The Diary of a Frugal Family | Living a Fabulously Frugal Family Life

7 Best Mental Wellness Apps for 2026….

45612Leave a Comment2026-05-12+08%3A50%3A14Cassandra May 12, 2026 By Cassandra
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The online world is packed with wellness apps promising calmer minds, better habits and instant peace, yet anxiety and burnout levels — especially among younger adults — are still incredibly high. With hundreds of new wellbeing apps launching all the time, finding one that genuinely helps rather than just looks good on social media can feel overwhelming.To separate the genuinely useful tools from the gimmicks, we looked at the things that actually matter: clinical backing, practical features, privacy, accessibility and whether people continue using the app long enough to see real benefits. … [Read more...]

From the garden to the kitchen: Mint (and a lot of it)….

45331Leave a Comment2026-05-11+09%3A44%3A12Cassandra May 11, 2026 By Cassandra
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I don’t know how it happened, but I seem to have a mint plant that is growing quicker than the beanstalk in Jack and the Beanstalk. Every time I look at it there’s more of it, and I’m at the point where I feel like I have an unlimited supply so I'm starting to use it in more than just my daily mint and orange water which is actually the reason that I grow mint in the first place.My mint plant is absolutely thriving at the moment and the four or five leaves that I've been picking each day for my water aren't making a dent in it so I've been thinking about what else I can do with it to use … [Read more...]

Small moments of calm lately….

45336Leave a CommentSmall+moments+of+calm+lately....2026-05-10+15%3A51%3A50Cassandra May 10, 2026 By Cassandra
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The last six months has been far from ideal but now that I’m feeling so much better, I can appreciate the things that I’ve learned while I’ve not been very well and one thing I’ve really come to understand is that the quiet, calm moments in life are what makes me happiest 😍The run up to moving house was stressful and chaotic and if you add that to the fact I wasn’t well, you can probably imagine what that period of life felt like. And then when we actually moved, with the house being an old Victorian that needs work doing in every room, I had list upon list detailing all of the … [Read more...]

Instant Pot Chicken and Rice….

309701 CommentInstant+Pot+Chicken+and+Rice....2026-05-09+11%3A50%3A37Cassandra May 9, 2026 By Cassandra
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This Instant Pot chicken and rice recipe is one of those meals that I still think about, which probably sounds a bit dramatic considering we’re talking about rice in a bowl, but honestly, it was that good.I don’t actually have my Instant Pot anymore, which is one of those practical decisions that made sense at the time but still makes me a bit sad. We simply didn’t have the space for it in our old house, so it had to go, but I really do miss it. There were a few things I made in it regularly, but this chicken and rice was the one meal that everyone loved and the one I could make without … [Read more...]

What’s growing in my garden {May 2026}….

454711 Comment2026-05-08+11%3A00%3A55Cassandra May 8, 2026 By Cassandra
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One of the things I love most about our new house is the garden, which already feels like it has the potential to become such a lovely space for us. It’s probably my favourite part of the house, if I’m honest, and ever since we moved in I’ve been itching to get out there properly. I want to learn more about the plants that are already here, work out what needs a bit of love, and slowly start putting my own stamp on what is clearly an established garden, even if it has been a little bit neglected.The plan is to share a monthly “what’s growing in our garden” post so I can keep track of what … [Read more...]

Five Frugal Things we did this week {8th May 2026}….

45446Leave a Comment2026-05-08+10%3A21%3A48Cassandra May 8, 2026 By Cassandra
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Every week I share five frugal things that I've done during the previous week just to show you that the small things you do all add up to a great frugal lifestyle where you can learn to live a fabulously frugal life. Hey!1) This first one is one of those where I feel obliged to say (again) that saving money isn't about being 'tight' or about not buying the things you want to buy - it's simply about saving money where you can so you have more money to spend on the things you want to spend money on. Unfortunately, the 'Diary of a family who spend intentionally as they like … [Read more...]