Dear Cheapskater,

We wanted to start this week’s edition by saying a HUGE thank you to the readers who signed up to become founding members of the Cheapskate club! In case you missed our Thursday email, you can join the club for £2.50 a month or £25 a year, as part of our first ever Black Friday offer (ending tomorrow!). FYI, if you want to pay using Apple Pay, make sure you enter your email address, otherwise it won’t work…

As a thank you, we’ll automatically enter you into all of our weekly competitions, plus you’ll be entered into a monthly competition that’s exclusive to supporters 🧡. Don’t worry if you can’t afford to join - you’ll still receive this email as usual each week. But if you can, then we’d LOVE your support to help keep Cheapskate going!

Thanks also to everyone who responded to our poll in last week’s email, sharing suggestions for small businesses to support this festive period. Some of our highlights included:

“Luminary Bakery 🍰 it’s a social enterprise that supports women who’ve been through adversity. It’s also a coffee shop, with branches in Camden and Stoke Newington” - Tina B

“The makers at Cockpit Studios 🎨 - ceramics, jewellery, ethical fashion, wood-working, leather bags, homewares and art, all handmade by indie businesses in London.” - Ashley G

“Make Town 🧵- a wonderful crafting and textile creative studio where you can take part in classes, enjoy freestyle weaving or hire a sewing machine.” - Lauren C

“The Common Press 📚- a queer community hub on Brick Lane that holds a huge range of events. It’s also a coffee shop and a bookshop.” - Laura S

“Bianca Maria Bolum Art Jewellery 💍 - a London-based independent jewellery designer and metalsmith who creates one-of-a-kind wearable art using recycled precious metals.”

“Shoots and Leaves Christmas trees 🎄- a locally run company, based in Hanwell (Ealing), that sells the best quality trees” - Rosalind

“Holly Tiongco 🖼️ makes lovely prints, cards and stickers that would be perfect Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers!”

“Pur Kards 🎨 - this is my sister's hustle and it gives me no end of pride to see the utterly stunning (and sometimes extremely sentimental) pieces of art she creates. So much love, care and consideration goes into the creation of each piece.” - Caley P

Thanks to everyone who wrote in with suggestions - and another, massive thanks to everyone who’s joined the Cheapskate Club. We’re SO grateful for your support.

Wishing you a wonderful week,
Kate and Georgia x

PS. Congrats to our reader Khushi, who won a family ticket to the Fulham Palace Christmas Fair last Saturday (as featured in last week’s newsletter). Scroll down for another fab and free-to-enter competition…