The 2008 Money Neutral Gift Challenge

Shoey1610

Hi I'd like to join in this challenge please! I have already saved up enough this month through the make £10 a day challenge to buy the toy kitchen I had my heart set on for my daughter's 2nd birthday in June08, so I'd love to continue this trend and do the same for all the gifts in 2008.

MRSMCAWBER

Morning everyone

Can i join too..pleasssse a girl can never have too many challenges on the go

Im out in Germany at the moment, so ebaying is a pain in the b*m, and bogofs don't really exist, oh and collecting points is a no no too i think -not a good start:rotfl:

But i have decided to try and make as many of my pressies as possible - I am allready on my 2nd scarf for xmas 2008 :T ... and im going to be jewellery making and x stitching too -amongst other things... now.. if i allready have the materials in -can i count that as "free?"
There is always once awkward devil isn't there? and i guess im it

But I'm sure i can be as frugal as possible.. 2008 is going to be serious money saving - im determined
Will just have to ponder what level to aim for now :think:

jamtart6

Hi All and welcome!! MrsmCAWBER - you can make this challenge what you want it to be. I think if you have items in then they will be free becuase if you didnt make them up, chances are you'd bin the materials??

celyn90

Oh, may I join too please I got lots of this years in the sales the year before using pigsback vouchers and a years worth of bootsing and other bits, would love to have a go at a completely money-neutral next year I sould try and incorporate birthdays this year too, most of my family are born in September so so forward planning would save the pennies here too (september is a killer for gift expenditure).

Luna69

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

Morning everyone

Can i join too..pleasssse a girl can never have too many challenges on the go

Im out in Germany at the moment, so ebaying is a pain in the b*m, and bogofs don't really exist, oh and collecting points is a no no too i think -not a good start:rotfl:

But i have decided to try and make as many of my pressies as possible - I am allready on my 2nd scarf for xmas 2008 :T ... and im going to be jewellery making and x stitching too -amongst other things... now.. if i allready have the materials in -can i count that as "free?"
There is always once awkward devil isn't there? and i guess im it

But I'm sure i can be as frugal as possible.. 2008 is going to be serious money saving - im determined
Will just have to ponder what level to aim for now :think:

I'm looking for more present making ideas for next year too. Trouble is fitting it in with a business and kids isnt' easy. I used to do loads of crafty stuff. I still do alot of papercrafts but that's about it.
My 5 year old needs a new hat and scarf, I only just thought a few days ago, I should have made her a set.. duh! I have some patterns for crochet hats, although never crocheted properly before :rotfl: But they look really easy and sweet.
I have patterns for knitted bags.. just finding the time and motivation too.
But any ideas will be good and I"m keeping a book with everything in.

mum2one

Add me to the list please, dont know how far I'll get with the bdays but def am aiming for a free xmas, without accounting for my daughter and parents xmas prezzies.
Ive done the xmas spreadsheet, my est spend is £600.00 (help)

So far got:
Boots Vouchers £10.00
Voucher Money £4.00

What Im doing is collecting vouchers and if you use self scan at tesco it accepts vouchers without buying the priduct.

got click back sites / survey sites
Pigs Back
Greasy Palm
Quidco
Mutual Points - (that pays for daughters ballet lessons)
Pxxx Cxxx
Valued opinions

pariskate

I just slipped a crisp 100€ note into my savings pot (it's one of those pottery sealed things that you have to smash open) which is the proceeds from my last ebaying of 2007.
I also got a 6€ off voucher at decathlon (loyalty points), so when I cash that in I'll transfer the money into the pot.

In this challenge I've decided to use:

Any savings (vouchers, discounts) I make
All ebay profits
any cashback or points from shopping sites (pigsback, quidco)
daily clicks
any prizes or freebies i get (these are few and far between)

Mrs Macawber, you can still us the cashback and points sites if you live abroad so long as you have a mailing address in the UK. I often buy from Marks and sparks online and get cashback through quidco. It gets delivered to my MIL's house and quidco pay into my Uk bank account, no problem.

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there Pariskate...

I will have to have a look at that .... mind a lot of things are so much cheaper here than in the Uk, so im not sure if the points i can earn are worth more than the extra i would spend? -if that makes sense :rotfl: ....
Im heading back to the Uk on Monday for xmaz/new year.. and am bringing things like nescafe back to last the year - as here a 200g jar works out at roughly £4.50 - £5 a jar -so what im planning on doing is "buying" things from myself - so when i need a jar of coffee i will put 6euros it would cost me into a savings tin :T

I have made a start on my 3rd pressie for next xmas :j .....

Luna69... i would love to learn to crochet - think i will have to look for a pattern and give it a go ... i can knit..though x stitch is my main hobby -but not something that is particularly quick to do :rolleyes: .... but i will be making jewellery, and im also planning on getting some candles and basic clear tee light holders and thread beads onto wire and then wrap them around,

Im going to be keeping a book with what i have made and who it is for, plus how much each thing is costing me.. I don't know about everyone else -but when i see a bargain or get something quite cheaply -i seem to end up buying more of them and spending more in the long run :mad: , so that is my mission for 2008 - to see something for say 2 euros and NOT to buy half a dozen of them :wall:

gingababe

Hi Guys, Can I join?, I intended to join the ebay challenge for christmas, but I was away in the middle of it & I couldn`t get motivated, I did eventually sort some things out & I have made after fees £450, I have my last stuff on ebay finishing tonite, & I have spent today sorting everything to get going in the new year.

Thanks

Ginga

mum2one

Just emptied my paypal account and made £200.00 thou I dont see a penny of it - its my daughters, she wanted the must have xmas prezzxie last yr, vtech smile pocket game, got that and wack games spent £150 - after 2 goes, I hate it, so ebay to the rescue..... must admit we made a profit, but daughter said, as it was mine do I get the money - yes- all of it even the profit!

Shes 5 going on 18, Im sure she could teach us a trick or 2, where money is concerned no one csn pull the wool over her eyes. xx