Sort of debt-free but hope to be a super-scrimper in 2019

HairyHandofDartmoor

You certainly shouldn't feel guilty about buying a new chair Carboot. Once DH had his new chair and we had the new mattress I wished we'd prioritised them before.

You can't be energetic and productive without getting proper rest. And I think you're right that it's more important as you get older as back problems could be more problematic for you.

I'm looking forward to you getting your new chair . Will you be able to post a photo of it once you get one?

[Deleted User]

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

You certainly shouldn't feel guilty about buying a new chair Carboot. Once DH had his new chair and we had the new mattress I wished we'd prioritised them before.

You can't be energetic and productive without getting proper rest. And I think you're right that it's more important as you get older as back problems could be more problematic for you.

I'm looking forward to you getting your new chair . Will you be able to post a photo of it once you get one?

Thank you, HH:T

I love your posts, you always talk such good sense and reassure me too. I'm so happy that you keep dropping in to my diary:)


I'll try to post a photo but I only have a basic mobile from years ago. It doesn't even have a camera function:o. When I do my eBay listings I still use a digital camera for taking the photos. No problem to upload them though:j. It's a really nice Panasonic Lumix that I won in a competition a few years ago. I was an avid comper ever since I won my first one in a newspaper comp about my home town football team when I was a young teenager. The prize was a 10 shilling postal order which was a fortune in those days:rotfl:. I really wanted this Panasonic camera and was absolutely delighted to win it. I often end up with runner-up prizes which I'm always grateful for but which can often be a bit random as far as usefulness goes. I either give them away to friends or family, donate them to local events for raffle prizes, give them to charity or sell them on eBay or car boot sales so someone always wins even if I don't:rotfl:.


That's something I've vowed to do more of this year, entering competitions. I probably like to make things difficult for myself:o as I really went off comping when so much of it went online. I keep hearing of fantastic prizes won on Facebook and other social media which I don't have accounts with. Some wonderful prizes like luxury holidays merely require a click or a 'like'. My best, and most fun, times were when it was necessary to seek out elusive entry forms in shops, buy the qualifying product, answer a simple multi choice question, write a tie-breaker/slogan in a limited number of words, and post it off. I hardly ever see tie-breaker comps any more:mad:. I won all sorts from tie-breakers including a fabulous holiday in a Red Sea resort; a trolley dash at a local supermarket; a set of alloy wheels for OH's car back in the day when they were really expensive and didn't often come as 'standard'; a trip round a famous brewery with overnight accommodation and meals at a top-class hotel and with lots of goodies to bring home; and, best of all, a trip to New York including flights on Concorde:j:j:j . I never managed to win a car although I was always entering comps with a car as the first prize:(. I had a friend who won 2 cars over the years both needing a lot of work to win. The more difficult it was to enter and the less entrants there were the more chance of winning for those who persisted;)

Skibunny40

Carbootcrazy - your memories of competition entering reminded me of my Mum when I was little - we were forever eating "random" tins of food, as she'd removed the label to get the competition entry! She was a very successful comper and her best prize was a Ford Escort car! I've tried to emulate her success but with very little joy.

teapot2

Wow CBC, some amazing wins there, especially the Concorde flight and trip to NY.

I agree that there aren't many of the tie breaker type comps around now though. Did you see on a recent Martin show he interviewed someone about their comping? She'd won lots over the years but wasn't entering quite so many now. She suggested setting up a separate email account just for comps.

I remember trying to win a car in a comp. with a brand of microwave burgers that OH used to like. I didn't get the car but won a runner up prize of a driving experience at a race track! Not the same at all :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

teapot2 wrote: »

Wow CBC, some amazing wins there, especially the Concorde flight and trip to NY.

I agree that there aren't many of the tie breaker type comps around now though. Did you see on a recent Martin show he interviewed someone about their comping? She'd won lots over the years but wasn't entering quite so many now. She suggested setting up a separate email account just for comps.

I remember trying to win a car in a comp. with a brand of microwave burgers that OH used to like. I didn't get the car but won a runner up prize of a driving experience at a race track! Not the same at all :rotfl:

Thanks, teapot:T

I try to watch Martin's show every week but missed the latest one where I knew he was going to talk about comping:doh:. I'll see if it's available on whatever the ITV version of iPlayer is. Thanks for the reminder, I'd probably have forgotten about it otherwise.


I set up a separate email account for comps back when BT were my ISP. I never got round to doing that when I switched providers. Having a separate account certainly stopped a lot of junk emails clogging up my regular inbox:j. I really MUST get back into comping. It's a fun hobby with the added excitement of maybe winning a nice prize.


I'm sorry you didn't win your car but I bet the driving experience at a race track was fun. I'd have loved that. I once tried to win a wonderful convertible sports car in a tiebreaker comp by, of all people, a cement company. The qualifier was a purchase of a bag of a certain brand of cement. It wasn't just geared to tradesmen, it didn't specify any quantity of cement for the purchase and it was readily available to anyone at all at DIY suppliers. OH was doing some renovation work on the house and I pestered him to buy the specific cement I needed the receipt for. He did it but complained as it was more expensive than the stuff he usually bought;). I thought it would be a really low-entry comp but sadly I didn't win it. I thought my tiebreaker was pretty good but the winner's was brilliant. She said something like ' I'd like to drive around in a xxxxxxx sportscar because..... I always mix with the best company'. Great for a cement manufacturer:j

beanielou

Wow, just wow to Concorde

System

Very impressed with your competition wins CBC , Concorde to NY how fab .

[Deleted User]

Thanks, teapot, beanielou and Cumbria lass:T

Yes. the Concorde prize was the best ever:j. I think that's the best thing about winning something like that, it's a priceless experience I could only have dreamed about. The best prizes are the ones that leave lasting memories, the experiences rather than the monetary value of the wins.


I'm very sad and embarrassed to admit that when I was drowning in debt I was driven to sell most of the Concorde mementoes and goodies that I'd been given on the trip:o. It's an everlasting regret:(. They raised a good sum which was a lifeline, even though a temporary one.

teapot2

carbootcrazy wrote: »

I'm sorry you didn't win your car but I bet the driving experience at a race track was fun. I'd have loved that. I once tried to win a wonderful convertible sports car in a tiebreaker comp by, of all people, a cement company. The qualifier was a purchase of a bag of a certain brand of cement. It wasn't just geared to tradesmen, it didn't specify any quantity of cement for the purchase and it was readily available to anyone at all at DIY suppliers. OH was doing some renovation work on the house and I pestered him to buy the specific cement I needed the receipt for. He did it but complained as it was more expensive than the stuff he usually bought;). I thought it would be a really low-entry comp but sadly I didn't win it. I thought my tiebreaker was pretty good but the winner's was brilliant. She said something like ' I'd like to drive around in a xxxxxxx sportscar because..... I always mix with the best company'. Great for a cement manufacturer:j

:o:o ahem unfortunately although I can drive I've never sat a test so had to give it to someone else - luckily unlike some prizes it was transferable :cool:

[Deleted User]

teapot2 wrote: »

:o:o ahem unfortunately although I can drive I've never sat a test so had to give it to someone else - luckily unlike some prizes it was transferable :cool:

That's a pity. At least someone benefitted from your win:j


It's a shame that some prizes like holidays aren't transferable. A friend once won a weekend trip to a sporting event but realised almost as soon as he'd heard he'd won that he would be unable to go. He contacted the promotor straight away to see if it could be transferred to his brother-in-law (they needed the exact names etc for the tickets etc) but they wouldn't allow it. He had to forfeit the prize:eek:. Whether they then offered it to a runner-up we'll never know. Seemed very unfair.