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The Sun
07-07-2025
- Business
- The Sun
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
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. 4 4 4 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. Free data roaming abroad and HUGE council tax bill reductions 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.
The Sun
06-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Sun
I love being a cheapskate – I only drink tea at work as it's free and use rain water to flush my loo to save on my bills
A FRUGAL mum has shared the five ways she cuts costs in her day-to-day life. From stocking up on free food, to never drinking tea at home, the 32-year-old has saved so much money she is now mortgage-free. 2 As a self-described 'cheapskate,' she revealed five habits that stop her spending. Taking to social media, she said: "Here's 5 things I did today as a cheapskate to either save me money or stop me spending money." She revealed she woke up and headed out straight away to pick up a bag of free food through the Olio app. The savvy woman managed to pick up some bread, fruit and salad which she used to make an egg sandwich with the eggs her chicken laid. To add to her income, she also sold items on Vinted but refused to fork out for packaging, instead using boxes or bags she had lying around her home. She also revealed she bought some period pants to save on buying sanitary products every month. "It's one of those sustainable swaps I'd been putting off because it costs money to buy them in the first place," she added. The frugal woman also revealed that her loo was currently broken and wouldn't flush, so she had to use a bucket of rain water to get it working. "Of course the cheapskate in me loves this because we're not using paid-for water to flush the toilet, we're using rainwater," she added. And last but not least, the money-saving fanatic revealed that she never buys tea or coffee at home and waits until she is at work to have one as the company pays for it. I used cheap Temu tiles to get a herringbone bathroom while saving for a reno - they're good as new 4 months later She added: "Now that I'm at work I'm taking full advantage of the free coffee, I've said before I don't drink tea or coffee or anything other than water when I'm at home but when I'm at work and it's free I might as well." The clip was shared on her TikTok account @ diaryofacheapskate and went viral with over 435k views and 12k likes. People were quick to take to the comments and many claimed the mum had gone overboard with her frugal lifestyle. One person wrote: "You work and you have an extra income. Yes olio is for all but someone might genuinely have nothing and that bag of food could have gone to someone less fortunate than yourself!" Here's how to cut the cost of your grocery shop SAVING on your shop can make a big difference to your wallet. Here are some tips from about how you can cut the cost of your shopping bills: Write yourself a list – Only buy items that you need. If it isn't on your list, don't put it in the trolley Create a budget – Work out a weekly budget for your food shopping Never shop hungry – you are far more likely to buy more food if your tummy is rumbling Don't buy pre-chopped veggies or fruit – The extra they'll charge for chopping can be eye watering Use social media – follow your favourite retailers to find out about the latest deals Be disloyal – You may want to go to different stores to find the best bargains Check the small print – It's always worth checking the price per kg/lb/litre when comparing offers so you're making a like for like decision as a bigger box won't necessarily mean you get more Use your loyalty cards – Don't be afraid to sign up to them all. They all work slightly differently – work out what bonus suits you better and remember to trade in your points for additional rewards Another commented: 'Why won't you drink tea or coffee at home? We're allowed a little treat you know." "If it involves a water bucket for the toilet, you know you're pushing it too far," penned a third. Meanwhile a fourth said: "May this lifestyle never find me." "Wowza, this would send me insane,' claimed a fifth. Someone else added: 'This isn't living."
