Smart Women

Feeling the weight of your overdraft after Christmas? Merryn Somerset Webb, author of Love Is Not Enough: The Smart Woman’s Guide to Money, takes a lighthearted look at how you can save the pennies this year

Prodnose: Where are we going with this?
Myself: Indulge me for a moment or two.

1 Drink less coffee out. One latte a day will add up to nearly £500 over a year.
2 Breastfeed your babies.
3 Never order cocktails. Stick to wine or beer in bars. Better still, never buy your own drinks!

Prodnose: Monstrous!
Myself: You sir are no gentleman.

4 Keep your weight constant: if you rarely change size you can buy quality pieces of clothing and wear them for years.
5 Wash more, dry-clean less: whatever it says on the label, woollens don’t really need dry-cleaning. Even pashminas come out of the woollen cycle just fine as long as you iron them when a little damp. Wash cashmere on a gentle cycle and lay it flat between two towels to dry.

Prodnose: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, I'd like to hang this out to dry.
Myself: Actually the list is a little short on thrills, but what do we find 28 hints later?

33 Buy your bike from www.bumblebeeauctions.co.uk. The site auctions property that the police have either seized from burglars and the like or had handed in and not been able to find the owners for.

Myself: That's right Prodders old man, it's expressed in language up with which I shall not put, but according to ICWales.co.uk, our very own site was mentioned in the Western Mail yesterday. The prophet is not without honour in his own land!
Prodnose (coldly): Be still my beating heart.