Lazy LAZY magazine writing on "being frugal"

[Bathsheba]

See if I see another magazine article where their ?top tip? for ?beating the credit crunch? is ?Give up your daily lattes ? that will save you £500 a year and loads of calories? ? I?m sure the same tip is given twice in this month?s Sainsbury?s magazine and has been the mainstay of such articles for years?

Do people really believe that everyone

A ? has a daily latte from a coffee chain
B ? hasn?t thought about giving that up

Okay, I?m a SAHM who doesn?t work in an office directly above a branch of Starbucks, but I?d say that 90% at least of the working population aren?t in Coffee Republic every morning for coffee.

Its lazy, lazy magazine writing..!!

You don't need a television licence to watch DVDs or VHS.
Originally (ie the very first beta version of iplayer) you didi have to have a television licence to use it- which is why I pulled out of the trial (nevemind that the fecker never worked on my laptop ) however, I believe that as content is not live-streamed, that is no longer the case.

We don't have a television licence- haven't for over 3 years now, and tbh we never get hassled by them. Is it really £145 a year now?

They were very amused when I rang them though... because I asked if I could purchase a radio licence, and apparently they stopped them years ago!

Only read the OP - but I so agree, often found myself swearing at these articles!

I think the change in licencing requirements is due to the fact that they switched all their radio content on listen again to iplayer- meaning that people who only used radio would be in breach of their T&C.
I did wonder if it was because users from abroad wouldn't have a licence, but part of their T&C is that it shouldn't be used outside UK.

The people I work with all buy two or three coffees a day as well as lunch. I get laughed at for my lunch (which is normally leftovers from tea) I worked out they probably spend on average £60 a week each on coffees and lunch.

And every month they are complaining about being skint before payday

I fill up our raisin boxes with a big packet

Riven how is DH enjoying work?
I recall a thread where you said he was finding it hard not being able to go to work.
Hope all is well.

There was an article in the Times on saving a family £30 per week on their food bills.

It included buying a breadmaker but oddly enough the cost of the actual breadmaker was not featured in the calculations of how much they had saved.

I wonder if the 'live frugally' tip (have a shower instead of a bath) will cancel out the 'get more me time' tip (have a bath) that this type of journalist frequently peddles.

I saw one the other day with the predictable "bring your own coffee to work" advice accompanied by a picture of a beautiful, red, £60 flask. Yeah, I'll get right on that.

DH and I always say we wish we 1) bought lots of lattes, 2) smoked and 3) had expensive gym memberships we never used, 'cause we'd be minted once we gave them all up!

Nooki I do that too! (Thought it was just me)

I am currently using tea bags to make two cups of tea

Totally agree with this topic. I "treated" myself to easy living magazine this month Sample cover lines:

Cut costs not style

Credit lunch

The magazine is full of adverts for designer stuff and several articles that I found awful (has anyone read it? There's some weird photo story about a bride that is just appaling) throughout the products featured made me say out load "what FOR THAT".

What a waste of £3 was so not a treat.

My Tips:

Check out charity shops and sales and if you see stuff you like that is too big for your kids get it and store it - that way you always have a supply of clothes as they grow. People laugh at me for buying age five stuff as DS wears age two but if it's £1 for a pair of new cords why not?

Cut your kids hair - I do it in the bath (which interestingly is how my hairdresser told me she cuts her son's hair when I confessed to her) I actually do a better job than many of the proper haircuts I've seen on other kids.

Dye your hair at home - get one of those brush things that hairdressers use as that is what you need to get to the roots, if you have long hair get two packs and mix them up in a plastic bowl then get a friend to apply it as much easier than doing it yourself. I also trim my own hair between cuts but that is not for everyone (my hair is so curly you cannot tell if I make a mess)

Buy an eplilator and grit your teeth. I used to get my legs and bikini done at a salon but gave that up when became a single mum. Takes some getting used to but is worth it.

Get curtains for your front and back doors. Hang a curtain pole that is wider than the door so that the curtain can be moved to the side to open the door. Keeps in heat and stops drafts. Also get draft excluders - I have a lovely fairtrade cat one from amnesty trading.

Change the stuff you buy in the supermarket to whatever is on offer. Eg kids yogurts - only buy whatever is on offer whether it is petit filous or little stars. ditto pizza juice etc. Just switch brands shamelessly.

Open an alliance and leister currrent account and get £100

SUre I have more (perhaps I should write a book!)

Haven't read the thread yet, but one of the stupidest so-called money-saving tips I've read is number 7 on this page: If you can't afford to pay for beer because you're overdrawn, ask the off licence to give you the beer on credit

Curly I have just spent an hour chasing my 20 month old around with the scissors!

I think our habits are the same,, my wardbrobe is full of stuff for the next few years!

'and replace broken handbags with your boyfriend's funky guitar-strap.'

Haven't read whole thread so this may have been covered, but can anyone explain how a guitar strap could have the same function as a handbag? How could you even carry things in a strap??

LOL Melpomene!

What about: "Can't afford to drink? Why not go to Church on Sunday? They give it away free!! You are only supposed to take one sip but a cheeky wink to the vicar should see you alright."

The scurviest money-saving tip I ever heard was this: if you want to phone someone for a long natter, do it when their favourite TV programme is on. Then they will not want to talk then and will phone you back, saving you the cost of the call.

Ha ha, BalloonSlayer, that's really devious!

No-one has mentioned using skype. If you already have an internet connection (and it's a false economy to give it up if you do, as it's best to shop around if you absolutely need to make a purchase, or buy something on ebay), your friends and family who are as well can talk to you for free.

My DH has a 3 mobile, which I think is expensive and a rubbish service (v. poor reception), but he can make and receive skype calls for free, so we can text or ring one another throughout the day without extra charge. Also, my mother and I often use skype to talk during the day, rather than waiting for the evening calls which are part of both our subscriptions (when I am busy putting DS to bed, and keeping him there!)

These suggestions, of course, depend on outgoing already in place, benefits which are not free but included in a subscription already paid. However, that's fine if you're clear about the benefits, and of course if there are no benefits (fee-paying bank accounts with "free" travel insurance or concierge service, anyone?), you can get rid.

Great thread, Bathsheba!

Georgimama Rule 31 is perfectly legal - phoned up the TV license chaps to confirm a few weeks ago actually. So long as you don't have a TV arial, you can use iPlayer to watch telly till the cows come home, provided its not live, but there's a very good selection of stuff on iPlayer, and you can use 4oD and ITVPlayer too don't forget - it's saving me however much you guys are paying for a TV license anyway!

My favourite self-sufficiency idea has been [http://www.self-sufficient.co.uk/Build-a-Pallet-Shed.htm build a pallet shed] - I don't think anyone needs a shed that much lol!

I agree the ideas are bloody stupid and India Knight annoys me

HOWEVER I am a tight old git and have saved money as follows:

getting the cheapest DD bills for every utility (saved nearly £200)

getting the best rate savings around (making beleive it or not £200 extra per year)

not phoning anyone, ha ha

say yes to hand me downs

and my fave car boot sales!!!! LOVE THEM

having kids and no social life is quite a money saver too .............

OP - I've churned out a fair few lazy magazine articles in my time. To be honest, unless the feature I'm writing is something I'm really interested in or a key piece for my CV, I'm just throwing an article together as quickly as possible to help pay the bills, rather than to help the readers.

Most of these magazines are dross, and of course are repeated on a 12 month cycle. Like most other working people (apart from Doctors and the like, I hope), magazine journos have lazy days when they do the bare minimum required too. If the editors want to pay me for it - and they certainly do - I'm not going to stand in their way.

Don't buy them - I wouldn't!

Mumsnet is far more original .

my money savings tips would be along these lines:
dont throw away old baby grows cut the feet off instead they last much longer.
Stop trying to make everything homemade, it costs more.
eat more veg and less meat
use stardrops to repalce all household cleaners.
the list would be long so i will stop now!

that thread is so funny chryro, my fave is:

i buy whole milk and when nobody is looking the milk gets a good glug of water from the tap to eek it out a little further.

AND

Squeeze a loo roll into an oval shape. It doesn't rollout so easily - and kids tend not to use yards at a time!

!!!!!

porcamiseria, that's a very neat trick with the looroll. I'll have to try that with DS, who has just discovered he can independently get himself some "nose paper" - and often knocks the whole stand down!

With regard to the milk thing, though, watered down milk is an abomionation, especially in coffee! However, I must admit you do have a point if someone is going to go for skimmed milk anyway; my flatmate used to drink skimmed milk, and it looked to me like water with a bit of white paint added. Ugh.

Those magazine 'tips' make me want to scream too.

Why don't they just print 'let them eat cake' and be done with it. And 'shabby chic' Christ who thought that term up??