Only freedom will do

AlexLK

Cooking challenge sounds like it went well. Though until reading your post I thought we were doing well making cheese scone yesterday in preparation for lunch today. :rotfl:

As for £ shops, I have been known to buy Araldite type glue and contact adhesive from there for £1 which works just as well. Also soap, shampoo etc as it's only the same as what's available in other shops.

edinburgher

Yum yum - can't beat a good cheese scone

Yes, the £ shops are good for stationery type things, you can also pick up cheap padded envelopes for eB@y sales and can get something like 50 envelopes with adhesive strips for £1 :T

Toiletries is actually one area where I'm relatively spendy because I try and use sparing amounts of things like shampoo and shower gel (no giant handfuls of shampoo required with short hair). I quite like Lu5h and the B0dy Shop for soap and shampoo and shower gel, respectively. Their focus on Fair Trade/community trade appeals to me (and they make some great products).

AlexLK

edinburgher wrote: »

Yum yum - can't beat a good cheese scone

Yes, the £ shops are good for stationery type things, you can also pick up cheap padded envelopes for eB@y sales and can get something like 50 envelopes with adhesive strips for £1 :T

Toiletries is actually one area where I'm relatively spendy because I try and use sparing amounts of things like shampoo and shower gel (no giant handfuls of shampoo required with short hair). I quite like Lu5h and the B0dy Shop for soap and shampoo and shower gel, respectively. Their focus on Fair Trade/community trade appeals to me (and they make some great products).

Forgot about padded envelopes, definitely bought those from the £ shops before.

Not sure how your household uses sparing amounts of things like shampoo living with a woman... (no doubt someone will see this is "sexist") but I'm sure Mrs K eats it.:rotfl:To be fair to her, she does have long hair.

I'll leave you with one thought for the future, your girl will turn into a teenager one day. That shampoo bill is only going one way ...:eek:

edinburgher

Haha - I only manage to regulate my own usage - Mrs E buys her own and quite a lot of it! :eek:

DD will no doubt be super savvy, I have an (optimistic?) idea that our children will end up like Tilly's kids

turtlemoose

oh my, just read about S123 accounts - that'll probably be me looking elsewhere, I need to do some sums but don't think it's going to be worth it for me any more. It's very disappointing.

edinburgher

It is a nuisance, Turtlemoose, essentially a stealth decrease in the advertised interest rate (unless cashback pays you £5 or more).

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Just caught up and very glad for you that the house move is all moving along well. Well done, and I am sure it was the slate heart that clinched the deal. X

ajmoney

Just to set the record straight! I don't mind £ shops, just that when we are giving presents in our house that cost £1 or less, going to those shope takes the thought out of it.

Goldiegirl

edinburgher wrote: »

Toiletries is actually one area where I'm relatively spendy because I try and use sparing amounts of things like shampoo and shower gel (no giant handfuls of shampoo required with short hair). I quite like Lu5h and the B0dy Shop for soap and shampoo and shower gel, respectively. Their focus on Fair Trade/community trade appeals to me (and they make some great products).

I use the Lush shampoo bars, they last for ages. I'm also fond of the Body Shop Shea body butter, when I'm getting low I'm always on the look out for offers, and I often get cashback offers from the .halifax.

I noticed that the s123 fee is going up, which is a shame. I had a letter from Tesco, saying they are doing away with the fee that's applicable if less than £750 is paid in each month. Tesco might be worth considering for £3000.

PositiveBalance

edinburgher wrote: »

Keep me posted PB, I think the stability of owning your own place will work well for you

I think it will, too. Interestingly, you aren't the fjrst person to say that recently. Daft as this may sound, I have had a few people psychologically discombobulate me in the past week or so. This has got me wondering what I appear like to others. What is it that makes you think that?

edinburgher wrote: »

Ps. Don't worry too much about having other debts, a lot of people have some unsecured debts on top of their mortgage and cope just fine.

I'm hoping it will help! The plan is this: get whole house up to liveable standard then rent out a spare room to a lodger. I'm hoping to use anything I get from the lodger to blast through the debt. I have a spare room in my rented abode but can't rent it out (plus it's pretty small).

This whole scenario (plus a few other things happening to people in my life) have really made me think about my economic future in a way that I haven't before. I'll be back for investment/pension advice in the near future if you will be happy to give it.

edinburgher wrote: »

Then again, between HM beef stock, slow caramelised onions, reducing and actual cooking time, it was on the hob for c. 10 hours and probably cost £13. If you were to make this in advance for a group dinner to celebrate something this would be fine, but it definitely won't make it into my regular rotation :rotfl:

Remind me to find a Mr PB who can cook (as well as dance). *Drools*