Clearout for Autumn

With the UK weather treating us to wind, rain and flooding again, it seems a good time to admit that Summer is truly finished - I don't want to pin my hopes on September!

I have now collected some items round the house to donate to charity, and promised that we will not buy many new things for September and October unless we really, really, really need them. Given that we need nothing desperately, this should go ok, although clothes are excluded from the deal... in any case, we have cleared lots of old unwanted clothes too, to allow space for new items.

This the perfect time to review dvd's, cd's, clothes and books that may be sellable, and that we don't want anymore. It might even be taht we can make enough profit for example, so we can put this towards the cost of Christmas.

In saying that, I am also happy to buy items, if and only if, I believe I can sell them on ebay or Amazon. I recently purchased a £2 brand new terramundi ceramic piggy bank jar with tags, which sold on ebay for £7 plus postage. I made £5.20 clean profit right there... needless to say this has gone into my snowflaking account!

As I read recently in a book, imagine that the clutter you have at the moment is actually taking up valuable space and so it's 'costing' you £70 a month, which you could be making in food and gift savings on purchases, or ebay sales. That made me sharpen up my act pretty quickly, as we live in a small flat!

Anyway, my recommendation to you is that given the current weather, you take the time to make space for the new season. Space to start buying Christmas presents you might see at a good price, to stock up on food that may be on special offer, to buy items to sell on and generally get yourself some more value from space in your home.

Good luck!

Small steps, big payoffs

Well September has started without a hitch – new budget, new start.

Shopping wise, we are again taking part in MoneySavingExpert’s monthly grocery challenge and have set ourselves £120 budget for the month, covering 2 adults. This includes food, wine, any cleaning materials. However, as my hubby won lots of wine last month for reaching sales targets, we should be ok, and as I bulk shopped for quite a few things in August, that will also help. Cleaning wise we don’t spent much in supermarkets, as you will see below.

Small stuff we have started to do in the last 2 years, that doesn’t ‘hurt’ much:

Downgrading from brands – I have never been a brand lover but trying the supermarkets own has started to feel easier, we try bread, tinned items, and much more. I find that especially with tinned items there’s much money to be saved.




Using Freecycle and other networks – when you need something, you ‘put the word out’ on networks like that and you may find someone has it as junk that they need to get rid of!


Squirreling / snowflaking savings – At the end of each month, if we have any money left, it gets put into savings. Sometimes I even do this during the month and save as I go… makes a surprising difference, the odd pound here and there. I used to do it so that £53.89, would mean I would transfer £3.89 to savings. I have an IceSave savings account for this and keep tabs of what that total is made up of in a spreadsheet. For our joint account, anything in there at the end of the month goes to our ISA.

Printing vouchers – It’s true that so many more restaurants, bars, brands and leisure companies are trying to get our attention now. I have found more eat out vouchers in my e-mail inbox than anything else recently. So when I want to go out to one of our favourite eateries, we choose the place that has the best vouchers on at the time. This for us is Yo Sushi, Ha Ha Bar and Strada and you can’t turn around these days without at least one of them having an offer on. My friends are all into this as well now to save some cash, I like to think I have converted them! Of course there are also supermarket vouchers and other money saving opportunities on travel and more...




Household cleaning – A while back I discovered a) soda crystals and b) that washing powder is cheaper than liquid powder overall for washing your clothes. So by pouring boiling water into the tray prior to washing, and mixing half the normal amount of powder, plus half soda crystals, my washing is much, much cheaper, and with the boiling water treatment, no white marks.



I am also a huge fan of Stardrops if you can find it – around £0.70p for one bottle and as it is concentrated it will last you a long, long time. Use is sparingly diluted in water for most household cleaning. I like to add a little to a spray bottle with some aromatherapy oil, fill up with water, and use this for all kitchen cleaning. SD is also great used neat for stubborn kitchen stains and so much more. Just type in ‘Stardrops usage’ into Google and you will get the idea! Best £0.70p you have ever spent and I have even given it to friends and family!


I am also a convert to baking soda, now available in 500g boxes from Tesco for £0.99p. I order mine online and save on carrying it home…

Making your own – We have started to make our own bread and yoghurt, as well as keeping our own basil, parsley, thyme, a chilli and a red pepper plant. It’s a small start in a small flat, but we’re happy and will see what else we can do in time.

Top notch savings – We ensure we both have the best ISA account rates, so that interest is growing on our savings at the highest level it can. Once both our ISA’s are full, and we have therefore kept the taxman from taking any of that money, we then save to the best instant savings accounts. I rarely have the patience for fixed term deposits, the only exception being a deal that IceSave did recently, and my account matures in November on that one. I will then return to normal instant savings with them. By transferring money electronically each month, the transfer hits faster and so starts to earn quicker. I can’t recommend highly enough that you start transferring a small amount per month into savings, as soon as you get paid. ‘Paying yourself first’ is an essential building block in getting some money saved up for rainy days. You never notice it, and it should be a priority for anyone who has no debts to pay off.

I will add more tips as I can think of them but do drop your own comments here so we can share money-saving ideas!

Piggy gives you money for once!

That's right - I found a way last year to get piggy to pay me for once. This comes in the form of site called Pigsback.

This site allows you to click some of it's 'Bonus' boxes throughout the week, and clicking each one credits you with £0.5p. This gives you roughly £0.70p per month, around £8.50 a year or more for free.

In addition, you get bonuses for signing up to things (you can later unsubscribe if you want), sometimes worth £1, £2 or more, which takes your yearly free earnings up to much more.

So this estimate can rise to £25 per year for nothing! If your partner does it too, you could get a free £50 a year, just from clicking bonus boxes and signing up to things.

On top of this you can then earn money back on purchases you make via the site. Let's say you want to sign up to Lovefilm for postal dvd rental, this gives you £12.50 cashback to your account, just for signing up! There are so many others, buying clothes, music, make-up, gifts, dvd's and much more.

Last year I earned £60 from the site, and my husband earned roughly the same - this was with no spending. Just the freebies! In 2008 this rate has come down due to less deals, but it is still FREE money to be earned and top up your bank account.

Well worth it. You get this in the form of 'Rewards', which I choose to receive in voucher format for shops like Boots, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose etc. I then use these for Christmas. This saved us alot on the Christmas expenses last year as you can imagine.

If you are interested or want more info just drop a message on here. I am also happy to refer you if you would like, just let me know, and you can then go on to refer friends and family.





I recommend you use an e-mail account set up especially for cashback site join-ups, ie, it may get more spam than your usual account.

Remember - get piggy to pay you for once!

Free Money in your mouse - yes, really!

http://www.wepromiseto.co.uk/r/795295Free cash? Yes. Make cash from just clicking sites online - no catches, but some (easy but medium to longterm) work involved!

I have now released my latest & updated guide to clicking on the internet. It earns up to a massive £3.59 a day if you follow my sugested clicks! The text below is an explanation on how to get started - contact me via the MSE Link below if you would like the daily routine itself.

The key is:
1) to click every day if possible and
2) be patient as it can take a week or so to show up
3) look at this for the long term

If you take it seriously the next 12 months will be a great chance to get free cashback for clicks for any goal you have. If you also buy your pressies, clothes, gadgets and more via the cashback sites, you will of course earn even more cash on top! I make most of my free cash from just clicking though!


The basic concept:
You can make money daily, from clicking.
Websites will pay you small cash amounts as incentives to click on their links so they can show you their products. You can click on these every day and earn money. You do not need to buy anything. If you click over a period of time, these amounts add up and you can then cash-in what they owe you. Simple - but involves daily clicks and self-discipline!

WARNING:
You must be prepared to put the work in for all sites and to wait at least 12-14 weeks for the money on each site to start to look like anything significant! Remember - this is a long term thing and patience is essential as it can take a week or so for the first cash to drip in so do be patient and read on...




From the cashback sites below I made over £375.89 in 2007 for free + £120 in vouchers (hubby and I do it) from Pigsback so I'm very chuffed indeed (with more pending as I type). I have made NO purchases, just clicking away slowly but surely.

You DO need to be disciplined though to get this free cash & it helps to have a goal in sight - for me it was that Christmas 07 food & booze was totally FREE and funded by cashback sites ;o) and I DID IT!

I can e-mail you the guide and I am sure my cashback routine will help you out even if only small amounts here and there they do add up and when you get the payout it will all be free so I think it is worth it for 15-20 mins a day (or more time = more money if you have the time). I can also e-mail you an automatic cashback calculator to help you see your earnings build up as you go - change it as you like.

Step 1 - Join Up

I recommend you join the sites below (PS: feel free to use the referral links, or if you prefer you can go directly to the sites if you do not want me to refer you). Each site has been selected by me because they are good earners - I have dropped a few over the last few months and the list below are the current updated best in my view:

Get £££££ bonuses straight-away for signing up to these sites!

Here are some links for signing up to the main cashback sites if you are not already signed up:

MoneyBackMadness £10 bonus join-up!
http://www.blogger.com/www.moneybackmadness.co.uk/Register.aspx?rm=10002979&rf=Friend

Non referral – www.moneybackmadness.co.uk


Loyalty Shopper
http://loyaltyshopper.co.uk/forum/register.php?referrerid=12724

Non referral – www.loyaltyshopper.co.uk


We Promise To ** NEW - like Quidco **
http://www.wepromiseto.co.uk/r/795295

Non referral – www.wepromiseto.co.uk


Get Pounds Back

http://www.getpoundsback.co.uk/join.php?muq=795&duq=e0705a

Non referral – www.getpoundsback.co.uk


Cashback Rewards

http://www.cashback-rewards.co.uk/r/?l=1512

Non referral – www.cashbackrewards.co.uk


Cashback Chief £2.50 bonus sign-up!

http://www.cashbackchief.co.uk/referafriend.asp?referrer=sophiegist

Non referral – www.cashbackchief.co.uk

Quidco
http://www.quidco.com/ (not a referral link)


Remember to click the activation e-mails per site to fully start your cashback membership of each site and get the bonus welcome money per site (where applicable).


Remember when you have registered for WePromiseTo, to sign up your debit or credit card details for the OFFLINE shops, you can earn cashback on the high street at:

- Superdrug
- JJB
- Cineworld
- Halfords
- Little Chef

and more coming soon - just by shopping on the high street! If you have registered your cards, those companies will then automatically put up to 3% back into your online WPT account, even though you shopped on the high street.

This is the first time I have seen this feature and it's great!

Also, remember that they do a monthly draw, whereby you can win cash from their Honesty Pot.



Step 2 - Be Disciplined

I have an A4 guide - just e-mail me for a copy. On it I have shown what amounts you earn per click, this way you never forget anything. Remember that the guide is what I have at the moment, you should check each cashback sites yourself as time goes on as there will be new clicks added that are not shown on the enclosed routine. Don't miss out on new or extra clicks!

Do the clicking religiously every day for around 15 minutes (you can choose to do more, or less) and the amounts will build up. If you start to feel lazy or can't be bothered at any time - think of the final goal - what will you use all that free money for? Set your goal and maybe stick a photo next to the A4 Guide as a reminder. Could be a weekend away, Xmas food or Xmas presents, a spa day, paying off debt - anything. Sign up to all the enclosed sites and do it for at least 12 weeks and it will be worth it because you can then start to transfer cash to your savings account, sometimes sooner. Of course as well as clicking, buying through the cashback sites will also increase your cashback to fantastic levels.


Before you go to each cashback site:
Clear Your Cookies

It's important to always clear your cookies between each cashback site just in case, so I have included that as well as a reminder on the sheet. How?
To clear your cookies go to Internet Explorer > Tools > General > Browsing History > Delete Cookies.
Also if you are on a cashback site that allows you to click on the same link twice, like High St Web for example, click once and follow through, then clear cookies, then click again and follow through so it tracks twice.


I also find it helps to save all the cashback sites to your favourites in the order they are listed on the A4 Guide too.


Step 3 - Start Clicking

Once you have joined the above sites you will get some free bonus cash straight-away (up to £22.50 if you sign up to all sites), others are later when you cash-out.

Then simply start your daily routine at whatever time you like and click away at the same time-ish each day. Remember - generally you need to click through, then carry out a search, then click on an external result/site for the cashback to work properly. You must also ensure you delete cookies between each cashback site.

Each site allows you to see your total (see enclosed for an example you can modify) so I know how much I have earned across all of the sites.

You need to be self-disciplined each day and make sure you do it so the free cash is slowly building up across all sites. For me, I like to take Sunday off! Each day I do my clicks between 8:00 and 8:15, just 15 minutes, before I start work. You can choose whatever time suits you but I'd say a day off is needed so I chose Sunday ;o)


Step 4 - Get Paid
Then when you have reached each sites' payout level, you will get paid! Check each sites' terms but you can request to get paid directly into your bank account or Paypal, but I don't do that as it costs money to send it to Paypal and as an avid MoneySaver every penny counts!

When you get paid by each site pop the money into your ISA or savings account so you can spend it on something special. Then start building the money up again with more clicks! OR if you don't trust yourself not to spend it... save it all year and then cashout...

PS:When you have reached your payout level on Moneybackmadness they pay you £1 for each month you don't cashout, which is great. I rollover my payout each month I can for the extra £1! I think they allow 4-5 months so it's £4 or £5 free!

Top Cashback allow you to withdraw any cash that has cleared, no minimum payout level, which is fab ;o)
Loyalty Shopper update every Wednesday for your earnings (sometimes Thurs or Friday)



More Free Cash/Vouchers

I would also recommend you join Pigsback if you are not already a member. You get vouchers to spend in stores such as Waitrose / John Lewis / UCI / Top Shop and more just from clicking and spending no money. I earn around £10 every 5 weeks and so does my husband - we have £120 from 2007 alone and used it towards Christmas.

Please let me know if I can refer you to Pigsback and I will do so asap - just let me know your initial, your surname and your e-mail address.


Here is the MSE thread that I have set up all about this guide & the daily clicks full of Q&A’s and tips etc:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=609037


Please subscribe to the thread ;o) I can then e-mail you the spreadsheets and list of clicks that go with the guide.


Please do ask any questions on the thread so we can all benefit - I will be there to help and once you get set up you will be flying, possibly earning £25 per site every 3-4 months or so or maybe even in less time / earning more money depending on your routine / extra items you buy etc. An MSER helped me to get into this so I would like to help others too - don't be afraid to ask questions there, even tiny or 'silly' ones.

Enjoy the free cash & hope to see you on the above MSE dedicated thread if you have questions!

Please do the above and do not post your e-mail here if possible, and if you do, delete it as soon as you have posted it, so spammers can't see it. Thank you.

Snowflaking - the way to go this Winter

Well today I thought the weather was suitably miserable to talk about Snowflaking. This isn't the actual snowflake discussion (I mean, surely it won't snow *properly* this year), but the humble small amount of money saved.

'Snowflaking' is an American term for saving small amounts here and there. For the £13 you got from a cashback site, the £8 you saved on a meal out because you had a voucher, the £10 you got from a relative for a birthday gift or for Christmas. Even the little savings pot we all have on the sideboard (well, all of us addicted to not wasting cash!) - that can go in the Snowflaking account too.


Step 1 - Identify the first debt that you want to to pay off.

Step 2 - Begin looking for any way you can save or make small amounts of money. Don't worry if they're too small - that's why they're called snowflakes.

Step 3 - To 'find' these snowflakes you can do things to reduce your regular outgoings and save the difference. You can also use things like gift money and cashback as snowflakes.

Step 4 - When you have a snowflake in hand, throw it at the debt you targeted in Step 1. One way to do this is to make frequent, online payments of snowflake amounts. I do this and it works very well. Just find a decent savings account to place it in as that interest will be important to compound what you are earning in the account!

Step 5 - Continue to find snowflakes wherever your can. The power of this system is in repeating it frequently. After a while you will find that it has become quite addictive and a game. That's when you can make it really work for you!

Step 6 - Visit snowflakerevolution.com for more information and inspiration!

I have done this all of 2008 and it works well - I have a spreadsheet where I make a note of all the 'hidden' money I save each month to my savings account, amounts that I wouldn't usually have noticed. This is from vouchers, cashback that I would usually have just spent, half price movies on Orange Wednesdays, free movie previews and much more and much more.

I hope you already so something like this and that the idea of it will enhance your system, or get you to start ASAP - Christmas is coming, and Snowflaking from today could pay for Christmas 2008!

Making dinner time easier

Hi everyone. Today we had a leisurely stroll to the local market - very little spend. All I got was an old fashioned bottle for £1.00, an original HP Sauce glass one, which I thought would look nicer than my current fairy liquid bottle! I saw on a programme where someone used an empty bottle instead of their boring washing up plastic one and thought it was a fab idea.


We then wandered along to TK Maxx and found a 350 count pima cotton fitted sheet in a mocha colour for £9.99 which I thought was great - it has a luxurious feel to it. We also got a fan-style metal steamer for £2.99 to place on top of pans. We used to have a dual layer bamboo one, but in our old flat it went musty due to humidity. Plus it took up loads of space so this metal one takes up far less (it's an expandable one) and can also go in the dishwasher.

For the remainder, I shopped for bits and pieces. I try to plan ahead 2 weeks worth of dinners, so we both know what's for dinner each night and you don't have that feeling of it being a hassle... it's not only worked well in terms of reducing hassle, it saves cash and time too. I print out some A4 calendar sheets for an entire month and *try* to fill it out as much as I can with ideas (downloadable from here). I then use one of the Nobo drywipe boards, and a drywipe pen to write out 2 weeks of food from the A4 paper sheet.



Of course we change things around but at least it removes the headache each night of thinking about it. It means either of us can get home and start dinner, because it's planned out and all the ingredients have been bought. Having the month view also helps buy food in advance if we see any deals like 2 for 1, or BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free). My husband is happy to menu plan and to be honest comes up with more creative things than I do, so that's a definate plus to make sure we're eating varied meals. Before I go shopping I check the drywipe board and look for any underlined items, as that means we don't have the item at home. I then write up the shopping list and only buy what we need, which means spending less and throwing away less.

Friends have commented on it, and I think maybe they think it's a tad OTT, but it works and ensures we waste less and only buy what we need. On average, saves us £60 a month compared to when we did not use it. So, who cares what anyone thinks, for £720 a year extra in savings!

Here is a meal planner link - I will add more as I find interesting links:

http://frugalliving.about.com/library/Meal_Planning_Worksheet.pdf

Lavender dreams... and cotton luxury?

I have recrntly started to read a book called 'Home Comforts' which is a classic home-keeping book. I am far from the traditional homekeeper, so I was interested to learn more - you know, the questions you *can't* ask anyone else as you want to seem like you know it already... and I should, really!

Anyway, I rented it from my local library, and have it for at least 3 weeks. The chapters are all clearly defined and although I have skipped some (as they are not relevant to our small flat), I can see it being a valable resource so may try to see if I can buy it sometime as an investment. I was given Delia's 'black' basic recipe book on that basis too and have found it extremely helpful.

The main thing I was interested to read today was about the importance of the right bed linen. We have never spent that much, often going on price rather than anything else, as you often wash and replace that I have found a few fitted sheets do us fine, having lasted several years. But it has made me re-think this - are our sheets that great at £5.99?

I find one is too thin and I hate having to use it (in fact I generally leave it til last if I can) as it is skinny, scratchy as a result and I could feel the matttress underneath. Even last year when we invested in a matress protector (from Argos, around £7 I think), we still find it our least favourite. This has happened with a duvet cover too, which has gradually lost colour and is less soft than I would ideally like, regardless of adding any softener to the wash. However, I should add that it must be 3 years old now - or is that just me being a modern consumer and not expecting it to last more than that?

For Summer we mostly use cotton (a mix of cotton and poly) like most folks, then in Winter I like flanelette.

So now that Summer seems to have deserted us here in the UK, I am wondering if now is the time to try and find some bargains for next Summer's bedding, as what we currently have will do us fine for now.

It might be that Egyptian cotton really is worth the hype, I don't know, but that's probably where I will start researching. It seems that a set for a double bed can be bought for around £25 - including the fitted sheet, flat sheet and 2 pillow cases.

However, then there are the different 'levels' - 180, or 400 threads per inch? It's a minefield! Anyone with any thoughts on this please do share them, as I'd love to treat us to something new but don't want to spend too much, or in contrast, too little on something that is near-enough what we already have.

In the meantime, I have followed the book's advice on airing the bed all day whilst I am at work. I have pulled back the covers fully and opened our window at the top as far as it will go.



I also have a lavender spray that I made with water and a few drops of essential oil. I keep this by the bed for nights when I cannot sleep of just need something soothing or refreshing to help feel sleepy and relaxed. This is also good lightly sprayed in the air above the bed to freshen things up until the next wash.

Make your own Homemade Yoghurt

This recipe makes around 1 litre of delicious yoghurt (900ml if strained through muslin cloth fot thicker yoghurt).

Slow Cooker Yoghurt


• Place 1 litre semi skimmed milk in your slow cooker (I use longlife milk)
• Gently whisk in 5 tablespoons live yoghurt (as Starter yoghurt – a small Yeo 150g pot seems to be enough)
• Whisk in 2.5 tablespoons milk powder
• Cover with a cloth & lid
• Set on LOW for one hour
• Turn off and leave overnight

Please note that this can also be done in a switched off warm oven (after you have used it for a meal, say), if you do not have a slow cooker. Still needs to be covered with a cloth and lid and left overnight.



The longer you leave the yoghurt to develop, the thicker and more 'yoghurty' it will taste.

If you like it thicker (like Greek Yoghurt)

Then sieve through a muslin cloth for 1.5 hours & refrigerate (I buy 12 big sheets of muslin off Ebay for around £5, this then makes 48 sheets worth - this can then be washed and reused).

This can then also be used as the starter yoghurt a couple of times.
Each time you will need to add more starter tablespoons (ie: 2nd batch, will be 6-7 tablespoons and 3rd batch will be say 8-9) with slightly more powdered milk each time.

I have not successfully managed to make a 2nd batch this way yet - any comments most welcome!

This is delicious with honey and pine nuts or walnuts, or with fresh fruit, great on cereal and also perfect to go with curries or sauces that would normally need coconut milk, which is more expensive.




It’s also green - you are also reducing travel miles as well as packaging, by making your own yoghurt.

The initial cost is around £0.50 for milk, £0.55 for yoghurt and say £0.10 for powdered milk. This is just £1.15 for 71 litre of yoghurt. Even less when you make the 2nd and 3rd batches! In the shop you would pay up to £3.00 for 1 litre...

I would love to know what you all think if you give this a go!

The Strawberry emerges!

Ok so it's not the most exciting thing to anyone else, but the one strawberry we have is starting to blush and resemble a fruit, instead of a green nobbly thing... so here you go - for us it's a major moment!

Also the dill is coming along nicely as you can see, so although it will take some time, I imagine some nice Winter dishes will be complemented with this hopeful batch... and we simply placed the seeds in a strawberry plastic container from the supermarket, so there was no need to spend cash on the pot.


I have had a busy weekend so am very tired, but my husband made some fresh bread this afternoon, which technically cost us nothing this week, seeing as we bought the main ingredients from last weeks budget. With the price of bread going up and up, I think he's enjoying making it himself and producing something almost for nothing. It's cooling as I type and only our second ever loaf, so this shows anyone can make it!

We're following Delia's recipe, as we found that the recipe on the back of the Somerfield 'strong' white flour pack didn't work as well (it was too yeasty, they suggested 2 tablespoons of dry yeast, Delia uses 1 teaspoon and also lets it sit and bubble with warm water up prior to starting the recipe).



As you can see, it's just cooling on our grater as we don't have a wire rack, but this works just as well and saves on buying anything fancy. I am looking forward to trying some of it in a while, perfect as a little snack before we have tuna gumbo - this is a delicious and easy dish:





'TUNA GUMBO'

3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped, then cooked
1 chopped white or red onion
1 clove chopped garlic
2 tomatoes, chopped
Small bowl of sweetcorn (frozen is cheapest but small tin would work)
Handful of peas
1 tin of tuna
Handful of green beans, topped and tailed, cooked/steamed
Some black olived, de-pipped!

Fry onion and garlic then tomatoes, when done place in a big bowl. Heat sweetcorn & peas (just pouring boiling water over them does the trick) and drain the cooked sweet potato. Then pour these into the bowl with the cooked green beans. Mix all the ingredients together, add olive oil and seasoning (oregano and paprika work very well). Add a couple of tablespoons light mayo and the olives, serve with mixed leaf salad. Delicious!

Free financial whizzy applications

Here's a useful selection of applications that can be downloaded for free, to use towards budgeting, investing, calculating interest, compound interest and so much more:

Free financial applications