5 frugal things I’ve done this week – 26 March 2017

Welcome to another edition of 5 frugal things I have done this week. What a week it has been! From a mini holiday to increasing my income, here are the 5 fabulously frugal things I have done this week.

Had a night away – on a budget

Lately I have been exhausted – we have a lot going on and most of March has passed in a blur. I decided to book us a night away in a hotel about an hour away for a bit of rest and relaxation. We had a fantastic time (which you can watch below) but we also managed to get a great deal. Hotels.com have a loyalty program, where for every 10 nights you stay, you get one night for free. We used this towards booking an executive suite and had a wonderful time away.

https://youtu.be/R5ET0TiO6FY

I baked a cake

This was such a simple task, but it didn’t cost us a thing because we had all the ingredients already in the house! It also felt really therapeutic to bake something from scratch.

I swapped my skills

My nephew has just opened a chiropractic clinic in Brampton near Huntingdon, and needed a website creating. I am honoured to have been approached by him and his fiancee, and in lieu of payment we’ve swapped our skills. They get a shiny new website and my husband, Tony, gets treatment from them. It is a win-win scenario and hasn’t cost me a penny, just a few hours of my time.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BR_MDnFFC5N/

I increased my side hustles

I have a lot of plans for 2017 that involve needing more money – I’m sure a lot of us do! I am using the 1% method to save up for my goals, but I need to increase my own personal income. It can be quite tough to figure out what is personal income and what is business income, but I think I finally have the balance right.

In order to earn more of my own, personal money, I have been selling items on Mercari, selling on eBay, selling on Facebook and delving into Betfair Trading. I have made over £100 from Mercari since it launched in the UK! So far this weekend I have earned £28 cash from Facebook, with lots of people due to collect items throughout this week.

Betfair Trading is a longer term side hustle that I am keen to get into. I’ve been watching videos and trying to learn more. I have a long way to go with this though!

I booked flights home from Orlando

Right…booking flights isn’t exactly frugal, but I managed it! We are taking my Dad on a transatlantic cruise later this year, and we end up in Orlando. I am so excited about showing my Dad around my favourite place ever – he’s even asked to see where Tony proposed.

Booking flights is a science that I haven’t quite nailed down, and I am usually a Virgin Atlantic snob. However, scouring Skyscanner, I found that we could fly home with Norwegian airlines for a fraction of the cost.

Three of us can fly premium economy (which means we get food and 2 suitcases each) for less than one of us can fly home with Virgin Atlantic. It was an absolute no brainer. I paid for my flights using a credit card which added about £30 to the price, and then paid the card off a few days later.

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

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