Five little things that have saved us money this week {22nd May 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! 

You might want to grab a drink and a snack for this week’s post as it’s a looooong one! 🥤🍰

1) Last week I bought a car which I am fully aware might not seem like it’s saving money but bear with me here… 

I haven’t driven very much for the last six months but now that I’m allowed to drive again and I’m back at work, I’m really conscious of the miles that I drive and the ever-increasing cost of fuel. I drive a 50 mile round trip to work at least twice a week and I live a 35 mile round trip from the kids so I do that journey a couple of times a week too. 

My little VW bug was a petrol drinker and at best, could manage 30 mpg on a good day and at times, I was seeing a ridiculously low 25 mpg but I loved her that much that I put up with that and used our other car where I could for journeys that I knew would be rough on fuel.  There’s also the fact that the car tax was £36 a month which, added to the fuel costs, meant that it was a VERY expensive car to run. 

A new car made sense financially but not emotionally so it took me a while to make the decision but when I did, I listed her on Marketplace for more than she was worth with the thinking that only people who really wanted her would message me. 

Looking back now, I just didn’t want to keep her and that was my way of delaying the sale! 😁 

We ended up accepting an offer which was more than double what we paid for her and more just as important (to me), to someone who has wanted one for a long time. Just like me before I got her which made me happy and helped me when she was driven away. 

To replace her, I knew I wanted something much more fuel efficient and cheaper to run and I also knew there was no real point in us having two big cars, so I wanted something smaller and more practical for everyday driving.  I’m not bothered about fancy extras in a car and I definitely don’t need power so when I spotted this little Audi Q2, I knew straight away that it was going to be coming home with us.

It’s the perfect size for me and is lovely to drive but it’s not only that, it also feels like a bit of a moment for a personal celebration. 

I had a little Audi A1 when I first met my partner and was gutted when it was stolen but even more gutted when I found out from the police that it was likely stolen to order as there was a trend in our area at the time. I decided that I didn’t want a new car anymore and even though the car was recovered a month later, for various reasons, the car was written off by the insurance company so I was able to pay off the finance and haven’t had what most people would consider a ‘nice’ car since then.  I mean, I’ve loved the cars I’ve had but no-one was going to be stealing them in a hurry. 😁

While I was ill, I decided that no-one should have control over any decisions that I make in my life, let alone some faceless thief so an Audi A1 was top of my list when I was car shopping! My partner is pretty tall though so he struggles to get in and out of that size car though so we tried out a few different cars and this was our compromise. It’s still small but not the smallest so if I need to be driving the big car for whatever reason then he can still comfortably(ish) drive this one. 

So far, the highest it’s got to is 48 mpg which is so much higher than the max on my bug. In fact, based on 30 mpg vs 48 mpg and two trips to work and two trips to see the kids each week then that is a saving of about £19 a week on fuel based on current prices. Add to that, the difference in car tax and it was definitely the right decision. 

I was also a bit cheeky before I signed anything and asked if they would throw in a free tank of petrol which they agreed to so it came with a full tank and they also gave me some lovely gifts when they dropped the car off for me…

Flowers and a travel mug to celebrate new car day! 

2) We’ve been using Sprive on any purchases we make at places who are listed on the app because, even though it’s small amount each time, it’s literally free money and it adds up.

For example, this week we went to the cinema and I booked the tickets in the car on the way there. I got to the check out page to see exactly how much it was going to be and then took 30 seconds to buy a gift card on Sprive for that amount and used that to pay. 

It took me no time at all and cost nothing at all to do but we got cashback of £1.05 which is paid towards our mortgage and will save £1.10 in interest which gives us an overall saving of £2.15. A teeny tiny amount in the grand scheme of things but add to that the amounts we get as cashback from our weekly shopping and anything else we can do and we’re overpaying our mortgage by at least £20 a month just doing this which, according to the MSE mortgage over payment calculator will mean that we will be paying the mortgage off 10 months earlier. 

3) I’ve made it part of my morning routine to sit on the settee and relax for just a few minutes with a drink to set me up for the day. While I’m sat, I enjoy watching the birds come and visit our little bird cafe – especially love when our robin comes for his daily breakfast snack. 

I’m not a fully fledged bird watcher or anything but I do like to see how the different birds deal with things differently.

We have the delicate robins who take their time, the blackbirds who come and take something like they’re being chased, the pigeons who are so clumsy and fly into the feeders so food falls to the floor and every now and again we get some smaller birds who are so delicate and just hover while they eat. 

I keep our bird feeders topped up but word must have spread in the bird world as they’re emptying quicker now than they did before so I decided this week to bulk buy my suet pellets rather than buy the smaller packs that I was buying before which saves a few pounds. 

I also refilled my own homemade bird feeder mugs this week as the birds love them and they cost very little to make – I think they’re around 30-35p each which is so much cheaper than the shop bought versions and I used my cute little bird mugs to put them in which I think looks good. 

It’s a simple pleasure and all the more enjoyable because it doesn’t cost a fortune. 😁

4) I’m being really good with drinking water lately which is definitely cheaper than my old Pepsi Max habit! 

The kids bought me a big cup as a present a little while ago as I told them that the doctor told me to drink more water and I’m at the point now where I can easily drink 3 of these a day. 

I noticed that Miss Frugal carries hers with her when she comes round and when she goes to work which has encouraged me to do the same so this last couple of weeks it’s been my little travel buddy. It saves so much money and on the medication that I’m on at the moment, if I don’t drink more than 2 litres a day then I could have issues. 😁

5) And actually looking at that photo above, you can see something else we’ve done that’s saved us money this week… our little battery charger! 

Just a small thing but by having a stack of rechargeable batteries and a charger for them, we save a fortune on batteries and never don’t have one when we need it. 

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

Don’t miss out on future posts like this – receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address here and hitting subscribe. You can also follow me on Twitter and I’d love to see you over on my Facebook page and on Instagram. If you’re interested, you can find out more about me here and while I’ve got your attention, if you’re wondering why some of my posts lately are a little bit less frugal then have a read of this post. 😉

Do your future self a favour – Pin this post for later.