In an effort to pay off my debt as quickly as possible, I’m looking beyond simply making extra money. I have been assessing all of my spending habits, adopting a more frugal lifestyle wherever I can. Each month I will be sharing Five Frugal Things that I have done to help improve my finances and ensure I can reach my goal of becoming debt free as soon as possible.

One

Free flowers. A week or so ago a blogger that I follow posted an Instagram story about some beautiful flowers she had received in the post. At the beginning of the year I set myself some goals and always having fresh flowers in the house was one of them. Yes it’s a small goal, but they make me really happy and so it was an important one for me.

It turns out that the flowers had been free thanks to a coupon code which I could use too. I ordered my flowers straight away and we both received a free bunch of flowers. Now that they’ve arrived I’ve shared my own code with friends and family and it looks like I might be getting free flowers for another month or so. I’m so happy! (Of course this is a subscription service, so I’ll be cautious of the future payments).

Two

Using loo rolls in my living room decor. This one sounds classy doesn’t it? Are you picturing a sofa made of toilet roll or something? Don’t worry, it’s not that weird. I have curtains with eyelets at the top which hang straight down. When I open them in the morning, if I don’t spend time evening them out they always look a bit…meh.

Then Beckyhomesweethome (if you love interiors and chatty stories you’ll love her) shared a tip on Instagram. Pop a loo roll tube between the eyelets of your curtains as you loop them over the curtain pole. It spaces them out really nicely and means that they hang well without any effort. Of course the loo rolls are also free and recycled now too!

Three

Cheap wedding rings. I have mentioned previously that I will be getting married this year. All the big things are sorted now so we’ve been working through the “bits and bobs” list as the big day gets closer. One of the most important things left on our list was wedding rings. We had been warned by friends who have married recently that they would be really expensive so we braced ourselves.

We had a good idea of what we were looking for, something simple and classic with mine matching my engagement ring. Now we just had to find them. A quick browse online took us too Amazon (of course it did) and within about half an hour we had both chosen rings that we loved. The grand total? Around about £115. For both! I was a little sceptical about quality but they’re both high quality materials (14k rose gold for me) and just as promised.

Four

Using the resources I have. As someone who runs two businesses from home I am always looking to expand my knowledge. In the past I have been the worst for purchasing course after course, filled with motivation to learn more. Of course most of them were looked at for a moment and then quickly forgotten about. If I’d given them focus I’m sure they would have been brilliant but without actually using the courses they were just the biggest waste of money.

Predictably, as often happens when a new year rolls around, I found myself filled with new motivation once again at the beginning of January. This time however, I chose to look through the resources I already had stored away instead of looking for something new. I’ve tried to keep things as simple as possible and just focus on one course at a time. So far the one I am working through is helping me a lot and I am now actually gaining value from it and I have spent nothing!

Five

A romantic meal for two…at Ikea. So I know Ikea is a bit like Marmite; some people love it and others hate it. Well myself and my better half LOVE strolling round the shop, having a nosey at all the decor ideas and of course always enjoy the classic meatballs!

Normally we go during the day, most likely on a Saturday but when I found out that the shop stays open until 10pm we had to change things up. This time we arrived at dinner time, enjoyed our usual wander and then sat down for an awesome and very cheap meal. No, it’s not a swanky place and OK it’s not the most romantic, but that’s not the point of dinner with your significant other is it? We had a blast and dinner cost us a whopping £12.

There they are, my Five Frugal Things for the month of January. You can read last month’s post here.

I’ve seen a number of people talking about doing a “no spend month” in February and Nicola from Mum on a Budget has even written a great survival guide about it here so that may be frugal approach to the next 28 days. You’ll need to come back next month to see how I get on!

I’m linking up with Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s Five Fabulously Frugal things I’ve done this week linky.