After the best part of 38 years on this planet I have seen and heard plenty of ridiculous things, but glueing your lip to create a trout pout has got to be up there with the best of them. Social media has so many things to answer for, but the filtered fuckery of ‘Perfect Appearance Land’ is by far the worse. Glueing your lip was previously known as gurning Whether you’re a fan of the National Gurning Championships, enjoyed a bit of Les Dawson back in the day, or spent enough time on the club scene to catch my drift – any of us could confirm that the new trend strikes a startling resemblance. B ..read more

I set up Thinking Thrifty in December 2015 with the aim of having something out there that would keep me accountable for my money and ridiculous spending habits. I didn’t think so many people would go on to read it at the time. The aim back then was to save for a mortgage deposit to buy our own house, unfortunately I fell completely in love with the area we live and the average house price around my part of Altrincham is roughly £350k. I’ve watched three houses on my street go for over £500k this year alone. Safe to say that deposit is now a distant dream and I swiftly refocused my efforts on ..read more

Working in the debt industry I speak to people day-in-day-out who are struggling to maintain their household finances and credit commitments. Illness, breakdown in relationships, lost jobs, failed business ventures, reckless spending or just a total lack of meaningful income – I’ve seen it all. However, whilst chained to my desk for an obscene amount the day, you can guarantee the same old companies will raise their head daily. The Cretin Crew who prey on the vulnerable and casually encourage us to take out a loan for just about everything. When you can’t get out of Argos without being pestere ..read more

I can feel the backlash coming, this could also be known as Scouse, Lobbies, potato hash amongst others depending on what part of the country you come from. It’s the whole barm / roll / cob debate all over again. It’s a barm for the record! In our house it’s hotpot, and without a single tweak to my grandma’s recipe it’s syn free and completely Slimming World friendly. You won’t need many ingredients which keeps the cost per head down, and depending on how you cook it you could be sat eating a tasty, wholesome meal perfect for the colder months within the hour. How to make syn free, Slimming Wo ..read more

Ryanair has changed its hand luggage policy again and there are a few things you should know if you want to avoid long queues and charges. The new Ryanair hand luggage changes kick in from November 1. After making numerous changes over the last few months it has become easier than ever to get caught out with too much baggage and paying an excess charge. Under the hand luggage rules, non priority customers will only be permitted to take on one carry bag onto the plane free of charge. If its got wheels its case regardless of the size and believe me when I say, arguing isn’t getting it on th ..read more

I love meatballs, but the shameless price of 5% fat beef mince has left me susceptible to hives, anxiety attacks and sudden fits of rage. On the bright side 5% fat pork mince remains as faithful to my pocket as ever. Make it into meatballs and serve it with this easy as fudge ragu and you’ve got a cheap as chips meal which is Slimming World friendly and completely syn free. Ingredients for Slimming World Friendly pork meatballs 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped 1 garlic clove, crushed 500g Passata 4 tsp olive oil (any oil will do) 2 level tsp dried oregano 500g 5% fat Pork Mince 25g fr ..read more

Tens of thousands of people on sickness benefits are set to receive backdated payments at an average of £5,000.  It is thought the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will have to pay anything up to £1.7bn in backdated payments and subsequent future adjustments due to the gross government error which has left many people living on the breadline and facing insolvency. Miscalculations were made when people were transferred onto the main sickness benefit, the Employment Support Allowance (ESA). Worse still, it appears neither the people receiving ESA nor the people responsible for dishing ..read more

If you’re considering borrowing it’s beneficial to be able to recognise the difference between good debt and bad debt. Whilst there are some things in life where taking out a debt can undoubtedly be a great investment in your long term financial well-being, there are others that can leave your long term outlook in tatters. Arming yourself with the knowledge will prevent you from ending up knee deep in the brown stuff further down the line. What is the difference between a good debt and a bad debt? What is a good debt? A simple explanation would be a sensible investment in your financial future ..read more

I’ve been on the look out for a tablet for a while and there wasn’t cat in hell’s chance I was ever going to shell out for an iPad, be it upfront or on a contract, that being said I didn’t want to end up with a cheap, unresponsive pile of shizzle either, so after many hours of deliberation I took the plunge on a Huawei T3 10 Media Pad. For the record I haven’t been paid for this post or received the tablet as a gift to review, this is my honest opinion based on spending my own cash! What I thought of the Huawei T3 10 Media Pad I have to admit, my only previous experience of tablets a ..read more

There are just eleven short weeks left until Christmas and it’s no exaggeration to say I’m excited as fudge. I bloody love it, this after spending many years as grumpy, sour faced Scrooge who couldn’t bear the sight of anything Christmas related at all, only to have a niece slapped on me in 2014 and hey presto, return of the big Christmas fairy! Considering Christmas is a fairly popular worldwide event that takes place on the same date every year, it’s funny how it manages to creep up on many of us every single year sending us into a wild panic. If you are serious about keeping the Christmas s ..read more