I haven’t experimented with an oatmeal face mask since my tweens, but hey, we’re on a budget here! I’ve done a bit of digging around the interwebs and found three great recipes for DIY beauty products you can make at home with things you probably have in your store cupboard.

1. Salt and sugar scrubs – Get a great exfoliator AND moisturizer by mixing salt or sugar with olive oil. Add a few drops of essential oil to suit your preferences and store in an airtight container.

2. Oatmeal and honey face mask – Combine 3 tablespoons oats with 2 tablespoons honey and mix well. Spread the thick mixture on your clean face and let dry for 15 minutes. Rinse well with warm water. Any leftovers can be stored for 1-2 weeks in the fridge.

3. Avocado hair conditioner – Mix a small jar of mayonnaise and half an avocado with your hands until it is a consistent colour. Smooth into your hair and cover with a shower cap or cling film to seal in heat for 20 minutes.

E has been a bit uninspired about putting £s in the Iceland Fund since it looks like it won’t fit into our holiday schedules until next winter. We were almost finished filling a second jar so I decided to count it and get him excited again!

E’s guess? £215

Actual total? £296!

We’re nearly a third of the way to our goal!

We’ve dumped the second jar into the Big Tin and are starting a fresh jar with, hopefully, a bit of renewed enthusiasm for the project!

A couple of weeks ago I went to the launch of the Finish Quantumatic and scored a free sample to try at home. Well, I’ve tried it, and I’m sold!

The truth is, I have never been a massive fan of dishwashers. I always felt that it was more work to rinse off dishes and then put them in the dishwasher than to just wash them. However, we’ve moved into a new flat with a new (to us) dishwasher so we decided to give the Quantumatic a go.

The result? The dishes are coming out STUNNING! And I keep testing it by putting in really dirty dishes, but so far it has worked every time. E seems to love it even more than I do now that I’m cooking more in the new (to us) kitchen and he’s stuck with more washing up (that’s how we try to divide it–if one does the cooking, the other does the washing up!)

So it gives me sparkling dishes and there is no fiddling about with loading the dishwasher every time we use it. Well done, Finish.

Laura Ashley’s massive home sale is on through the end of the month.

In additional to storewide offers of up to 50% off, Laura Ashley are offering an extra 10% off all made to order products including furniture, sofas and chairs, beds and curtains. And on top of that free shipping!

To see all home offers, click here.

Birdcage Tealight Holder on Stand – £12.96

String of Daisy Flower Lights – £11.34

Rebecca Bedspread – £108

Last night I went to a really fun event to celebrate the launch of Finish QuantuMatic, a time-saving device that stays in your dishwasher and dispenses detergent for 12 washes!

In addition to being one of the first to see the cool new product, we were treated to a live cooking demonstration by James Martin and some entertaining tips from Good Housekeeping. Plus we were given a QuantuMatic to try at home (stay tuned) and an autographed cookbook from James!

The lovely people at Finish have given me an extra to give away, so if you’d like to be one of the first to try it, be the first to comment on this post!

Here is the official info about the product:

Finish QuantuMatic is a revolutionary new detergent dispenser system that automatically releases detergent for 12 washes. Simply clip the dispenser on to the rack of your dishwasher and after 12 washes, replace the refill.

Finish QuantuMatic. The Diamond Standard.

The revolutionary advantages:

• Amazing shine – on all dishes
• Powerful cleaning – even on baked-on stains
• 12 washes automatically – without refilling
• Intelligent counter – shows the number of washes left

QuantuMatic is available in Regular and Lemon as a starter set: dispenser and refill with 12 washes, and a refill twin pack (24 washes).

I’m a little late to the party on this one because the sale ends on 19th January, but I wanted to pass on the latest offers from Sainsbury’s because I would hate, hate, hate for you to miss out on a chance to save money on Le Creuset!

Save up to 50% on Saucepans

Save up to 50% on Office furniture

Save 20% on Le Creuset

Save up to 50% on mattresses

Save up to £150 on TVs

Save up to £200 on Fridge/Freezers

Save up to 1/3 on Nursery

Save up to 1/3 on bathroom Fixtures & Fittings

At the beginning of the year, I try to do a bit of hibernating. Staying in, keeping warm and not spending any money. Generally just trying to recover from all of the extra eating, drinking and lazying about that’s done over the holiday period!

If you’re like me, you’ll be excited to see the latest from Tesco Entertainment. Stock up cheaply on a few new DVDs and you’ll probably spend less than renting them at your local video store.

Here are a few of the films on offer:

Monsters Vs Aliens (2009)
£5.00

Play preview
Transformers (2007)
£3.00

Fast Furious (2009)
£5.00

Play preview
Cloverfield (2008)
£2.00

Play preview
Tropic Thunder (2009)
£5.00

Role Models (2009)
£5.00

Play preview
Stardust (2008)
£3.00

Play preview
10,000 BC (2008)
£3.00

E and I have been dreaming of a holiday in Iceland practically since we met. Neither of us has ever been there (airports don’t count) and for lots of reasons it’s on the travel wish list for both of us.

Rather than chuck it on the credit card we thought we’d actually save up and devised the Iceland Fund. Basically, we put every single pound coin we come home with in a jar.

I’d like to go in winter, in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights, so if we plan to do it next year we’ve got plenty of time. We reckon we need at least £1000 for a long weekend. We haven’t allowed ourselves to count it yet.

About two months in, we’ve filled the jar (see below), dumped it in an intimidatingly large amaretto tin, and started again. I thought I’d keep you all updated on our progress, each time we fill a new jar. Good luck us!

This is not a post about saving money, but it was too silly to pass up. MTA Solicitors have sent us a list of the craziest laws on the books that you might break this Christmas season.

• Think twice before tucking into a mince pie on Christmas day. The most outrageous law revealed for the festive season: ‘mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas day’.  So, will we all have to stay clear of the mince pies on Christmas day?
• Be carefully when you’re sending out your Christmas cards as “it is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British Monarch upside down”.
• If you’re catching a cab home after the Christmas party don’t be surprised to hear the cab driver ask you if you have the plague. “Cab drivers must ask all passengers if they have small pox or the plague”.
• Watch out for this over the Christmas period ‘In London, Freemen are allowed to take a flock of sheep across London Bridge without being charged a toll; they are also allowed to drive geese down Cheapside.’
• Don’t forget your archery practice on Christmas Day! ‘In England, all men over the age of 14 must carry out two hours of longbow practice a day.’
• “In Scotland, it is illegal to be drunk in possession of a cow”, so don’t take your cow out on the town to celebrate Hogmanay.

CEO David Green explains that the rule on eating mince pies actually stemmed from Oliver Cromwell who passed a law to ban Christmas pudding, mince pies and anything to do with gluttony. That law has never been repealed, so it’s true that mince pies are in fact illegal!

The latest published offers on at B&Q.

Dulux Paint Pod Compact
was £34.98, now £17.49
(valid until 29th January)

Selected Wellington Boots—Floral, Stripey and Spotty
were £12.98, now £7.50
(while stocks last)

Garden Power tools
MAC 3 pressure washer – was £149.98, now £74.99 (½ price)
Karcher K5.14 pressure washer – was £299.98, now £199.98 (save £100)
(while stocks last)