A thrifty mother who turned to DIY has revealed how she managed to save a whopping 6,000 pounds (approx. US$8,000) on her dream garden. Deborah Williamson, 49, decided to take matters into her own hands after she was quoted 7,500 pounds (approx. US$10,000) for outside decking. “I thought it was ridiculous being quoted that much just for some decking,” Deborah said. “I said to myself, I’m not paying that.” The key worker from Whitehaven, Cumbria, in northwest England, spent 18 months transforming her garden from overgrown plants and an unloved space into a beautiful haven with fairy lights and furniture with the total cost being just 1,490.52 pounds (approx. US$1,990). The other push to start her DIY project came when she was diagnosed with seven compressed disks in her neck, a mass on her spine, and degenerative diseases of myelomalacia and osteoarthritis in 2019. “My diagnoses really kickstarted me into doing this …