Living well on a tiny budget

 I have written before on this topic, I know, but it is probably the most important thing about being tight/frugal/thrifty and having to manage on a small income.

And it's living.  Not wearing a hair shirt and beating yourself with a stick because you have to be a martyr to frugal living.

Some things have to go in order for the ones more important to you; that make life worth living for you.

I'm not just talking about what many bloggers say - shop own brand stuff, buy secondhand clothes, yadda yadda ..

I'm talking about how you live life.  

What do you do that is fun, and what you do to afford it, to make it worthwhile. Some examples: 

I love books.  I buy most at charity shops, and some online for my Kindle at a reduced price.  However, if there is one coming out that I really want to read NEW, then I will buy one or two a years NEW.  At full price.  I do this by limiting spending on other things, and before I spend any money I do talk it over with Man Wonderful.  I also write it on a spending list to review later and decide if it is worth spending that money on.  

Clothes.  I do like to buy from charity shops. I am happy in secondhand.  But I do buy brand new underwear/swimwear/socks/some shoes.  To afford this I look for the magic words - SALE or REDUCED, and I try to get a good deal.  My current bra (I mean my newest one) was over £45 new, but by waiting until the shop had a sale, I bought it for less than £20.  I am currently on the lookout for a pair of DMs and a lightweight coat.  I'll keep looking but won't buy at the top price - I can live without both quite happily, they are wants..

I have blogged before about my food shopping and meal planning.  It is the thriftiest method I know and works brilliantly.  By saving on the food shopping, we plan and can afford to have one lunch out a month - if we choose to, the money is there.

One fellow blogger doesn't subscribe to any TV channels, doesn't have to buy a TV license and only goes online. This gives her more cash each month for the things she likes to do - and enough to save to replace her laptop straightaway if hers fails to work one day.

Like many fellow bloggers, I love to knit/crochet/sew/craft. Now then, materials for these hobbies can be really expensive.  So I use my wee skills to mend things for other people, and take commissions to make things for others.  These pennies sit in my pot and are what I spend on new yarn or thread or fabric for myself.  It works. I currently have £2.50 in my pot waiting to fill up some more; and a pair of trousers waiting for a new zip in my craft box.

When it is a lovely day I like to be out and about.

The current price of fuel means we cannot go far - we also don't want to use money paying for entry into a particular place.  But we love being by the sea or in the countryside, and it is worth making our own coffee and lunch which means we only have to use the fuel to get there and back.  A choice that means we are living well.

What do you do to live well?

FMxx