Unemployed mother looking forward to bumper Christmas after making bargain hunting into a new career

Ashleigh Swan has made her skills at finding the best bargains into a new career. Credit: Facebook/ ashleighmoneysaver.co.uk

A mother of three who was made redundant 18-months ago is looking forward to a bumper Christmas after her money saving tips led to a website and more than 130,000 followers on Facebook.

Ashleigh Swan, from Walkergate, Newcastle, started sharing tips on how to find a bargain with friends on the social media site after she lost her job as a trainee dispenser at a chemists.

She started spending hours each day online searching for deals. After successes like buying £60 worth of food from Tesco for just £15 and getting £90 worth of H&M clothes for £14, her money-saving fame grew.

The 26-year-old began in June 2013 by posting her successes on her Facebook page so her friends and family could join in.

Then she set up a Facebook page specifically for bargains, which has been "liked" 134,000 times.Now she has set up her own ashleighmoneysaver.co.uk website and major retailers have been in contact with her to promote their brands.

Ashleigh frequently uses the deals she finds to buy products in bulk. Credit: Facebook/ ashleighmoneysaver.co.uk

She has even been able to give up the job she had found after being made redundant and can now concentrate on making her website a success and catch the eye of advertisers.

Ashleigh is mother to Simon, 11, Jamie, eight, and Katie, aged four, who calls her "Mammy saving expert".

Ahead of Black Friday, when many stores will discount heavily, she advised canny shoppers to do plenty of price research before heading out. And she had a golden rule. "Do not buy on impulse, stick to your plan or you will end up spending anything you saved elsewhere."

She spends 45 minutes online before breakfast researching the latest deals, gets the children to school, then logs on looking for more codes and elusive price glitches. The key to big savings, she says, is to combine vouchers and deals.

And having 134,000 keen followers means there is an army of people willing to share information if she misses an opportunity.

Her husband Aaron and the children are fully supportive, even if it can lead to some strange mealtimes. She said: "I got a deal for Dominoes where we got £100 worth of food for £25. We were eating pizza for days."