Progress is...

rtandon27

Did a little cost analysis of what was 'earned' over the course of being on the Ma1l Panel for 6 months - just over 50 pounds in points, of which I can cash in 25 twice for BigRiver or GPlay vouchers and the remainder in stamps. Total value of both averaged just under 60 a month.

I'll keep the two presentation packs as they both increase in value, and I have friends across the pond who collect them so would be happy to have as b-day or xmas gifts. The remainder, I'll add to my ever growing collection of free gifted and earned stamps that I just can't seem to get rid of! Value of which is now around 500 pounds! No one I know makes use of them even, and in order to get packages picked up, I have to purchase the postage label online so there is a QR code! I've only used two stamps all year!

I may need to take this surplus as a sign to start getting rid of things on V1nted or even starting up a habit of b-day & xmas cards again!

Cheery_Daff

Ha, that's a lot of stamps! I signed up for the panel the other day after seeing you mention it somewhere, although obviously have to wait to actually be chosen. If I do end up with that many stamps I might join some kind of letter writing community! Love writing letters 🥰

Greying_Pilgrim

I got a library book the other day, it's about Indian cooking, specifically South India and Bengal. The author, Rukmini Iyer, includes the picture of a letter - which of course, contains an authentic recipe 🥰 that her grandmother sent. But when I saw it the other day, I thought to myself what an absolute loss it is that we don't write letters anymore. I do write 'letter length' emails to a couple of chums, but it is not the same. Whilst I can attach photos, there's no little drawings in the margin, or little diagrams of where I was standing when 13 (count 'em) swallows zoomed past me at waist height……. I wish I still had the letter my Aunt sent me when I was at college in the US, and she sent me her recipe for welsh cakes, as someone had asked me for a family recipe.

Wrongly, or totally incorrectly, I try to ensure that we still send birthday/Christmas cards, and that LG writes 'thank you' notes for what they do receive. It's taking some time to get them to appreciate the 1/3rd in, half way down, way to start the address on an envelope, but I keep trying.

Greying X

Cheery_Daff

I've started writing more letters lately, and occasionally I even get one back! I was delighted to get one from an old school friend a few weeks ago, completely unprompted (we've not had contact for years, so there was no 'I'm going to send you a letter!' warning 😂

You've reminded me that he wrote to ask me about visiting, and I am yet to respond, so it's clearly not a quick way of getting anything organised 😂

We used to write to each other all the time at school though, a small group of us - we'd write letters in the evening and dole them out the next day 😂 we developed a whole shorthand for writing while we were away, we regularly referenced song lyrics and TV programmes 😂 I still have most of those letters in the loft 🥰

BalanceBy50

I have recently sold some of my large letter stamps from the RM survey on eBay. I didn’t get what they were worth but I got a nice sum to add to the treat pot. A small number of friends get a book of stamps in their Christmas cards which they love & it makes me feel good xx

beanielou

I sold a lot of my stamps last year to a company in Scotland.
I am waiting to go back on the panel & am currently short of stamps!

Humdinger1

Have searched online for RM panel; thanks for the tip! Can I check that it's not with an external company? Love Humdinger xx

beanielou

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81986115#Comment_81986115

It is an external company.

rtandon27

@Humdinger1 - it is 100% an external company!

Spectos which I believe is part of YouGov surveys. I used to be part of the panel with the old company K@ntar at our previous address - it took me 5 years to be invited back after I registered in 2021! Truth be told, any surveys or panels or loyalty points get converted to BigRiver or GPlay vouchers - my way of justifying the expense of the Pr1me subscription & my F1tbit subscription. Helps me be budget neutral for things in life that I view as little luxuries!

rtandon27

@Balanceby50 & @beanielou - thank-you both for the tips. For the stamps I 'earned' I'll keep this in mind if I need to extract a cash value from them. At 50% of the face value, that would be a nice 100 pounds!

For the ones that were gifted, which total about 300 pounds, I'll make sure to use them or gift them to others so that they get used up in the spirit in which the gift was intended. My dear friend (and former manager) passed away earlier this year, after being quadriplegic for nearly year after a bad car accident. One of the life lessons he taught me is to honour the generosity of friends & family in a way that honours them.

OH and I have a TV that was his and is about 12 years old - it does the job and keeps him alive in our thoughts & hearts every time we use it! I was talking to his widow the other day and told her that I still use his Z1ploc tupperwares to portion out my bone broth for the freezers - makes me think about happy times where he & I would warm our healthy homecooked lunches and cluck and all the 'young-ones' who would trek over to the sandwich shop and waste their hard earned salary on rubbish meals! She had such a laugh to think that I still have them.