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Add loads of value to your home – really easily
Lots of schemes promise easy ways to make money, and this really made me laugh. Basically, by using Cif to clean a London home, it actually gained a lot more value! Incredibly, the average value was 26% higher by cleaning the house.
Cif posted an online film highlighting the value of a beautifully clean home – increasing the house price by simply cleaning with Cif products. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga7QEnAbIfo
The idea was simple…a before and after experiment filmed over two days. Cif took an average London home and asked three independent real estate agents to give their honest appraisal of what the home was worth in its current state. The average value was £1,050,000.
A professional cleaning team then gave the whole house a Cif deep clean from top to bottom. Three further independent real …
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Kit out your kitchen with Aldi’s latest range
From electric slicers to frying pans, Aldi’s new kitchen range, including Russell Hobbs devices, is sure to have something for everyone, whether you’re a budding chef or a first-time cook looking to improve your skills. Available in store and some of the stuff is also online from 5th May, while stocks last.
My favourite items must be the Russell Hobbs kit as you can buy them singly or as a set and they look really funky together. Coffee lovers can wake up to a freshly brewed barista-style coffee with this Russell Hobbs Grind & Brew Coffee Machine (£69.99), featuring a digital programmable control which lets users set what time of day their coffee brews. The permanent filter makes for an easy clean as well, with no paper filters required. This is a great price, …
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Lowest priced bedding available online?
There’s an outlet shop for everything it seems today, so why not for bedding? Our kids are increasingly having more friends to stay and en masse. I prefer to provide my own bedding (it’s the way I am!), but for irregular use, I don’t want to pay a fortune for a single duvet.
This little single duvet is just £3. It comes in basic packaging to keep the products low cost, and is 4.5 tog which is fine for a room full of sweaty kids! However, once you add standard postage, it’s almost £6, so massive tip – buy more stuff!
The Boston Duvet & Pillow Company sells a range of filled bedding products, currently available on Amazon. The brand has now launched on online outlet store selling slight factory seconds of pillows, duvets, mattress …
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Dare to repair an appliance rather than replace?
When a household appliance breaks down, your first instinct might be to call a repairman – or even just to take it as a sign that it’s time to upgrade to a shiny new device. I can’t believe the money I have wasted on repairmen, when all I had to do was open the overflow on the washing machine, or just undo the shower and wipe it down inside.
Anyway, are you ready to try and repair the product yourself? I’ve found Ransom Spares, where you can pick up spare parts from as little as just a few pounds. And, if the prospect of repairing a wayward washing machine or fixing a fridge freezer seems intimidating, the Appliance Repair Help & Advice Centre is packed with useful information, from lists of common problems to …
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Aldi summer BBQ Special buys
Aldi has everything to host the perfect Bank Holiday barbeque bash, with its new range of barbeque and picnic kits in stores and online from the 28th April. With everything from great-value cooking gear to attractive tableware, Aldi shoppers can cook their bangers and burgers with ease.
I was especially impressed by their tableware…even the plastic plates in the picnic basket were great quality for the price. M&S, my other favourite store, had comparable plates for £3 a pop, so that’s £12 for four plates and Aldi is doing a whole picnic basket including contents for £29.99 – you really can’t go wrong there.
Now if you like that offer or any of the ones below, I want to give you some advice, get there early. Aldi had this great driveway pressure washer for …
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A thrifty site for DIYers – get builders’ surplus stock
When it comes to home improvements, we all know that a bit of time spent ‘Doing It Yourself’ can save you an absolute fortune on fees for tradespeople. We just saved £450 on regrouting our bathroom tiles…it did take almost two days, but hey what are weekends for?
Another downside of DIY is the experience of traipsing round the aisles of B&Q or Homebase on a busy weekend getting the materials and equipment you need to do a job properly, and knowing that it certainly doesn’t come cheap.
So, I was interested to hear about a new marketplace called Enviromate. Originally set up to help the construction industry cut down on the amount of wasted materials that go into landfill, Enviromate lets tradespeople list any surplus paint, plasterboard, timber, bricks, screws or any number of …
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How we’ll save £700 on energy bills
We’ve been with Utility Warehouse since Mr Bargain Hunter met someone at a business breakfast meeting and switched our energy provider.
When Mr Bargain Hunter originally checked Utility Warehouse offered a good deal, as their utility prices were cheaper than others on the market. They also offered cash back at a few per cent at major retailers.
The mistake
While I check household and car insurance prices every year, and got the same insurance £100 cheaper from the same provider last year, Mr Bargain Hunter always assumed that Utility Warehouse remained a good deal.
Late last year we had solar panels installed ahead of the change in the reduction in feed in tariffs. With the panels we will save on electricity bills and have paid for them in about 10 years….please let there be lots …
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Save money on heating oil
Heating your home over the winter can take a significant chunk out of your annual budget, and while none of us want to be uncomfortable in our own house, we’re all looking for ways to reduce our heating bills.
If you live in a rural area and use heating oil to heat your home, here are our tips on how you can get the most for your money.
The most important thing you need to keep in mind when trying to save money on your heating oil bills is that you should never suffer for the sake of saving a bit of money. It’s important to keep warm over winter, as not only will being cold in your home make you miserable, but prolonged exposure to the cold will increase your risk of illness.
This …
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Best smart thermostat for energy savings – a UK comparison
2016 means green in our house. We have a hybrid car and just fitted solar panels. While it’s great to save the environment, we also like to save money too.
I have been looking into and have tried a couple of smart thermostats recently, and liked the ability to control my heating remotely, so I decided to share my research with you in this list.
I have researched Netatmo, Nest, momit and tado (pronounced tardough). All four systems are more intelligent than traditional thermostats, as they allow you to control your heating remotely via an app on your smartphone or tablet.
I looked into several criteria that I wanted in a thermostat and then ranked the devices per criteria. It’s not scientific, but it may help you make a decision.
Compatibility
These products are developed …
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Are you getting a fair deal on your energy bills?
You’ve probably heard about smart meters being introduced to all households by 2020…well that’s the target anyway.
I heard about Loop Energy Saver monitors today and they claim to offer a credible alternative to the smart meter programme, enabling consumers to monitor both gas and electricity usage in real-time and therefore keep track of energy spend immediately. Currently less than 5% of British households have a smart meter and most households won’t have them until 2020.
The company behind the Loop Energy Saver monitors claim that they differ from other energy monitoring products by:
- Simultaneously monitoring both gas and electricity usage in real-time
- Offering impartial information about energy tariffs via weekly emails alerting consumers to the best deals on the market
- Making it easy to switch either directly to another energy provider or via comparison
