Hypno's approach to life, the universe and debtbusting.....

hypno06

Thanks Strumpet :kisses3:

The children have been excellent all week on holiday - never badgering to do expensive activities, or wanting to buy extra stuff. So, yes, I am proud of them......as teenagers go, they really are not so bad

Kittikins

Hear, hear Strumpet, I heartily agree! I'm trying to bring DD up to be non-greedy/demanding/brat-like, and given that I'd like her to take up horse-riding when she turns 5 as she has a natural seat (has been on some pony rides suring the summer), as well as guitar lessons (loves playing my bro's old guitar when we're with my parents), I think I'll need to take a leaf out of Hypno's book on allocating cash.

Thankfully she still thinks ALL adverts are boring, so I don't get pestered for toys, and we also blithely(?) walk past kiddies' magazines in the supermarket.

I'm so lucky

Strumpet - go on, you know what you want to read the lot....

hypno06

Right, I have to do a serious storecupboard challenge this week. Our next student arrives a week on Sunday, so I can do a "big" shop before he arrives next weekend, but before that, I just want to have to buy the basics. We don't have a great deal in the freezers, so I will have to be inventive. I have lots of potatoes, a good amount of cheese (cheesy mash then) some pasta and frozen bacon for a carbonara.....ahh, we'll be ok.....

I think I will do a proper "inventory" and head over to OS for some ideas

40somethingmum

Kittikins wrote: »

Strumpet - go on, you know what you want to read the lot....

And , it is very very addictive:T:T

40SM

strumpet

Hypno,
Can I ask where you get your students from? Do you advertise?
My current lodger will be moving out soon and I fancy the idea of taking in a student. Perhaps having someone else studying in the house will make me get off my backside and finish my Qualifications before I hit 40!

Strumps

hypno06

strumpet wrote: »

Hypno,
Can I ask where you get your students from? Do you advertise?
My current lodger will be moving out soon and I fancy the idea of taking in a student. Perhaps having someone else studying in the house will make me get off my backside and finish my Qualifications before I hit 40!

Strumps

The long term students are here to study for A levels, so I get them from County Hall Childrens Services.

The short term ones, we get from a local language school - I answered an ad in the newspaper looking for host families last year, and since then have put a couple of other families in touch with them as they are always looking for people with a spare room.

Look up language schools on google for your area and give them a call - lots of them will keep a database of willing hosts so you should get your fair share!

If you have a university nearby, give their student union a call and see if you can go on their list of landlords too - not everyone wants to live in halls or in a rowdy cramped student house, so if you can get a decent student to rent your room you will be onto a winner!

strumpet

Thanks Hypno - you're a gem!

hypno06

You're welcome!

Just been to pay a couple of cheques in the bank.....that'll be a few more squares coloured in when they are cleared.

Slowly slowly getting there......

shaun40400

ok just done the
compare supermarkets challenge...
shopped with tesco...and took most of the swops they suggested
this what i got 3pks meat for 5 diners,,,some basics,,,,
fruit x4,veg x4,,yogs for kids x2,juice,coke tins,lge bag spuds
nappies,juice,cup,wash liq, sprays x2,,,,,,,,,,26 items

after swops and savings
tesco £58.72 after savings £47.50
asda £59.20 after saving £43.04
sains £59.72 after saving £49.30
ocado£69.31...............n/a,,,,,got board:o

so on this i would be better at asda,,,,HOWEVER!!!!

I SPENT €52.10 FOR THE SAME SHOP,,,,,
now i only did the full shop through the tesco page,,,,but the one thing that leapt out at me was even with the £10 saving by swoping to tesco lables,,,,80% was swoped
was the amounts in weight
IRL,,,,,,,,400g tesco minced beef,,,,€2.89
UK,,,,,,,,600g tesco best scotish beef £2.15 buy one get one free

in the uk i would have got 2 for 1 offers and saved money on around 60% of the shop,,,,,
tesco icing sugar 1kg is 40c more
tesco cornflour 500g is 22c more
i only got 2 for 1 on the yogurts here...

so uk prices on average are still 20% cheaper but the real saving are the weights and 2 for1 offers

so i may work out IRL prices and subtract 40% to get a fair comparison

hypno06

I have to admit that we do get a good amount of decent BOGOF offers at Tesco, which really does make a difference to the shopping bill. I just bung the extra in the freezer when I get the chance!