I’m one of the cheapest mums in the world, but we saved £24,000 with frugal tricks
WE all want to save money in the run up to Christmas.
And one mum thinks she has the answer to that – and it’s because of her incredibly cheap lifestyle.
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Melanie O’Brien, who shares two children with husband Shawn, has adopted a unique approach to life but claims it has saved her family almost £24,000.
Appears on TLC show Extreme cheap skates, Melanie and Shawn admitted that they do everything they can to make their lives cheaper – including washing their pots and pans in the wading pool water their children have already used.
“When the kids are outside playing in the pool, we can use that afterwards to help wash our dishes,” Shawn said.
“We save money on the water bill. We save money on the electric bill.
Read more money saving stories
‘Is this going to make us millionaires?
“Not necessarily, but it will help us spend that money on a better cause.”
Luckily, Shawn and Melanie share the same money-saving mentality.
So when the handles on their pots and pans broke, Shawn came up with an ingenious way around it.
“Sean and I agree that if we don’t have to buy anything new, we won’t,” Melanie said.
“And we will use what we have. That’s our lifestyle. That’s our way.
“Our pots and pans broke, the handles broke off.
“And instead of going out and buying brand new pots and pans, Sean created this wrench that doubles as a handle.
“And the duct tape protects my hands from burning.”
Thanks to their lifestyle, they have managed to save almost £24,000.
But they also had to sacrifice a lot, such as furniture.
Melanie took the camera into the lounge and showed off the footstool, daybed and beanbag, which cost just £39, instead of the £15,800 she says new furniture can cost.
Four cheap tricks for home renovation
You don’t have to spend a lot to give a room a new look. Here are five other home renovation tricks you can try.
Kitchen cabinets
One way to give your kitchen a complete transformation for less money is to change the look of the kitchen cabinets. There are many different vinyl claddings to choose from, and it’s a quick and easy way to update your home.
Handles
Another thing you can try that won’t break the bank is to change the handles. You can buy relatively cheap handles at hardware stores, or even at the thrift store. Adding new ones to your kitchen cabinets or doors in your home can be extremely effective.
Leftovers
Most of us have old, half-used paint cans in the garage, but they are often forgotten. However, there may be enough in the pot to paint a feature wall in another room, and you won’t have to spend a dime.
Free gifts
It’s worth checking your local Facebook Marketplace, or Freecycle, to see what other people are throwing away. As they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. And if someone is planning to give a room a new look, they may want to get rid of a sofa or a coffee table, which you could use to give a lounge a new look.
Despite the sparse furniture, she, Shawn and the children all spend “most of their time” in the living room.
And Shawn is a pro at coming up with clever hacks to solve household problems.
When the shower broke, he decided to use an empty liquor bottle, which he “attached to the shower head” and poked holes in it.
“And now we have a brand new shower head,” Melanie said as she demonstrated the “shower” in action.
The comments section was almost immediately filled with people chiming in, with one writing: “Wait, you wash your dishes in the kiddie pool where the kids jump in and out?”
“I don’t get cheap bets,” sighed another.
“What are you keeping all this money for if you’re not even going to use it?”
“Honey, FB marketplace is a thing!! £20 I paid for my sofas!” a third laughed.
As someone else wrote, “I’d rather have no money and a nice lifestyle than spend my life like this and have money for when I’m dead.”
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