How to be posh on a budget!

For the people that like the finer things but cannot afford them, I have devised a few loopholes to enjoy nicer things on a low budget (hooray!) Here is a list I am sure you will appreciate.

1. Cheap Wine

I love red wine because I have found that any red wine, no matter how cheap, can taste amazing if you simply heat it up a little bit. For something a bit fancier however, I like to do a bit of mulling:

. Plum mulled wine:

You will need plums (or any fruit you have lying around) cheap red wine (costing no more than £4) mixed allspice (or cinnamon if you have it) and sugar to taste.

Simply slowly warm up the wine in a pan and add the plums, letting them absorb the wine, then add a teaspoon or two of allspice and add teaspoons of sugar now and then. Keep tasting it until it's just how you like it! Do not let the wine boil.

.Lazy mulled wine

If you have a microwave a similar procedure can be done. Simply pour wine into a mug and add sugar and spices to taste. Do not overheat otherwise all the alcohol will evaporate, and that is not how you drink cheap wine! 30 seconds to a minute should do it.

.Candles

When you have finished with your wine bottle, why not create more of a romantic atmosphere by squeezing a candle in the top, just like in fancy restaurants. You can get long candles from Poundland, or your local hippy smelly-stuff shop (where you can also get tarrot cards, insense sticks and statues of faeries). You may want to get a few candles, so you can make the nice dripping wax effect to make it look more authentic and what not.

2. Olives

If you're like me and love olives, then I suggest a trip to Home Bargains! Jar of olives for about 70p. Amazing! In fact you can get lots of lovely things from there if you look hard enough: Kettle Crisps for £1, brazil nuts for £1, lots of scrummy things to go with your cheap, but posh mulled wine! (How very spiffing).

3. Happy Non Birthday To You!

If you have the urge to throw a mad hatter style tea party, just because you were feeling eccentric, then pop off to the local charity shop. On many occasions I have seen tea pots and dinky tea sets for under £5. Oxfam is a particular favourate and the British heart foundation has quite a snazzy homewares collection too.

4. Face Masks

It's good to feel like pampered puddy tat, but why should we have to pay thousands of pounds to do so? In fact you dont have to spend a penny! Go forth to the fridge and pick up that half slice of lemon; why was it even there you wonder? What could you do with it? I have an idea: rub it on your face. It may sting a little bit, but pain is beauty my friend! This is the super cheap deep clense. Now stick on some Classic FM, lie back and try not to fall asleep, and dont forget to moisturise afterwards!

5. Someones Birthday?

Buying gifts is such a kerfuffle, especially when you don't have any money. But fear not as I have found a way to make yummy fudge and not financial fudge! It's simple, all you need is milk, butter and sugar. If you have some in your cupboard then vanillia essence is ideal. You can jazz fudge up with jelly beans, chocolate drops, peanut butter, lemon curd (one of my favourites!) in fact mostly anything if you're quite clever about it. Here is a simple recipe: http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/513459 Literally just add your jelly beans to the mixture before putting it in the container. Easy peasy! The trick is to find a fancy box for them to sit pretty in, or alternitavely you could make a posh box from a cereal box, I am sure you could find many tutorials on the internet.

6. For The Crafty Types

Keep watching this space, I will be sharing how to make various conserves, knitted goods, decoupaged furniture, crazy cakes and many colourful things, on a budget of course!