Small savings can soon mount up when you are gardening or doing home improvements. One way to make your Euro go further is to keep an eye on the promotions and special offers at the various stores.

This is not so difficult as you would think as every week your postman will deliver a stack of leaflets and free papers. The main difference that we have found between the UK and France is that they are not getting rid of the shoddy end of range stuff but that they are selling the things you need now. For instance in the spring there are loads of promotions on plants and gardening equipment.

If you are not based in France then check out the web sites for the stores near your French property they often advertise the promotions a couple of weeks in advance.

The promotions cover just about everything even fresh food in the supermarkets and very often wine. From time to time there are samples offered so you can check your bargain wine really is a bargain before you buy.

I can not think of anything that is so much cheaper in the UK that it's worth the hassle of shipping it over.

If you are not in a rush you could greatly reduce the amount you spend on kitting out your home. It is also well worth while getting the loyalty cards from the stores as you will be buying a lot of items from them and the rewards will mount up.