Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - Part 3.

KolaKube

judeee wrote: »

Morning all, new here! Decided last night if I ever want a new kitchen I need to cut down on my spending!

Doing well so far, had a T***o delivery the other day, bought a bag of popcorn kernels to make our own popcorn, only to find they were three and a half months out of date!
Complained to T, just emailed with a £1.59 refund for item, plus £10 voucher off my next shopping :T

hello and welcome! I'm doing the frugal thing to save up too congrats on the tesco voucher, they seem to be quite goid with £10 vouchers when things go wrong with online shopping. Not so much in real life! :eek:

paidinchickens

judeee wrote: »

*wondering if the other threads are friendlier...*

Sorry.............A big warm welcome and hugs to you :T:T:T:T

I have not been on here long myself I just pop on write a load of codswhallop most of the time :rotfl::rotfl:

KolaKube

judeee wrote: »

*wondering if the other threads are friendlier...*

lol just seen this... Dont worry, i'm quite new but we are a friendly bunch! Just not as fast moving as some of the other threads eg on the os board :j

@fresian... Im still confused about finding the cards! Might be as im on my phone... ?

@mooloo the hampers sound great, i would be thrilled if someone put that level of effort and creativity into something for me

national lampoons is our xmas eve tradition too! A buffet tea of sandwiches etc and national lampoons is a must..!

@paidinchickens - im definitely going to be giving this a go when we move back. 5 gallons of wine is too much of a temptation for me not to! Definitely post back with results :T

@tumptyteapot - awesome about the tenner refund! Dont worry about your hol - it will be what you make it! :cool:

paidinchickens

tumptyteapot wrote: »

DHL still haven't delivered my shoes, despite the online tracker saying that they have left cards, but the company I am buying through has been fantastic and refunded me a tenner! They say they have given them an earful and my shoes will be with me on Monday.

blinkin eck Tumpty even Cinderella had one shoe:D

I think I would rather wait and get a tenner off though so well done you :T

23rdspiral

judeee wrote: »

Morning all, new here! Decided last night if I ever want a new kitchen I need to cut down on my spending!

Doing well so far, had a T***o delivery the other day, bought a bag of popcorn kernels to make our own popcorn, only to find they were three and a half months out of date!
Complained to T, just emailed with a £1.59 refund for item, plus £10 voucher off my next shopping :T

judeee wrote: »

*wondering if the other threads are friendlier...*

Hey, give us a chance, u only posted for the first time yesterday lunchtime! Well done on ur complain t refund:T. And they'd possibly be fine to use anyway! If u've lurked or read back I'm sure you've noticed quite a few of us are having stressful times at the moment...

Have u checked out the links in post 1? There's some great tips there. Do u record ur spends at all? A lot uf us use (should update:o) cherylls spreadsheet in excell, it's really helped me notice and stop the little spends that add up when ur not looking.

update: neither SSe or Npower think our wrong bill is their responsibility!:mad:

tumptyteapot

KolaKube wrote: »

@tumptyteapot - awesome about the tenner refund! Dont worry about your hol - it will be what you make it! :cool:

it would be great to get the shoes though!

we have done lots of caravan holidays (just me and my son) but always out of season when they are cheap so it would be great to go in season, possibly be able to swim in outdoor pools etc!

Nargleblast

Just dropping by to say I noticed someone asking about making your own booze for that festival that begins with a C? (I refuse to think about it until the school holidays are over!)

Here is one recipe for fruit liqueurs I have used a few times. You can vary the fruit and the spirit to make whatever combination you like, but the method and proportions are the same.

1 pound of fruit
half a pound of sugar
1 pint of spirit

Mix together in kilner jar, or big screw top jar, and put on your kitchen window sill. Shake it gently every day to dissolve the sugar. After 4 to 6 weeks strain and bottle. I have had success with strawberry vodka, lemon gin (good substitute for lemon liqueur), raspberry Bacardi (the white one, not the dark one), clementine brandy.

Sorry to use Imperial measurements, I am not totally metricated yet!

LolaLemon

Just off fone to V media, cheapest they cam do a package with me is £49 plus £50 activation fee for tivo (anyone got that? Is it any good?) For just a v+ box its £47 a month plus the £49 activation fee.
Actually does anyone know anyone who works for v media sales? Lol (+ prices are going up around £1 in august)
All this to get the Disney kids channels, as son is getting a bit big for just cbeebies, and I don't like channels that use breaks as brain washing children to want toys they have no need for.


Welcome to the newbies.

Tumpty, ur welcome. Theme hampers are the bees knees hehe

23rd, get in touch with ofgen (I think that's what they are called) they don't have a leg to stand on for any time before ur legal 'got the keys' date.

I'm just about to call my energy provider, I'm £57 a month just for electricity, everything apart from the fridge freezer gets switched of. Nothing is left on standby either. I don't watch tv in my room, son does for scooby doo , but not everyday, and defo not all day! I don't have tv on in morning, just usually when we get home around dinner time (4pm onwards).
I'm in credit with hydro for over £200 just now, .... just got to go find my bills so I have details to hand.

paidinchickens

Nargleblast wrote: »

Just dropping by to say I noticed someone asking about making your own booze for that festival that begins with a C? (I refuse to think about it until the school holidays are over!)

Here is one recipe for fruit liqueurs I have used a few times. You can vary the fruit and the spirit to make whatever combination you like, but the method and proportions are the same.

1 pound of fruit
half a pound of sugar
1 pint of spirit

Mix together in kilner jar, or big screw top jar, and put on your kitchen window sill. Shake it gently every day to dissolve the sugar. After 4 to 6 weeks strain and bottle. I have had success with strawberry vodka, lemon gin (good substitute for lemon liqueur), raspberry Bacardi (the white one, not the dark one), clementine brandy.

Sorry to use Imperial measurements, I am not totally metricated yet!

Would that work for cherry brandy ???? we usually treat ourselves to a bottle at "C word" but the bottles are very small and we have only ever found one brand

rising_from_the_ashes

tumptyteapot wrote: »

we have a family rule that everything has to be second hand or hand made for xmas presents, saves heaps! and you have to think about the presents. My sister knits socks, I sew things, make chutney/jam/chocolates....... it's easy

Oh that sounds lovely!

I must admit, I've cut right down in the past few years - when friends started having kids it was just getting so expensive, some of them have 4 kids so even if you get a "wee" something for each it's still a lot of money.

Luckily, most of them are as skint as me so we have a "no pressies" policy, just a nice get together one evening with a lovely HM meal and a few bottles of wine.

So, very close family only, I try to keep it to around 6 presents (oh I sound like a scrooge)

LolaLemon wrote: »

I have wrapping paper from 3 or 4 years ago, and went a bit mad this year, so now have enough to last at least 10 years.

Snap!

I had a couple of rolls left and thought I had a "stash" somewhere - uncovered it the other weekend during the "car boot clear out" - there's LOADS![/QUOTE]

judeee wrote: »

*wondering if the other threads are friendlier...*

Oh dear:(, this is one of the friendliest threads you can "stumble" across - I'm sure no-one meant any offense. There can be gaps between posts....

Welcome to MSE and well done with your vouchers - more people should complain for bad service/goods etc.