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Tips for grabbing a charity shop bargain
Now I haven’t shopped in a charity shop for a few years. The thought of another mum seeing me wearing their cast offs fills me with dread.
When I was younger of course, the odd cardy, suede jacket or the like were cooler if I said I had bought them from the Rag Market in Brum or just a “little charity shop”.
Anyway, I do have a friend (no it’s not me really!) and she doesn’t live in my town but works here, so I asked her to tell me how to get the most out if charity shops and here goes below.
There has been a massive surge in the number of charity shops in Britain over the past five years and this is, in part, due to the fact that charity shops pay …
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Grocery shopping on a budget – save up to £40 a week
I would love to shop at M&S every day for my food stuffs, but that just isn’t feasible. Sometimes they have fruit and veg that is reduced in price because its sell by date is that day and they have also introduced a “basics range, but the other stuff is too tempting. When I do get a bargain and tell my hubby that I have bought some Maris Pipers that look good enough to eat raw for just over a £1, my excitement never seems to rub off on him.
Anyway, I received a £500 phone bill – no fault of my own (honest – my wi-fi problem!) – and decided that if I had to pay it, I needed to make some cut backs. I ended up paying only £5 of the bill. My …
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TK Maxx definitely won’t max out your credit card
What do you do when it is not sale season and you feel the need to shop, but without spending loads on a new outfit? Discount clothing stores such as TK Maxx are always a good bet to grab a fashion bargain, whatever time of year it is.
The TK Maxx discount store in particular is a favourite for fashion and price-savvy shoppers thanks to it offering big, designer labels and one-off items at up to 60 per cent discount. So, new season designer staples such as a Michael Kors studded jumper, normally priced from £145, cost you more like £87 while classic pieces – nay essentials – like Dolce & Gabbana’s Pony Skin Tote Bag, costing upwards of £1,000 brand new, can be snapped up from as little as £600, saving over £400.
Another …
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M&S furniture and John Lewis curtains at a snip
We overspent when buying our first house, so needed to scrimp on furniture.
Quality was the name of the game, but doesn’t quality cost?
I had wondered around Habitat (sadly no more) and Heal’s and the furniture was gorgeous, but just too expensive, though we had to have the square extendable table (at full price!).
I decided to go high street and M&S was my first port of call.
The Abbey sofas and Sonoma dining table set were just right. I got in touch with M&S and asked if they had any furniture discount or outlet stores and they told me about Bucks Furniture warehouse in Deptford and another place in north Wales. Sadly the Bucks I knew is no more!
Now Bucks just happened to be a few miles away from our new home, …
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My love for Poundland
When I was a young child my mother would take me around this horrid shop in town and along to the markets. Neither the shop nor the markets exist any more, instead car parks and Iceland have taken their place.
The horrid shop was managed by a ghastly and rude man who obviously thought that we were going to steal his precious trashy products. My mother took me as she must have inherited the bargain gene which I also have. She would look for cheap scourers and kitchen goods, biscuits and beans. I would follow behind in the hope that maybe I would get a nice ribbon or sweet.
Now today, that shop and market have morphed into Poundland for me. My secret pleasure. The town I live in is fairly nice with barber jackets …
