Five little things that have saved us money this week {30th October 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.

I genuinely can’t believe we’re at the end of October already. It feels like Halloween has crept up on me this year and now we’re just days away from November which means Christmas isn’t all that far away either. 😉

I’ve had a pretty good week when it comes to saving money though, with a few little bargains, some cooking and a couple of things around the house that will hopefully help us keep our heating bills down now that it’s getting colder.

I bought Halloween treats while they were on offer

I bought some treats for the trick or treaters when we spotted some on offer in Tesco earlier in the week.

It’s our first Halloween in this house so I’ve got absolutely no idea how many trick or treaters we’re likely to get. I didn’t want to go completely overboard and end up with loads left over, so I just bought what I think should be enough.

And if we do run out, I’ve already printed out some of my no trick or treating Halloween posters ready to stick on the door.Our doorbell is ridiculously loud and plays a full-on tune every time someone rings it, so once the treats are gone I’d quite like to avoid hearing that every five minutes for the rest of the night. 😂

I stocked up on cheap corned beef

We love corned beef hash but I absolutely refuse to pay £4.20 a tin for corned beef, especially because when I make it, I usually do a huge batch in the slow cooker and that would take two tins. 😉

This week we spotted some at our local farm shop for £2 a tin with a use-by date at the end of October, so I grabbed a couple while they were there. That’s less than half the usual price and as I knew exactly what I was going to make with them, I was happy to buy them so close to their date.

Right now I’ve got a big batch bubbling away in the slow cooker. We’ll have some for tea tomorrow night and I’m going to freeze the rest in portions for another day.

And yes, I did Google whether it was safe to freeze it because I wasn’t taking any chances. 😂 It’s absolutely fine as long as it’s eaten the same day it’s defrosted, so future me has a couple of very easy teas sorted too.

I made a bargain butternut squash pasta for lunch

I picked up a bag of reduced butternut squash pieces for just 78p this week and I was really pleased with that little bargain. I love these bags of pre-prepared vegetables as they save so much time and there’s less waste because you’re only buying what you’re going to use rather than buying a whole butternut squash and potentially ending up with more than you need.

I had some wholewheat pasta in the cupboard and the last of a red onion sitting in the fridge so I decided to make myself a butternut squash pasta for lunch. I seasoned the squash with some chipotle chilli powder and garlic powder from my spice cupboard and roasted it with the red onion until everything was nice and soft.

While that was cooking, I boiled the pasta and then used some of the roasted squash to make a creamy sauce, leaving the rest in chunks to mix through the pasta.

They’re much nicer than keeping everything in the original bottles and I think the homemade drinks are going to look amazing in them over Christmas. I’m really pleased with them and for just over £4, I think they’re a bit of a bargain.

I’ve started doing a few little things to keep the heat in

We’ve definitely noticed the house feeling colder this week, so I’ve started doing a few little things to make sure we’re keeping as much heat in as possible.

I’m definitely not one of those people who will sit at home freezing just to avoid putting the heating on, so if the house is cold then the heating is going on. I just don’t want to be paying to heat the house and then letting all that lovely warm air escape if I can help it.

This week I’ve started closing the curtains earlier, the draught excluder is back in place in the utility room where you can really feel the cold air coming in from the garage, and I’ve put a cardigan over the back of my office chair so I can throw it on if I’m feeling a bit chilly while I’m working.

I don’t know how much difference these things actually make to our heating bills but they take next to no effort and if they help us keep the house warmer for longer then I’m happy with that.

And that’s my five for this week. I’m hoping to get a few more things crossed off my to-do list over the weekend but I’m also planning on making some time to just enjoy being at home because I feel like we’ve been so busy lately.

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