I'm a super-saver who pockets £600 a MONTH with easy cost-cutting hacks… it's amazing what people will give you for free

Scottish Sun

5 days ago

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A SUPER scrimper manages to save herself £600 a month with her savvy lifestyle.
To maintain her tight budget, she grows 85% of the food she eats, and even furnished her entire home for free.
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Sharon Shaw, 58, sells the eggs from her chickens to put towards other essentials
Credit: SWNS
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She grows food in her allotment to cut down on outgoing costs
Credit: SWNS
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Sharon uses an old-fashioned floor cleaner to cut down on electricity bills
Credit: SWNS
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Her bills come to just over £300 a month
Credit: SWNS
Sharon Shaw, 58 is proud to have cut her expenses to just over £300 a month.
It's part of a lifestyle that means not spending money on anything that isn't essential.
This included furnishing her home in Chorley, Lancashire, for free using Facebook Marketplace.
She even bagged herself a TV, sofa and king-sized bed worth £400.
She bought her four-bedroom home for just £21,500 in 1987, and paid off the mortgage in 2015.
The currently-unemployed mum-of-four has managed to cut her expenses to just £300 a month.
This includes £118 for gas, electric and water bills, while she spends just £40 on food she hasn't grown or got for free on the Olio app, as she otherwise shops in the reduced section.
She said: "I don't buy anything - everything is mostly free in my home.
"I use sites like Facebook Marketplace and food apps like Olio, which have changed my life. It's amazing, and you'd be surprised what you can get for free.
To cut down on food costs, she grows most of her own produce in an allotment, doesn't buy takeaways, and gets any remaining essentials from the reduced section.
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The allotment includes potatoes, plums, pears and apples, leaving her with "plenty of food".
She also has 10 hens which she collects eggs from, some of which she sells to put towards sugar and tea.
She said: "I make money from selling my eggs, and use the change to get small essentials like sugar and tea or my partner will drop sugar and tea bags round mine.
She added: "All the furniture in my home is free from Facebook Marketplace - including my bed, bedside table, and mirror."
Her savvy habits developed after she grew up in a family without much money.
Sharon adopted her mum Jean's mantra: "if you don't have it, make it", passing the Brownies group leader's message to her own children.
However, she said Philip, 37, Daniel, 33, Alex, 27, and Anna, 23, aren't a fan of her frugal lifestyle.
Sharon said: "They can't really understand it and they think I'm silly.
"I've tried to get them into my lifestyle, but they aren't.
"For Christmas and birthdays, I make all the cards and some of their presents.
"They do roll their eyes when they see that something has been made. I don't feel guilty at all, it is still a present."
Her inspiration also comes from The Good Life, a 1980s comedy in which the couple Tom and Barbara Good are self-sufficient.
She said that her partner Terry, 73, also struggles to adapt to the lifestyle.
"He thinks I'm mad. He can still see the logic in why I have to do what I do, but most of the time, he thinks it's a load of rubbish," she said.
Terry does help out with decorating the house, saving her even more money.
However, she's still looking for someone to re-tile her bathroom, which she's hoping to do for as cheap as possible.
She said: "If I need anything, I'll look online to see if anyone will give it to me for free.
"My house is furnished entirely from being resourceful - all the furniture in my rooms is either from free sites, given to me, or handmade."
Household bills are a somewhat unavoidable expense, although Sharon has found ways to cut down on these.
To save money on electricity she has swapped out her hoover for an old-fashioned Ewbank carpet sweeper; while she cuts down on heating costs by using blankets.
After Sharon's dad Frank, 85, passed away in April of this year she inherited three of his classic cars - a Citroen C1, Citroen ZX and Citroen CV2 - all worth £21,000 which she has kept for their sentimental value.
She also has a bike for shorter journeys.
Overall, she said her motto is "if you don't ask, you don't get", saying she has "no shame about asking for freebies".
Ultimately, "It's all about being resourceful. People waste so much money that it amazes me."
In addition to second-hand furniture, she gets most of her clothes from her daughter or for free on Facebook Marketplace.
She just wants to educate others on saving money as she is "proud" of her ways.