We are Jane and Mike, a thrifty money saving couple who moved to France, renovated a derelict house and are in the process of turning an abandoned two-acre plot into a garden.

We live on one income and budget sensibly to live the best life we can. Our home in the beautiful village of Huelgoat which surrounds a lake and is itself surrounded by the forest. It’s a magical place to live and we still pinch ourselves that this is where we call home. We love the walks, exploring the forest and Huelgoat’s famous rocks. Our home is situated in what was once a quarry and later on a wood mill.

The tumble-down mill is still in our garden and we hope to save it as a useful barn as soon as we can. The house wasn’t lived in properly since the 1960s and laid empty for many years. On a walk once day, I saw a faded hand written ‘a vendre’ sign on the gate with a telephone number. I rang it and here we are now. We brought it back to life, moved in and we’re having great fun making it homely in the spirit of make so and mend. awin

We hope you enjoy our site and come back again and again to share our thrifty recipes and frugal living tips and adventures.

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Thanks for dropping by. See you again soon

Mike & Jane..