Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

rising_from_the_ashes

l.m.hart wrote: »

I have a small fruit and veg box delivered to me in the early hours of sat morning every week, its enough fruit and veg for up to 3 people.costs me £12 week but it means i dont have to go to supermarket after i have done my weekly shop for more fruit and veg ( normally shop on a tues) and thus preventing me putting all those little extras in my trolley.:D

Thanks - I'm going to pop into the farm shop tomorrow and see if they do something similar. What a great idea and it's bound to be the "in season" stuff (I hate how supermarkets have everything all year round and we don't eat things grown in this country).

cw18

23rdspiral - glad to hear you managed to make sense of my instructions

diddly74

I just wanted to let you know of a bargain that my hubby came home with the other night.

10 eggs for 10p! They were out of date on 3rd (the day he bought them home) but I have just had Delia help me check they are ok and all but 1 lay flat and didn't bob up!

Bonnza!

minnie2

ok so what sorts of things do people put on ebay? and amazon? not sure i have anything left that are appropriate for ebay anyway! and not sure i have any perfumes left that can go now! Ive suggested the PS3 to go, but the hubby wasnt in agreement!!

cw18

minnie2 wrote: »

ok so what sorts of things do people put on ebay? and amazon?

I've never used Amaz0n - only ever the Bay, and not even that in the last 5 years or so

The first rule of listing something was always it was something I wouldn't use again / wouldn't miss

If it was something I wasn't sure would sell (or was hesistant about letting go) I spent a few days doing searches on the same - or very similar - items to see how well they sold. As a result some got listed and some didn't.....

My biggest sellers (which shocked me) were some very tatty childrens paperbacks (turned out to be long since out of print) and some toys I'd had as a child (listed those after accidentally falling on a listing for some that were fetching very good prices, so monitored for a while to check the results were consistant, and then got my parents to pull mine out of their roof)

pennib

redglass wrote: »

LESLEY GAYE: Thank you so much for taking the trouble to write up all that information as well as providing the link. I'm really grateful.

:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T

I have started reading a great book about dieting and the author has written one called The Thrift Book, it's By India Knight, has anyone read it? She's a very funny writer so I might have to indulge![/QUOTE]

You needn't buy - try the public library. Not only is it a lot cheaper but while so many libraries are under threat it's a question of 'use it or lose it' - your library needs you! Our local library has been SAVED thanks to public outrage and a strong campaign and the same thing is happening all over the UK. If anyone's thinking, 'That's not MSE' well I would say a public library is one of the most frugal AND educational things a community can have! And yes, there are books about frugality in there too... If your library is like ours, you can browse the catalogues on line, reserve books online, renew them online...it's all very IT-savvy these days....or you can just walk in there 'old-style'.

OK, end of public information announcement! [/QUOTE]

I'm in such agreement with you. The local library is so inspirational. I have ordered loads of books over the past from them, we don't have to pay to reserve either and they aways phone when the book is in. :T If after getting a book and I really, really can't do without, only then will I look around for the best deal. Use the library or we will loose them My m-i-l library has a cafe upstairs, you could spend the whole day in there

Puddleglum

Well, I would like to report a fabulously frugal day here in deepest Zummerzet, but I can't so I won't.

DH and I went into town with the intention of looking at TVs. The BBC this year have announced that they are broadcasting Formula 1 racing in HD and as this is DH's hobby and related to his business he is very keen to get an HD TV which I am digging my heels in and resisting as hard as poss. DH has said that the new TV will be bought out of his savings though so all that we will need to find is the extra £10 pm for sky HD. I saved loads of money by not buying anything and we managed to save DH £600 by not buying the TV either but having seen the quality of the potential new gadget my heels are begining to loose their grip!:o

Anyway having managed to spend zip, zero, zilch, I then ruined the NSD by offering to buy DH a drink - we live next door to a pub and always feel vaguely guilty that we do not go in very often.:beer:

minnie2

cw18 wrote: »

I've never used Amaz0n - only ever the Bay, and not even that in the last 5 years or so

The first rule of listing something was always it was something I wouldn't use again / wouldn't miss

If it was something I wasn't sure would sell (or was hesistant about letting go) I spent a few days doing searches on the same - or very similar - items to see how well they sold. As a result some got listed and some didn't.....

My biggest sellers (which shocked me) were some very tatty childrens paperbacks (turned out to be long since out of print) and some toys I'd had as a child (listed those after accidentally falling on a listing for some that were fetching very good prices, so monitored for a while to check the results were consistant, and then got my parents to pull mine out of their roof)

got many books that i have never read and not sure they would sell on ebay - some one has suggested green metropolis so will give it a look!

made £195 last month on ebay but that was because i had a phone perfume and PS3 games which we have no more of.

SandraScarlett

Have felt really under the weather this week, so decided I needed to get out, blow the cobwebs away, and not spend anything. One friend is in Seville, another is laid up with flu, a third is in New York, so I decided to set off on my own.

I went to Kensington, and on the journey there were loads of youngsters dressed up. One group were champagne bottles, another, all men, were fairies in tutus, a third group were cows, and they were all such fun, not swearing, or making a nuisance of themselves. They were all New Zealanders and apparently it's a National Holiday there, something like "Why-kee-kee Day", perhaps someone can enlighten me please.

I had a good ol' mooch in Kensington, then got a bus to Hammersmith, where I had a Costa, on points, then came back to Sloane Square, and then to Knightsbridge, had a mooch in Harrods, then a wee in the Mandarin Palace Hotel, followed by a brisk-ish walk in Hyde Park. I then got a bus to Piccadilly, a Boots meal deal on points (thank goodness for points!), then a bus to Oxford Street, where I went in all the department stores, getting free samples from the cosmetics counters. :cool:

I just go up to Cl*rins, for example, and say "Excuse me, what can you recommend please for mature skin?", and you always get samples. :T So I've now got enough Cl*rins, Cl*nique, D*or, Sis*ley, and Ch*nel serums, day and night cream to last for a good few months. And very nice skin as well!

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

xx

natnat13

minnie2 wrote: »

ok so what sorts of things do people put on ebay? and amazon? not sure i have anything left that are appropriate for ebay anyway! and not sure i have any perfumes left that can go now! Ive suggested the PS3 to go, but the hubby wasnt in agreement!!

If you log into ebay and do a search, if you click on advanced at the end of the search toolbar you can click to search for completed listings. This will give you an idea of what things are being sold for. Amazon is ok, and will give you an idea of what to charge but some things go for 1p and they charge the seller a flat rate (thing it's £2.80) for postage so if you have a heavy book you could lose money! There is a site for selling books called green metropolis but I've never used it so can't really comment what it's like. I ebay all sorts, we've just sold our broken PS3 and all the games, I sell clothes, brands like M&S, next, gap go quite well, cosmetics, anything really, just do your research.

I went to the book swap and it was great, I went with a bag of books and came back with the same bag full of different books, it was really busy and everyone was saying how good it was.

I also cancelled hubbies mag subscription and our BT vision as we rarely use that, so I have saved over £20 a month today :j