Things have been going ok these past few days, the dog did downgrade in food type but she ate it. We all are eating it. Not the dog food. The downgrade.Own brand pasta, fine, the super noodles, just.
Did you ever think you would run out of carrier bags at home? I bet you have stacks of them. Well when you basically stop shopping you stop getting free carrier bags, so I now need to start asking someone, somewhere for carrier bags. Im certainly not spending money on black bags, what a waste, does anyone still do this?
Next stage of things. Have you ever been in your loft to see if just maybe you can find food? Its not the most common place to go thats for sure. So toni nips up there to see what he can find. a little bag of storeroom items, suet, old jam, old chutney. Rank and all out of date.... HaaaaHaaaa a packet of after eight mints. A year or so out of date but whos counting. Usually im not an out of date eater i can tell by sight and smell if things are way above my pallet levels. But these slightly now white choccies will fill an evening gap me thinks.
And it pays to be nice, oh yey. A customer of myne from my shop came in to leave some chocloates for me, nothing to do with my 2013moneylesschallenge just a gesture which has already made every evening since lovely, a mouthfull sized piece of chocolate goes a long way to cheering girls up.
Count up, first big count up, have a little rummage in the selected money box look at the earned collum looking good, look at the spend collum its hardly anything. So this is working. How much could you save in 3 weeks period that you earned as well as your wages. Take a guess. Well there is an astonishing £130 in this box. So when times get tough I have savings. When all is sold I have savings. When I am hungry I have savings. This is security, relief & like a blanket of warmth wrapped arround me. Its really nice but I seem to have slowed the earning process since.
Jelousy is nothing I have ever felt, if you want something you work then you buy it. You save then you buy it, my views. But at the moment I cant help feeling that the people arround me are wasting their money. Resetment or Jelousy. Time is money so their time too I guess. My brother called with asking me if I fancied the cinema but not on Orange wednesday??? or cheap tuesday . No way would I pay double the price for something I can get cheaper.Not these days. I quickly knock back the offer. Kindly. My mother is next on the phone. The most frugal lady I know. Asking me to come along .... ( rare treat for her too) 'no thanks i need to save i dont know when things are going to get worse' mum 'ill pay' WHHHHawawiaa 'no thanks, im not on this challenge to sponge off my family im on this to prove a point about a wastefull nation, to save and to cut back '
Wednesday 30 January 2013
Friday 18 January 2013
Following on: Here is a little sad part about the 2013 challenge. We have taken back some of our christmas presents :( to bring back cash so to speak. At least we had gifts to take back. My lovely towel bathrobe off Toni which cost him £46, i know I can find one for less than £10 in the nxt few months, his new next trowsers £26 and the dogs new lead from Tkmax which snapped during her first jog. Taking things back to shops has never really been my thing, I would just use the item broken or pop it in the loft even though it was £6 but when you are looking at things in terms of just cash value well if its not fit for purpose it deserves to go straight back to the shop. And the cash straight back into your bank/ pocket. Depends if you are a cash or card spender I know which makes you spend less !!! Taking gifts back reminds me of something, something in the depths of my first memories. As i grew up in africa there were a few rules that wudnt b the same as when I came to live in the UK. One being: when it was next time to receive gifts your birthday or christmas you had to give away to the village children all your toys of the previous year, all bar 1. What a way to keep your homes uncluttered, spread the joy, make things be loved twice. I must have cried and winged but that one gift wasnt going to be given to 1 child, it was going to be played with and shared amongst soo many children who had nothing. So i guess it isnt that bad taking something back, at lease I still received the monetary benefits.
The DVD selling is going good 3 lots of friends on facebook have vowed to buy a batch each the remainder goes off to music magpie tomorrow by courier ( they send them )
Ebay has allowed me back on, got myself banned 8 years ago wooops. So now im once again a seller. Only being permited to sell 10 items a month thought. Is this new rule for everyone.... how can I make lots of money with 10 tiny 1p items for sale. Here is to hoping that amount increases and rapidly.
Our BnB guests were lovely, and not only did they wish for the BnB, they wished for extras, a dinner party meal & towels. Extras are additional so our fees went up, then we received a tip so it was some evening. They even reccomended another website that has great BnB booking rates. The moment they left I joined this also and filled in all the relevant forms and downloaded the relevant pictures. So we are now available as hosts on 2 top websites. This will surely help? Every guest so far so good.
The quality of our meals has improved since the SUPERdaddy delivery only a few pieces of fish left in the freezer. Only 1 shopping trip needed this week I think. The chosen luck spot was a trip to ALDI, tins of tomatoes 19p rice noodles 49p, all much cheaper than the huge shops. Its one way to make the money stretch further.An weekly shop of £8 something for 2 & the dog food surely cant be beaten.
The amount of food in your cupboards can really affect your mood. Too much so. Hunger shud b normal it should be the feeling just before your next meal surely....
I am quite conscious that once I have sold almost everything I own ( that I dont use ) the ways of making money will have to take a turn somehow, into pastures old or new. I might have to start doing private languages tuition again or more mystery shopping. All time consuming preparation wise. However I think im too old at 28 for washing neighbours cars & babysitting. The challenge continues.
The DVD selling is going good 3 lots of friends on facebook have vowed to buy a batch each the remainder goes off to music magpie tomorrow by courier ( they send them )
Ebay has allowed me back on, got myself banned 8 years ago wooops. So now im once again a seller. Only being permited to sell 10 items a month thought. Is this new rule for everyone.... how can I make lots of money with 10 tiny 1p items for sale. Here is to hoping that amount increases and rapidly.
Our BnB guests were lovely, and not only did they wish for the BnB, they wished for extras, a dinner party meal & towels. Extras are additional so our fees went up, then we received a tip so it was some evening. They even reccomended another website that has great BnB booking rates. The moment they left I joined this also and filled in all the relevant forms and downloaded the relevant pictures. So we are now available as hosts on 2 top websites. This will surely help? Every guest so far so good.
The quality of our meals has improved since the SUPERdaddy delivery only a few pieces of fish left in the freezer. Only 1 shopping trip needed this week I think. The chosen luck spot was a trip to ALDI, tins of tomatoes 19p rice noodles 49p, all much cheaper than the huge shops. Its one way to make the money stretch further.An weekly shop of £8 something for 2 & the dog food surely cant be beaten.
The amount of food in your cupboards can really affect your mood. Too much so. Hunger shud b normal it should be the feeling just before your next meal surely....
I am quite conscious that once I have sold almost everything I own ( that I dont use ) the ways of making money will have to take a turn somehow, into pastures old or new. I might have to start doing private languages tuition again or more mystery shopping. All time consuming preparation wise. However I think im too old at 28 for washing neighbours cars & babysitting. The challenge continues.
Tuesday 15 January 2013
First ever blog
So this is it... My first blog, my first page, my first few lines.
A few days before NYE I began thinking of challenges and ideas to improve my life in 2013, there is nothing wrong with it I just want to make it a little better. When you realise that yours and your partners wages cover nothing other than your morgage, bills & loans its time for a big re-shuffle.
The challenge/experiment was set as follows : For the duration of 2013 to only spend money that we earn on top of our wages. The wages covers our basic loans, morgage & bills, no overspill. So its time to take a good look at what we own and what we need, what we spend and what we can save.
Ive started this blog 2 weeks into the challenge, the first couple of days I decided to go through all my household bills and check if there was anything I could do to reduce them even just slightly. 2 hours later and over £100 saved, seemed like an instant of time. Stopping all paper bills and putting every bill onto monthly direct debits it was simple but saves £2.50 a month. It was a good start. Positive.
Now I dont spend much.... I dont fashion shop, go out drinking and I havnt been abroad for 2 years but as we all do, I know my weakness. Food is the thing I enjoy, I practice with, I use for rewards and for confort. Plus I only eat organic, local & seasonal, a posh diet some may say. A posh diet on no money ... for a year !!! Take a look at your cupboards now and think how long can I survive on this?... non preppers,just regular people. I managed a few days on what I had in, then wanted fish, nuts, yogurts all the things I love & crave. Right, time to start selling making money using my head.
Ive done this before so I can do it again. 8 years ago I was desperate to move out of my parents home after returning from uni, a dropout, I saved £6000 in 6 months so I know its do-able. Back then I had low rent and nothing else to worry about though. The ideas, tactics, and resources all need to come back to me and soon.
Step 1 was to make sure I update my profile on a well know home B&B website, to get it all up to date again and try my best to get my spare room rented on a 1 night basis, not to disturb us too much. The fresh linnen, flowers out and the mess had to go. Snap Snap Snap a few nice pictures on the site and bingo the next day a room rental for just one night 40 Great British Pounds. Its means fuel/bleach/fish and savings. It fells good, thrilling... even?A visit that came and went and was paid. Done.Hope for a good review to get the next guest in asap.
Mobile phones, in all our homes!! well they depriciate in value so I find 2 old ones, check they work and get on all the sites trying to find the most profitable. Found. Order the postal envelope & wait. Two days its here, time to pop in the phones send them off & wait. Eventually they will be checked and the value will be verified and sent to us, in the meantime back to work.
You cant really predict whats going to happen but when you can you must save. Awoken most rudely the next morning by no other means than my loyal 7 year old car being smashed by bandits, the window gone along with the target, the trustee sat nav. A cost not expected so an IOU in the tin. The money earning must accelarate...
OH No The dog was booked into the vets to be spayed and her dual claws removed, a long day awaiting the news and a big £221 kick in the teeth, another IOU in the tin.... accelarate....
Things come in 3's right ?My partner & I ill chemist fees £7.95 x 3. Can just pay that one, but then nothing left for food. It was fine we had bits in the freezer and I can improvise, vegetarian diets suit me just fine, for a while.
Toni isnt smiling as much when I put his dinner down, doesnt seem as pleased as he used to, maybe quinoi salad with a baked apple pudding isnt quite what he signed up for.After a week and a half ive had 3 quinoi meals, tins of pears that have surely passed their sell by date, wild rice in adbundance. Made about 3 sugar free cakes, have now proceeded to run out of eggs. Which are mighty expensive!Ive got some great new 3 ingredients recepies and can make any type of meal out of very little, how long can I last doing this?. Im sure I can manage, I must. I mean there was rationing years ago, I just have to act like that, feel like that. Im just not used to it.
A quick check on my B&B profile and I had a lovely review and a new booking request. A speedy response almost always leads to a booking, so 2 more guests are due to arrive tomorrow. Great news. Until the blind falls down in their room whilst giving it a wipe. Ahhhh a new blind will almost certainly cost me what the guests are paying to stay, rendering the whole event pointless. Luckily toni spots a £10 blind on the argos website, off we go.
Day 14 does mean we really have no food in the house, onions & oats. I cant really conjur up anything out of that, I really cant. What can I hear outside ??? SuperDADDY is here. The dog goes beserk.... my father is at the bottom of the stairs holing a carrier bag of frozen good, a hot chicken, frozen salmon, chicken, sea bass. I dont know what part of this experiment allows donations but by the time I finish contemplating Toni and Coco have eaten the whole chicken. I decline the offer of some, as I somehow feel like a bad housewoman (im not a wife) not to provide the good full wholesome meals i did for everyone 2 weeks prior.They both look so full so content, so the stir fried onions on rice didnt do the trick?
It was a lovely end to the evening seeing them both happy. It had been an afternoon of emptying the loft to find 150+ DVD's and they had been photographed and put for sale, on facebook & twitter first. The plan was to send any left from this to musicmagpie to bring in arround £67 not much for a lifetime of collections.
It feels like the last 2 weeks have been a bit of a battle of not spending anything but having to, and trying to earn what we can extra to make sure we can buy what we need.Let see how the next 50 weeks go.
A few days before NYE I began thinking of challenges and ideas to improve my life in 2013, there is nothing wrong with it I just want to make it a little better. When you realise that yours and your partners wages cover nothing other than your morgage, bills & loans its time for a big re-shuffle.
The challenge/experiment was set as follows : For the duration of 2013 to only spend money that we earn on top of our wages. The wages covers our basic loans, morgage & bills, no overspill. So its time to take a good look at what we own and what we need, what we spend and what we can save.
Ive started this blog 2 weeks into the challenge, the first couple of days I decided to go through all my household bills and check if there was anything I could do to reduce them even just slightly. 2 hours later and over £100 saved, seemed like an instant of time. Stopping all paper bills and putting every bill onto monthly direct debits it was simple but saves £2.50 a month. It was a good start. Positive.
Now I dont spend much.... I dont fashion shop, go out drinking and I havnt been abroad for 2 years but as we all do, I know my weakness. Food is the thing I enjoy, I practice with, I use for rewards and for confort. Plus I only eat organic, local & seasonal, a posh diet some may say. A posh diet on no money ... for a year !!! Take a look at your cupboards now and think how long can I survive on this?... non preppers,just regular people. I managed a few days on what I had in, then wanted fish, nuts, yogurts all the things I love & crave. Right, time to start selling making money using my head.
Ive done this before so I can do it again. 8 years ago I was desperate to move out of my parents home after returning from uni, a dropout, I saved £6000 in 6 months so I know its do-able. Back then I had low rent and nothing else to worry about though. The ideas, tactics, and resources all need to come back to me and soon.
Step 1 was to make sure I update my profile on a well know home B&B website, to get it all up to date again and try my best to get my spare room rented on a 1 night basis, not to disturb us too much. The fresh linnen, flowers out and the mess had to go. Snap Snap Snap a few nice pictures on the site and bingo the next day a room rental for just one night 40 Great British Pounds. Its means fuel/bleach/fish and savings. It fells good, thrilling... even?A visit that came and went and was paid. Done.Hope for a good review to get the next guest in asap.
Mobile phones, in all our homes!! well they depriciate in value so I find 2 old ones, check they work and get on all the sites trying to find the most profitable. Found. Order the postal envelope & wait. Two days its here, time to pop in the phones send them off & wait. Eventually they will be checked and the value will be verified and sent to us, in the meantime back to work.
You cant really predict whats going to happen but when you can you must save. Awoken most rudely the next morning by no other means than my loyal 7 year old car being smashed by bandits, the window gone along with the target, the trustee sat nav. A cost not expected so an IOU in the tin. The money earning must accelarate...
OH No The dog was booked into the vets to be spayed and her dual claws removed, a long day awaiting the news and a big £221 kick in the teeth, another IOU in the tin.... accelarate....
Things come in 3's right ?My partner & I ill chemist fees £7.95 x 3. Can just pay that one, but then nothing left for food. It was fine we had bits in the freezer and I can improvise, vegetarian diets suit me just fine, for a while.
Toni isnt smiling as much when I put his dinner down, doesnt seem as pleased as he used to, maybe quinoi salad with a baked apple pudding isnt quite what he signed up for.After a week and a half ive had 3 quinoi meals, tins of pears that have surely passed their sell by date, wild rice in adbundance. Made about 3 sugar free cakes, have now proceeded to run out of eggs. Which are mighty expensive!Ive got some great new 3 ingredients recepies and can make any type of meal out of very little, how long can I last doing this?. Im sure I can manage, I must. I mean there was rationing years ago, I just have to act like that, feel like that. Im just not used to it.
A quick check on my B&B profile and I had a lovely review and a new booking request. A speedy response almost always leads to a booking, so 2 more guests are due to arrive tomorrow. Great news. Until the blind falls down in their room whilst giving it a wipe. Ahhhh a new blind will almost certainly cost me what the guests are paying to stay, rendering the whole event pointless. Luckily toni spots a £10 blind on the argos website, off we go.
Day 14 does mean we really have no food in the house, onions & oats. I cant really conjur up anything out of that, I really cant. What can I hear outside ??? SuperDADDY is here. The dog goes beserk.... my father is at the bottom of the stairs holing a carrier bag of frozen good, a hot chicken, frozen salmon, chicken, sea bass. I dont know what part of this experiment allows donations but by the time I finish contemplating Toni and Coco have eaten the whole chicken. I decline the offer of some, as I somehow feel like a bad housewoman (im not a wife) not to provide the good full wholesome meals i did for everyone 2 weeks prior.They both look so full so content, so the stir fried onions on rice didnt do the trick?
It was a lovely end to the evening seeing them both happy. It had been an afternoon of emptying the loft to find 150+ DVD's and they had been photographed and put for sale, on facebook & twitter first. The plan was to send any left from this to musicmagpie to bring in arround £67 not much for a lifetime of collections.
It feels like the last 2 weeks have been a bit of a battle of not spending anything but having to, and trying to earn what we can extra to make sure we can buy what we need.Let see how the next 50 weeks go.
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