Miss Thrifty

A week in the life of “Austerity Britain”

Get help renewing your tax credits

The Central Office of Information’s social media agency (LOL) asked if they could pay me a little bit of taxpayers’ money to post this snappy video about renewing tax credits, to make sure that claimants don’t “lose out” or “have … Continue reading →

The best mortgage repayment calculator out there

Mortgage repayment calculators: ah, I’ve known a few. I ripped through them while compiling Miss Thrifty’s mortgage masterplan last year. Horrified that just £200 of our monthly mortgage payment was going towards the repayment of the principle amount, I worked … Continue reading →

The best of the money blogs – 8 June 2010

Miss Thrifty scored a triple whammy in the money carnivals last week: Introducing Erica’s Garden Pantry – and her pond bath was featured in the 232nd Festival of Frugality, hosted at Provident Planning. Miss Thrifty’s pick: the International Restaurant Tipping … Continue reading →

The six best money boxes on Etsy

Joining the Yakezie Network

I’m pleased to announce that as of today, Miss Thrifty is a proud member of the Yakezie blog network. Yakezie kicked off in America at the beginning of this year, founded by Financial Samurai and open to personal finance bloggers. … Continue reading →

Funding Miss Thrifty: a note on this blog and advertising

When this blog launched, it had no advertising. It now carries two advertisements: one to your right (Woolwich mortgages) and one to  your left (Halifax savings accounts). Truth be told, I’m not all that big on advertising. This is partly … Continue reading →

Income tax: are you due a refund?

Pay income tax? Fed up with paying income tax? Want to know if you’re due a refund? If your answers to the above questions fall into the Yes, Yes and Thrice Yes category, this missive from Miss Thrifty reader David … Continue reading →

Help! Frugality & the General Election 2010

Did you see the First Election Debate this week? I have racked up my No. 1 moment for you above (or here, if you cannot see the video). Gordon Brown said that we “cannot afford” to cut government spending – … Continue reading →

The 219th Festival of Frugality: The Ration Book Edition

Welcome to the 219th Festival of Frugality! We are on the right the other side of the pond this week so, as on previous occasions, I thought I’d go for a British theme. This time around we are looking at … Continue reading →

Carnival Procession

That free needlepoint pattern popped up in the latest Make It From Scratch carnival. The Financial Blogger featured the post about getting digital prints for free in the Festival of Frugality. As for those spare parts for kitchen appliances: they … Continue reading →

Festival of Frugality #200: The Fireworks Night Edition

Welcome to the (gasp) 200th edition of the Festival of Frugality! It is a milestone that calls for celebrations; hence all these fireworks. Actually, it’s the perfect time of year for a fireworks display. Diwali took place at the weekend; … Continue reading →

BeTheMiddleman.com – save money on estate agents’ fees

Here in Yorkshire there are plenty of entrepreneurs, plenty of people with big ideas and plenty of enthusiasm for saving cash. That’s a winning combination, in my book. It gives rise to super-thrifty initiatives such as BeTheMiddleman.com, a new property … Continue reading →

Carnival Procession

Blog carnivals: I loves them! Other personal finance bloggers were kind enough to feature some recent Miss Thrifty posts in carnivals last week. Cleaning silver – this one’s a beauty was featured in the 23rd Carnival of Pecuniary Delights, over … Continue reading →

Losing Face: How to Live Without Cash

Over at his Losing Face blog, James continues to document his life without cash. If you are unfamiliar with his story: James “gave up” on cash for a drunken bet. More than eighteen months later, armed with his trusty Visa … Continue reading →

W.I.N.N.E.R. on my Forehead

So there I am on Twitter, minding my own business and retweeting links to handsome competitions (if you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that I’m keen on comps), when I go and win one! Methinks my lucky karma must have been … Continue reading →