After my comparison of both ISAs to help buy your first home, I personally decided I want to transfer from a Help to Buy ISA to a Lifetime ISA. People have always mentioned the latter to me, but I only realised the benefits when I researched it further. For this reason, I have decided to write this guide for you as I go along the journey myself. The Frugal Frenchie A quick summary of both ISAs There is a wide range of places where you can open different types of ISAs. Please be wary that despite all governmental schemes providing the same government benefits, interest rates vary depending on ..read more

A level results have just passed. It can be a scary time, whether you’re now starting full-time work, or going to university or other educational routes. It can be intimidating and if you’re anything like me, you may still be wanting those revision tips and techniques to get you going. If you’re just coming into A levels now, these will be good to implement in the upcoming years. Good luck! The Frugal Frenchie Different types of revision techniques Mindmapping If you’re anything like me, I’m not creative in the slightest and would spend more time trying to make my mindmap presentable than pu ..read more

As I’m writing this on a Thursday, I thought I’d do a little throwback post! My boyfriend did the ultimate 350 euro side hustle a few years back; (spoilers) it involved surgery! As it’s quite an unusual and unique experience, I managed to convince him to write his experience down for you. Hope you enjoy it!  The Frugal Frenchie  Relaxing between scansI was a Guinea pig!  There are plenty of ways to earn money but I took part in a more controversial side hustle. I was a guinea pig for a science experiment. This might sound kind of weird, but it was relatively easy and I earned a good amount ..read more

After taking a particularly keen interest in houses, mortgages and saving, I thought it’d be interesting to hear from Alice, who went through buying a house in 20s! Read on to find out about her story then give this post some love. The Frugal Frenchie Introducing myself Hi, I’m Alice from the blog Alice In Sheffield. I blog about all thing’s Sheffield: from places to go to things to eat along with general posts about living life as a millennial girl and how I’m managing that. I think most millennials struggle with the world we live in now, we seem to have it harder getting mortgages, jobs an ..read more

I’ve recently cashed out £50 from online surveys. Once it hit my bank account, I knew it was a genuine side hustle and wanted to share it with you! Without further ado, here’s all you need to know about how to make money with YouGov surveys. The Frugal Frenchie What is YouGov? YouGov is a survey site which allows you to take part in polls, surveys and gives you the option to enter competitions to win money with the points you earn. You can also earn extra points through their referral programme. Finding and completing available surveys Although you can check manually yourselves, you do get c ..read more

In the UK, there are two government initiatives to help first-time buyers: to give you an overview, I shall be comparing Lifetime ISA vs. Help to Buy ISA. I hope this helps with your decision making and that you open what’s best for you! The Frugal Frenchie The following criteria are things I thought about when comparing the two, but it is also important to do your own research before opening up these accounts, especially as you can only have one. For more information, the following links will take you to the governmental pages for Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy ISA. How much can you save? Life ..read more

When first thinking about getting on the property ladder, it’s easy to think you’re almost there once you’ve saved a deposit. This isn’t always the case, however. Read on for criteria to see if you’re ready to buy a house! The Frugal Frenchie Debt Unfortunately, in the UK, it is quite common for people to have student debt. One might have other debt too, which are more detrimental to themselves in terms of buying a house. Do you have a high amount of the following? Maintenance loans Credit card debts Auto loans Personal loans Fines Store credit card repayments If you are struggling to pay off ..read more

ISAs stand for individual savings account. There are several different types and you can open them up in a variety of places. It can easily be daunting as to where to look or where to find the best deal, so here’s a quick overview of where to open ISAs. This will be the first in a dozen or so posts I have written regarding mortgage help, so please keep a look out for those also. The Frugal Frenchie The different types of ISAs Before talking to you about opening an ISA, it may be helpful for you to learn a little bit about the different types: Cash ISAs – these are essentially your normal ..read more

I had never visited a for-sale house before. Even when my parents were moving from their flat to the house we currently live in, I was too young to have any recollection of it. I was hoping that I’d feel at ease when looking around, but safe to say she was a hopeless estate agent… The Frugal Frenchie The booking I had been looking on Rightmove for absolute ages. With graduation dawning and no solid plans (not confirmed ones at least), I was debating the idea of buying to rent for a few years until my boyfriend graduates in 2021. I had set myself a tight budget and had rather generic criteria ..read more