Live on £4000 for a year - part 4 (Oct - Dec 2008)

trex170104

Sophiesmum I am even more impressed now that you have broken the contents of your cupboards down!!! Are you a homebargains shopper by any chance? I recognised a lot of the products and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that shop. You ahve inspired me to go and organise all of my cupboards now too!!
Took the plunge and sold my car and it is raining here today so I was very pleased that now I cannot use it as an excuse - I HAVE TO WALK EVERYWHERE AGAIN. Honestly OH has only had company car for 2 weeks and I've only used the old car a few times in the day since but it is such a temptation so I'm really glad it has gone and now we will have no car-related expenses to pay at all - all good!!

Janey51

Oooohhh sophiesmum me want your cupboards :rotfl:
I aspire to cupboards like that

Just an itsy bitsy observation....anybody remember the cupboards in "Sleeping with the enemy?" :eek:

The home where Mum is do produce a "Life Story" book for each of the residents but I think a personal one for my sons would be lovely.

And :T Mum was lovely today but quite tearful. She said to me "I am saying some horrible things" so she is having some insight which is very very sad for her because she has always been such a gentle soul. I managed to give her lots of hugs today and I also had a long chat with the home owner which has made me feel better.

Trex I have a sister but she emigrated last year so I'm afraid everything falls on me at the moment :rolleyes:

lingojingo

mumzyof2 wrote: »

whoever mentioned about the sleeping bags i just clicked it and had my laugh of the day when i saw this...
Sorry, the page you are looking for has had a nervous breakdown. We are currently giving it some prozac and hopefully it should be back up soon, either that or it has been moved. Please use the search box to find the product you were looking for, or browse the links below to find that ideal gift or toy.

Hi Mumzy, it was me!
Just checked and it seems to be working now, should take you to a page where you can play a short video clip.
If still not working type 'selk bags' into google and you'll find them.

Sophiesmum, your cupboards are amazing, wish I could be as organised. My excuse has been lack of space but you've just destroyed that one!

Janey, still loving the memories of your Mum and think a book of your family history would be lovely (we'll get you writing one way or another!) I'm looking into my own family history, so am really interested in the sort of things people have managed to find out. Wish I'd paid more attention to some of the stories my grandmothers both used to tell!

thriftylass

Sophiesmum, those cupboards remind me of the ones my mum had in the flat where I grew up. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of space at the moment, but the post inspired me to improvise.:D

Back on track with the no-smoking challenge. Found the NSD (no-spend day) challenge in other threads and will try that as another way of sticking to it because often I buy cigarettes when I'm bored or happen to have money in my wallet, which might be prevented by a little personal NSD challenge.:rolleyes:

Another question. I saw in the signature of various people the level of money earned through surveys. I often don't qualify or are too late and got only 2-3quid in each. How long would it take to go reach 20-30quid for instance with Valued Opinion? It's the same with cashback sites. I don't think I can buy enough stuff I need to reach the level one needs to get the money paid out. Thanks

lingojingo

thriftylass wrote: »

Another question. I saw in the signature of various people the level of money earned through surveys. I often don't qualify or are too late and got only 2-3quid in each. How long would it take to go reach 20-30quid for instance with Valued Opinion? It's the same with cashback sites. I don't think I can buy enough stuff I need to reach the level one needs to get the money paid out. Thanks

Any money shown in my signature has been received in 2008.

I often get rejected from surveys, but keep going, you will get some that want you!

On Toluna go to their home page regularly and do all the sponsored polls (15 points each). I've said I can do them in English, French, Spanish and German, as you get the same questions in all languages so it doesn't matter if you can't understand every word so long as you get the general idea.

I also struggle to buy enough to get much cashback. Ive had a greasy palm account all year but not got to pay out yet! On Pigsback I enter the daily quizzes and have won twice, giving £20 each time, and also I joined racecaller to earn pigg points for virtual betting (no money involved, ever) but that's going to finish at the end of the year.

On quidco I do the daily searches on high street web and kellkoo, you can get 10p per day and it takes seconds (just leave it on in the background while you do something else, it doesn't always track if you go off the page too quickly).

I'm sure there are many others who are much better at this than me, I just do what I have time for easily, and can't be bothered if it's too difficult!

purplevamp

nykmedia wrote: »

167. Purplevamp - practicing for 2009

:j Thank you nykmedia:j

Firstly I'd like to say thank you everyone for welcoming me into the group. I've posted on other threads but always felt invisible. This thread really has a warm feel to it.

sophiesmum - I'm very impressed with your cupboards, it makes me want to sort mine out (this feeling may pass by the time tomorrow comes:rolleyes: )

Janey51 - point noted about the crash helmet . I think I'll need it as next year I have 2 weddings and 3 big birthdays coming up.

I have bought myself a day-to-a-page diary in eager anticipation of the challenge. I have a question - is it cheating to use things from the previous year, eg if you have things left over in December and use them in January?

redglass_2

thriftylass wrote: »

It's the same with cashback sites. I don't think I can buy enough stuff I need to reach the level one needs to get the money paid out. Thanks

Thriftylass, it's worth persevering. I used to think I'd never make anything, and TBH I don't bother with the small clicks, but I've made £70 in a few months with Qu*dco and £15 with T*pcashback. I didn't even buy my insurance through them - it was just a slow steady drip of fairly small purchases, and then some biggies when I joined a bingo site (£30) and the National Trust (£20 cashback plus reduced-price membership and free NT binoculars, cackle, cackle). I will use the NT card for cheap days out and will probably never use the bingo site again. Typical buys for me were: replacement heads for an electric toothbrush, CDs as presents when there are special offers on, and ink for my Dell printer - I have to get it online so I might as well get cashback. Can I also suggest YouGov - I do surveys for them at 50p a time. You have to wait to be sent a survey so it takes about 2 years to earn £50 but there are also prize surveys most weeks and these are for bigger sums. As a single childless person I don't receive all surveys so other people might well get there faster. When the £50 arrives you have forgotten all about it, so it's a nice surprise.

Penny2myName

Sophiesmum I like your balanced mix of own brand/branded products. Looks like a good choice of the own brand goods. Now I couldn't stock pile shortbread, as I would eat it constantly and just leave all the other food..lol.

sophiesmum_2

Janey51 wrote: »

Oooohhh sophiesmum me want your cupboards :rotfl:
I aspire to cupboards like that

Just an itsy bitsy observation....anybody remember the cupboards in "Sleeping with the enemy?" :eek:

The home where Mum is do produce a "Life Story" book for each of the residents but I think a personal one for my sons would be lovely.

And :T Mum was lovely today but quite tearful. She said to me "I am saying some horrible things" so she is having some insight which is very very sad for her because she has always been such a gentle soul. I managed to give her lots of hugs today and I also had a long chat with the home owner which has made me feel better.

Trex I have a sister but she emigrated last year so I'm afraid everything falls on me at the moment :rolleyes:

That is exactly what my OH says about my cupboards:rotfl: :rotfl: my kitchen is sacrosanct ,and I admit to a little bit of organisational compulsion but unfortunately this compulsion doesn't extend to my wardrobe - which is very very messy:o

Glad you had a better day with your mum:A

sophiesmum_2

Penny2myName wrote: »

Sophiesmum I like your balanced mix of own brand/branded products. Looks like a good choice of the own brand goods. Now I couldn't stock pile shortbread, as I would eat it constantly and just leave all the other food..lol.

The shortbread and big tin of choccy biccies have been presents from my oldies - once they are opened they won't last long;) but by xmas I will be mowed out with chocs, biscuits, shortbread, wine and baileys:D as they seem to think I need feeding up - if you saw my vicar of dibley figure you would know this is not the case:rotfl: :rotfl:
With the smart price stuff - I have tried lots of it some is good, other stuff i wouldn't buy again but stuff like kidney beans and tomatoes are fine.:D