It’s not often we suggest taking frugal living advice from the stars, but this week we are taking our frugal living style tips from none other than yummy mummy Mila Jovovich. The 36-year-old actress and mum-of-one has caused a bit of a furore by being papped wearing the same outfit two days in a row (shock horror!) For more details and to take a peek at the offending outfit, have a look at this article from the MailOnline.

There are lots of fashion lessons we will be taking from Mila, rather than branding them faux pas. First up is the outfit choice from Mila – she’s chosen comfortable denim jeans, a slouchy top and flat boots. Not only are these great for travelling, which the MailOnline suggests she’s been doing, they are also a superb choice for running around after her beautiful daughter Ever Gabo in too.

Although her Beastie Boy’s top was most likely worn in homage to Adam Yauch who died from cancer last week (see here) her choice of teaming it with distressed denim and boots put the yummy into mummy and shows that you can be comfortable and stylish as a parent on the move.

There’s no better beauty buy than a multi-purpose beauty buy, a product that doesn’t just do what it says on the tin – but has a few other uses too. Not only do products with multiple uses save you clutter in your bathroom or cosmetics bag – they save you cash. Here are three of our favourites:

1)   Cream blusher

The pretty pinks and peaches we use to highlight our cheeks can make great eyeshadow shades in the spring/summer months and are complemented by tanned skin in particular. Being able to use a product that doubles up like this is a great save when it comes to packing your holiday suitcase. Follow this guide on how to apply yours.

2)   Bronzer

This is a great allover product – use on the face to emphasise your cheekbones or on the body as a lightweight fake tan. And, for extra shimmer, use mixed with a little water to create a beautiful metallic eyeshadow. Apply with a cotton bud for maximum accuracy.

3)   Bio oil

We all need moisturisers for different things – to soften and smooth on our face or our legs or sometimes for a little extra. Bio oil is known to help minimise scarring of the skin and to also helps to treat acne. Try using it as an allover body moisturiser after baths or before bedtime, or whip up one of these homemade facemasks.

We are all familiar with the concept of the makeover and thanks to the blurring of boundaries at the tail end of the 90s, many of us are also au fait with metrosexuals. So, what do you get if you cross the two? The answer is a man-over, the new term coined by those fashionable folks over at Grazia who have been writing about the new wave of celebrity fellas who are giving themselves the once over in the looks and style department.

Familiarise yourself with the key elements of the man-over in the full article, here Meanwhile, if you fancy following the likes of Shane Warne and Justin Theroux and making yourself a little easier on the eye, but don’t have their bank balance to play with, try some of these tips.

Shane Warne keeps his look simple by opting for classic crisp shirts and a range of tops and polo shirts that reflect his sporty past. What makes him look so well-groomed nowadays is apparently his borrowing of girlfriend Liz Hurley’s cosmetics and a good quality whitening toothpaste (for more info, see here). Guys take note: stealing cosmetics from your girlfriend is a very inexpensive way to improve your appearance, though you might have to be stealthy in your approach.

Take That’s Gary Barlow launched his man-over by losing a whole bunch of weight. Again, this is a cost effective way to change your appearance; not eating kebabs is far cheaper than eating them. Try cutting out takeaways and curb your weekly beer intake and you could soon find you have enough dosh to buy one of those snazzy blazers he likes wearing.

In case you’ve been in a hole somewhere without TV and internet access and have missed the constant media furore; this year the Olympics comes to London. Unfortunately, with obtaining tickets to the various events being somewhat of a lottery and those tickets themselves costing into the hundreds, many of us won’t be getting a close up taste of the action.

Here at frugallivingadvice, we don’t think distance from the capital and a lack of VIP seating should stop you getting involved in Olympic fun, so we’ve come up with the perfect alternative to going to the Games, in person. Here’s our guide to holding your own Olympics in your living room:

First up, you need to make sure you look the part, so take your pick of the athletic kit worn by the Olympic professionals here. You might want to give your mates a nudge to get themselves kitted out too.

Next, send out your invites, if you are confident you’ll have a lot of people who want to attend, you might want to hold your own Olympic-inspired draw. It’s also best to give your chosen athletes a bit of notice before the event so they can prepare and train in your chosen activities.

Now, to the big event. Unless you and your chosen competitors are natural born athletes, it’s safe to say that your Olympics should probably involve a Wii tournament or incorporate some of the traditional events from a children’s sports day. Watching each other will be far cheaper than buying Olympic tickets, though it may admittedly be less inspiring. To keep things competitive make sure you offer some kind of trophy or prize; after all you don’t want the event to lose momentum! Here’s a super easy to follow how-to explaining how to make your own trophys.

With petrol prices having reached record levels in recent weeks, motorists are now more aware than ever about how much of their monthly budget is taken up by fuel spending. While many households are looking to make cutbacks here and there, reducing fuel bills could make a serious impact on family budgets.

While there is not much you can do about the prices at the pumps, downsizing to a car which uses less fuel is a good money-saving move. Here, the Ford Fiesta is a strong option, and there are plenty of good used vehicles out there from the likes of Evans Halshaw and AutoTrader.

The Ford Fiesta was recently named the Best Small Car by Fleet News, based on its combination of “excellent” running costs, driver appeal and performance. Furthermore, the Fiesta has earned a reputation for reliability and strong residual values, meaning you can expect a decent return on your money when you choose to sell the car on.

As well as downsizing your vehicle, the way in which you drive the car can impact on the amount of fuel you use. These tips from the Energy Saving Trust outline how watching the revs, accelerating more slowly and ensuring your tyres are correctly inflated can all reduce fuel consumption.

If you worked part time as an undergraduate student, chances are you enjoyed the benefits of earning under the minimum tax threshold and therefore not paying tax on your earnings. As a busy postgraduate student the subject of taxes can often be overlooked as individuals don’t always go straight into postgrad study after a postgraduate course.

If you have recently made the change from being part of the workplace and headed back to study at somewhere like MDX http://www.mdx.ac.uk/  as a postgrad and are working part-time in order to support your study, it’s likely that you will be earning under the threshold once again. If this applies to you, it’s important that you inform HMRC of your situation and they should then stop applying tax automatically to your earnings.

However, what you may forget to do is claim back for any part of that tax year when you were still in full-time employment. At this point HMRC will have been working under the assumption you were going to earn far more over the course of the year and as such, you may well be entitled to a substantial tax refund at the end of the year. Great news if you have some university expenses to sort out. For information on how to claim your tax back, see: here.

A patio is a beautiful outdoor space where you can relax in the sunshine. In some ways, you could think of it as an extra room of your house – particularly if you plan to have outdoor furniture, space for a barbecue and a play area there. Before sourcing the materials you’ll need from a retailer like Topps Tiles, plan out the entire project and see if you can save some money without compromising on the quality of the finished space.

You can reduce costs on a patio by combining one relatively expensive material, such as stone, with a cheaper one like gravel. As well as making it cheaper, this can lead to some interesting and creative effects – why not combine concrete paving slabs with grass, or use bits of broken stonework to create your own crazy paving effect?

When putting your patio together, make sure the materials you use can tolerate freezing temperatures without cracking, as slabs can be expensive to replace. The site should slope away from your house by about a quarter of an inch per foot to allow for drainage, which will also help the stonework to last for longer.

As part of National Student Money Week, organised by the National Association of Student Money Advisers (NASMA), students are being urged to be aware of dangerous short-term pay-day loans that have sky-high interest rates, leading quickly to debt.

A better alternative to manage your finances whilst at university is to use a pre-paid credit card scheme. Secure Trust Bank www.securetrustbank.com  is a popular choice amongst students.

Prepaid credit card schemes prevent accumulating debt as the credit card “credit” is already paid for. With debt becoming a growing concern for many students this is a welcome way to manage existing finances effectively, without borrowing. The scheme instils the habit of making the most of what money you already have efficiently, rather than relying on further loans.

Lynne Condell, Chairperson of NASMA, and Student Funds Manager at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) spoke to the LJMU news website on March 13th. She stipulated that students opting for pay-day loans can lead to “a serious debt problem”.

If you are a student considering a pay-day loan, it might just be time to reassess your finances instead. Have a look at what money you already have, and begin to budget, perhaps by using a prepaid credit card scheme. You will be pleasantly surprised at how well you can organise the money already in your bank!

According to the Global Times, a Chinese retailer was fined $3.4 (£2.185) million at the close of 2012 for allegedly selling fake cashmere, highlighting the problem of individuals trying to cash in on the rising popularity of this luxury fabric.

China is the largest supplier of the world’s cashmere, though it is also sourced in India and Pakistan. Once the reserve of the rich, it is now widely available on the UK high street and online from specialist retailers such as Pure Collection, though the quality of cheaper cashmere available does not necessarily reflect that of the more expensive clothing.

Cashmere is derived from wool from the under fleece of the Kashmir goat – an animal that lives in harsh surroundings, but the fabric itself is very soft, durable and soft on the skin. Of course, many wools or wool composites are also very soft, so how can you tell whether the cashmere item you have bought is the real deal? Some clothes may use a fabric that is a mix of cashmere and something else, such as cashmere and silk, or cashmere and viscose. But, if the item you buy is sold as 100 per cent cashmere then it should be.  One common indicator that an item has been made from a cashmere blend is if it has some sheen to the fabric. Cashmere is usually matte in appearance and the presence of shine usually indicates that another material has been combined with cashmere, or that it is an imitation.

There is a great amount of reward associated with being a pet owner. Research has shown that having a pet can make us happier, healthier and fitter. It’s no wonder therefore that one in three homes in the UK has a household pet. However, potential pet owners are being urged to consider their suitability for looking after a pet, following a record breaking year for pet abandonment.

In addition to the initial cost of a dog or cat and their vaccinations, there is the on-going cost of food, toys, bedding and medical treatment to consider. You can make some savings by buying things like food in bulk from stores such as http://www.petsathome.com/ but the long-term commitment of looking after a cat, dog, or even something small such as a rabbit, is a serious financial decision.

Over the past few years the economic situation in the UK has left many household budgets pushed to the max and this may well have contributed to the huge numbers of calls that the RSPCA has taken with regards to pet abandonment. In 2011, the RSPCA took 28,162 calls reporting animal abandonment, although the charity itself is keen not to blame the country’s economic difficulties alone.

Inspector Tony Woodley said: “Although it is tempting to blame the economic situation, we have no real idea of why the number of abandonments is increasing overall, but it is so frustrating to think that the messages about caring for animals just aren’t getting through to some people.”