Tips for a luxurious feeling lifestyle on a modest budget

[pengwig]

After reading a few threads on the cost of living I wondered if we could share tips for living a like that feels luxury on a bit of a budget?

My tips are home baking, even simple easy to make cakes are much nicer than even expensive store bought and served with a nice pot of tea or a coffee at home is more affordable and enjoyable than paying for a dried out, bought in cake sold in most cafes for 4 times the price.

Also instead of expensive candles I either use a little portable essential oil diffuser with essential oils or wax melts. I burn them in the hall and they seem to fragrance he whole house really nicely without being too strong.

Any other tips?

Fresh flowers in the house - a simple supermarket bunch is fine, they don't have to be fancy. Or cut stuff from the garden when you can. I always feel a bit fancy when I have flowers in the house.

Magazine subscription. It's a lovely inexpensive treat when it arrives once a month and some of the subscription deals are really good value for money.

Learn to do your own nails. So much money saved and you can do a decent job if you practice.

I like to go to charity shops and pick up pretty candle holders.

I love to have bottle of port in the house in autumn/winter and it works out cheap to have im a pretty glass (Downton Abbey vibes)

Love putting pretty buttons onto blouses and adding a brooch to a blazer or coat.

@WantALieDown Zara have so many different perfumes now that it’s worth a trip to try them all out. Red Temptation is meant to be similar to Baccarat Rouge, I thought myself Violet Blossom that I’m wearing for work which is nice, and my daughter got herself the apple juice one which is also lovely. https://www.whowhatwear.com/uk/best-zara-perfumes

From Oliver Bonas I got the Fig one which really lasts well and is nice.

M&S perfumes are quite good too - I like the sweet frangipani and their pink pepper- but there are loads and they are less than £10 a bottle.

Why be so mean? I love F&M tea and consider it an affordable luxury. It is no worse than the person upthread who said their perfume "only costs £1 a day".

It has been mentioned before, but luxury bar soap rather than shower gel. It lasts ages and smells wonderful.

An extra tip is to store soaps before you use them in your wardrobe and bed linen drawers as they gently perfume things. I don't use fabric softener and use unfragranced washing powder - doing this gives things a nice and much more subtle scent.

@Reading2 , can you give me an example of a luxury bar soap?

These also make excellent gifts - one year when my youngest DD was cash strapped she bought cheap bottles with stoppers, filled with them home made bath salts, added some dried flowers and tied them up with string and brown parcel labels - I still have one in my bathroom as they're too pretty to use!

I dream of having a small table by a window, next to a very comfy chair. On the table will be a silver tray, a decanter permanently filled with sherry and some lovely crystal sherry glasses to go with it. I will have the time to sit by the window in the afternoon sunshine and read a book for an hour while I sip my sherry. That is luxury for me.

Clear out any clutter and sell items in a garage sale. You will bask in the liberating feeling of more space.
Plant a herb garden. Enjoy fresh herbs on salads.

I have just booked £25 tickets to see Sinatra the Musical. I appreciate this isn't everybody's idea of luxury, but it is mine!

This is probably controversial but when our kids were young we would take them camping as their big holiday (up in the highlands) and then we would go abroad for a weekend just us. My logic is the kids enjoy camping as much as (probably more) than they would enjoy abroad. Also we wanted to wait till they would remember being abroad. It’s not really a money saver but more of a money swap.

Other simple ones:
Nice soap
Nice bread (like fresh sourdough, even the Lidl bakery one is nice)
Expensive biscuits - Fortnum and Masons had a reduced section now and oh my god! Well worth it. I normally get a few packs and yes they are expensive even reduced but so worth it imo. If you don’t wanna do that (for me that’s more of a b day treat) the premium co op ones are yummy too.
Premium sauces. A fun sauce can make even your own brand oven chips feel posh.

I was just going to post about the M&S perfumes! I was in yesterday and some of them are lush and there is something to suit everyone I think. I'll definitely be getting my Mum a bottle at Christmas of the Pink Pepper or Soft Iris and I might put Sweet Pistachio on my own list! I think it's actually nicer than the Kayali Yum Pistachio perfume!

M&S also have some great affordable food bits they are doing beans in jars which are really cheap but are nicer than tinned beans and they do a pack of their shortbread for £1.15 I think which is much cheaper than other supermarkets and it's the best shortbread.

I love Vinted. I've just bought an All Saints dress. £259 in store a year ago - was on for £65 and she accepted an offer of £55. I also had £30 in credit from things I'd sold so an absolute bargain! It's a beautiful dress but I could not justify the expense. I can't wait to wear it :)

My mum said she did this by accident recently!

She cuts bars in half (my tip) and then stores with her socks.

Another tip I forgot to mention was not only does your local library have books and audiobooks but they usually have digital access to newspapers and magazines. I have an old hand me down ipad which isn't up to much these days but I can still read digital magazines on it. Not quite the same as leafing though a glossy magazine but I only ever read one or two articles anyway so much better to access them for free!

Use First Table when going out for dinner. Can get some really good places to eat for half the price.

I've discovered that Ralph Lauren clothes in a size 18 fit me beautifully. The quality is astonishing and I buy it all on Vinted 😂.

I paid £8 for a vest top a few weeks ago that still retails on the site for £140. It looks and feels fantastic, and I paid about the same price as a cheap one on the high street.

I've figured out the sizing of a few other premium brands now, like Barbour and All Saints and I'm upgrading my wardrobe one piece at a time.

We have a nice pub on the river near us with lovely views but it’s very expensive. I buy a very small glass of wine but then bring a nice glass or so of my own wine to top up in a flask (a wine that is £45 a bottle in the pub but is £17 to buy in a supermarket. The seating is scattered along the riverbank so we just sit at the end where it’s quieter or on the grass. It’s a lovely evening if we bring our own nibbles too.

My favourite one is a really good pair of chunky wool socks to wear in your wellies or to mooch on the sofa on a winters evening. They sort of give a grey British winter a more Icelandic/alpine vibe

I knit my own socks. They are nicer than most you can buy, and cost about £7 a pair to knit.

Ironing. It's not my idea of fun, but nothing beats pulling a nicely ironed shirt out of the wardrobe and putting it on over a pair of well-ironed jeans. It just feels effortlessly smart. I iron just about everything that isn't made from stretch fabric.

Tidying up. I know it's difficult if you have small children but just having one room that is pristine is SO relaxing.

Doing all those little odds and sods of maintenance on everything: sewing buttons on, glueing together things that are coming apart . . . it's so satisfying. I make a list of stuff that needs doing then sit down and blitz them.

Cologne and Cotton sell a lot https://www.cologneandcotton.com/bathroom/bath-body-products?p=2&product_type_value=2394

Also, TKMaxx have loads of good brands at reduced prices.

This is a good thread.

A nice bone china cup for your tea and coffee.

I often feel as if cleanliness is what feels really luxurious. A really clean, tidy bathroom that isn’t cluttered, a brightly sparking kitchen sink, clean bedlinen, pyjamas and towels all feel luxurious.

Whereas manky towels and unwashed pots make it feel really horrible!

I agree with this - you can buy fantastic Next gel polish for £5.99 which will do probably about 10 or more manicures. At £30 a go you’d spend £300 at the nail bar. I just don’t get why anyone spends that amount instead of doing it at home!

I usually buy artisan soaps if I see them on holiday or locally. The English Soap Company also does lovely scented soaps in beautiful paper packaging. Probably the most luxurious soaps I have had were some Penhaligon's ones I was given for Christmas one year.

I love this this and all the ideas. I've not RTFT so I'm sorry if someone else has asked this but - how (where) do you add essential oil to a hoover? It sounds genius but I don't know how to make it work