Money saving and romantic - the valentine's savers!

Okay, so we've probably all seen the funnies being passed round the internet about Valentine's day stuff . You know the kind of thing: budget supermarket range Valentine cards, or Valentine's graphics on shelves beside - ahem - slightly inappropriate products.

But while we obviously all want to get a gift that's special and hits that romantic spot, there's no reason to pay over the odds - so I was glad to see some great Valentine's Day 2012 offers on Martyn Lewis Money Saving Expert.

Happy Valentine's Day from us here at the blog - may your day be a romantic one!

Saving money on your health

We all want to save a bit of cash -and no wonder, what with all the talk of economies rumbling on every night on the news.

But sometimes in order to save a bit of cash, you need to spend a bit of cash. I suppose this is why insurance was invented. Imagine if you got landed with a big bill for something unexpected  like, I dunno, a tree fell on your roof or something. Now, had you not been insured - how you'd wish you'd made those smaller payments in order not to have to make that big payment for the roof man to come and make everything alright again.

So, when you're having a look at your finances, it's often best not just to think in terms of what you have and how it's managed - it's also a good idea to think about what you don't have and could be in need of. It could be a savings account or an insurance policy. of course if you're lucky enough to have a financial advisor then he or she would probably point out to you what needs to be done in terms of getting new financial products. For the rest of us though, it requires a bit of effort and concentration - but it can pay off.

The Supermarket Surf

One way of keeping it low price these days is to do the supermarket surf.

What this involves is going round your local supermarkets and cashing in on some of the special offers they have on a weekly basis - quite often there are real bargains to be had. If for instance they are doing a half price deal on pasta sauce in a jar (or something else that keeps well) you can pick up a few months' supply, and save a quite a bit of cash.

Of course, this method's only practicable if you live in the vicinity of a few supermarkets, or can reach them easily in your car.

The supermarket surf could almost be a new sport - saving you money and also keeping you fit as you push your trolley up and down the aisles in search of the special offers.

Why Lorraine Kelly's Fashion Awards Get Our Vote

Not many morning television hosts are as convincingly normal as Lorraine Kelly – and her show’s style awards prove this even further by focusing on nothing but high street fashion.

The Lorraine Show’s High Street Fashion Awards firmly refuses to mention expensive designers, instead concentrating on what can be bought for less on the high street. As you might expect at Cheapness Please, the affordable fashion category is the part that gets our vote and why not with companies like Peacocks, Primark and ASDA nominated.

During the economic downturn retailers like Peacocks have really upped their game when it comes to style and quality – and the frenzy for value for money clothing has introduced a new genre of bargain hunter, who demands value for money fast fashion trends without sacrificing on quality. Just look at Pearl Lowe for Peacocks collection to get an idea of how fashionable and high quality value for money clothing can be.

The Lorraine Show has always done well when it comes to demonstrating the latest designer looks for normal ladies – whether their catwalk conscious teens or older women unsure of what to wear to look stylish. And true to form, the Affordable Fashion category in the High Street Fashion Awards gives everyone who watches the show a chance to get involved, not just the small majority who can afford to shop in a few upmarket boutiques.

Yes, The High Street Fashion Awards are just what we like to see at Cheapness please – so keep it up Lorraine, and we’ll keep spreading the word on great value for money fashion stores.

Energy - smart monitors, and cheapness quests...

Nobody likes that moment when the quarterly utilities bill hits the mat. I think one reason for this is that we pay for our energy in arrears, and because much of the energy use is in the past, we can't quite remember what it is we're paying for. It's like a big shapeless lump of money hewn from the bank account every three months.

But that's all about to change with smart monitors - I tried one of these for the first time at the weekend, and I can safely say it will be a major contribution to money saving. Basically it lets's you know how much you're spending at any time. It gives a real insight into which appliances are easy on the juice, and which ones are costing you the money. Remember when your ma gave you a row that time you tried to dry a single pair of pants in the dryer? Well, she was justifiably angry - you'd just cost her at least 50p, you scoundrel.

With gas electricity suppliers providing these monitors on a pretty large scale these days, watch out for a new breed of energy savvy consumers emerging, and more and more tips being shared over the internet on how to save cash (e.g. off peak energy costs and so on).

Working Chic - new concept in women's clothes from Peacocks

Some interesting high street fashion news zips across the wires this week, as high street value fashion retailer Peacocks launches an interesting clothing collection called Working Chic.


It's a very clever name for the range, as it encapsulates what the collection is all about - namely: style for work.


The collection, incredibly, offers an entire working week's clothing - and here's the cool bit - at a cost of less than £20 per day. 


Working Chic includes a black pencil skirt with fitted cardigan, black dress with white trim, and with a truly contemporary touch, skinny jeans for dress down Friday.


There's more information on this collection over at fashion website StyleClone, who describe it as a range where "Each piece oozes sophistication"

Cheap eating

Cheap eating doesn't mean having a boiled egg for tea, especially now in the age of the internet coupon - where once there might have been a voucher to clip out of the newspaper every now and then, there's a whole host of generous offers for restaurants and cafes.

Then of course there's the supermarket value ranges. A lot of good stuff to be had there, and a lot of it comparable with the dearer stuff - factor in all the two for one deals etc in the supermarkets and there's a bit of cash to be saved on the shopping.

And if you're going to try and save some cash on the groceries, may as well try eating healthy and cooking simple pasta and stir fry dishes which often work out pretty cheap.

One of the main ways to save money on food is to think laterally, and buy foods that don't spend ages in the oven. This is in fact one of the reasons that stir-fry became so popular in Chinese households - legend has it that the fuel to cook the food was very expensive, so people favoured a cooking method that took as little time as possible - makes perfect sense. Why spend over the odds on cooking fuel when you can reserve your cash for some lovely noodles and vegetables, and maybe some soy sauce.

Vat Attack!

So, despite pre-election pledges, that's the VAT gone up, meaning that a fairly hefty 20% of certain types of purchase goes to the government. Whether this will haul the country from recession remains to be seen.

Yes, as Alan Sugar says at the start of every episode of the Apprentice, these are tough times economically. But the VAT rise doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to be too poor to afford anything. What I reckon it will mean is that manufacturers and retailers might have to absorb some of the VAT rise - I mean, how come designer clothing can go into a sale at half price?

Other not so great news is that rail fares have gone up, despite some of the UK's rail services being unarguably poor. Anyone who has travelled for more than an hour on most UK routes will have their story to tell.

So will 2011 be the enemy of cheapness? In some respects it looks like it, but if the retailers respond intelligently, it might not be so bad.

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