a bag at auction? Depends who you’re up against really. I’m a massive fan of auctions and much of chez Skint has been furnished from the auction room – when buying luggage the usual auction room tips apply. Each of the above auctions – in fact nearly all auction rooms – have viewings before the sale, so do try to get along to the viewing if you can. That way you can have a look at the cases and make your bidding decisions based on that. If the suitcase itself is expensive, the greater the likelihood of top-notch gear inside too.

And, after you’ve decided on a bid and snagged your suitcase at auction? It’s time for the big reveal . . .  The case needn’t be packed full of gold ingots for you to make money on it. 

The easiest way to do so is to sell off the contents separately on eBay and the like. I’ve written before about how to make money on eBay by buying job lots then selling the goods separately. Even if the suitcase just contains the usual stuff you’ll almost certainly make pretty good money from listing the best items on eBay with a good description and write-up. Remember to list the suitcase itself as well.

Of course, a better result really is for the luggage to be reunited with its rightful owner – as we’re hoping will happen with Mr Skint’s. But, if luggage has been lost for six months and the owner has made every effort to track it down without any luck then I’d rather the case was sold off than incinerated. 

What do you think? Have you ever bought lost luggage? Would you?

Or have you ever lost your own – and did it show up in the end?

Oh, and if you have any tips for Mr Skint on how to go tracking down his lost case, please do share. Is it best to go through our own travel insurance or to pursue the airline via their compensation scheme?

Hope you have a good week, Skint pals. xxx

Like this post? You might also like these:

How to Make Money on eBay

Great Things to Buy at Auction

Auction Room Tips for Newbies

Photo credit: thisispretty

Hey Skint pals,

Can you feel spring coming? Yep, even though there are snow flurries forecast here for today, I can still feel the change in the air. Though I love the season I find spring fashion problematic, because spring’s just so damned fickle. Whilst autumn comes slow and steady, spring hots up then blows cold so many times before it finally makes up its mind to stay. How then to dress well for spring on a budget, when we’re constantly trying to second-guess the weather?

Layering, my Skint pals, is the only way, as you well know. But not just the classic vest-cardigan-jacket combo. Spring is hardcore and demands the same of us – I’ve found the best way to approach it is to beat the weather at its own game by putting together the best of  my summer and winter clothes. I like to bring the summer dresses out of hibernation around now, but wear them with a long-sleeved vest underneath and bright tights. Shorts are great spring staples too – pairing them with tights and a denim jacket always looks fresh – and layering your other-season-stuff this way saves buying too many new spring clothes.

Bright tights – one of the cheapest ways to make your outfit sing

My favourite way to get the spring feel without the shivers? Wear spring colours, but keep the clothes themselves warm. Somehow green tights seem more spring-like than black ones though they’re just as cosy. Ditto that trenchcoat – why go for cream or black when there’s mint green, royal blue or violet to be had?

Bright accessories are another way I like to put a spring into my wardrobe. Even when I’m still clinging on to my winter coat, a red or yellow bag is a nod towards the new season. I love bright colours and I’m no fan of black. Over the last few years I’ve been wearing it less and less; I just find it too dull, really. For me the LBD holds no appeal at all – give me the LCD – or Little Coloured Dress – any day. There’s just one bright colour that I’ve always avoided though – and that’s yellow. 

Being a Scottish lass with freckles, I do not sizzle in yellow. Yet this spring I’ve been unaccountably seduced by it after years of steering clear. Maybe it’s those photos of redheads like Julianne Moore and Jessica Chastain pulling off yellow gowns with such style recently. Whatever the catalyst, I have a craving for yellow that just won’t go away.

Where to start though? I’ve got no roadmap for yellow. It’s unexplored territory. How to pull off the yellow thing –  so in fashion right now – without looking like Tweety Pie? And so I turned to Uniprice for guidance because it’s a site that brings

Skint loves Penny Loves Kenny. The perfect menage a trois.

together thousands of products from across the globe and sifts through to compare on prices, styles etc. What I like best about Uniprice is its advanced search facility – I just typed ‘yellow’ into the search and it came up with this selection of everything yellow – from scarves and nail varnish,  right through to jumpsuits and shoes. Now I can choose whether to test the water with a yellow accessory or jump right in at the deep end. But my favourite? My new spring love? These Penny Loves Kenny brogues, right, which must be mine right now. If I can only make one purchase this spring it’ll be these. Ooh, with a pair of bright socks and some ancient rolled-up jeans – there’s an outfit to chase the clouds away.

I also hunted down a yellow skirt in a vintage store recently. Because yellow was such a popular colour in the fifties and sixties, then again in the eighties, there’s a lot of it to be found in vintage stores and charity shops and much of it’s there for the taking right now, as yellow has only come back into vogue recently. My new skirt is yellow, navy and white striped and reminds me of the sun coming out. 

What’s on your lust list this spring? Or are you making do with what you’ve got? I’ll be doing one of my wardrobe audits this weekend before I shop – who knows I might even find a bit of yellow from the eighties right at the back . . . If you’ve got tips on how to handle spring dressing please share them with your Skint pals. xxx

Jessica Chastain in Zac Posen – who says redheads shouldn’t wear yellow?

Photo Credit for tights pic: Creativefashionglee

 Photo Credit for Jessica Chastain: Red Carpet Fashion Awards

Hey Skint pals,

Just back in the UK after a great holiday in Portugal with friends and family. We did that renting a big villa thing and splitting the costs – much cheaper than going as a small family. And despite the torrential rain on landing in the UK, it’s still good to be home.

Still, things are a bit tight money-wise chez Skint post-holiday, so I’ll be economising over the next month or two. I’ve been wondered though: when you’re strapped for cash, do you spend less or borrow more? I’m firmly in the spend less camp, but I read a survey this week from a personal loans firm which revealed some very bizarre reasons that customers give when requesting finance.

See, apparently not everybody who asks for a loan needs money to pay for a new car or holiday. Explanations given to the company included funding an investment in gold bullion, a new tattoo, and paying bail money! Needless to say, not all of the personal  loans requests were approved. . . 

Take out a loan to build a rocket? Beats paying off the mortgage for stories to tell the grandkids I suppose . . .

Top strange reasons for requesting a

personal loan:

•             Buying a gold bar
•             Buying a collection of antique glass eyes
•             To fund production of home-made rocket (how much does that cost?)
•             Paying a taxidermist to stuff a pet
•             To open wallet and impress a new girlfriend
•             Buingy the latest Star Wars memorabilia as a future investment
•             To pay bankruptcy court fees
•             To pay for a new tattoo
•             To loan to a friend at a higher interest rate (this one really tickled me. Some friend, eh?)

I think the Star Wars enthusiast might have the right idea though. Have you seen how much some of those old figures go for? Most loan requests though are still for more down-to-earth needs such as household bills and car loans. The most popular reasons for requesting a loan are:

• Rent or Mortgage arrears
• Bills
• Credit card debt
• Car loan
• Significant household purchase

Hi Skint pals,

I’m writing this post today with a million things on my mind. I’m getting ready to go on a week’s holiday soon and I really ought to be digging out my shorts or buying suncream or wasting time on tripadvisor,  but instead I’m sitting here cursing my poor memory and wondering how to pay for the hire car.

See, I planned to pay for the car and some other big expenses by credit card whilst abroad. Here in the UK I often use a debit card for day-to-day stuff but they have their limits abroad, so a rewards credit card is what I use on my hols. But today, when I started looking stuff out for the holiday, I realised I don’t have a clue what my pin number is. And of course the bank can’t tell me. I wouldn’t want them to – I could be anyone, after all. A new pin will be posted, but not in time, so it’s adios credit card and hola . . .  what?  

Ah, this is the life. Holiday money has a much better life than all the other money, don’t you think?

What did people use pre-credit cards when travelling? I can just about remember the days when credit cards weren’t so common and instead it was travellers cheques that people turned to, but what a hassle having to go to the bank abroad and cash them in. You might remember that I found an ancient travellers cheque still lurking in my cupboard not so long ago, and how the woman in the bank actually laughed when I fished it out of my purse. 

For me, credit cards really come into their own when travelling and a credit card that offers rewards points makes sense to me. The idea is that you collect reward points from things that you’d be buying everyday anyway: fuel, food etc. Sort of like a bunch of store loyalty cards and a credit card rolled into one. I like the convenience. I guess it makes best financial sense though if you only collect the rewards on stuff you’d be buying anyway, right?

Anyway, despite this little hassle I’m still excited about our forthcoming hols with our pals. And whilst abroad we’ve got some other friends from out of town housesitting our place for the week. They get to enjoy being skint in the city for a change and we get the peace of mind knowing that the house is safe. Just a little nervous after the break-in, you know, and so it’s great that they’re here to keep an eye on the place. 

What about you? Do you use credit cards when travelling or do you do it the old-fashioned way and just stride boldy out towards the horizon clutching a fistful of dollars? Did you do a lot of comparing credit cards to find the best one for your lifestyle? And do you have any nifty ways of remembering your pin numbers? You know how none of us are meant to write them down, but how on earth do you keep them all in your head? Any top memory tricks gratefully received! 

Photo credit: on the beach

Today’s post is a guest post from MBNA. 

Hey Skint pals,

Hoping you all had a good Easter. Did you spend the entire holidays maxing out on chocolate, or did you use any of your free time to tart up your home?

When the clocks go forward and the sun shines brighter, it pokes its pesky rays into our homes, showing up the yucky bits the very second anyone walks through the door. So today I’m going to share with you my top ten cheap things that make a statement in a hall –  after all, a bit of razzle dazzle keeps everyone’s eyes off the dust.

I always think that halls are the ideal place to show a bit of flourish, to display stuff you love but which doesn’t quite work in any other room. None of these ideas break the bank. Most can be found ten a penny in second hand shops and fleamarkets. Here’s my hit list: 

1. Flying ducks – once the preserve of Hilda Ogden from Coronation Street, these are in vogue right now – both the traditional ones and modern ones that come in silver, gold and white. You can even buy your own flying duck plaster moulds and make your own, then paint them whatever colour you fancy. As you can see, I’ve gone for gold, though I’ve also got my eye on these ones.

2.  A stag’s head - Giving traditional items an ironic twist is so chic and there’s nothing as traditional as a stag’s head. Once the epitome of stuffy country houses, stag’s heads are making it into stylish homes, updated of course by covering the antlers with glitter or draping fairy lights around them for a fun, modern take on an old classic. You can hang your hats on them too. You’ll find plenty of the classic ones at auction houses, and for some tips on auction bargaining like a pro I wrote this post which you might remember.

3.  A huge oversized table lamp –  One massive lamp is a great style statement. These were really popular in the sixties and seventies, often with great prints on the shades and they still look really cool today, in a quirky, Elle Decoration sort of a way. A massive turquoise lamp with swirly gold patterns is the first thing you see when I step through my front door and I love it. It costs me £20 in a junk shop many moons ago and has long-since earned a place in my top ten all-time buys.

4. Mirrors – My hall’s a bit poky so I like to hang a giant mirror on the wall straight ahead as you come in the front doorto give the illusion of the hall being twice its actual size. Or fasten mirror panels along the length of a wall to give the impression of width. These are super-cheap in nearly all DIY stores.

5. Sunburst clocks – Like oversized lamps, these were everywhere in the seventies and are still pretty easy to find at car boot sales or charity shops. Spray painted in a colour of your choice (pound shops generally do a great range of spray paints), they look edgy and modern.     

My two quid style statement

6.  Horseshoes - In days gone by, people hung horseshoes over their door for luck. It’s a charming custom that has faded – why not make it your mission to bring good fortune to everyone who steps across your door? Give it a twenty-first century twist though by grouping a collection of them over your door or in the porch and spraying them a funky colour.

7.  Tea lights -  If you live in a house with stairs try lining each side of the stairs with tea light candles in glass holders to create a twinkling runway. You can use the same technique on the outside stairs leading to your house or flat by using candle holders designed for garden use. Nothing says get-the-party-started quite like that!

8. The walls - Generally I’m sceptical about the promises made by some fancy paints, but for poky hallways, light-reflecting paints do seem to make a difference. These claim to reflect twice as much light as conventional emulsions, making them perfect for small, dark spaces – and it seems to work. I had good results with the Light & Space range from Dulux. Likewise you can try reflective or metallic effect wallpaper to increase the amount of light bouncing around your room.

9.  Art - It doesn’t have to be expensive or original, but hallways give themselves well to hanging pictures and other art objects in groups. Don’t worry about clashing styles or colours here, just go for it and call it eclectic.

10. The smell - It’s often the first thing people notice when they walk through the door. Spraying perfume around your hall light bulb before you turn it on is an old trick – apparently the heat from the bulb slowly diffuses the scent.

 Win £500 to Spend on Furniture

And in keeping with the spring DIY theme, if you’re a fellow blogger, you can win £500 to tart up your home just by sharing a pic of your favourite corner. The Fashion For Home store, which sells all manner of stylish home goodies, is inviting bloggers to post details about their favourite little corner of home for the chance to win the £500 of vouchers. Here’s mine: 

My mantlepiece given the fairy light treatment 

You might remember I wrote about my mantlepiece before here, as part of my mission to turn the whole world on to fairy lights. It’s a very wintery tale, because I think that’s the season when Chez Skint looks it’s best and I love the way the fairy lights illuminate the tea light holders, (which cost £3 for the four holders from Poundstretcher!)

But with spring now here there are parts of my home which are simply looking too gloomy, especially the lounge. It’s just all a bit too brown really. Dark wood floorboards, brown leather couches, wooden tables – there’s a whole lot of chocolate going on. Kind of like living in a forest, but hibernation season’s over and it’s time to come out blinking into the light. I’m thinking that some funky cushions and a couple of new lamps might brighten the place up a bit.

So, do you plan on tarting up your home on a shoestring this spring? Or are you more about the chocolate? Got any great budget style tips to share? Go on, spill the beans! 

Skint xxx

Hey Skint pals,

It’s baltic in Glasgow and my house is a mess but oh, it’s still a joyous day, because I’ve just stumbled across a secret free delivery code from Space NK. Not just that – it’s turned me on to a new way of potentially bagging free delivery codes all over town.

Picture the scene. Sunday Evening, browsing the Sunday Times Style section, I got caught up in an article about red lipstickby India Knight. I like red lipstick. There was a time, way back, when I wore nothing else, but, as I get older it’s not so easy to wear.

When red lipstick goes wrong . . .

Put it this way: everyone wants to look like Louise Brooks, but Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Not so much.

India Knight though had a secret to share. Being past the age of 22 herself, she’d tried to find a red lipstick that still suited her and has found it in one called Medieval, by the brand Lipstick Queen. Now India Knight raved about this lipstick so much that I checked the top of the page to see if it was an advertorial but nope, apparently just her own heartfelt and generous endorsement. She called it genius, one-size-fits-all and the lipstick she comes back to every day and night. I knew as I was reading it that this lipstick would sell out straight away. I also knew, sucker that I am, that I wanted it. What girl doesn’t want the perfect red lipstick? So after a bit of faffing about on the web I decided to buy it.

£20 for a lipstick isn’t cheap but Ms Knight gave it such a wonderful review I’d have paid more. Thing is, when I got to the checkout Space NK were charging £5.00 delivery. (Lipstick Queen themselves don’t seem to do UK deliveries). £5.00 delivery for a lipstick?? What’s that per kilo? I might be gullible enough to make my lipstick-buying decisions on the basis of someone else’s opinions but I’m not dumb enough to shell out £5 delivery for something that weighs roughly the same as a toenail clipping.

Free Delivery Code for Space NK

So, I called Space NK‘s Glasgow store to see if they had one in stock. Nope, sold out, courtesy no doubt of Ms Knight and her persuasive pen. Never mind, offered the sales assistant cheerfully; ‘You can put in the code SNKGLASGOW on our  website and you’ll get free delivery.’

Huh?

Sure enough, I kept the woman on the phone while I tried it, and just like that my fiver delivery charge was whipped off the total. A fiver discount form a two minute phone call. I’m always looking for ways to save money on shipping, this got me thinking. What if, before I order stuff online in future, I call the actual store and asked them for their website’s free delivery code? Would it work? I wonder if all stores have a free delivery code for their websites? I’m betting many do. From now on I’ll be taking a minute to try.

 And back to Space NK for a minute – if the Glasgow store code is SNKGLASGOW then you don’t need to be wearing a grubby beige mac and talking like Columbo to work out that the Edinburgh store’s code is most likely SNKEDINBURGH and so on. And just like that, a fiver saved!

Got any other tips on ways to save delivery costs when shopping online? Or are you in a different part of the country and fancy trying the free delivery code with your local area? Let me know if it works – would love to find out! 

Till next time, Skint pals, when I’ll be writing to you with my new lipstick on. I am, quite frankly, expecting miracles.

Skint x

Poppy King, the Lipstick queen herself.