Cheap clothes

One area of cheapness that's a constant fascination for me is cheap clothes. And luckily there are a lot of avenues to explore these days in terms of auction sites, second hand shops and so on. There's also some very good stuff on the high street too.

Why spend extra on clothes, especially when what you are buying is for a temporary situation e.g kid's clothes they'll grow out of soon enough, maternity clothes,  and so on.

And this is also the time of year when a few extra bargains could be had - what with all the snow that's been falling for weeks, it looks like the retailers haven't had as many shoppers in as normal for this time of year - which could well end up meaning pre-Christmas discounts. Yay...!

Assembling your own house might sound a bit too good to be true, but maybe one day that will be a good low cost way to live.

It's something that's been around in one form or another for a while, although maybe not in a snap-together way like this. The continuous advances in 3D printing and digital design will surely mean that the instant house is not far off.

Cheapness in finance

The how to save on financial products theme is one that you'll see referred to time and time again in the money sections of the newspapers. Things like how to make sure you transfer your credit card so that you can get a time of interest free credit, and so on. There will also be plenty of advice from the money pages on cheap bank loans.

But one area not so much talked about in terms of savings to be made is PMI (private medical insurance). This may be because people aren't aware that there are different types of policy to suit your needs, including ones where you go NHS and if the NHS wait is too long, then for eligible treatment you go private.

Individual health insurance and other types of insurance are worth checking out, or if you already hold policies it might be an idea to see what you are covered for and think about whether you need more or less cover. For instance if you have no dependants you may not need life assurance and so on.

Another are of finance to look out for is savings accounts - the interest amounts on these can vary enormously, so don't settle for a savings account that pays less. Get on the internet and find out who is offering the best product for your needs.

Pearl Lowe for Peacocks

The widely-anticipated  Pearl Lowe Christmas collection for leading value clothing retailer Peacocks launched online and in their stores  on Sunday to a fair bit of media attention. The collection, Pearl Lowe's fourth designing for Peacocks clothes, sees the one-time indie singer really consolidate her position as a designer.

Before Lowe's work with Peacocks, she used to make lace dresses for herself as a hobby. It wasn't long until her celebrity friends, who include Kate Moss and Sadie Frost, were asking her to make garments for them. Now it looks like  thousands of people in the UK (and further afield) are desperate to get their hands on one of her brilliant designs.

The Times featured Daisy Lowe modeling the ‘50s-style black lace prom dress, which they described as the most sought-after piece in the range this week - as many other fashion editors also felt the pearl Lowe effect.

All proof that value doesn't have to be anything less than perfectly stylish when it comes to clothes...

Cheap food: aglio e oglio

A lot of world cuisines are actually from times of yore when nobody had much cash. So, a peasant's meal in Scotland would have been oysters and maybe a glass of wine. In Italy, there were centuries of refinement in terms of making food, meaning that Italian regional food is almost infinitely varied and all delicious.

And if you're looking for inexpensive nutritious food, forget ready packaged meals and start cooking up some Italian - style dishes.

One of the most simple Italian pasta dishes - aglio e oglio - is incredibly simple. It's just spaghetti with oil and garlic. You could also add some flaked chilli to it to spice it up. Recipes for this simple but tasty meal can be found in the cookbooks of a lot of famous television chefs.

Aglio e oglio - it's a winner.

Welcome to Cheapness Please

Hi and welcome to our blog. The ethos of this blog is simple and very straightforward - we aim to find cheapness. Not cheapness for the sake of cheapness, but good value for money.

In these credit crunch times we feel that a lot of businesses don't sell quite as cheap as they could do. So our task is finding the ones that we feel present an honest bargain.


Cheap doesn't mean you can't still be a snob about quality. In fact, it's our belief that only the true discerning people can spot great value for money. Why pay extra when you don't have to?



We welcome suggestions for money saving, cheapness and general good value. Spotted a great inexpensive restaurant or a cool low price shop? Get in touch.

Bye for now :)

Mr & Mrs Cheapness