Thrifty Fashion

HOW TO: clean leather gloves

I turned to my pocket bible, Make Do And Mend, to find out how to clean my leather gloves. The step-by-step instructions got those gloves looking like new again. Get the lowdown >>

Miss Thrifty10 January 27, 2014

Thrifty Home

Five thrifty uses for a potato

Here are five money-saving uses for a potato. These are tips I have tried and tested. They don’t include making vodka. I wouldn’t want to blind you. Get the lowdown >>

Miss Thrifty10 January 8, 2014

make do and mend upcycle

Thrifty Fashion

Make Do And Mend: Three Ideas For Upcycling (VIDEO)

1. Turn a shirt into a dress, skirt or top. You need to be a skinny minnie for this. You also need a man’s shirt in XL or above. But if you meet these criteria, there are so many possibilities… … Get the lowdown >>

Miss Thrifty3 June 20, 2012

Thrifty Outings

Mr Straw’s House

Mr Straw’s House is my favourite National Trust property. I was going to list it as one of the highlights when the National Trust gave everyone free entry recently, but it’s one of those places where visits have to be … Get the lowdown >>

Miss Thrifty7 May 17, 2012

make do and mend

Thrifty Fashion

Make Do And Mend: Tips on taking care of clothes

Make Do And Mend was published by the UK Ministry of Information in 1943 at a time when clothing was rationed. It aimed to help housewives spruce up their wartime wardrobes and reuse every last scrap of material they had. … Get the lowdown >>

Miss Thrifty8 April 29, 2012

vacuum world

Thrifty Home

Vacuum World: don’t buy a new vacuum, buy a vacuum part

I’ve just had a delivery from Vacuum World: a website filled to bursting with spare parts for just about every vacuum cleaner you can imagine. It carries more than 1,000 products for 30 different brands, from Hoover, Vax and Panasonic … Get the lowdown >>

Miss Thrifty3 April 10, 2011

Personal Finance

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 … Get the lowdown >>

Miss Thrifty29 March 2, 2010

Thrifty Holidays

Planning to leave the house at any point? This post is for you.

South of the Watford Gap? If you are in or around London at 6:30 pm on Thursday 24 February, stylist Hannah J is running a Make Do and Mend workshop on Brick Lane. The tickets are £25 each, which I … Get the lowdown >>

Miss Thrifty2 February 19, 2010

Thrifty Home

New Year’s resolutions: more blogging, less waste, garden makeover.

It’s New Year’s resolution time. Whirling dervish: on your marks, get set, go! 1. More blogging. I’m going to have more time to blog in 2010: I’ll be blogging on the same range of thrifty subjects, but more frequently. This … Get the lowdown >>

Miss Thrifty8 January 2, 2010

Thrifty Home

Broken cooker, fridge, lawnmower or washing machine? Buy a spare part

Next time your cooker, fridge, lawnmower or washing machine breaks, don’t buy a new one. Buy a spare part, and fit it yourself. We did this a while back, when our fan-assisted oven became a fan-unassisted oven. We couldn’t get … Get the lowdown >>

Miss Thrifty5 November 19, 2009

Thrifty Home

Ripening green tomatoes, the 1940s way.

It’s getting nippy, isn’t it? The tomato plants in our back garden were still laden with unripened fruit, and I didn’t want to waste it. So this evening I went outside and picked it all in (left). This year we … Get the lowdown >>

Miss Thrifty14 October 6, 2009

Thrifty Christmas

Furoshiki: a neat Christmas wrapping idea

I’m thinking about trying out Furoshiki gift wrapping this year. It’s simple (well, the finished results look simple), pretty and the wrapping can be recycled.  You use squares of fabric, rather than spangly paper and ribbons. Check it out: Furoshiki gift … Get the lowdown >>

Miss Thrifty7 December 12, 2008

make do and mend

Thrifty Fashion

Make Do And Mend: Vogue for the credit crunch bunch

  Doesn’t this book look marvellous? Make Do And Mend was published in the UK in 1943, by the Ministry of Information, at a time when food and clothes were rationed. The Make Do And Mend slogan summed up British … Get the lowdown >>

Miss Thrifty29 September 30, 2008