Frugal Friday #6- by Chloe Brewer

Good morning all. It's that time again where I share some of my frugal tips and saving tricks with you all. Today is a little bit different as I would like to introduce you to another good friend of mine from: atwentysomethingmum Not only is Chloe a great friend to talk to on Twitter,she is an avid saver and frugal spender (like myself) so I hope you enjoy this little extract from her wisdom, don't be shy to leave a comment telling her so. Take care Kate xx PS; Make sure you swing by Chloe's blog and check out her fabulous designs too.

Bargain Hunting Buzz

I love bargains. I love bargain hunting. I'm not too proud to say it, and in fact I would shout it from the roof tops! Nothing gives me greater pleasure than finding something at a great price and I usually tell everyone about it! When I became a mummy after my maternity pay finished I went back to work part time but when we found out we had to relocate for my baby daddy's job that was the end of that. Since moving down here I haven't worked really. I did 6 weeks at Next over the Christmas and sale period, just a few hours a week more to get out of the house than anything! But due to the high cost of childcare when Christmas shopping hours subsided and my partner couldn't have my son my only option was to pay a childminder which ate up all of my wages. Hence no more Next.

So I've had to get my bargain hunting shoes on and these are my little secrets 1.) The Poundshop. I'm no snob, I will admit I shop in here and I am continuously amazed at the brands you can buy here. I get all of my cleaning products here and save loads on them. From dettol cleaning wipes to my Mr Muscle kitchen spray-they are all here and cheaper than the supermarkets. I can also fill our 'naughty' cupboard here for far less too! Cadbury Mini Rolls, Wotsits, cookies-the choice is amazing. Jams, spreads, fizzy drinks, toiletries,haircare etc it's all here. Johnson's baby wipes here too for £1 a pack whereas the supermarkets retail then at £2.44+! Johnsons make these packs with 6 wipes less to be able to sell them in Poundland but for 6 wipes less?! I'm still happy! So if there is one thing I would recommend it's getting down there, you can get EVERYTHING in there and when you're saving the sort of money I do just by going-it's worth putting any snobbery aside!

The second place I've found some great bits and pieces it TKMaxx. I never ever find anything for me in there but for my son it's great. (Although not long ago I got 3 OPI nail varnishes in ther for £10 which is cheaper than one bottle bought normally!). When baby All Saints wen't bust last year TKMaxx ended up selling the clothing which meant I managed to buy my son some designer t-shirts for less than £5 each! Better price than the highstreet! They also have a well stocked clearance area in the children and babies section and I've managed to pick up all sorts there-a baby blanket as a gift for a friend for £4 reduced from £14.99 and a box of designer 'Trumpette' socks for £6 (RRP. £20+). The children's books here are the best though. I manage to regularly get my son the nice board style books he loves for £2.99 a pop-FAR cheaper than the likes of Waterstones etc. So get down to your nearest store and if you have the time and can look you won't come out empty handed-I never do!

I've also taken the opportunity to have a MASSIVE clear out of all my sons old toys and clothes and the mountains of 'stuff' that we have but don't want or need anymore. So I sat and pondered about how I could turn my unwanted goods in to moolah. Obviously we have ebay, a great website for buying and selling old bits and pieces but I do find their sellers fee's extortionate which when you are selling a boys t-shirt for £2, paying almost half of that in fees doesn't really do much for my motivation of sitting there and putting it all on! So I've been looking for other alternatives recently. The first thing would be a carboot but it's still far too cold (I'm not THAT hardcore!) and so the other thing that's really going to work (I hope) is an NCT Nearly new sale. I hadn't heard of these until recently but basically you price up your old unwanted childrens and baby clothes and toys, take them along on sale day and the lovely volunteers will sell them for you! You get all but 30% of the total which NCT keep. To me NCT keeping a portion of the profit is more appealing than the ebay giants swallowing it up! Helping charity and earning money sounds best to me! So I think I will be partaking in my first Nearly New Sale soon! Visit the NCT website for more details on sales in your local area.

If you like shopping online then my best piece of advice is to check out 'Top Cash Back'. It's a website that literally gives you money! It's not a con, I can vouch for it as I've so far earnt over £100 in 4 months just through shopping online. The idea is that everytime you want to buy something you go to their website first. Say you want to buy something from Boots website. Go to 'Top Cash Back' and put 'Boots' in and go through to the website as directed. Complete you order and voila. You get cashback for buying! Most brands big and small are part of this and it's great-even ebay do it! Just from buying items I was going to buy anyway I've managed to earn £100 just for doing so-and they usually have voucher codes too for money off! So check that one out too! Visit the website HERE

So that's my love of bargain hunting explained, what about you? What do you do to help keep your purchases in line with your pocket?

Love Chloe xx