~*~ Thrifty Gifty Moneysaving Thread for Christmas and all Occasions 2012 ~*~

rufusdog52

Taylor, sorry to hear about your Dad xx

Savvy, I just need to learn how to use them all now lol. The lappy isnt too bad as I am used to computers and the kindle looks easy enough but the phone will be another matter altogether. At least I am used to a touch screen, OH hadnt had one before and he has been getting in a right mess. He has such large fingers too. He sent me a text yesterday and it looked like it was in russian, all these symbols and capital letters in the middle of words. I did laugh as he wont use predictive text and takes the mickey out of me if I send him a text and its put the wrong word in. Should have seen his face when I showed him what he had sent me!

Thanks for the comments about the Kindle case. Elysia - I think I will have a go at the weekend and make up some more. I have some more of the polka dot fabric in all different colours and I could do plain linings to save money. It didnt take me long to knock it up either. How much do you think they would sell for? I would have to add on PP after as well.

rufusdog52

I have had a few surveys. Did a PC one for £3 and just did a MS one for 400 points. I am owed some points on there as did a diary thing the other week and the points havent been added yet. It was for 750 points I think so will be enough for a £10 am voucher, will make up for the one I spent the other day. I claimed my £34 off C this morning so will have that next month. I have some coming too from Vista how ever much it is on there now to redeem. I am also there on SH but still waiting for about £3 of it to go from pending so I can claim that. Will be another £16.

elysia2003

Wow - great redeems Rufus. Januarys totals are going to be fab, and we haven't even got there yet.

I'm not too sure about how much to charge? £7.50 sounds about right to me - the proper branded envelope ones go for about £25 plus, and the filofax style that I have, go for about £17 upwards. It might be worth starting them off higher, at £10, and if they don't sell, reduce the price to £7.50 then. Not fogetting to add p+p afterwards of course.

mum2one

rufus - don't know if its any help but tesco do sim only deals and they also offer a capped service, so theres no chance of going over your price, not 100% sure whether its capped at price level or you set your level.

As for giff gaff, a friend of ours they have the whole family on it, mum, dad + 3 kids, they swear by it. Think there on the pay + go version, but the 16yr old has a internet phone, and shes pay+ go, as she run up a £400 bill on 1 month on vodafone!! xx

rufusdog52

Brilliant, thanks Elysia, I will give it a try and see whether they sell xx

rufusdog52

Thanks Mum2one, they do a £10 package on there (GG) which is unlimited internet, unlimited texts and 250 mins. Sounds good but I am just a bit worried that if something goes wrong I might not be able to get it sorted what with me being thick when it comes to phones. I have sent for the sim anyway, but I think I will give O2 a ring first and see how much it will be on there.

mum2one

Job 1 - sorted have set up spreadsheet for birthday and xmas and culled the numbers and the planned budget

Estimated budgets
Birthdays Christmas
2011 - 450 2011 - 545
2012 - 280 2012 - 390

Job 2 -
Got to sort out leftovers from last yr + regifts so thats 2mors job xx

Savvybunny2009

You will get the hang of it all Rufus, my smartphone still needs to be fixed but I couldn't work out how to do much on it even after reading the manual lol. I'm sure you will learn it quickly Rufus. I can't text to save my life and my dodgy keyboard does me no favours on here either, I would hate to think what a text from me would look like. I bet his face was a picture when you showed him.

Well done on being organised mum2one, having your spreadsheet all filled in. I have had to add another sheet to make note of which gifts we received and which gifts were sent which will make sure we don't regift anything back to the same person, so we can compare spends to last year and ensure everyone gets thank you cards sent to the. May add another page to record every gift purchase made and dated so if we need to find receipts or proof of purchase (bank statements) I can cross reference with my receipt storage system. I learn't this year it would be helpful to find receipts for toys/gifts that are faulty.

purpleorchid

hi all

have joined some more survey sites will see how i get on with these and let you know. i am currently on 11 sites at the moment lol. hoping to make some serious cash, plus im with shop and scan (nelson consumer panel).
had a nice suprise in the post with 2 free gifts ready for xmas 2012.

free copy of "The girl with the dragon tattoo", dad will love this.
free douwe egberts coffee, enough to make 6-8 cups in a cafeteriera, ideal for mums hamper. ( i cant drink caffeine )

luv p
xx

hollythecat

Everyone seems really busy today. I've been to the sales for the same reason as NickyBo, DS's trousers get short so often makes me realise why boys used to wear shorts all year round! I took DS for lunch while we were out and the food wasn't very warm, I mentioned it to the waitress who came round with the usual 'is everything alright with your food?' question, she offered to replace it but we were off to the cinema and couldn't wait (Arthur Christmas - loved it!) so she gave me a voucher for 2 adult meals! Always worth complaining isn't it?
I managed to work out my total for 2011 and after viva pay me £25 on Thursday I'll have made £950 which I'm really pleased with. It also gives me a pretty obvious target for 2012! I only do surveys and a little bit of ebaying but no reviews so I'm happy with that.
There are a couple of surveys in my inbox so I'm off to do those before starting to make tea.