The 2008 Money Neutral Gift Challenge

brownjasperdog

I've sold 5 books so far this week on GreenMetropolis and Amazon. It's bizarre isn't it, nothing for ages then they all go at once!

The 2008 MNGC nearly went very belly-up this week over my Dad's birthday. We wanted to give him a digital photo frame and our new tv will display photos from a card, so I suggested we should give him our old one. Unfortunately, DH took this suggestion as a licence to go out and buy himself a more expensive frame to replace it. :eek: Then, we got into a dilemma about whether we should give Dad the new one :eek: :eek: That would have taken a lot of Ebaying to offset. Luckily now we have settled on giving Dad the old one (it's not very old!!) so I think I can safely count that as a free present:D

jamtart6

Well done to you all !! Great news on the ipod front........my darling OH said he would buy me a new one for my birthday (in June) but I could have it now because he knows how much I miss it and how I can never think of anything I want for my bday!! Hurrah!!! Our bdays are 2 weeks apart, and his bday gift he has already got (as it was half of his xmas present) so we will both just save up for our holidays instead of anything else for bdays! I get to keep my argos vouchers ! :j

Here is my update

VOUCHERS & CASH FOR MONEY NEUTRAL CHALLENGE UP TO NOW:
ARGOS: £0 (waiting for £19.72 from envirophone, both phones passed )
BOOTS CARD: £12
BOOTS VOUCHERS C/O PIGSBACK: £30 - nearly got another £10
OTHER BOOTS VOUCHERS: £15
CD WOW : £1
CASHBACK REWARDS (FORGOT I HAD THESE!): £7.27
QUIDCO: £15.56
EBAY: £0
MARKS & SPENCER: £35 (did an exchange for boots points!)
OTHER CASH: £5 to come from Envirophone
TOLUNA: 20'000
HMV: £0
TESCO: 114 POINTS
NECTAR: £1.72
WATERSTONES: 85p
ONEPOLL: £7.60- can't reccomend these guys enough! - earn about £1 a week

I also got a refund on a Boots item that I got to keep and it was £20 - but going to put that in the Sealed Pot challenge.


I'm going to do a TOTAL SPEND per month on presents (in the Month that the birthday etc is rather than when I bought it)

January - No Occasions - Nothing Spent 100% Gift Neutral

mum2one

What I do with presents and cards, is at the start of Feb -check and buy for March, same march 4 April, saves any last min panicing!

Anybody wanting a bargain for menor ladies - Argos have got soem 1/2 price jewellery sale ready for valentinesday, I brought a gents silver chain either £17 or £18, looks really expensive x

jamtart6

just to let you know you can get HMV vouchers on pigsback now!!

I've got £9 in my onepoll account since january. no survey takes me more than 3 or 4 minutes, they build up really quickly! do it gang!!!

brownjasperdog

:T Congrats Jammie! You got into Martin's weekly email!!:beer:

Please excuse the familiarity:o

Aesop

would love to do this,, but I live in !!!!!! rented accommodation, trying to get onto mortgage ladder, and this rented accommodation has damp problem so things stored, tend to go mouldy... also have a 3 month baby and use boots vouchers for nappies,and baby stuff, have signed upto loads of survey groups, and use those vouchers for his baby stuff too

jamtart6

aureol212 wrote: »

would love to do this,, but I live in !!!!!! rented accommodation, trying to get onto mortgage ladder, and this rented accommodation has damp problem so things stored, tend to go mouldy... also have a 3 month baby and use boots vouchers for nappies,and baby stuff, have signed upto loads of survey groups, and use those vouchers for his baby stuff too

Hello aureol!! is there anything you can ebay? old baby clothes etc? welcome

mum2one

Follow on from earlier thread re Quidco.

"auction Air" - sign up £12.50 credited to your account.

The trick! with this one is out of the listing, low bid, there is one item that is listed as free to bid for, the idea id you bid upto five times and the lowest bid gets the item.

To avoid any chance of winning, I put £1.00 in each of the 5 lines, so what a shame i wont be winning the weekend in Madrid.

Dont know about anyone else but greasy Palm has cut back the daily clicks are only worth 3p - the other free offers, more money on, quidco. example

Ink Club
Greasy palm - 4.00 sign up
Quidco £9.00
x

jamtart6

I got my £5 refer a friend (aka dad!) from envirophone today. Just waiting on the Argos vouchers, will let you know when they arrive! Its seriously efficient I am so very impressed!!!

Need to start actually putting the vouchers aside. I will be spending the Boots vouchers when a good deal comes along, to get more points (which can be spent 'free' on gifts) or when there are good free gifts on no7 stuff etc.

tattycath

Hi. Lurker here. lol
Well done everyone. Jamtart what is onepoll, do you have a link please?
So far:
£10 boots voucher (pigsback)
over 1700 pigsback pointsd to redeem for boots vouchers when I have made it up to 2000. (we spent £50 in boots at christmas and it was 3 for 2)
£25.00 m & s vouchers (from changing our gas over a couple of months ago)
£25.00 morrisons savings stamps (money out of surplus from grocery budgets)
£5.00 morrisons voucher (petrol loyalty)
over £8.00 boots points -not sure exactly to the figure.
Have some gifts put away, glass chess set-99p, avon products from the avon glitch in december-£1.80.
Over £10 put away from money off vouchers-every time I use a money off coupon I put the same amount away in a separate pot for christmas 2008
sold some excess stuff-offsetting spends for christmas 2008-about £75.00 so far, so I'm infront as regards buying presents coz I can offset it against the money I made/make selling my excess stuff.
It doesn't look so bad when I write it all down
& I've got £100 coming from buying contents insurance through quidco.