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

Well, would you? Or does the very question cause you to wrinkle your nose in disgust? Rescuing ‘pre-loved’ items from the street certainly isn’t everyone’s cup of Earl Grey but I read this week that in these hard-pressed times it’s becoming an increasingly common way for  young first-time homeowners to furnish their flats.

I don’t see anything wrong with it at all. Though we never see Carrie Bradshaw picking up a little bedside table from the sidewalk, I’d argue that if she was starting out in 2013. These days there’s nothing wrong with picking up a discarded piece of  furniture from the side of the road and taking it home to love.

Does the very thought of finding furniture on the street make you go yeeuugh? You wouldn’t be alone – whilst most people will now happily visit charity shops, the idea of picking something off the street, or worse, out of a skip, still seems like a step too far, but this is changing fast. In a recent episode of Kirstie’s Homemade Homes, I saw Kirstie Allsop dive into a skip to rescue a lamp, and where Kirstie goes, other chichi types are sure to follow. 

I’ve always loved this picture – and I bet there’s one in every skip and car boot sale in the land.

In other countries ‘street shopping’ quite the norm, and indeed it was living in Barcelona for a couple of years that opened my eyes to this way of finding new stuff. There it’s a very acceptable social pastime. Nearly the whole population lives in apartments, and each area has a designated day for people to put bulky items out on the street. And lots of furniture on the street means lots of people sniffing round it. In Barcelona, people will talk openly at the office about street hunting, and make plans to go together to help each other lug home heavy items.  

After hearing people bragging about their street finds, my pal Claire and I were keen to see what the buzz was about, so we secured a list of each barrio’s rubbish days from the town hall and formed our plan of action: focusing on the city’s poshest areas.

And there couldn’t have been a better time to hunt. It was only two or three years after the Barcelona Olympics, and with the poverty of the Franco years in the past and the future looking shiny, the chicest thing was to ditch the old memories and buy new, which meant that all over the city people were throwing out beautiful, well-built old Spanish furniture and replacing it with modern, flatpack stuff: great news for bargainistas. I lived in a titchy attic flat with hardly any furniture, so I was well open to making it prettier any way I could – and it turned out that the street way was fantastic.

On my first trip out with Claire I was slightly dubious about the whole thing – till I spotted the most gorgeous bedside table with little Art Nouveau carved legs. Carrying it up four flights of stairs to an attic flat was a bit of a marathon – street finds don’t come with delivery – but once installed in my titchy bedroom it transformed the space. Oh, and Claire and I once jostled an enormous dining table back to her flat, then had to get her boyfriend out of bed to help us up the stairs with it. But boy was it worth it when a couple of months later ten of us ate Christmas dinner around it.

In Barcelona, we would often come across not just other young people but older couples or even families all out scouting for goods. In the UK, however, it’s still not really the done thing. With acceptance growing though, and the trend for upcyclinggaining steamI don’t think it will be long before picking up bargains from the street marks you is seen as the smart thing to do. Meantime, look upon the ick factor as a positive – the fewer people doing it, the better pickings for you.

Upcycling at its finest. This made me laugh . . . lends a new meaning to lying in the bath

How To 

• Ask your local council for the collection dates in posh neighbourhoods near you, then trawl those streets the night before.
• For maximum fun take a friend or two with you and compete to see who can eye the best bargain: you’ll need the combined muscle power when it comes to hauling home your loot.
• Get over the shame. With a couple of exceptions, finds from the street are as good as you’ll get anywhere. You’re going to clean the stuff immediately, aren’t you? Look at it this way: fifteen minutes ago the item was inside someone’s living room, possibly someone with more money and better hygiene than you. Then they threw it out to make room for their new purchase and you’re the lucky winner – what’s dirty about that?
• Stick to hard furnishings like desks and chairs, bedside tables and bathroom cabinets. Avoid anything porous like sofas, mattresses (yuk!) or rugs – you never know where the cats have been.
• Steer clear of electrical goods – just too risky.
• Clean your goodies as soon as you get home, wiping down surfaces, table legs and undersides with a cleaner appropriate to the furniture type.

Then have tons of fun arranging your free treasures, in the knowledge that you’ve kept stuff out of landfill and grabbed yourself the most super-skint bargains possible. 

Convinced? Or still find the whole business way too distasteful? Go on, if you’re a street scavenger, please out yourself now – I’d be delighted to make your acquaintance! xx

Photo credit: Sofa bath courtesy of Home to Life

I got an early Christmas present this morning when baby Skint slept till 8am – hallelujah – but when I opened the curtains it was still dark. It feels as if daylight lasts for about two hours in Glasgow at this time of year. Thankfully though the shortest day of the year falls tomorrow, and then we can start looking forward to the light again.

Meantime I’ve been trying to bring some light into my house, since there’s next to none outside. If I’m out of time to decorate or out of money for home improvements, I’ve always found lighting to work more magic than any other quick fix – and for next to no cash too. Chez Skint was a decor disaster when I moved in – navy blue paintwork, an electric blue corner bath and carpets so swirly they could cause seasickness. Too skint to do it all up in one go it was the magic of fairy lights and candles that got me through those first couple of years. Fairy lights are a friend in any room. They’re cheap (especially if you buy them in January) and they detract from mess, chipped paintwork and all manner of DIY nasties. 

 At this time of year fairy lights are everywhere, but Chez Skint they stay out all year round. If the house looks like a bombsite (a frequent occurrence), fairy lights mask the worst of it. Piled into fireplace, draped across the mantelpiece, tacked above the bed they add a bit of glimmer to everyday life. You can pick up a set for less than a fiver and to my mind they add more drama to a room than a designer sofa or wallpaper.

My mantlepiece given the fairy light treatment (and it’s always a bonus when a pink cow sneaks into a photo)

 Keep Them Low

In general, unless they’re hunting for something at the back of a cupboard or putting the final touches to a masterpiece, skint girls steer clear of overhead lights. Harsh and unflattering, they’re the lighting equivalent of the playground bossy boots, poking their nose in where they’re just not wanted. Low lamps are much more my cup of tea. And though I’m a vintage lover to my bones, I find that second hand lamps are often weedy little things with bland shades and pastel bases. Luckily there are new lighting bargains to be had all over town and department stores are one of the best places to look at sale time. They often copy designers’ styles for a fraction of the price and discount heavily in the sales. BHS is, surprisingly, particularly good.

Make Your Own Runway

Ever fantasised about walking the Hollywood runway? Know it’s not going to happen anytime soon? Make your own! For years I lived with unvarnished stairs, splattered with paint – there were too many other DIY emergencies in the queue ahead of the stairs. So the only way I could detract from the eyesore was by lining each side of the stairs with tea light candles in glass holders. Tea lights also look good on the outside stairs leading to your house or flat, placed in candle holders designed for garden use. Nothing says get-the-party-started like candles on your doorstep to welcome guests as they arrive.

A DIY runway makes going to bed much more fun.

I’m a fan of lights both inside and out. Usually at Christmas I string lights across a big conifer tree outside the front of the house, but we chopped it down this summer after the break-in. We didn’t want to give another burglar someplace cosy to hide, so this year I’ve had to string the lights across the bench instead. Not something I’d thought of before, but I like the look. If the nights weren’t so chilly I’d quite like to just hang out here for a while.

How will you be bringing some brightness to winter’s darkest days? A glitter ball? A pair of sparkling reindeer antlers? Or something altogether more stylish? I’d love to know.  

Hi folks,

In my last post I mentioned that I’d been broken into, but it was all still a bit too raw to write about. Now, a week or so after the fact, I’m feeling more like talking about it and, in a blog which is essentially about money, it seems right to look at the impact that being broken into has on finances. We’re still sorting through the insurance etc and haven’t yet got a clear idea of how much we’ll be out of pocket exactly, but here are the gory details, together with a round-up of what we lost.

Bascially we were broken into during the night, whilst asleep. Yuk. And the scary thing is we heard nothing. The guy jemmied open the front window, which had two locks on it, and basically jumped into the living room. Police reckon he’d have been in and out of the house in seconds. And because we’d just returned from holiday that night and dumped our bags in the hall before going up to bed, intending to sort everything in the morning, he had easy pickings. So, we lost a laptop, phone, camera, Ipod, a watch, house keys, purse, make-up bag, car keys and – the car. Yep, bonanza for the burglar, who stole the keys then went outside and nicked the car as well.

The worst bit has been losing both the camera and laptop, and therefore all pics of baby Skint. That’s the stuff that can’t be replaced. So, we’re now in the process of dealing with the insurance to recover what we can, and taking photos of baby Skint like mad to make up for lost time. I couldn’t wait for the insurance money coming through to replace the camera – some things are too important and with baby getting bigger every day, I’m now snapping photos like mad in an effort to make up for losing all the ones from the early weeks. I swear she’s going to think the camera’s part of my body soon, cos she never sees me without it now.

There was a lot of other stuff on the laptop too which has gone forever. (Not very optimistic about getting anything back). So, onwards. We’ll replace what we can and start over with the stuff we can’t. What else is there to do, eh? And at least everyone chez Skint is  fine. As a pal pointed out, it was a good thing in a way that my bag and laptop were in the hall, because had they not been, the burglar might have ventured further trying to find stuff.

Cat burglars – not as cute as they look . . .

With insurances not yet settled – we’re dealing with two, both home and car – what’s the damage, financially? More than we’ll ever get back, of course, because insurance is a business and the customer doesn’t tend to win. Whilst we’ll recoup money eventually for many of the contents, there are excesses and depreciation and all sorts of other costs that insurance doesn’t shell out for, like getting an emergency locksmith out on the Sunday morning that the break-in was discovered. But from what we’ve totted up so far we’re looking at this:

Camera – £120

Smartphone- £200

Laptop – approx £500

New locks on all doors, Sunday rates – more than £400  

Ipod – £130

Make-up – £130

Spare reading glasses – £54

Vintage watch – beautiful and irreplaceable. Don’t know how insurance will value it, but meant a lot to me.

Handbag – £65

Purse – £30

Car – £1100. Not the newest on the block by any means, but it will cost much more to replace than we’ll get from insurance.

New roofbox – £250. Just fitted for going on holiday, it had been on the car for 9 days!

Kids car seats – £250. Again, one was new, but at least we have the receipt.

All the assorted gubbins that you carry around in the car – you know, picnic blanket, a buggy, all of our maps, umbrellas, my gym bag etc. Several times since the break-in I’ve started looking for something, then remembered it was in the boot of the car.

The car had also just had three new tyres fitted for going on holiday, so we can wave bye-bye to that cash (£190). On the upside however, we hadn’t gotten round to renewing the road tax, which expired a couple of days ago. Ha, take that thief! Now you’re driving around illegally! Even more illegally than before! Bet that’s got him worried. I’d love to know what happened to the car. It was hardly the speediest or most desirable model on the road, so who knows what it was used for? Where do ten year old stolen Astras go to die?

There was also other stuff lost which is just a pain – squillions of points on my Boots Advantage card which I was saving up; ditto the Nectar card and other assorted loyalty cards. Oh and a gift card for Next that we’d been given as a baby present.  

Anyway, enough! We’re actually doing fine, just sorting things out bit by bit. After all, they’re just things and can all be replaced (apart from the photos, that’s the real stinger for me). And I’ve learnt some lessons for the future, like checking the small print on insurance clauses and making sure to record serial numbers of all electronic goods to make it easier for the police to trace. Friends have been lovely, above all dearest Lorna and Alan who lent us their car till we got another – thank you so much, guys.

Thanks for indulging me folks - I promise to make the next post cheerier! Already coming up with new plans to make some more cash – Skint, but not out! So, there we have it. A rubbish week or so, but it’s over and done with now. What about you, Skint pals, have you ever had the misfortune to be broken into? Or do you have any super-duper burglary prevention tips to share? Go on, do cheer me up with a comment.

Skint xx

PS – A bit of good news: there’s still time to enter the Groupon giveaway which closes on Friday.  Entries have been coming thick and fast and I’ll be announcing the winner at the weekend.  

When is wasting money actually a good use of cash? I’ve been wondering about this recently, as baby fever hits the Skint house and suddenly it dawns that the long list of chores won’t get done on time without some help. So, against the usual Skint ethos, I’ve given in and hired outside help for jobs that could certainly be done ourselves.

 I like to think I can paint furniture, assemble flatpacks and varnish doors with the best of them, but with the clock ticking and the to-do list growing rather than shrinking, I got in one of those so-much-still-to-do panics that anyone with a kicking timebomb inside them will recognise. The only answer? Start enlisting outside help to get jobs finished on time. And though it meant spending a bit of cash that was technically unnecessary, I don’t grudge a penny. Here’s how it went:    

Time or money? Right now, time wins hands down

Hiring someone to assemble a flatpack wardrobe, shelving unit and put up a curtain pole – £48. In theory we could have done these jobs ourselves, but you know when the curtain pole was bought? Four years ago. Uh-huh. (* Hangs heads in shame* ) Time to concede defeat on that one – it took the chap half an hour to do. 

 Hiring company to clean a bedroom and stair carpet – £75. Technically I could have hired a carpet cleaning machine from the supermarket and cleaned all the carpets in the house. That was my first plan, but when I went along and watched the little sales video of how ‘simple’ the machine was to operate I could tell it was a disaster waiting to happen. The way the woman pulled the machine with ease from room to room? I felt the thing – and it must have weighed the same as me. I used my strength to flick through the Yellow Pages instead.

 Getting a painter in to paint the baby’s bedroom – cost £100. The room just needed a freshen up really: walls, ceiling and woodwork, not hard at all. But with the clock ticking and so many other things to do – stuff that could really only be done by us – I took the easy route again. 

Some days you save, some days you smash those piggies at the wall and grab everything you can . . .

So, that’s about £220 gone on jobs that would normally come under DIY. Were they a waste of money? Or a smart use of cash when facing a major deadline? Though the opposite of what I’d normally do, in these circumstances I think that splashing the cash was worth it as it stopped me from feeling totally overwhelmed. I can’t hire anyone to give birth for me, (if you know different, please let me know, quick-sharp . . .) but at least getting some outstanding jobs ticked off makes me feel more in control.

What do you guys think? Got any examples to share of times when wasting money was absolutely the right thing to do? I’d love to know. 

Hi folks,

Hope this finds you well. I’m happy, because after weeks under siege, the scaffolding finally came off of our house today, and boy is it a relief. Not just because it heralds an end to the building work that’s been going on for what feels like an age, but because I didn’t sleep so easy whilst the outside of the house was covered in metal. Whilst logically I know that if someone wants to break into my home they needn’t scale scaffolding to do it – we’ve got ground floor windows after all – I did feel

Hello Skint pals and a big welcome to all of Skint’s new readers, who signed up after reading the Huffington Post piece last week. Delighted to have you here.

Something different today. In the first of an occasional series of guest posts, freelance energy writer Tara West gives us her take on ways to save money on staying cosy this winter. Over to you Tara . . .

When the temperatures drop and the days seem to get shorter, your first instinct may be to get home in a hurry and blast the heat so that you and your family can stay warm. However, you may start to regret your energy-dependent heating once you get the electric and gas bill.

There are ways for you to stay warm without burning through your household budget. Follow these six tips for a warm winter.

1. Use the fireplace.

If you’re lucky enough to have a fireplace indoors, you should consider using it more often. Not only is this an excellent way to cut down on your heating bill but it can also bring your family together for some quality time. Make your fireside evenings extra special with a warm drink and holiday treats, and your family will soon be longing for cosy winter nights even in the warmer seasons.

2. Get a thermostat with a timer.

These simple devices can go a long way in saving you money on your energy bill, especially during the winter. You can programme your thermostat to operate at a lower temperature during the day when everyone is at work or school so that you never have to bother with changing the temperature manually. A good rule of thumb is to keep it between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit while you are at home and to lower it to the 50s when you are away.

3. Bundle up!

Even when you are inside, wear layers of comfortable clothing to keep your body temperature up. Investing in a few pieces made of wool or fleece for your winter wardrobe will ensure that you always have a sweater or two to slip on when you get chilly. And don’t forget about long johns and thick socks for your lower extremities.

4. Compare energy rates.

Even the most frugal homeowners sometimes find that their bills are too high. If you have taken every measure possible to lower your energy bill and it is still too high, consider switching to a different provider. You can look online to uswitch to compare energy prices, including your current rate, with other companies in your local area.

5. Fill in cracks and holes.

Brr. Don't even go there.

One of the most costly mistakes a homeowner can make is to not maintain the insulation of his or her home. Make sure to insulate the usually drafty places such as the attic, and check the weather-stripping on all the doors in the house. If your windows are made of single-pane glass, you may also want to consider replacing them with insulated glass.

6. Change your light bulbs.

If you are still using old-model incandescent bulbs, switch them for more energy efficient fluorescent bulbs or LED lights. These newer bulbs use far less energy while providing the same wattage of light, and they usually come in the same sizes and shapes as incandescent bulbs.

Thanks Tara – great tips there. While Tara’s been writing this, I’ve been busy whittling down my best-ever vintage bargains and will share them with you in the next post.

See you all soon – and as ever if you’ve got any pals that you think would like to receive Skint in the City’s regular posts please forward to them. The more the merrier round here.

Skint x

In Monday’s post I shared some of the tips I’ve learned from years of going to auctions. In Skint’s opinion you just can’t beat the auction room as a place to kit out a stylish home on a shoestring. That post got me thinking about my favourite auction buys:

Mirrors: If you buy just one thing at auction, make it a mirror. Department stores sell expensive ‘vintage style’ mirrors but the real thing can be found tumbling out of

This was part of a job lot of three

auction rooms for a song up and down the country. Vintage mirrors come in all shapes: super-sized ornate ones for the mantlepiece, little art deco numbers for the bathroom job lots of odd-sized ones which make a great feature hung together in the hall. So resolve here and now never to buy a mirror in a proper shop again – unless it’s one of those magnifying light up one for plucking your eyebrows. For everything else, go vintage.

Wardrobes:My favourite auction buy is an Art Nouveau wardrobe, the centre panel a gorgeous swirl of carved wood flowers and trees. Inside, it’s got dinky little compartments for gloves and scarves as well as plenty of hanging space and solid

Ikea flatpacks can't compare

drawers in the bottom, deep enough to sleep a toddler. It’s a piece of master craftsmanship and cost £150. Auctions are terrific for bedroom furniture: not just wardrobes but dressing tables, bedside cabinets and heavy wooden beds. If you’re lucky you’ll bag a whole suite of matching furniture for a couple of hundred pounds.

Desks: As with wardrobes, the auction room is the best place to find quality, sturdy desks that will beat those modern, sheet-glass affairs on both style and functionality. People did more writing back-in-the-day I suppose, or took it more seriously. You’ll find that older desks come with loads of in-built extras, from drawers to hold your pens, to flip-up compartments for storing correspondence. Expect to pay around £60 for a good quality desk in an auction room. I know, I can hardly believe it either: what are you waiting for?

Art: I snapped up this Warhol cow print about six years ago and it takes pride of place not only in my kitchen but my heart, goddam it. I don’t know why I love her so but I’d pass over a lot of other stuff to save her in a fire. Many auction houses host picture sales once a month, with prices varying from £30 (my cow print) right up to silly money.

What’s your best-ever home bargain? Do tell. The cow would want to know.

This weekend I went to an auction house for the first time in about a year – and remembered why I love them so much. Auction houses are absolutely the best way I can think of to furnish a home with style when funds are tight.

Six or seven years ago, on moving into my house with little furniture to my name, I went to auctions most weeks. I couldn’t understand then – and still can’t – why anyone would go to a store and spend £60 on a build-it-yourself chest of drawers when, for the same price auction rooms are offering items a hundred times better in terms of both quality and style.

Now, though always on the lookout for unusual furniture, I’m mainly interested in smaller stuff. This weekend I got a couple of interesting things for the bathroom. This little lady is slightly dusty, but when polished up she’s going to make the most glamorous soap dish you ever did see.

Right enough, I didn’t always love auctions. They used to scare me. I worried a lot about scratching my nose and inadvertently paying £500 for a set of miniature china donkeys. Now though I’ve realised that auctioneers are trained to recognise rookies. You won’t end up paying for a Ming vase by mistake. Here are some tips I slowly learned on my auction trawls:

1) Play it cool: Love that birdcage so much you’re prepared to hock your house for it? Don’t let on. Always start your bidding small – you might find there’s less competition that you’d expect.

2) Get there early: This gives you plenty of time to properly view the goods before the auction starts and to make a clear-headed judgement about what you’re prepared to pay. Many auction rooms offer a preview the night before the sale so you can decide which items you really want and what you’re prepared to pay before you get caught up in the thrill of the chase.

3) Set a limit: Then stick to it! Do not get drawn into a bidding war – no matter how much fun it may seem at the time. Auctions bring out your competitive side but will you still feel like a winner when you’ve paid £100 more than you planned? I once got drawn into a bidding war on a painting. I loved it and had set a limit of £150. So why was I still sticking up my hand when bidding reached £400? Because I didn’t want to lose. Thank God my competitor had more money (or just more nerve) than me and kept bidding till the point when even I recognised it was getting out of hand.

If shabby chic's your thing you'll do better at auction than Ikea

4) Stick to the classic stuff. Some auction rooms sell modern things like vacuum cleaners and those funny contraptions for doing stomach exercises. Steer clear and stick to what the auction does best. Go for the old goods: vintage mirrors, an antique desk, maybe a handcarved wardrobe.

5) Remember the fees: In addition to the hammer price, you’ll typically pay 15-20% commission plus VAT when paying for goods. For big ticket items that could add up to a hefty sum so you’ll need to factor it in when bidding.

6) Browse first, buy later: If you’re still nervous about bidding, just go along to an auction for a nosey to find out how they work. Refuse a ‘paddle’ when it’s offered – you need this to bid, so without one you’re safe! Whether you’re planning to buy or not, a morning at an auction room, followed by a coffee with a friend is a cheap, chic day out. Throw in a visit to a couple of vintage shops and you’ve got my idea of the perfect Saturday.

Real auctions are far more fun than ebay and just sniffing around them costs nothing at all (or sometimes a titchy entrance fee). In the next post I’ll share my thoughts on the best things to buy there.

Hello lovelies! After a mammoth break Skint in the City is finally back where it belongs. Sure, camping was a riot, but there’s only so much fresh air anyone can take. And I missed pollution, gadgets and the summer sales of course, as well as the biggest media scandal in memory, so it’s good to be back.

This year’s summer holiday was a blast. Hastily organised, and cheap as chips, there’s nothing quite like camping to provide a tonic to the city grind. Hedgehogs in the tent; communal washing up; being woken by the wind in the trees – quite the antidote to deadlines and pressure. I’d fully recommend it to any scandal-hit executives in need of a little R & R. It’s way cheaper than Champneys.

Camping is the ideal holiday for skint folks of course, and even glamping (ie throw in a double bed and a fridge) is a snip, compared to the cost of renting anything with walls. A fortnight in a very souped-up tent cost £400 – next year I’ll be going for three weeks. Meals were taken al fresco – lots of smelly cheese, strong coffee and budget-friendly picnics. With a free on-site pool, a bike to get around and star-watching at night for entertainment, it delivered a very big bang for very few bucks.

Back in the city, however, I’m content to ditch the stargazing in favour of admiring a new and long-awaited purchase. You may remember my quest for a Smeg fridge I could afford from this earlier post . How I have coveted Smeg’s funky retro curves, its magpie-shiny art deco handles, the fact that it turns an ordinary household item into an object of beauty. The price tag ain’t so lovely though and I must have lost at least thirty bids on ebay as the darlings continually went to homes far more salubrious than mine. Still, with every defeat I became more and more determined to make one of those honeys my own.

And finally, bonanza. Just before I went on holiday I spotted a Smeg on ebay . The icebox was too titchy, but I noticed, lurking in the background, just over its shoulder, another red Smeg that looked just the job. And luckily the ebay listing had a contact number, so I chanced my arm, phoned and asked if the Smeg in the background was for sale. Turns out – oh lucky me – that the firm was just about to list it on ebay. My offer to buy would save them from paying the 10% commission that ebay take from big-ticket items. What’s more, the item was scratch and dent – a welcome phrase to anyone who’s skint in the city. We agreed a price and – ta-da! – here it is! A little piece of luxury gained for a Skint(ish) price.

Is it wrong to so love something that can never love me back?

Smegs retail new for £1500-=£1600. Unfeasible in my world. I got this baby for £599. I’m happy as a sandpiper. It’s still a fair chunk of money but I justify the purchase by telling myself that any new fridge freezer will cost £400-£500 and I really needed a new one. Oh and it’s a stunner – did I mention that?

Here’s what I learned during the great Smeg hunt:

• Seek imperfections - As I outlined previously in the Getting the Luxe Look for Less post, loads of people are put off by a wee scratch on their furniture. Me? Ooh, I’ve learned to love ‘em. Whether it’s appliances or dining room tables, shopping at outlets that specialise in slightly imperfect items can save you a bucket. The best site I’ve come across for scratch and dent, or graded, appliances is All Your Appliances which gives great discount on high end appliances. My Smeg came from The Appliance Depot and very lovely the folks were too. It’s got a teeny scratch on the top left hand side, so tiny that when I tried to photograph it it didn’t show up. Worth the giant discount in my book.
• Think outside the box - During the great Smeg hunt I came across a black Smeg at an affordable price. It got me thinking – could I buy it and have it spraypainted? I rang a local car bodyshop, afraid they might think me a madwoman. Turns out, enterprising folks have been using them for years. The guy told me he’d spraypainted full sets of kitchen cupboards, bins and dishwashers, then quoted me £150 to turn a black Smeg red. Now, given that unusual coloured Smegs often cost £500 more than cream or black ones, I found this a revelation. I like the idea of getting kitchen units sprayed high gloss too – keeping this one up my sleeve for later.
• Get delivery bids - Shiply is a genius idea, taking your delivery job to market and asking couriers across the country to bid for your work. You can then choose the price and service that suits you best. Takes a lot of the strain out of buying large items on ebay.
• Go Gumtree – all skint in the city types know Gumtree by now, but I recently started using their ‘wanted’ section to post what I’m looking for, rather than just scanning For Sale. I got a couple of offers on Smegs this way, though neither quite what I was after.
• Don’t give up – the key to bagging true bargains is persistence. The Smeg hunt lasted for months but I was learning what was a fair price and what I was really prepared to pay, as well as loads of tricks like spraypainting and graded appliance outlets. Just as well really, cos that’s my home budget blown for a good long while. I’ll be needing every thrifty trick I can get for the rest of the year!

Sorry for the wordy post, folks – clearly summer holiday slackery is extending to my posts. I’ll be trimming and toning from hereon in, rest assured. It’s good to be home. Hope you’re all enjoying your summer.