Marvellous Money Saving March.

[CremeEggThief]

Hi All,
Thought I'd start a new thread for all regulars and anyone else who is interested in saving money in March .

Ok Ok .. I went to work!! the guilt made me stay up last night working late and I got up at 5 again to do some more.. (Now why didnt i just do it when i was supposed to, eh? ?? Idiot!! )
Project report not finished (its a long un) but another stage written up !!

So I got my hair cut after all .. l'll write more of that later as need some advice on re-dying or not) that was £24 plus £ tip - wash n wet cut only

£15 phone top up for DS

£ 6.75 in Co op..

I took my Next stuff back and instead of £50 cash and £8 refund on the gift card , they gave me the whole £58 cash.. Am pleased because actually , theres very little i ever like in Next and I was stuggling to spend my £20 voucher (for xmas from friend) and so far had only found £12 on basic vests to spend leaving me the odd £8..)

so Ive booked to get my eyelashes dyed later inthe week (and eyebrows sorted and dyed ) Havent had either done since last summer . So that will be the the £8! (plus another £12 !!) spent and much better as a present i think.. However I do also have a slightly out of date £10 voucher for the salon ..I wonder if the nice lady will honour it?

Right... now to look back and see how you are all doing and post again..

£3 tip , i always wonder if thats enough.. but my hair never comes to any more as its short and spiky..

Welcome Jelly,Lemonade and Kate.. Yes this is a really friendly supportive thread ..

People, people ...... now look...... I REALLY dont want to be overly prescriptive here, you know? ... but unless you are one of those vegan chappies like BreadandWine or lactose intolerant , omlettes should only be cooked with BUTTER!! the Perfect Omelette

No ifs, no buts, BUTTER.. They simply aint worth eating otherwise ( ok IMHO )

I've sold quite a lot on ebay over the years.. it pays sometimes to take a deep breath aand start at 99p , but sometimes it backfires.. I havent sold anything for a while , people dont seem to be paying much any more and i ended up last time selling some really good stuff for peanuts .. I think its because of higher postage charges ..

However if youve got something really good like need had.. and especially if like her, it was a bit of a punt, you can do surprisingly well. Strangely enough I got really good prices for my larger clothes (18/20) when i first lost a lot of weight. Also (perhaps not so strangely) a lot of then were bought by men. Theres a lot goes on behind the 'scenes' at ebay !!) IYSWIM

I'm in France lila so it probably wouldn't be worth the postage costs (Unless you're in France too)! I'll have a look and see if there are any local selling pages on FB, if not, I'll try Le Bon Coin!

oh yes for other thingsI cook in either olive or sunflower oil.. sunflower for things that need a higher heat..I dont know if thats good or not , as have been using the same oil types for years and never really thought about it

However ive been told that coconut oil is very good, (have only tied it in stirfry with the little bit of coconut oil solidified in the coconut block packets ..was nice )

Coconut oil is the latest 'in thing' but it's really high in fat. I think I'll get sunflower oil, have been googling. Yes I prefer the olive oil bottles too

btw in case you were wondering if i'd gone completely off my trolley.. Breadandwine makes vegan pancakes (obvs) not omlettes , because.. of course, being a Vegan, he doesnt eat eggs! DUH!!

(Laska, you are an idiot)

£7 on DVD
£43.40 on food.

Thanks I'm feeling a fair bit better, everyone is still really wiped out though.

17/2
£8.70 dinner for me and DS (waiting outside brownies as it was DD's enrolment party today)
£6.78 Coop
£2.60 DH lunch in Coop

Hello ladies (and gents). Yesterday £54 on diesel, can reclaim, £6.49 on late lunch. 30 on water for Zdd1 at dancing plus 60p for a doughnut (for her not me) I had a black coffee, 60p

Today £15 for £3 lunch meal deal plus Easter eggs for nieces and nephews.

I haven't attempted to see anything on eBay yet but have done really well with dds clothes (that she has outgrown obv) on the fb buy and sell kids stuff page. Have made £30 this week I don't buy dd a lot of clothes but the ones I get her do tend to be nice stuff, Boden (if its in the sale) or Next. Which sells on really well.

I fried my omelette on olive oil which is prob why it didn't taste as good as I hoped it would!! Saying that it was really filling, not felt hungry all evening!!

to sell anything on eBay!!

Thanks nugget for that app. I will look into it at some point.

So, the boss has countered with a really good offer which makes staying a lot better. It's not just the money... It's everything else that he says he will do to make my life and job easier (in terms of support)... So, it's making me think really hard. And I'm really exhausted now.

Pros of staying - same money as compared to going and don't have to commute, provision of support which is something I've wanted for the longest time, provision of other support to make other things I need to achieve, happen.

Pros of going - the excitement of new place (but don't know if it's frying pan/fire scenario).

NK I was always told to flip a coin as when it lands you'll feel like it's landed on the wrong or right option and know that's how you really feel. I'm not completely sure it's true but I'm guessing that by now anything is worth a go!

Hoping for a nsd.

Yes I like the coin flipping thing. I have to say I think I would stay but I'm far from a career woman

I am beginning to get to the stage that whilst I love my job, I need to warn more. For a number of years I have had a big promotion dangled in front if me, but never given. A few years ago I was given an unexpected promotion (partway to the big one) and a company car plus about a £3k rise, but actually the rise paid for the tax on the car and fuel benefit.

This year I got an inflationary rise, but since I got nothing last year, I'm still behind over 2 years.

I want o work hard and see if there is any chance of the big job, but I am disillusioned and think it will never happen. Therefore the only way to get a big rise will be to move. I've been here almost 20 years.

A friend of mine got a £30k rise last year! She was considering moving but hadn't decided. The new potential boss (she hadn't agreed) told the old one do he matched the new deal. Wish I had her job.

PegLeg we are in March

Should be nsd today. Ds has a check with the HV. Lunch will be couscous (obsessed).

Donner is spag bol I've got a massive pack of mince so going to do it in the slow cooker with added red lentils (peppers, onion and celery) to hopefully make enough for five meals. Oooo I could make lasagne with it but I'll need more milk.

Well we are in the 'public sector' so no real pay rises of £30k I'm afraid, but this pay that he's matching will push me up a rank and if he delivers on all that he writes down then I'm minded to stay. I think I'm concerned about what I need to do when I get to the new place (like I said frying pan/fire), plus I may have to do the 7am train thing frequently which well, will piss me off I think!! Argh.

You'll get in writing off him though?

I'd be inclined to stay too better the devil you know but are they false promises?Your increase moving to new job is negated by travel costs right?

I think you will be better off financially and time-wise by staying, NK, but do make sure everything extra is in writing before confirming your decision. Well done!

Thanks guys for responding so quickly. Yes I will get it off him in writing and in terms of money yes the huge pay rise will go to network rail and mr George Osborne.
We'll see what he coughs up by end of play today.

I now need to stall London. Any tips?!!

The truth!

NSD yesterday and hopefully today too (not counting direct debits as I've already removed those amounts in my calculations), I got €22 back from a Dr's visit yesterday which has put my end-of-month balance back into the black (I should have a whopping €9 left in our account , which doesn't sound like much, but last month we were at €-700).

Shopping next month is going to be expensive as we've been finishing things off this month, and they will need to be replaced (shampoo, washing powder etc.) I'd like to do another tigtly budgeted food month, but I'm not sure DH and the DCs will be up for it (although I think we've been eating really well, and no one has been hungry or tired).