The Other Way, or the MSE Way: My Personal Challenge

enjoyfinancialchallenges

nu1isit? wrote: »

Mrs Jojo, you hit the nail on the head...people should be thankful they've had a pressie given to them, I'd be happier knowing someone had spent some time doing/making something for us. It means at least, they put thought and time into it, as oppossed to buying some last minute 'tat' from a shop.:D

I'm glad you got fridge fixed Verbatim , my mum keeps having a similar problem :mad:.

For Christmas gifts this last year I filled baskets I already owned but had no real use for with home made jars of jams, marmalade and lemon curd, I did a lot of jam making last year so was able to put about eight jars in each basket. I cut out some material covers and put ribbon around them, they looked good. My family were delighted and say they will return the baskets to be filled next year, suits me.

robsmum_2

enjoyfinancialchallenges wrote: »

For Christmas gifts this last year I filled baskets I already owned but had no real use for with home made jars of jams, marmalade and lemon curd, I did a lot of jam making last year so was able to put about eight jars in each basket. I cut out some material covers and put ribbon around them, they looked good. My family were delighted and say they will return the baskets to be filled next year, suits me.

I did this as well and they went down better than the bought gifts! I made jams and chutneys and then in December sweets - I really enjoyed doing them and they were very popular. I also made my 2 small great neices traditional rag dolls, the 2 dolls cost me a grand total of £5.
Thinking of ideas for this year now.

nu1isit?

Hello everyone, I’ll update you on our progress so far:
Dog Food:
We've been considering/testing in which ways we can save on the dogs complete food.
Independent pet shop (£8.99 for 15kg bag) = 59.933333333333 pence per kg pence per kg
Asda Smart Price Complete dog food (4.6p per 100g a 2kg bag) = 46 pence per kg
Wagg dog food at A**A (15kg bag at £10.10) = 67 per kg
Pets ** H**e Country Valu (15kg at£9.49) = 63p per kg

If we do a mix of A**a SM complete food (2kg) and small bag of Wagg dog food (2.5 kg) which is 80p a kg. 7.5 x 46p = 345p + 7.5 x 67p= 502.5p (total = 847.5p, that's £8.47 rounded up).
The dog farts too much when he just eats the SM stuff :eek:, the money saved might be great (8 x 2kg bags at 92p = £7.36), but our noses can't take the smell:rotfl:. The paint's started peeling of the walls it was that bad:D!
That’s a saving of roughly 52p a big bag if we do our own mix as oppossed to independent pet shop big bag equivalent...£1.02 saved, rather than getting a P**s ** H**e, cheap equivalent.
If anyone's got any better ideas on complete dog food, share with the group :j.

Linux/DVD machine:
Right after much colourful language and hand actions, fuelled by awkward problems – I’ve ditched Linux Mint....”Oooooo”, I hear you say, and “that’s not the spirit” – but ah ha ....I have installed Ubuntu, it’s another version of Linux. I swear I could see the clouds part and hear deep meaningful music start up :rotfl::D. It worked with the sound card, played dvds, put internet vids into full screen mode - with no whinging about flash players, it does everything (I wonder if it’ll polish my boots too) . I’ve bought some extra ram memory for it too. I’m well under budget to get it up and running – in fact I’ve only spent £8 so far :T (PC itself cost me £10 of the market)! You can’t see, but I’m doing a little dance, I might even throw in a pointy finger move soon :dance:...


Hope you've all had a great MSE day too :beer:.

AlwaysHappy

Just stumbled across this thread and love it, really made me smile at times but has also made me think seriously about our own finances and economising generally - this thread has made it seem fun and is so motivational - I have now subscribed so I don't miss any of the tips - like the idea of the magnetic shoes - I 'm sure they would catch on! good luck on your journey - I will be following it with interest.

CompletelyLost

This thread is great, I have subscribed and look forward to reading more!

nu1isit?

Thanks very much CompletelyLost and AlwaysHappy!
Not much to report today...went to the washing machine today, only to find what could only be described as, looking like a sheep had exploded in the drum :rotfl::D...Balls of fluff everywhere:eek: :mad::eek:, I smiled and picked every single bit out (and squeezed it), I then placed it back into the case it had escaped from :rotfl:. I thought, I can go and buy a new cheap pillow (£5-£10 +), or I could get out the emergency sewing kit (passed on by my grandad). I think he would have laughed/liked the idea of me using it for this; he was what people would describe as a tight a***...In fact he was the king!
Anyway I got down to some serious man sewing , grrrrrrrrrrr :laugh:...
The result, it's not pretty but it does the job (I'm sure the wife's said that about me before :think:). It looks like Frankensteins head, but no one has to see it :T:D.

Hope you've all had a good MSE day.

robsmum_2

Hope it's your pillow and not the wifes!:eek:

CompletelyLost

You must have the patience of a saint - I can never be bothered to sew buttons back onto things,let alone sewing one whole side of a pillow. Still you have a point, noone's gonna see it once its in a pillowcase.

AlwaysHappy

Thats made me laugh, can just imagine how much it will cost you at the chiropracter after a few nights shut eye on frankensteins head! Well done on your tenacity though

gemini12

I have just found this thread and enjoyed reading it. Just a tip for dog owners Mr S has nappy sacks at 5p for a hundred at the moment (usually 9p). They are quite thin but I can clear up after three dogs with them and no problems.