Old style saving for old style dream home anyone want to join in?

betterlife

hi BMM :hello: glad you have joined us, the more the merrier!
im desperately thinking of ways to make money, i sold some vintage handbags on ebay the other day (bought from charity shop:cool:) after fee`s etc made £80 (bought another vintage bag from ebay to resell) and banked £70 , i also have saved just over £30 from house keep this week so have £100ish so far lol, so far to go . still its a start! now do i just wack it in the bank, or do i use it to buy more to resell? i seem to have an eye for vintage bags, and bought and sold for a few months after xmas to make a little extra pennies, but then craved to craft again so stopped. i love crafting but never seem to make much money from it. i had art and design schooling, and am pretty good but others dont always appreciate how much time and effort go into things, things i have done : bridal tiara`s with matching jewellery ( made from swarovski crystal beads) sold quite well on ebay but then got quite competitive with people selling tat for next to nothing. baby blankies, reusable wipes etc on etsy, was a flop! original artwork on etsy flop! handmade fimo buttons for clothes or scrapbooks, jewellery etc on etsy flop! tags, paper stuff flop! hand sculpted 1/12th scale and smaller dolls for dolls house & accessories, sold on ebay but for small amounts, did show flop! digital stamps flop! and so on etc etc not great, my problem is although i enjoy crafting if it does`nt sell well i give up and move onto something else, lack of confidence and patience is suppose. but hay hoo will keep trying:D
what does everyone else do to raise extra money?

Pink.

Hi betterlife,

For lots of tips and ideas on cutting back your grocery bill have a look at Martin's article on Supermarket Shopping and we also have a board where grocery offers are posted regularly: Food Shopping & Groceries Also the Discount Codes 'n Vouchers board has vouchers and codes that should help with online shopping.

Meal planning is a good way of reducing grocery spending. It takes a bit of getting used to but once you do it's a great way to save money by making sure you don't buy unnecessary things. Perhaps try it for one week to see how you get on by making a list of what you have at home and trying to build your meals around that. To get some help with mealplanning have a look in The Complete Menu Plans Collection and it is well worth joining in with the monthly grocery challenge....here's a link to the current one: September 2010 Grocery Challenge

For cheaper meal ideas have a look here: Cheap recipe threads

If you have a look at the Special Occasions & Celebrations board you'll find lots find lots of ideas on crafting things to sell.

You'll also get lots of help and advice on ebay selling on the Ebay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales board. And the Up Your Income board has lots of advice on jobs that can be done from home.

I'm sorry to have bombarded you with so many links but if you take the time to read through them it should help you to save a little more. Good luck with your dream home.

As your thread has fallen down the Old Style board I'll move it over to the Savings board later to see if you can get some more input from the regulars there.

Pink

betterlife

thankyou for the advice pink winged, i already meal plan;), have been for a while, i keep lists of whats in my freezer/cupboards etc and am building a nice supply for the winter, i do check the other boards thread but started this thread here as i thought there where probably other old stylers like me that have the same dream:p, come on folks lets try to keep this thread up the top:j please dont move it:( it will get lost.

betterlife

i was thinking today :think: i would really love to start the transition of moving somewhere more rural whilst the kids are young. (youngest is 2 and oldest is nearly 10) but to even have a chance at buying somewhere we`d need to save for at least 10yrs probably :eek:.
as we already rent privately, i think i might look into the posibility of renting somewhere rural. that way we can give it a trail run aswell . we have help with our rent payments as hub is unable to work at the mo due to an injury and medication but is retraining (which would give him the opputunity to work from home aswell) whilst we get help with rent (of which we would when moving aswell) and living os/tight budget it will give us a chance to continue saving, and hopefully be able to become more self sefficent :j
ive aways wanted to own a property so i would have something for my kids when i am old, but if we could rent our dream home, get help with rent, give the kids a better start (better surroundings, how to grow, hopefully raise some animals etc) and save for the kids (and us) it would be great:cool:

tashmartin

Hi, room for a newbie?
First time i've ever posted but this thread really struck a chord with me. I'm saving like mad at the minute to pay off our mortgage ( fingers crossed 2014) so we can move to somewhere a bit more rural. Am trying to persuade the hubby to let me get chickens but no joy so far! He's not bothered about being OS so i'm sneakily siphoning off money into the savings without him noticing!;) Luckily he's quite happy to let me keep his bank card so I sort out all the finances. I dread to think where we'd be if the roles were reversed!

Habibiboo

Betterlife, it certainly makes sense to consider renting instead of buying if it realises the dream of rural living a bit sooner: you could still then save up for the dream of owning your own home, and perhaps gain a better idea of the type / location of your 'ideal' from the experience of rural renting. It might also be timely to consider it now in the context of the age of your eldest child: if you are going to try renting your dream home instead of buying it would be a good idea to get this in motion before he / she goes to secondary school, which would potentially be more of a wrench for him / her if it would mean a change of schools. You could include secondary schools in your search criteria for a new place to minimise unsettling him / her later on? Especially if your OH can work from home, you shouldn't be too limited by commuting distances for work etc.
Just some thoughts, if you don't mind me sharing them?:)

betterlife

HabibiBoo wrote: »

.
Just some thoughts, if you don't mind me sharing them?:)

thankyou habibiboo:p great advice about school, yes that time is fastly approaching, very scary:eek: as it only feels like yesterday that i had him and now he`s in the 5th year.
where i live there are 2 secondary schools across the road from each other? but they are about a 30/40min walk from our house (most kids walk or bike) but ideally i`d be in a better position for a school, doesnt have to be closer but no busy roads would be a bonus.
hi tashmartin:wave: welcome, i had ducks last year, a male and a female, got carried away though and let her hatch her 1st lot of eggs, i ended up with 23 ducklings :eek: my baby was under 1 at the time, and i was having problems with him so decided to give up the ducks, but i would love to have some again!

tashmartin

I think my hubby would have gone potty with that many ducklings! I'm still trying to convince him that the space needed for my veggie patch in the garden is necessary. It was my first attempt this year and it wasn't very successful so he's not keen on me increasing the space! Also, I've only recently started cooking from scratch and today he took hm banana bread to work. I actually got a phone call an hour ago saying that next time I need to make double so he can take the rest in for his workmates!Pretty pleased with myself- I may have come across a good bargaining tool!

diluvsdiscounts

tashmartin wrote: »

I think my hubby would have gone potty with that many ducklings! I'm still trying to convince him that the space needed for my veggie patch in the garden is necessary. It was my first attempt this year and it wasn't very successful so he's not keen on me increasing the space! Also, I've only recently started cooking from scratch and today he took hm banana bread to work. I actually got a phone call an hour ago saying that next time I need to make double so he can take the rest in for his workmates!Pretty pleased with myself- I may have come across a good bargaining tool!

This sounds like me and my DH four years ago.He'll come round to your way of thinking trust me:D

mineallmine

Interesting idea betterlife about renting somewhere else rural. What have you got to lose?