Websites that can save you money & time today

Today I'd like to share some of the sites that I use to save some money, but the benefit is that they also save time too. Some you may already use and some may be new to you - either way share yours on here too:

- BidNip - This site saves me alot, it is a site that will bid for ebay auctions on your behalf. I am terrible for wanting to 'Buy Now' and this costs lots more money than waiting until a normal auction ends and bidding the normal way. So I do reecommend if you use ebay, sign up to BidNip. You place your maximum bid and let them remember to bid for you. It saves you waiting to the last minute and then getting carried away with bidding. Their 'snipe' can go in seconds before the auction ends. As an example, I was paying £1.70 for 1 door handle on normal Buy It Now auctions, but I used BidNip (and some patience in havoing to wait!) and reduced the handle cost to £0.80p - a 50% saving.

- Boffer.co.uk - A site that has a daily deal, listed at 11:59 every night and once sold out, that's usually it. They do run occasional special offers where they extend the deal.

- FirstDirect.com - Believe it or not, yes, your bank an save you time. Time equates to money, so that's why it's on this list. I can pay bills and never have to queue - I can call them at 3am, any day of the year. I can post cheques to pay in. It's rare to love a bank, but I do love mine.

- Amazon.co.uk - Associates programme - You can earn money from books or 2nd hand items through this programme, sometimes it is better than ebay as Amazon pay a fixed postage amount. I have sometimes bought 5 books for £2 for example at boot fairs, then listed each book on Amazon at £0.01, making some cash on the Amazon fixed postage. Not much if you always list at £0.01 but sometimes you will list a book for more, which is when it really counts. I did this alot for the Moneysavingexpert.com challenge "Make money from nothing" and it worked really well. You start off by selling items you have already got at home or were given and the money you make from that, you invest in other items, so you never spend 'real' money from your pocket. I made over £400 in that challenge and learnt alot. One Chanel book was £0.20p and sold for £9!

- Moneysavingexpert.com - This one goes without saying! The Wednesday e-mail is essential and will keep you updated on all sorts.

- Paypal - Most of us already have an account but if you don't, it can really change how you make payments and save alot of time. No more bank transfers, international payments, converting currency. Any time you can save converts to cash in other ways as you can focus on other moneysaving.

- Online Calculators & Time Savers:
Pleasures V Treasures
WhichBook - Can prevent you from that quick impulse book buy!
Mortgage Overpayment Calculator

FixtureFerrets.co.uk - This site can save you lots of cash on your supermarket shop. Find out who has the best deals before you even go there - well worth signing up for.

So there you have it - what sites do you recommend? See my other articles on moneysaving websites.

Also as Spring approaches, might be a good time to review my Spring Money Saving tips article

How much unappreciated cash is in your house right now?

Ok, so you will probably look around and say 'none' or 'well I have £1.10p in my purse'... but what if you were to find out what's really in your home and imagine it like a little pile of cash?

I spent the day doing this and here are some examples:

- Thai money from an old holiday - £3 worth
- Dollars from an old holiday - £4 worth
- Books that I will try to sell on Amazon - £4 worth
- Books that I can't sell online as a bit tatty - £2 worth
- Collectible items I bought for selling on ebay but haven't done yet - £8 minimum or £16 max if they actually sell
- Clothes I keep meaning to put on E-bay - £6 worth
- Cash in an old savings account I keep meaning to draw down £0.90
- Small radio brand new that I need to sell - £4
- Old kitchen handles - selection - that I could sell - £2
- Next voucher I keep meaning to use but always forget to take into town - £10
- Kitten accessories we no longer need as our kitten is a teenager cat now - £5
- Old computer we could sell for spares - £10

So there you have it - around £61, and that's the things we *know* we have.
As Spring approaches - is there an empty box you can start filling for e-bay, or a car boot sale?
Maybe that cash could then be used to buy something in Spring at a discount that will come in handy for Winter for example. Anything bought now in the sales, or obtained free, could save money for the future. Question is - what to buy!
I think I will start to make a list so I can keep an eye out for things we will need later this year as our tule in the new home is to buy as much either cheap or second hand as we can... or even better - free! This week we got a free poster on Freecycle, so that's a start!

£0.15p recipe to save money on your pearly whites...

Ok, so the best way to save money on your teeth is to not eat sweets, no wine, no coffee and no smoking. However, if you have no way of giving those up (most of us have little addictions that get us through the working week)... then how about making some toothpaste and saving a little money that way? On average a tube of the stuff costs £2 - I am pretty sure we could cost the recipe below at, ooooh - £0.15p max?

Even if we said £0.30 it's still a huge saving and it's freshly made compared to a tube of the stuff packed with preservatives and all sorts of other stuff.

The reality is, most toothpaste these days has a) sodium Laureth Sulphate which many people prefer to avoid, and b) Fluoride which can supposedly be toxic.

So making your own is not only better for health but also for your pocket, as you can make some from fresh for pennies. Will it have the same brand factor as Colgate? No. Will it look as exciting as stripy mint fresh? Probably not. However, next time I run out I am prepared to give it a go, as our current £2.99 Tom's of Maine toothpaste is fluoride free but it's also very expensive...


So here's the source website:
http://www.ehow.co.uk/way_5278502_recipe-natural-toothpaste.html

And here's their suggested recipe if anyone wants to test it our and report back with results:

Ingredients to make toothpaste

For this gentle toothpaste, you will need:

6 tsp. baking soda
1/3 tsp. salt
4 tsp. glycerin
15 drops of peppermint oil


The baking soda works to whiten and cleanse your teeth. The salt has the same effect as an antiseptic, cleaning the teeth. Glycerin is a base to help with flavoring and make the mixture thick and creamy. The peppermint is used for flavoring and to provide fresh breath.
Process

Combine the ingredients in a small storage container. Stir the mixture until it forms a thick consistency. This natural toothpaste can be used daily, just like other toothpastes. Store at room temperature in a plastic storage container or jar.
Use

Put a small amount of the toothpaste on your toothbrush. Begin at the back of your mouth and go forward. Brush your teeth for at least two minutes.

I still have a couple of tubes of om's toothpaste left, but the money saving bug is calling on me to try this recipe very soon as I like the fact that it would have no SLS.

Smells like… Coconuts!

OK so we've all been through the January 'must get fitter' phase, which includes the 'I will eat so much more fruit and veg' and 'definitely no chocolates'. Well, this week I have been reading up about, of all things, coconut oil.

 

Strange but true – this seems to be one of the latest super foods that does wonders for the body. Apparently, the structure of coconut oil is very different to the other oils we cook with, making it much easier to digest. This means that as your body is working less to digest it, you digest food quicker, which helps metabolise faster thus losing weight for some people. I won't go into the technicalities, but the suggestion seems to be to consume between 1-3 tablespoons a day in varying ways – cooking with it being the easiest, followed by shakes and spreads on toast (ok but my main preference).

 

The other great thing is that it is meant to do wonders for anyone with a sluggish thyroid, as anything that speeds up metabolism helps. So cutting out the other types of fats (vegetable oil, soya oil, corn oil etc) and replacing them with coconut oil overall is a great change apparently. Supposedly soya oil has now been found to be one of the least beneficial, and indeed suppresses some of the body functions, sometimes on ingredient lists it is merely shown as 'vegetable oil'.

 

You can still enjoy extra virgin olive oil and organic butter in moderation, but all other fats seem to have had 'human involvement' and extremely high temperatures rather than someone pressing the oil out of them. Supposedly once the fats get into the body, the oxidise (rust) in your cells, wheareas a more natural fat like coconut doesn't and in fact helps the body along with lots of processes (the liver benefits a lot).

It is a natural antibacterial product and can also help with digestive products.

 

Beauty Regimes

It goes without saying that you can then use the coconut oil in beauty regimes – it works really well as a make-up remover (rub some between hands and once melted delicately apply to eye area, then remove with a damp warm cloth). Also for full beauty treatments, melt some in hands, massage on face and leave for 2-30 minutes depending on skin condition, then remove with a damp warm cloth. In the shower you might also use it as a body treat for soft skin,

A small amount can also be applied to lips as a lip balm.

 

Hair Treatment

Apply to hands and once melted apply to ends of hair and work up to around half the length of the hair. Wrap hair up in a towel and leave for an hour or overnight, then rinse out with some shampoo.

 

Soap Making

I imagine it could also be used to make soap, perhaps combining it with dessicated coconut or ground almonds for an exfoliating treat. It is so natural and so good for skin, plus would add a scent of the tropics to your shower. A few drops of lime might add a nice zing…

 

Buying coconut oil

 

If you buy some, a large jar will cost around £7 but can of course serve more than 1 purpose. I would also recommend you buy it in a glass jar rather than plastic. It should keep well for 2-3 years if kept cool and in the dark.

Make sure you buy Extra Virgin/Raw or cold pressed – this means that no bleaching / high temperatures were applied to extract the good stuff.

 

Whilst some may be skeptic, I am going to give it a go – have had some for a few days now and my energy is up but this may just be because the sun is out and Valentines is coming!

 

Lots of people on Youtube swear by it so see these links for more information to make up your own mind or type 'coconut oil benefits' for example into Youtube:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMJUdAyaVBY

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wpsik0W4NU

 

http://www.sharonmaas.co.uk/html/coconut_oil__why_it_is_good_fo.html

 

A study on coconut vs Soya oil:

http://cogprints.org/6565/

Cheesy Goodness - Another Cashback Site to click!

Hello everyone,

As you know, I love cashback clicking - it's a free way to earn a few pennies regularly, for free, that at the end of the year you can use towards something nice. For me, it's almost always free food and booze at Christmas.

Well I now have a new site for you to click on and add to your daily routine - do see the Cashback menu on the right for other sites you might like to look at and consider using.

Thin Cheese Cashback Site
Link: Click here to join

This is a sister site to the great FatCheese Clicking Site and both of them offer great ways to earn cash for free (by clicking), or for buying things you were going to buy anyway. Examples of these are below:

- Sky+ gets you £100 cashback!
- Hastings Direct Car Insurance £46.50 + FREE £30 Fuel vouchers + half price MOT
- T-Mobile £35.00 for phone contract
- Synovate. £1.50 cashback when you register.
- Coral - if you sign up to Coral, get £10 cashback instead of £5 by following my link above.
- Bingo Day - £45 Cashback - sealed with the FatCheese Guarantee!

These offers change, but ised in combination with Daily Clicks as shown on my Routine, van earn a tidy sum over a year.
My recommendation though would be to only join 2 or 3 sites to start, until you get a feel for it.
As an example, I have earned £6.50 cashback for free from a Vistaprint order I wanted to place anyway, and in a few months will earn roughly £30 for changing gas and electric to a new supplier, something we had in mind already.

I hope thi shelps you save some cash in 2010 towards a treat, debt reduction, or Christmas - enjoy!

Home - How To Start Anew

Hello everyone,

I do hope you had fantastic Christmas and new year. 2010 is truly upon us now!

I have had no time to write really as we are still settling in, and with no furniture and no gas heating, the cold and needing household items have taken priority. However, we are not going to rush.

The rule for our new home is - unless we love it, it won't be brought into the house. So we'd rather wait and take time to buy than rush on grabbing things this month. It means we will have to do without for a while but also means we will be more careful. No more buying something that 'will do for now', as we'll have a home full of things that are just 'OK' and we will end up giving away.

The garden will need some attention soon, and it will be an amazing feeling when I have time to actually look out there and learn what needs to be done.

Any tips from folk on here as to what I can do in January/February garden wise would be awesome, and of course any other tips for a new home.

So my next post will no doubt be on some of our new experiences as we start to furnish the place, get bargains and start to hopefully cook more and utilise the space better (as currently it's a mess!).

Have a great end of weekend and hopefully I can do some blog reading and drop by your blogs soon, now the whole move is over!

First Home Sweet Home

Hello everyone,

 

Sorry for the delay in writing - but there is good reason! We have purchased a new home and should receive our keys this week, so we are very excited.

 

I think what we have learned is that in the current economy, first time buyers are definately priced out, unless like us they have been saving for years and years, or alternatively have generous help from family members. Banks have been keen to receive money from governments but have not passed this on in terms of favourable rates to new borrowers, despite the base rate being close to zero.

 

We are however very happy and excited to be finally moving into a place we can call our own. We will be making a very money saving start, as all our money has been used for a deposit and legal fees, so it will certainly be a case of 'Make Do and Mend'. Visits to charity shops, requests from willing family members, and some very 'house themed' Christmas gifts for eachother will be the theme this month. Family are of course happy for us and no doubt we'll have our share of DIY almost immediately after Christmas. I will try to resand, repaint and bring back to life any quality second hand furniture we can get, so you will see more ideas and hopefully can make suggestions as we go along.

 

Our new bills will hopefully be earning us a penny or two via cashback sites eventually, such as gas/elec, broadband etc.

 

I will update the blog as soon as I can, and it's safe that after the move to say we'll allow ourselves a much needed break for the holidays.

I wish everyone here a really lovely time and hope you have had a great year, and we are all are able to achieve even more amazing things in 2010.

Reasons to be happy it’s Winter!

Ok, ok so the headline grabbed you – but today I do want to bring forth some of the benefits of Winter, so we don’t all fall into a gloomy mood! Bet you thought there weren’t any but here are some of the reasons that I think Winter is worth appreciating:

- Food – Summer food is light, colourful and fresh but let’s also remember that it can be more expensive too. In Summer we’re more likely to be outside and with outside, comes expense! In Winter we have the chance to bulk cook again, get that slow cooker out, dust it off and start thinking what delicious warming meals you can make. Here are some of my favourites: Chilli Con Carne, Beef Stew, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chilli fajitas with avocado, yoghurt and cheese, Sweet Potato Lentil and Carrot soup, Lentil and Bacon Soup, Chicken Curry, Roast Chicken (stretchy – as one ‘stretches’ to around 3 meals plus lunches!), Homemade Rice Pudding and Lemon Curd. So start looking around for ingredients now – you can still make healthy but inexpensive meals to claw back what you spend in Summer, or, put towards the Christmas festivities.

- Hobbies – Yes that’s right, we finally have the time for those things that were put to one side, like the game you wanted to play a bit more of, the tv series you wanted to catch up on, photography, listening to music, perhaps for the more energetic even working out a bit more. How about making beauty products? You can see on the right hand side menu of this blog many entries from me, most of which I have more time of in Winter, so why not give it a go and make something that will save you money on gifts, or on your personal beauty budget for 2010?

- That follows on nicely to Budgeting. Yes that’s right – even more time to make sure the tax man, supermarket, insurance company, mortgage company, bank, restaurant and high street don’t have quite so much access to your extra pennies. Now is the time to set up your budget and stick to it. Plan ahead for 2010 for the things you really, really want, rather than those things that ‘come up’ each month and end up being where most of your hard earned dosh goes. Is your insurance coming up in the next few months? Set yourself a reminder. Is your credit card interest free period ending? Make sure you remind yourself of that too. Yahoo, Outlook, your phone or even a trusty paper diary will help you keep on track. Mainly though get that budget spreadsheet going – see www.moneysavingexpert.com for his free one, or contact me and I have one that works well in addition to the one Martin Lewis provides. In fact see my username on MSE (EagerLearner) and you will see my spreadsheet linked to in my signature there for you to download instantly.

- This leads onto cashback sites – once your budget it set up, claw back even more on top of that by using these sites. You want to buy a laptop? Rather than walking into your PC World store for example and buying the one you want, can you go via a cashback site to the PC World site and get the laptop you want online? I did this last weekend, and will earn around 3% cashback plus another 1% cashback from my credit card. This will get me £20 off for no effort at all! Christmas is coming so use cashback sites as much as you can. When insurances come up for renewal, cashback sites will give you hundreds of pounds back in your pocket. Same thing for switching energy suppliers (FatCheese is offering £110 to switch to Scottish Energy which I will seriously consider in the new year).

- Christmas – Of course, I’ve already mentioned it about but it needed it’s own entry. So many chances to make someone feel special by making them something, to save on gifts, to spend time together, eat good food and have fun. It’s not always easy as family gatherings can sometimes be stressful but try to get back to basics and ignore advertising and other people’s standards – no huge amounts of money needed just patience and agreement, plus possibly a love of homemade wrapping paper and experimental gifts!

- Home – Yes that’s right – your home! Seeing as you are now indoors more, what can you do to make your home a nicer, warmer place to be? Are there odd jobs to be done? What about money saving ones like DIY that could save on heating? I’m a renter but as soon as I have my own place, I’ll be spending time improving my place and adding personal touches. Thicker curtains, improved heating, better kitchen storage ideas, homemade surface sprays, homemade beauty products, and your lush homemade cooking will all make you proud and save you money!

That leads me to think that Winter is a great time that we all need – it’s natural to want more duvet days, shelter from the rain, wind and cold, cosy up and enjoy relaxing more. Watch that (rented or borrowed rather than bought) dvd box set, tuck into your homemade stew and fill up the water bottle!

I hope you get some inspiration and that some of the links through this site help you, please click sponsor links too if they are of interest as they support this blog.

Next blog entry will be about my soap making adventures, more Christmas ideas, home hobbies and what we can do in the coming months to enjoy Winter some more… Do share your ideas so far so we can all discuss and try new things!

Gorgeous Christmas Gifts for £0.25p each!

Hello everyone and sorry for the delay, we have had so much on lately.

I saw Marks & Spencer have now got their Christmas decorations up and many stored are selling cards and wrapping already. It reminds me to start getting small things, plus we have agreed no gifts to family and only very small items for friends. It seems in this climate everyone is trying to save!

So here are two ideas you could make now, for Christmas, or who knows even a ghoulish Halloween if you used green and orange colourings...!

SOAP MAKING

Castille Soap

Around 3 weeks ago I made some soap from scratch, so in a week these will be fully cured and it has worked well, I will let you know. These were made with olive oil, beeswax, goats milk and essential oils of chamomile and geranium so should be ideal as both a gentle face wash and shampoo too, which my dry hair will love.

I think the cost worked out £1.50ish for 6 soaps, all natural and multi purpose.

Bath Melts

Another thing I did was to make some bath melts, these were as a gift for a friend and she loved them. The pic on this article is not the ones I have made, but they would look similar if I had spent more on the single 'roses' rather than crushed ones.

Time required: 5 minutes – melt and pour!

50g Cocoa butter
50g shea butter
Rose petals
1 drop of rose essential oil per melt

Sprinkle some rose petals into bottom of each heart cavity in a mould.
Melt shea and cocoa butter together in a pan and pour carefully into pan
Place 1 drop essential oil in each heart
Allow to cool overnight

I bought all the ingredients from ebay, including a heart mould with 9 cavities. One tip I recommend is buy a reasonably deep mould, whatever the shape,as some of the ones I made were thinner as I had added too many petals, so they were fragile. Tip number 2 is don't add too many rose petals!

Once the hearts cooled overnight they looked fab and my friend loved them. I had enough of the shea/cocoa liquid left to pour into a lip balm pot, to which I then added 1 drop of lemon essential oil, and also gave to my friend. So lovely, it smelt like lemon meringue!

You could not have more natural ingredients! I imagine all the bath melts and lip balm cost £2.50. You would pay much more in store. I made 9 hearts plus one lip balm so roughly £0.25p per item on ingredients from now on, now I have invested in the mould.

Not only are they less costly, they could be more environmentally friendly plus the person you give gifts to knows you have spent time considering what they like, as opposed to vouchers, Argos purchases, mistaken gifts etc. You also get the chance to choose 100% organic ingredients, locally sourced etc.

I will post more info about the Castille Soap once I have used it!

Santa recommends... ebay and thinking ahead!

Autumn is here and we’re all left wondering what wardrobe we have for this kind of interim weather… or wanting to go and spend more on a new wardrobe! Keep an eye out for good bargains in 2nd hand stores in preparation for the cold, as this is the time folks start getting rid of last years winter coat for that ‘must have’ new coat this year…

Aaaanyway today’s topic is more about preparing for Christmas. Yes, that’s right – I said that word! In all seriousness though, you have September, October and November paydays, to use towards spreading the cost of Christmas. So here are my top tips for a cool yule that won’t break the bank:

Make food items for foodies

Vanilla extract made for pennies by soaking 3 split pods in vodka for 4 weeks, peanut butter and chocolate, Christmas cookies, your own alcohol like home made Baileys and so much more. You could make some rum butter, gingercake, lots of yummy things, so much tastier and cheaper than store bought… some creative wrapping or a basket from the £0.99 store can perfect the look, perhaps reuse some ribbon from a gift or some brown paper from an item you received in the post.

Make Beauty Products

As you all know I love making lotions and potions. You can make lip balm in less than 2 minutes, face lotion in less than 10, heavenly face scrubs in 10 and some delightful butter melts for massages and bathing for pennies. My secret weapon is to borrow library books and scour the internet for ideas and then buy the items from ebay. How about a luscious face oil for a few pennies, rather than £30+ in the stores? Plus that way you can customise it to the recipients exact skin type.

Buy most Gifts online Through Cashback Sites

Those of you in the know, already realise that when you buy from HMV or Boots, that if you did it online through a Cashback portal site, you could get 5-10% cash back in your hot little hand, for the same items you would normally buy on the high street. So for Christmas, buy the normal stuff you would usually, but via cashback websites instead, the sites in my Guide (see the Cashback section on the right).

THAT way January will be fun as you will have cash back on it's way to you!

Those are just some ideas, I don’t want to inundate you now, seeing as we’re only in September, but start preparing and a) it will be less stressful, b) it will be cheaper and c) you can dedicate more time to choosing the right present with thought, rather than a last minute gift card. Have fun with it, and get creative!

I will intermittently write a few more ideas just to get the creative thought process going, you never know what we might all come up with!