Five little things that have saved us money this week {12th June 2026}….

Every week I share five small things we’ve done to save a bit of money, make life easier or help us spend more intentionally.

None of them are usually huge on their own, but that’s kind of the point. Those small choices add up over time and give us more room for the things that really matter — whether that’s days out, holidays, home projects, treats we’ll actually enjoy or just a bit more breathing space in the budget.

Hey! 

1) We were pottering about in the garden the other evening trying to decide what to do with ourselves. We’d both fancied getting out of the house for a bit but it was getting later in the day and we couldn’t quite decide where to go.

In the end, completely on the spur of the moment, we decided to head up to Captain Cook’s Monument to watch the sunset. 😁

We used to go up there quite regularly because it’s a much easier climb than Roseberry Topping but still enough of a challenge to make you feel like you’ve earned the view when you get to the top.  We haven’t been up there since before I was poorly though and honestly, it came as a bit of a shock just how hard I found it this time around. What used to feel like a fairly straightforward climb had me questioning my life choices more than once on the way up. 😂

The views were absolutely worth it in the end though and there was something quite lovely about being back up there after so long. 

We took a bottle of water each with us and on the drive over, we messaged the kids to see if they wanted to meet us there and the stars aligned as both of them were not only free but in the mood for a family outing so half an hour after deciding to do it, we were heading up from the car park with the kids. 

We could have easily spent £20 or £30 on a couple of hours out without really thinking about it. We’d talked about going bowling and we’d also considered walking to the pub for a pint, both of which would have involved spending money but instead, we ended up doing something that cost next to nothing and gave us much better memories.

2)  My radishes were finally ready to harvest this week which felt like quite an achievement considering I’m not exactly known for my gardening skills.

I’d planted them with visions of making lovely homegrown salads using my rocket, tomatoes and freshly picked radishes. In my head, I was basically living some sort of Good Life lifestyle.

Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that I don’t actually like radishes. 😁

The good news is that they grew really well and cost very little to grow, so I don’t feel too bad about the experiment. I’d much rather discover that from a packet of seeds than after buying bunches of them every week from the supermarket.

On the plus side, the rocket has been a much bigger success and I’ll definitely be growing that again.

3) Twice this week, I’ve dragged my bike out and gone for a bike ride into the village rather than drive when I needed some bits from the shops. 

It only took a few extra minutes, cost me nothing and meant I got a bit of exercise at the same time. It’s funny how quickly we can get into the habit of using the car for every little journey when sometimes the simplest option is actually the better one. 😁

I managed a quick stop off at the duck pond before heading home which is always good for my brain as it relaxes me. 

4) I think this might only look appealing to me, but I made what can only be described as a “fridge bottom teriyaki” this week using various bits and pieces that needed using up before they ended up in the bin.  I had some leftover chicken, a handful of cherry tomatoes, some peas and a few green beans lurking in the fridge, so I threw them all into a pan with some teriyaki sauce and served it with cauliflower rice.

It probably wouldn’t make it onto the menu of any fancy restaurant, but it tasted good and, more importantly, it stopped a load of perfectly good food from being wasted. That’s always a win in my book. 😁

5) One bit of house move admin that I’d completely forgotten about was updating my details on the electoral roll. It’s one of those jobs that takes about five minutes to do but somehow managed to sit on my to-do list for months.

I finally got around to sorting it this week which means one less thing on the never-ending list of jobs that seem to come with moving house. It didn’t save me any money directly, but it did save me from having to deal with potential issues further down the line when it comes to things like credit checks and proving my address.

There you go, hope you enjoyed seeing what I’ve been getting up to this week!

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