Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

chika

Sandra, I love love love your posts

never_too_old

Sandra
that brought a tear to my eyes its so nice
thank you

mooomin

youngmummy wrote: »

how does QUIDCO work ????

It's a cashback site - essentially if you shop through them for many things you earn cashback on your purchases which will then be paid into your Paypal/bank account.

I use them as I have used them for years and haven't had a problem. They charge a £5 annual fee which others (the biggest being Topcashback) don't, but I've earned £574 with them since I have joined so I don't grudge it

You just need to get in the habit of checking your chosen cashback site before buying ANYTHING online. I still remember buying my laptop and finding out the day after that I could have earnt £25 in cashback from Quidco. *sob*

The best thing about Quidco for me is that they offer instore cashback for a number of retailers. I registered my Tesco creditcard for this so if I spend £100 in Debenhams for example I will earn Clubcard points as I have bought on a Tesco credit card and will also get 2% cashback paid by Quidco.

As I said, other sites are available, just do your research and see people's reviews. Quidco aren't getting great reviews at the moment on MSE but like I said I've always found them to be very good.

Hope that helps!!

CRANKY40

Phew, thank goodness for Artichoke's post. My 6 year old doesn't like McDonald$ either, although it wasn't until I was in my thirties that I realised why my dad only ever had coffee when he took us there :rotfl: The boy also only drinks water or milk and doesn't have a sweet tooth. Two weeks ago I threw out his sweets from the Christmas before last. This Christmas my MIL wasn't speaking to me, so he wasn't bought many and my friend's grandaughter is working her way through them when she visits.

I am knitting a red scarf for the house elf as he asked for one. He was quite happy to wait for me to make him one, and the ball of wool cost £1 from a charity shop nearby that sells wool.

Happy frugalling everyone

mooomin

I think that the thing that's going to make this challenge a success for me this year is finding ways to make extra money. I'm getting a good chunk of money from Quidco this month and have also made some from my cardmaking. If anyone's interested there is a link to my homepage when you click on my name. That's the bl*g where the pics of my cards are stored.

I've made the most recent ones on that site for a friend from MSE and have also sold some older ones to a friend who has a shop. I'm hoping to keep improving this year and put some of the profits back into a trip to the Craft Show at the SECC in October

Siouxsie32

I've been using soapnuts for about a month now too and can report back positively! It's true the whites don't come up sparkley white but I do one white wash with soapnuts and the next with regular detergent and that does the job.

I also used them in the dishwasher yesterday and I'm pleased to say it worked a treat! Just popped a few in the cutlery grate.

natnat13

l.m.hart wrote: »

Sandra
that brought a tear to my eyes its so nice
thank you

Mine too, that's fantastic and you're fantastic and inspiring Sandra x

patentgirl

Sandra that was lovely your posts are so inspring:T
Flyingfresian your cards are great everyone that receives one must feel so special, You're not a bad frugalista at all we all need somethings now and again my weakness is magazines trying to keep out of shops at moment
Not alot to report here but this will be my 4th NSD on the trot so pleased about that getting low on milk but going to resist till tomorrow
Have a good frugal day everyone

redglass_2

Sandra, yes, you are a joy! :T

youngmummy wrote: »

how does QUIDCO work ????

The same applies as for Ebay, ie make sure you can't get it cheaper elsewhere, or with better cashback. There's a cashback comparing tool on this site. And don't forget you can also get points on your Nectar card if you go to an online seller via their site. (I'm always forgetting and kicking myself!) Cashback is a better deal (I think) but Nectar has some retailers that you can't find on cashback sites so it's a useful fall-back. Now, if you could go via Nectar to a cashback site, that'd be frugal heaven!

rubytuesday wrote: »

A friend has been using them and said the whites didn't come up so white.

Soap powders have artificial brighteners in them to make whites look cleaner. I like to use eco washing products but sometimes find the laundry is getting a bit pongy, so go back to using the bad old kind for a couple of washes to get rid of that and then carry on.

I have a question about soap nuts: I've always wondered about the rinse cycle? I mean, if they are in there with the clothes, they are still there for the rinse, if you see what I mean, so you are in effect getting two washes and not one wash one rinse - which I would've thought would be too soapy and also wasteful of the soapnuts.
Do people hold the rinse and take out the soapnuts?
and...
Is there anyone who boils them down to make a laundry liquid, as I've seen recipes for doing?

Happy frugalling everyone...

Laushappy

Good Morning!!!

Quidco site sounds good, i have heard about cashback sites before but never really understood how they worked, but i shall indeed be looking into this.

need to go to the post office today so will be a spend day, need to post some things i have sold on ebay, two bridesmaid dresses, i'm just trying to decide the best way to parcel them up, was going to put them in carrier bags and them wrap them in parcel paper, do you think this would suffice?

Just wanted to say that you are ALL lovely on here and i'm sooo glad i found this site.
I gave extra praise for SandraScarlett as her posts are so sweet.

Car booked in for a service tommorow, will cost £129 eekk, have this money set aside so not so bad, just cant believe how much we have folked out on the cars these past few months. But after this service we shouldnt need to spend anything (except car tax and mot) for a good while. I hope!!!!

Have approx £100 left for groceries and petrol etc left in the budget for the next week (i get through a fair bit of petrol as i work in the community) and then get paid £140 ish tommorow, so hoping to be able to save what i dont spend out of this by the end of next week.
Although its my mums birthday and i like to get her something nice, (usually spend around £50) i know this sounds alot but she is worth it

Budget for the week (excluding car service):

Petrol: £40-£50
Food- £80 (this is quite high this week as i'm trying out an organic meat box (costs £50 but get loads for this, so should last at least a couple of weeks)
£50 - mums birthday present.
£20 Misc - taking the boys swimming sunday and this is also for other misc spends.

Total: £200 (blimey!!!!!)
Left: £40 to add to savings

happy frugalling everyone :T