Spring blossom by St Pauls
This week has flown by, in a whirl of work stuff and everything else.
Normally I work from home, so in the mornings I can shove on a fleece and I’m good to go. But recently I needed to look smarter when venturing out for a few work events.
Here’s how I’ve cut the costs for clothes, hair and make up this week!
Hair cut for a fancy meal out – thanks Rathbones!
Shaved money off a hair cut
(Pun entirely intended, thankyouverymuch)
Over the years many hairdressers have despaired of my lack of effort with my hair. It’s curly, it does its own thing, and the most I manage is half-hearted towel drying and adding a bit of curl cream. This also means I don’t spend major amounts at the hairdresser.
So when I did need a hair cut, I was glad to take advantage of an offer at a local hairdresser, which charges £20 for a wet cut booked on the day. (Shout out to the Hair Lounge here in Hadleigh)
The whole self-employed/work from home thing meant I could nip along before school pick up, to fill a spare slot on a weekday afternoon. Bargain.
Polka dots agogo
Bought a new dress from a charity shop
Rather than forking out for a brand new dress for an evening event, I scoured several charity shops. I reckon charity shops can be a great source for fancy frocks. Smart dresses tend to be in great nick because they haven’t been worn very often. I found a lined silk dress from Hobbs at our local East Anglian Children’s Hospice (EACH) shop for the princely sum of £9.50. Now to restrain myself from spinning around on any possible occasion to make the shirt go whoosh.
Previous post: A cornucopia of charity shops
Freebie with two No 7 products
Replaced make up for less
I managed to lose my make up bag this week (#frugalfail) and ended up in a Boots in a train station, panic buying before a work meeting.
Turns out, if you are going to lose your make up bag, it’s good timing just before Mothers’ Day.
When I replaced my £10 Boots No 7 lipstick and added a £15 eyeshadow palette on offer at £10, it turned out I got a free second lipstick plus a box with teeny tubes of primer, eye cream and serum. Supposedly the freebie stuff was worth £26 – so I ended up with £41 of make up for £20.
(Here’s an affiliate link to the Spring Gift Box offer* with two No 7 products, if you’re interested)
Whole heap of vouchers
Loaded up on loyalty points
While forking out for the make up, I was glad I actually had the latest Boots Advantage card* mailing with me. Vouchers can’t save any money at the till when stuck on the mantelpiece at home. So if I get any vouchers through the post, I try to stick them straight in my handbag, all ready if I do end up in the right shop.
Net result: I was able to use vouchers for double Advantage card points and 200 points on a £20 spend when buying the make up.
Used a voucher for pudding
After the Vanguard ‘investing for beginners’ Twitter chat on Thursday afternoon (more in this collaborative post), and a drink with Mrs Mummypenny, I headed off to see a friend for a birthday meal at her house.
I’d volunteered to take along a pudding, so nipped in to M&S to use some vouchers from taking out an M&S Bank credit card. It meant I only had to add £1.20 to a £5 M&S voucher to get a lemon tart, raspberries and cream for the three of us. Yum.
Now – over to you. How do you cut the costs of clothes, hair and makeup? Do share in the comments, I’d love to hear!
For more money savings tips, do join the Much More With Less #MoneySavingYear Facebook group. I post a new tip each day so do come over and join us here – there are well over 600 members so far!
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!
Pin for later:
I have you beat for both price and convenience getting my haircut. I had my husband give me a haircut on our third date as I really needed one and I didn’t have the money in my budget to pay for one. He offered, I said that would be great, I took a seat figuring it could not be any worse than the last one I got at the salon about a year earlier. He did an awesome job and now he trims my hair every other month for me. No hassle of making an appointment, wasted time or the expensive bill at the end. I tell him I am due, he gets his bag of hair cutting supplies, I take a seat, get caped and he trims my hair. He always does a great job on my hair and he cuts my hair, my mom’s and my best friend’s hair as well as for my two boys. I save hundreds a year. I have spoken about it with other women and it is becoming more common than it was a few years ago. Most are using just the clippers on their young boys until they get older and the women try cutting their own and have their husband even up the back for them. I am pretty fortunate y guy is good with the clippers and shears as my teen boys like his work and he is good doing my full haircut each time for me.
I just booked up to go to the Co-op day in May at Wherstead, which reminded me that you went once which reminded me that I hadn’t seen a post from you for a while!
So just hoping everything is OK with you and yours.
Sue
Author
All fine with me! Hope you have fun at the Co-op Members Meeting. Will be sorry not to see you. I usually go, but this year it clashes with the 150th Hadleigh Show – maybe you should come along in the afternoon when everything finishes in Wherstead!