2014 Frugal Living Challenge

cw18

TM6 wrote: »

So what is Fuel Save?

For every £50 you spend at Tesco, you’ll earn 2p off a litre of fuel when you fill up at a Tesco petrol filling station. Build up your savings over a number of shops, and you'll get an even bigger saving on your fuel

cw18 wrote: »

Typical! I rarely spend in Mr T these days, but spent enough to use a £6 off £40 voucher yesterday (took a lot of work to get to that big a figure too!)

Thinking about this one again.

If it's purely based on points put into your clubcard account, I assume they'll still not include points earned from buying petrol. But will they include from their other 'shops', such as the mobile phone section? If so I'll get some from that

I'm currently paying £20/month which gets me 20 points (has been getting me 60 on a triple points offer which ends on 31st March), but only 1 or 2 months left at that level. Thereafter 7 if I go SIM only (£7.50/month) or 12 if I go for a new handset with the same allowances as the SIM only deal (£12.50/month). So I could be looking at a voucher every 4-6 months just for having my mobile contract with them - and I can't find a better deal elsewhere even without this as a potential bonus :T I'm just going to have to try an find out what sort of lifespan the fuel vouchers have on them in order to make the most of them - I don't fill my fuel tank often (only been done once so far this year, but is likely to be more often after this week as DS1 goes onto the insurance on Thursday :eek:) so will have to make sure I don't fill up just before one gets issued....... and make sure DS1 is quite clear that he's not to either !!!


EDIT : Reading the small print, even that doesn't work for me. The spends all have to be made in the same calendar month, so if you don't spend £50 a month with them (which I don't unless I fill the fuel tank and I can't see that counting - or possibly if I have a £x off a £y spend) I don't do that. And phone shops excluded, which is my only regular spend with them anyway. DD spends more than enough in store on groceries, in fact I wouldn't be surprised to find she spends > £50/week as it's for her, 3 children (10, 8 and 2), a baby (5 months, but baby milk's excluded) and she feeds her fella a couple of time a week. Neither she nor her fella has a car, but she lives a 70 mile round trip from me - so not even worth me going to hers in order to use her voucher when I'm getting close to needing a fill-up. Next question is whether you need the clubcard with you when you use the voucher, 'cos if you don't I might be able to pick one up from her when I'm going visiting for a family birthday or such.....

EDIT again : it appears the 'voucher' is actually your clubcard. So I can't even use DDs unless she's with me which is highly unlikely to happen (in which case she'll get the points from my petrol spend, but I can live with that if I'm saving 2p/litre). I guess the solution is to have her 'lose' her clubcard and get a replacement. I had to recently after losing my purse, and I got a new full size card with the same number plus 2 key fob ones, and the original (I then found my purse!) still works. So I could have a card on her account just for petrol spends when she lets me know that there's a voucher on it.... that sounds the most practical solution

Shortie

Hi Wilf55 :wave:

If you are getting close to your budget that's good - better than totaly blowing it There are loads of thread on the OS board about reducing the budget if you think they'll help - or post bits up here and I'm sure we can help uggest some things here if you want us to?

Shortie

Blogs....

I had a sudden inspiration last night to have a go at a blog but wondered if others here have experience (good or bad) of writing them?

I can't decide 'why' to write one other than I fancy having a go, but then... really?? What's the point of doing it just becasue I fancy it? I wouldn't be able to post every day to one and it would be a longer term-goal based one, so probably posting once a week, possibly slightly more on occasion. Then I think to myself, well isn't that just an online diary and who would want to read that?

Hmmm......

What experiences/opinions do others have of blogs?

Florenceem

I set one up but never used it.

TM6

For a clear explanation of what 3V cards are and how to get the best out of the offer please read this thread over on PTS

http://www.paidtoshop.co.uk/showthread.php?t=79564

cw18

All I get when I follow that link is a page telling me "You are not logged in or you do not have permission to access this page" with log in boxes.

Shortie

Evening all

Thanks Florenceem, I wonder if I'd end up just using it as a diary, lol - which would be boring and a tad irrelevant for others, therefore not worthy to keep?


So, today we managed to get hold of an architect who was (a) answering their phone (b) willing to come over (c) happened to e in the next village along so came over today. Everyone else we've tried so far doesn't answer their phone/voicemails; the person you get hold of tells you in a narky voice that the architect is too busy to call you back (c) you get hold of the architect and they don't call back when they say they will (or even days later). It's been crazy!! Anyway, the chap seems lovely and helped us talk through what we wanted and why so that he can give us an idea of price, then book a proper time to come and measure up etc... FINALLY, maybe some progress with the building work. He also helped us to decide between having the bedroom downstairs or up in the roof space - I wasn't keen on the bedroom being downstairs overlooking he driveway, so he's going to try and design the roof space above the single storey extension so that we can have out bedroom up their instead, and put the playroom downstairs instead of the loft space. It makes sense to me anyway

I've just booked for us to go to see Frozen at the £1 cinema on Sunday (I have two boys so careful wording got them hyped up to see it again - we saw it at Christmas)

Hoping the weather holds out on Saturday so that we can put up some reed barrier fencing between us and next door - it's only a half height fence betwen us and we want some privacy. I don't think it's our fence to maintain so we're going to go for the cheaper option to put posts our side and put the barrier stuff up on our side for now. I will pay for this out of the money I was given last year to 'treat myself with. Not the most exciting of treats I realise but will give me some peace of mind out in the garden so definately worth it

I still have some money left at the moment - need to save for Paris again though... Our friend said it'd mean loads for us to go and promptly bought us tickets as a treat. Which in turn makes me feel really bad - we can afford it but I was just trying to get savings sorted sooner - I definately don't want our friend out of pocket so I'm going to pay him back. Accomodation is sorted so then it's just food (some of us are a bit strapped who are going so we're going to stock up on food for the house we're going to share) and drinks for the night to fund. Am gald he's forced our hands in a way as I was really looking forward to going, but does mean our saving plans push back a bit again

TM6

cw18 wrote: »

All I get when I follow that link is a page telling me "You are not logged in or you do not have permission to access this page" with log in boxes.

Ah, of course, I am a member of the forum.

I'll cut and paste

**** 12.12.13 - 3V no longer working to pay into NS&I. Some also saying they can't get them to work on Council Tax****

Tesco are offering 150 points when you spend £50 on gift cards. This applies to all gift cards except Tesco branded ones.

The exciting cards are the Visa branded ones, as these can be paid into an NS&I Direct Saver account. The 3V cards are fee free, so potentially offer FREE points.

Here is the guide - I'll update this page with any new info or changes or if I've forgotten anything!

1. What is a 3V?
It is a Visa prepaid card. They come in multiples of £25


2. How do I use it?
You need to register at https://www.3vprepaid.com and then you enter your cards into the website. Each time you register one they send an email with expiry date (a year after purchase) and CVV code which is the 3 digit code that you will be asked for when using the card

3. How long do I have to use it?
Less than a year, towards the end of the year they start to deduct fees. Read up on the 3v website.

4. Can I use 3v in shops?
No it's an online only card.

5. How is the best way to use this card for points?
Buy in multiples of 2 which earns 150 points for every two. If you buy 4 in one transaction you get 300 points. It is recommended you ask the sales assistant to sub-total between each card and don't buy more than four in each transaction. See 'problems buying 3V' in next post.

6. NS&I, what is that?
National Savings. Open a Direct Saver account online, see next post for how long it takes and the usual process. You can then pay your 3V cards into this. Within a fortnight you can have the cash back in your bank. **** 12.12.13 - 3V no longer working to pay into NS&I. Some also saying they can't get them to work on Council Tax****




Best practice is only buy in transactions of 2 or 4. Ask the SA to subtotal each card and wait till it registers before scanning the next. It has also been stated that they can swipe the card down their monitor and that this is quicker. If a card comes off at the end it should issue a 'card not activated/activation not successful' slip. Any cards activated should produce an activation slip confirming that card has successfully activated. Do not leave the store unless you have one of these for each card.

If there are subsequent problems you will need to return to the store, and more than likely see a manager. Some people have been refunded by the store scanning random goods to the value, other stores have managed to activate the cards subsequently, but these seem to be in the minority.

To get problems into context - I have activated over 200 cards and to date not had any problems once I have left the store. I have had cards refuse to activate in the store though.

Once bought, you have to register an online 3V account and register your cards. It basically creates a big list of cards in your account showing the amount remaining on each.

You can open a 3V account online instantly. Easiest way is to enter the first 3V number on https://www.3vprepaid.com and it will ask you for your details. Note the limit is £1625 before you need to send verification, BUT if you sit and enter a huge batch of cards in one sitting, without getting logged out, it appears to be endless (although once logged out the next card attempt to enter will fail with a 'suspended' message). I was up to £1200 then managed to enter nearly 100 cards in one sitting, so over £3500 on an unverified account!

Once suspended you can still spend the cards. You just can't activate any more until you verify your account.

To get an unlimited open account you need to send documents to 3V

"We will need to receive the documents ONLY via post:

(A) Evidence of name and residential address must include copies of any two (2) of the following:

* Original Utility Bill within the last three months (not a mobile phone bill)
* Bank or Building Society statement (not a credit card) - within the last three months
* Local Authority Rating Invoice - within the last three months
* Inland Revenue Communication - within the last three months


(B) A certified copy of your current passport or driver’s license.

Send a copy of your passport or driver’s license that has been signed and stamped by:
o The staff of a post office,
o The staff of a banks, a building society or a Credit Union authorised by the Financial Ombudsman,
o A Chartered Accountants or Certified Public Accountants
o Embassy / Consular staff, or
o The Police authority

You can only post the documents to the address below.

3V Transaction Services
PO Box 11852
Blackrock
Co. Dublin

NOTE: Any of the above certifications will only be accepted by Raphaels, if they have been certified within the past 3 month.
Forwarding the required document to us does not guarantee approval.
The information receive will undergo review and verification process."

This process can take a couple of weeks - remember Dublin is not in the UK so postage will cost more than a UK stamp.

If you have problems getting your bank to certify passport/driving license, the post office will do up to three copies for £7.50 for the lot.

Make sure you read the 3V t+c's. I don't intend to replicate all these here. If you leave an amount on a 3V card for nearly a year they start to deduct 'fees'. Don't do it - use it or pay it into NS&I ASAP.

Fee paying Visa cards

You will find silver coloured Visa cards, these have values of £50 (£3.95 fee) and £25 (£2.95 fee). The fee is added to the cost of the card. Unlike 3V, these can be used in stores to purchase goods. They can also be paid into an NS&I account. They also attract the 150 points per £50 and the Visa 100 point 'turkey coupons' work on these too (but remember if you buy two £50 cards you'll only be able to use two 100 pointers). Use of the 'turkey vouchers' is SA willing as they do state not valid on Visa branded cards.

https://www.NSandI.com

**** 12.12.13 - 3V no longer working to pay into NS&I. Some also saying they can't get them to work on Council Tax****
The cheapest way to spend these cards (no fees) is to pay them into an NS&I Direct Saver account. You can open this online, they then send you an email confirming, and a few days later a letter to sign. Then a few days later an email to confirm you are ready to go once you receive your customer number. Altogether from applying to receiving customer number takes around 10-14 days.

Note you will set up password and security questions when you initially set up the account. Keep a careful note of these as the password must have at least one capital, lower case, number and symbol.

When you pay in you do not need to put the 'from date - leave it blank. Your balance may not go up straight away but you will find these credits under 'pending transactions'. These then tend to go through to add to the headline balance in random batches within an hour or so (sometimes longer).
You need to allow around 5 working days for funds to clear and become withdrawable, then a withdrawal takes up to 3 working days to clear into your bank account. Note you must leave at least £1 in the account, this is the minimum deposit.
**** 12.12.13 - 3V no longer working to pay into NS&I. Some also saying they can't get them to work on Council Tax****

Promos

Current promo is 150 points when you spend £50 on gift cards. This is cumulative ie spend £100 get 300 points.

cw18

Shortie wrote: »

I don't think it's our fence to maintain so we're going to go for the cheaper option to put posts our side and put the barrier stuff up on our side for now.

I assume this is a fence alongside your back garden?

As such, the normal rule appears to be....
when you stand with your back to the back wall of the house, is the fence on your left or right? If it's on your right, then it's your fence. If it's on the left and there's a neighbouring property on that side it's theirs.
(If it's a front fence, then with your back to the front wall of the house your fence is to your left)

That's certainly been the case with all three of my properties (built in 1982, 1952 and 2002 respectively), and with both my parents properties (1964 and 1979), and with all the friends I know who've had fence problems over the years.

paidinchickens

One of our fences blew down this winter but the neighbours left a load of washing on their line and the line was attached to one of our posts. The post broke so instead of moving the washing they moved it to the next post and broke that as well.

DH said he refuses to replace the fence as he has removed their line several times before so................. he went and got one of those Haras (sp) fences of the builders and has put that up :eek::eek::eek:

Now, it stops the chooks and the dogs getting out but it doesn't look pretty :rotfl: The only upside being I have bushes in front which will block it in the summer and the neighbours are now regretting us being able to look straight into their patio door

PiC x