The Other Way, or the MSE Way: My Personal Challenge 2012

nu1isit?

Been having a look at Zapper today, to clear some things that I know will take ages on e**y, or be a hard slog at the car boot with silly haggling (i.e. I'll give you 10p/20p for it mate ...
Sold a few things on ebay that I'd decluttered from the house, hooray :j...One of the items I've listed for this current week also has bids on it already, well happy with myself :rotfl:.
If you remember we'd already paid the line rental for the year upfront, we've now scrambled enough together for the phone/net bills for the year ...One less thing to worry about :T.

Have a good day MSE'ing everyone

nu1isit?

Started on the spider's cabinet....Removed the drawers and runners, just have to fill in a few holes at a later date , possibly paint/varnish it too...He looks a lot happier in there now .
Working out whether it's going to be better to sell the laptop as seperate parts, or as a whole 'faulty' item...

Still keeping up with the other challenges...

The Sealed Pot Challenge 5, is here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/50333519#Comment_50333519

;and the Every Penny's A Prisoner here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3646867

Happy MSE'ing everyone :beer:

nu1isit?

Bought my spray on deoderant from, A**a, 50p a tin, the closest stuff I could have 'stomached' was £1.25 a tin... I bought 10 tins, so it's £7.50 better kept in my pocket ... I had used the natural deoderant that (like Pit Rok), that comes in sticks, it lasted for ages and did kill under arm smells - but it kept falling to pieces or shattering after 6 - 8 weeks...After that if you used it, it would scratch under your arms.
Sold and posted some items from the declutter ...Got the car boot to look forward to tomorrow too . I need some Derren Brown style mind control to sell my stuff :money:...

Still keeping up with The Sealed Pot Challenge too...A segment from the 20th:

Quote:
Originally Posted by jakes-mum
Ahhh ty nu1isit, but why do I get the feeling thats me on one side, Sue-UU on the other and you in the middle :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

"Eee, I could take this wrong way :rotfl:Jakes-mum, you have a low opinion of me, I am both shocked and appalled ... Hope you're feeling a bit better now.
I have to tell you all but I shouldn't....The lovely DW found a sewing/crafty gadget at the thrift market, that I'd never seen before...I said, "ooo, what's that", looking rather pleased with herself, she said, "it's for darning". My face obviously looked a treat, so she explained it was for repairing and stitching up clothing. I said, " aahhh, like socks" (was pleased with myself for knowing about such crafty things), the wife smirked and carried on, "Yeah, socks, shirts, jackets, pantaloons, the cr*t*h on your boxers". :eek:,I nearly choked :eek: . Even the old couple behind me, nearly choked on their tea, I heard a splutter :rotfl::D...Before you ask, my pantaloons are in a state of good repair. I think not I said, that's a bit too extreme for me .
Anyway as punishment for making the old couple splutter their tea, she's donated her change (shrapnel), for the pot .

Hope you've all had a good day potting :A"

;and the 21st:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sue-UU

nu1isit?, do you mean it was a thimble you DW bought..to put on the end of her finger? Tell me now, does she do the sewing while you're wearing the clothes?!!! :eek:

"No Sue, it's one of these:

">

It's a wooden thing with a band that holds the fabric in place ...
Please Sue don't give her ideas, I read what you said to her, and she cackled :eek:, yes cackled :eek:, V E R Y L O U D L Y :rotfl: ...I even felt a cold shudder down my spine :rotfl: ...no man should feel that fear .
Nothing from us today, trying to keep hold off all the change for tomorrow's car boot ...I hope we sell the majority of the stuff :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:.

Happy Potting everyone :A"

Hope everyone has a good week MSE'ing :A

nu1isit?

Hello everyone, hope your doing well .

Well, we've sold a few more items from the declutter on ebay, and the car boot went well too. A couple of people tried to haggle to the extreme though, I love a good haggle, it's part of the banter - but there's a fine line isn't there . One tried to buy the DW's shoes, they were already knocked down to a pound, he looked at us and said, "no, I give you 50p now", I said, "no a pound, they're practically new". He went to hand some money over, "there", it was 65p. "It's all I have", he said, I said, "no, they're a pound" and I put them back on the table (I'd seen him jangle the money in his pocket on the other side before). Next thing he grunts at me and miraculously produces a few pound coins from his other pocket. Mmmm, he gave me a look that would kill afterwards :eek: :rotfl: :eek:, but were else can you buy a good pair of shoes for a pound:D?
I did something I did last year again out of interest to (had a good day that year), everytime someone bought something I went and rearranged things so something else was of interest in front of the table, had a bit of banter with strangers and we kept getting people browsing . Seemed to work better than just sitting in the seats,waiting for people (we did that a few years ago), obviously didn't seem to get many people looking at the bits that year ...
The lovely DW nearly blinded me too, I went to give her cuddle , quick 'squeeze' :rotfl:and kiss . She forgot to tell me, she'd put her 4head stuff on her head (it's for headaches)...I can only describe it as, like having someone rub vicks vabo rub stuck in your eyes :eek:, I thought they were getting jetwashed , and going to pop out of the sockets at the same time :rotfl:. Her response was, "I thought you'd seen me put it on", I could see her trying not to laugh through my watery eyes :rotfl:, I think one of the other sets of people thought I'd had a break down, and burst in to tears :rotfl::rotfl: .
The DW even found an old silk wedding dress she can use, as in recycle, using it as donor fabric/pieces etc.; some of the bits on it she was going to buy from a shop - but would have cost her £5 a pop in she shops :eek:...
We gave some remaining toys, and books to the lady who raises money there every week for a good cause (The Freeman Hospital - Children's Ward). She may have more luck selling them, and the money will go towards a good cause. We make a point of going to see if she's got anything when we're buying, she's always nice and remembers your face.

Still going to keep up with the declutter, bit by bit . I've got the loft to tackle next:p, and a few bits left in the bedroom :rotfl:. I'm shocked how much we've raised from it so far, I'll tell you the total at the end.

Oh, I made a mistake in one of the previous posts...the spray was meant to cost me £2.24 a tin x 10=£22.40, I paid £5 for the lot; that's £17.40 saved :T :T.

Still continuing with The Sealed Pot Challenge and The Every Penny's A Prisoner too.

Has anyone seen 'The Superscrimpers' on Channel 4? If so, what did you think of it?

Hope you've all had a good week MSE'ing :j

nu1isit?

If anyone shops in A**A, have a look in the ethnic food section, there's tins of toms in there, that work out 3p cheaper than their sm**t price ones . Worth it if you buy more than 10 a fortnight, you're effectively getting yourself a tin of toms for free .

Happy MSE'ing :j

nu1isit?

What have we been up to ?
Still decluttering very slowly :whistle:...At least I’m starting to see floor space in our room now:p; some gone to: charity, car boot, and e**y. We’ve made roughly £250 so far from selling ‘stuff’ that’s been sitting for months, which we don’t need anymore :D...
I had been experimenting with the milk, I’ve been buying Blue top (full), and mixing it 50/50 with water. My aim was to get two big bottles for the price of one (I know I thought it was very MSE of me too )...The DW wasn’t overly impressed :eek:! However, I have managed to do a, two thirds milk and one third water mix. No one’s complained yet :rotfl:, and it’s better than paying full price for one green top:j.
On Making food stretch, we made some Bolognese style sauce (with ‘yellow stickered’ mince of course). Had it with one main meal, stretched to another day had it on jacket potatoes, and froze the rest. Woo hoo...I’m thinking of looking into the slow cooker scenario too:think:.
Laundry... We had tried ecoballs and soap nuts last year, but ended up disgruntled with both. The soap nuts quality seemed to differ, and had trouble getting out some of the kids stains and mucky marks :eek:. The two DD's like mud, and jumping and hanging off things :rotfl::p:rotfl:...We ended up shifting to A**a’s cheapest of the cheap laundry liquid (it’s in the smart price packaging, and is usually well hidden on the bottom shelves. As well as using cheap stain sticks from the pound shops when needed .We tried halving the stated amount, but it didn’t work to well, so a full cap each wash.
We read that some people are only using a tablespoon of decent powder, in the wash and having decent results, so I think we might give that a go in the next fortnight. Also, we’re toying with the idea of using the white vinegar, as a fabric conditioner. We’ve never tried it, but have used it to clean windows and mirrors . We’ll let you know how we get on...
The DW’s shoes, she had a pair which she hadn’t worn for ages, as they were a dark brown colour,and she mainly uses black now....She started to dye them black, by repeatedly, using cheap shoe polish...They look pretty good now. I’d done something similar years ago, turning a tan pair of DM’s into a Oxblood pair (the colour I couldn’t afford) ...
Phone and internet was £3 more expensive than we thought this month :eek:, the DW and me, phoned after 6pm thinking it was off peak from then :eek:(don’t ask, we don’t know how we got that in our head ). It’s actually from 7pm off peak – a lesson learned we hope.


I think that’s it for this week...


Happy MSE’ing everyone :j

vintage43

nu1isit? wrote: »

Started on the spider's cabinet....Removed the drawers and runners, just have to fill in a few holes at a later date , possibly paint/varnish it too...He looks a lot happier in there now .
Working out whether it's going to be better to sell the laptop as seperate parts, or as a whole 'faulty' item...

Still keeping up with the other challenges...

The Sealed Pot Challenge 5, is here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/50333519#Comment_50333519

;and the Every Penny's A Prisoner here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3646867

Happy MSE'ing everyone :beer:

We have sold computers for parts on E**y and they have sold well! give it a try x

nu1isit?

vintage43 wrote: »

We have sold computers for parts on E**y and they have sold well! give it a try x

Thanks vintage43 ...already taken the plunge to sell as parts, and you're right - one of the main parts has already sold:j...I'm keeping my fingers crossed the rest of the bits sell now . Can I ask you some cheeky questions, you seemed to be experienced at this? If yes, here we go:
Do laptop wireless cards sell better being listed with their computer model, or their 'actual' brand name etc.?;
Which is the better listing length for laptop parts 7 days or 30 days BIN?
If you do mind me asking, you never saw those questions :rotfl: ...

Still keeping up with The Sealed Pot Challenge, here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3649179

Happy MSE'ing everyone :j

nu1isit?

Hello MSE'rs !

Well this weeks been pretty lean on the actual decluttering, but on a brighter note...So far all the things we've decluttered (that hadn't been used or were going to the skip), have raised us roughly £300 ...That's cause to be happy straight away :j. Plus, there's still more 'stuff' to go through :rotfl: ....

The computer parts are going slowly, but better than thought .

Tried the the cheap laundry powder, and using only a tablespoon in the laundry. It seems to be doing the job, the badly stained (muddied) clothes, get attacked with a cheap stain stick first .

Trying to [STRIKE]scrounge[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]steal[/STRIKE] negotiate a loan of my dads wood filler (I only need a small bit of it, so it's a waste buying a big tub of the stuff). Very MSE of me, or just supertight? We need repairs/adaptions needed to a few bits of furniture - so we need some .

Next the kids clothes, we've been looking out for a fleece for the big DD, for a while now...Finally found a Next one for 50p :j, an absolute bargain - it had hardly been worn .

Repaired DD's little patent leather shoes using a permanent marker and clear nail varnish. She loves them, so I'd rather do that, than spend money on a new pair from Clarks £££ :eek:£££. Surely I get a MSE gold star for this alone :rotfl: :rotfl:.

Happy MSE'ing evryone :j

nu1isit?

Having a bit of a p** day today ...feel rougher than a rough thing :eek:...
On a brighter note, still carrying on with the other challenges:

The Sealed Pot Challenge:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3649179

The Every Penny's A Prisoner Challenge:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3646867

Really couldn't be bothered with the vacuum when it packed up today, in a glorious stench of weirdness and a lack of power :eek:... Great, I thought, this is going to cost ...After a while tinkering, it turned out to be two things...the pipe was blocked with a plastic bag :shocked:(don't ask I don't know how it got there either ), and the belt had slipped on the beater bar ...One fixable with a big piece of wire and trickery :dance:, the other with screwdrivers and a grin . Better than having to buy new (see secondhand) parts, I suppose :j. Fingers crossed, it stays fixed now :shhh:, let's not tempt fate :rotfl:...
Having to watch The Night Garden with the little DD at the moment, I don't think she's feeling to good either _pale_..Roll on tomorrow .

Happy MSE'ing everyone :money: