Try these little thrifty tips to make every day better value...

• Buy one little bottle of new richer formula Fairy Liquid. One 650ml bottle gives you up to an incredible 8 weeks of cleaning power. Great value whichever way you crunch it.
• Ignore all those credit-crunch miseries who say you have to give up your frothy coffee. It makes life a little lighter. Make your morning latte coffee with an Aerolatte milk frother, £14.95. Wake up your tastebuds with a dusting of cinnamon on your cappuccino. Add a drop of almond essence to hot milk and serve amaretto biscuits for a Friday treat. Or for a really quick fix add instant coffee to hot (but not boiling) milk and froth for a creamy coffee in a flash.
• Use a mini-chopper to make fast, wholesome soups, and sweet smoothies. Delia swears by her Kenwood mini-chopper.
• Be a petrol tart. Look in your local paper for the cheapest petrol prices in your area. Remember that internet sales usually start at one minute past midnight.
• This will take you seconds, but could make you pounds. Use the unclaimed assets register (www.uar.co.uk to find lost or unclaimed policies, pensions and other investments). Check your premium bond winnings at www.nsandi.com.
• Tax-proof your savings with a mini ISA up to £3,600 tax free. Quick, buy before the 5 April deadline.
• Go all Hollywood and hi-maintenance without a big bill. Zap cellulite without the aid of a celebrity-style spa treatment. Jump in the shower and rub damp skin gently with handfuls of Epsom sales. Blast skin with hot and cold water: be brave and make it two blasts of cold to one blast of hot... you will notice firmer skin when you hop out of the shower.
• Feed dinner guests a retro dish of comfort food rather than posh dinner-party fare. A roast chicken or shepherd’s pie will make friends and family feel cosy and cared for, and will cost you less than fiddly, show-off recipes.
• Buy an old-fashioned cookbook from a charity shop, and rediscover thrifty food like your mum used to make before the advent of ready-washed salad leaves and microwaved tikka masala.
• Sow parsley, chive and mint in containers on your kitchen window sill this week for free, fresh herbs for months to come.
• Eat your cupboards bare once every couple of months. Devise a meal plan for the week that will use up every last packet, tin and Tupperware. Clean your cupboards, then start again.
• Travel smarter. Buy a Family Railcard to cut the cost of days out. It costs £20 and reduces the adult ticket price by 30% and kids’ tickets by 60%.