Silverbird's Diary

RAS

Hi again

it seems to me that you are living a pretty frugal life, so it is time to try and find a few extra to add in. By the way, I have lived with the kettle for hotwater, and there are worse things.

have you checked that you can't get any council tax rebate, www.entitledto.com ? Even if you only get a few pence, it often opens up avenues to other free/discounted services, e.g the sport centre for the odd shower?

In addition to the mystery shoppers, there are other survey sites and some click for paybacks, see chevalier's posts. Also check www.quidco so that you can access any paybacks if you move accounts for insurance etc.

If you are not already on there, sign up for www.freecycle.com, as the only cost is that of collecting the goods.

If you are not able to get extra work outside the home, can you do something at home to improve your life?

Foraging? Get a book from the library on wildfoods to supplement your diet, Roger Philips and Richard Mabey are the bibles. Buy a bit of extra sugar and vinegar and learn to make jams and chutneys. You can go for walks and cook together.

Also wood for a fire if you have one?

You probably do not hang round the local pub a lot? However, meeting the locals can be a source of goodies, seatrout, pheasant and local fruit and veg. Once every few weeks, go down and have a slow half pint. This is also the best way to learn about the extra odd jobs that might be knocking around locally.

Do you have a local WI? Ditto.

Do you have any outside space? Even a four foot square would allow you to grow useful quantities of salads and greens. Plus herbs in pots or another plot. the cheapest sources of seeds i have seen repoated are Lidl, Poundstretcher and www.alanromans.com (minimum £5 for 10 packets).

Check books by Joy Larkcom for the list of things that can be grown through the winter and autumn.

Chucks???

pinkkaz

I'd echo the point about quidco.com. I've just signed up for an egg card through them - I don't plan to use it, but thought I'd may as well get the free £35! Also, you get £50 when you sign up for an A&L current account - lots of offers like that. The money takes a while to come through but it does eventually...

Silverbird

Hi again, RAS, and thank you for such a detailed and helpful post.

Yes, there are definitely worse things than no hot running water. It doesn't bother us at all and in fact I'm used to it, as my father was strict with the water heater when I lived at home.

Yes, I have checked about council tax rebate at the link you provided. We're not eligible for a penny, unfortunately.

Thank you for the two other links mentioned - I shall look into those.

We do go for walks and cook together, so that's all good. Home life is great. We don't go out to the cinema or for a meal or to the pub (neither of us are drinkers) and it suits us just fine. We play board games, read, go on the computer, clean, watch DVDs - we're very happy and it's nice and cheap, of course!

I discovered a fab little greengrocers shop not far from where I work which provides fresh fruit and veg daily, so I go there now for some things (although after price-checking with local supermarket, found that some things were double in the greengrocers, which surprised me! I obviously get those from the supermarket).

I should have mentioned - the land we are on is vast and we have huge amounts of vegetables growing, thanks to my husband. He grows everything from seed and we have lettuce, beetroot, spring onions, red onions, leeks, runner beans, pumpkins and even garlic! It's wonderful

Yes, we are very frugal - well, we have to be, I guess! That's why I came on here - I just wondered if there was anything else at all that we could be doing that we're not already doing. Although frustrating, it's reassuring that we don't seem to be doing anything wrong with regards to living and buying, so that's a start!

Thank you so much for your post and to everybody else too. You've all given me much food for thought and I'll consider everything mentioned.

robnye

a couple of things from your SOA

haircut - isnt there a college nearby - or use a trainee
bikini wax - why? at least 6 months of the year you are fully covered......? couldnt you stretch it out to 3 monthly or do some DIY..... or even get hubby involved.......? say no more....!

chevalier

Hi there
Someone called?!
Here are some websites, on which you can earn a bit of money or points to put towards vouchers. Sorry if it is a bit long!

www.lightspeed.com - this is a survey site, where you get points which turn into vouchers (you choose). May not help with the cash flow, but the vouchers could be saved towards birthday/xmas or given as presents.

www.caio.co.uk - survey site that gives money. A bit fits and starts ie no surveys for a couple of weeks, then three or four the same day.

www.yougov.co.uk - again paid surveys. However takes a while to get to the minimum payout level

www.pigsback.co.uk - this is a points site, ie they give you points for buying things via their site. BUT you also get points for signing up for news letters (some of which are even interesting!), and also for clicking on adverts with pink borders. I have spent NOTHING with them but got a £10 voucher through this week (only been registered since January). There is also a thread in the freebies section, which gives you all the daily answers to the competitions so you can have a better chance of winning on them.

www.mutualpoints.com - another points for clicks site. You can also buy things via their site and get points too. For a long time, I just clicked the links in the emails they send you, and that gets you 5 points. At 3000 points you get £20 I think. You can do searches via their site and that gets you points too.

www.quidco.com - this is a cash back site, so very good, for checking if any potential new insurers (ie if you have checked your contents insurance say and found a new provider), are offering cash back. Eg Lloyds was offering £120 cashback on new policies at one point (the offers do change). You can also get small amounts of cash again for doing searches via their site. You can earn 52p a day by doing this. Every little helps.

www.greasypalm.co.uk - another cash back site, where you can do searches and get small amounts of money. But it all adds up. I think you can get about 50p a day on there for nothing. Minimum payout is £20 I think, but you can sign up to survey sites via there, and get extra money that way for nothing.

Again more medium term money might come from claiming back bank charges. . Many people have got money back on that. There are articles from Martin on the main site about how to go about doing this.
If you are going to do this, it is wise to set up another current account first, with a bank that you have no debt with. Just to be on the safe side.

Are you in the correct banding for your council tax? Again there is an article by Martin on the main website about how to go about checking this. If you are in the wrong band and due a rebate, it is for all the year you have been living in the house since 1991, so this can be several thousand pounds back

Sorry this isn't personalised but I am on my way to get my ds1 from school.

As it is the holiday season, is there any temp seasonal bar work you can get? Or holiday cover for Tescos? For the both of you? Not the best way to spend your summer, but better than getting more into debt.

I also noticed that you don't have any car costs, is this correct? Nor any contents insurance?
chev

wolvesinwales

You mentioned about all the vegetables that you grow, i know someone who makes a nice living from delivering a box of assorted vegetables to peoples home for £5 a week.

Silverbird

robnye wrote: »

a couple of things from your SOA

haircut - isnt there a college nearby - or use a trainee
bikini wax - why? at least 6 months of the year you are fully covered......? couldnt you stretch it out to 3 monthly or do some DIY..... or even get hubby involved.......? say no more....!

:rotfl: I'm fully covered all the time! Well, mostly! Yes, I could do without it, but it's my 'little luxury'. It's a female thing. I hate hair down there. I don't do it for anybody else - it's for me. Plus, I get easily irritated down below and am on treatment for it. Dunno why I call it a luxury because it's damn painful, but it's so nice not to have to shave every day or every other day. Hubby loves it too ... I think I'll purchase an epilator, which will do the same job but will work out cheaper.

I'll check out whether the college do hairdressing, but not sure I'll get it done much cheaper than I already have it. I did a lot of research to get it as cheap as it is (£35 every 3 to 4 months). I was paying over double that where I lived before :eek:

Silverbird

Again more medium term money might come from claiming back bank charges. . Many people have got money back on that. There are articles from Martin on the main site about how to go about doing this.

If you are going to do this, it is wise to set up another current account first, with a bank that you have no debt with. Just to be on the safe side.

Are you in the correct banding for your council tax? Again there is an article by Martin on the main website about how to go about checking this. If you are in the wrong band and due a rebate, it is for all the year you have been living in the house since 1991, so this can be several thousand pounds back

Sorry this isn't personalised but I am on my way to get my ds1 from school.

As it is the holiday season, is there any temp seasonal bar work you can get? Or holiday cover for Tescos? For the both of you? Not the best way to spend your summer, but better than getting more into debt.

I also noticed that you don't have any car costs, is this correct? Nor any contents insurance?
chev

Thanks so much! I will work through those links as soon as I can.

I've claimed back hubby's bank charges (£1,500) and that's how I found this site, in fact. Unfortunately I don't have any to claim back myself!

We're in the correct Council Tax banding unfortunately!

Yes, bar work is always an option here on island, particularly in the summer months. We have no other plans for our summer (no holidays booked, of course), so I'll look into that. Problem being is that I'm not the most confident of people ... but I'll sleep on it.

Yes, we're both looking for extra part-time/weekend/evening work and we're looking on the internet and the local paper for jobs.

No contents insurance - we rent privately. Hubby has a car and pays all petrol and insurance on that himself (I should have mentioned that earlier!)

Thanks so much everybody!

RAS

Another daft idea?

My little local butcher throws away lots of bones and stuff. In the winter he cant get rid of chicken wings at all.

I am not broke but love home made chicken soup. if I stop over on my way to the shops and warn him, he will save the carcases from a couple of chickens, often with the wings and loads of meat, rather then bin them.

Actually there is enough for curry, or fricasse or a pie plus lots for soup. I could have other meats if I had time to make up the stock.

Kaz2904

I would say that your soa looks good but do think that the two of you should put all debts into the snowball calculator because you may find a way to hammer them down quicker.
I'm so jealous that you have a huge veggie plot, can I come and live at the bottom of your garden?
Do you grow freezable crops and fruit etc? Someone on the gardening board was saying to put tatties in a bucket now for christmas and someone else sows carrots all year round.
If you were able to get bar work for both of you in the same pub each evening then you could still spend time together. It would also mean that you wouldn't have to go to the pub to meet the locals and you could "pick their brains" about local food sources (translate to get freebies offered!).
Do post up a joint soa and we can have a butchers. When you do could you post all info such as apr and minimum payment and with the loan, the term remaining. Also let us know if there are any penalties to overpaying your loan.
At least when you go for a day out it shouldn't cost much with being in such a beautiful location!