Five fabulously frugal things I did this week (30 June)

Hollyhocks against stormy skies

The most memorable event this week was waving goodbye to our elderly estate car, which finally shuffled off its mortal coil aka was sent off to the scrap yard.

Our car was more than 10 years old when we got it, and we’ve driven it for another 7, so it’s had a good run. Unfortunately various things kept going wrong and parts were increasingly difficult to find. Despite replacing the battery and fixing assorted electrical problems earlier this year, it refused to start, and it didn’t seem worth signing a blank cheque for yet another electrical expert to investigate.

So my five frugal things are mainly car-related, and much like the car itself, a bit delayed.

Long-suffering car gets towed off into the distance

Sold our elderly car for scrap

Last time I checked the value of our elderly car for insurance purposes, it was so low the website nearly laughed at me. Think I put £400 on the form. There are probably vintage Dinky toys that sell for more than that.

Faced with an ancient car that now wouldn’t even start, I was delighted that our local scrap merchant, Whip Street Motors, was willing to pay us £130 to take it away. I’d been worried we’d have to fork out to get it towed, so the cheque was a pleasant surprise.

Luckily we still have the second car we bought last year, so we’re not stranded out in Suffolk.

Notified the DVLA by the end of the month

Car tax is a sneaky business. You can’t avoid paying it, what with that being illegal and all, but the DVLA tries to milk the maximum amount. So for example, if you get rid of your car you can claim back unused car tax – but only for complete months.

The car tax on our geriatric Volkswagen was due to run out at the end of July. Wait till early July to notify the DVLA – and we’d get back the sum total of nothing at all. Get our skates on and contact the DVLA before the end of June – should be due an whole £20-ish refund. It all adds up!

Earned cashback when comparing car insurance quotes…

One of the triggers for pensioning off our old car was that our car insurance was up for renewal. Last year, we took out a multi-car policy with Admiral to cover both cars. Now I had to look for new policy for just one car, instead of renewing a policy including a car we no longer owned.

If you’re buying any kind of financial product, from mobile phone contracts to bank accounts, credit cards and insurance, I recommend checking cashback websites like TopCashback* and Quidco* to see if you can earn a few pounds extra. (More tips on cashback websites here)

Turned out that by clicking via TopCashback*, I could earn £2.30 cashback just by comparing car insurance quotes on Confused.com. I didn’t even have to buy insurance from via Confused.com – just ask for the quotes. I love earning free money on something I was going to do anyway. Renewing insurance without comparing quotes can be an expensive mistake, so I always check a couple of comparison sites first, and it’s great to get paid for it.

…and more cashback when buying the car insurance

The cheapest quote from Confused.com turned out to be LV=, a company I’d actually heard of rather than some new online-only insurer.

Just before buying the policy, I checked TopCashback* again – and it turned out I could claim £21 cashback if I clicked through to buy direct from LV=, rather than via Confused.com. Kerching. I reckoned it was worth spending a few minutes retyping the details into the LV= website to earn £21.

Compatible ink cartridges – why pay more?

Took advantage of a 3 for 2 offer on compatible ink cartridges

Much as I love having a printer at home, I don’t love the cost of printer ink. Ink cartidges seem to be a licence to print money, and I have no wish to go bankrupt because my daughter prints out eleventy billion pictures of Pokemon.

So much like my supermarket shopping, rather than shelling out on the branded versions, I buy compatible (ie own-brand) ink cartridges. I’ve been buying them for years from Choice Stationery Supplies and they work just fine. This week, with a 3 for 3 offer, I was able to buy 6 compatible cartridges for £21.35. Compared to the £70 odd it would cost to buy official Canon cartridges, that sounds great to me.

Now over to you – any car-related thrifty tips to share? Or other frugal successes to celebrate? I’d love to hear.

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

*indicates an affiliate link, so anything you buy through it will help support the blog, as I will get a small commission at no cost to you. Many thanks!