Money Saving Tips
 

This is just a start, please add to this and maybe we can have a permanent section (or a downloadable .doc/.wri/.txt/.pdf etc. for this on the website.

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Lighting in the home
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Today is the best day to remove those old light bulbs that should really be called heat bulbs.

Replacing all your bulbs in one go is the cheapest way to invest in lower electricty bills and longer living bulbs.

Just to give you an idea of the range of CFL bulbs out there then I suggest some inspiriation at:

http://www.bltdirect.com/products.ph...ng+Light+Bulbs

Philips are very good but Solus are Irish made and are also very good value.

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Cooking in the home
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Don't be fooled by all that convienence food, the goodness per cent you achieve by cooking real food slowly, saves money spent on vitamins, diet pills and doctors visits.

Heavy based pots and pans are ideal as they retain heat and you use less energy to cook your food.

When using gas flame or electricity hob to cook make sure that the flame or hob is heating the bottom of your pot/pan only and not wasting energy by heating the air.

Use lids (glass is ideal) when boiling food, a lot of energy is wasted by heat loss otherwise.

As the pot/pan/oven will retain heat after you switch off heat then switch off before the end of cooking time.

Think about using a pressure cooker as it is faster and more efficient and thus saves energy.

Regards, Simon

Recycle and Compost!
In January I moved into my own place, the first week I had to put out a full bin of waste that had been here before I came and stuff that couldn't be recycled etc. I changed bin providers to Panda as they collect plastics. More than 6 months have passed and my regular sized black wheelie bin is not even 1/5 full. If I keep going at this rate it'll be about another year and a half at least before I have to put my black bin out for collection. Recycling saves so much money. Most of our waste is recyclable or is able to be composted. More so than saving money, it is much better for the environment.

how to cut down on day to day costs
 

This is something we all should be taking into consideration especially after Christmas.

I have a few ideas which i will post later.

ok so i google this and got some tips which ive edited and put together, they are very useful

• Cut out buying newspapers everyday. Some of them you can read freely on the internet, if you cant chances are the most interesting stories will be available on rte.ie or other websites anyway.

• Magazines are a drain on finances also, if travelling by bus buy an mp3 player with a radio or print off interesting articles off the net.

• Cut down on the booze, if you are a habitual weekend nightclubber, try leaving home an hour or two later than normal. Amazing how much this saves!!

• If you eat choc bars everyday see what 6/10 packs are available in the supermarket (although danger here is that you end up consuming more)

• Downgrade your car & exit the car loan trap / Don't fall into the car loan trap / Always use your savings to purchase or upgrade your car when you can afford it. Decide if you need to drive your current car, if its a larger engine but you only do 10-20 miles a day could you realistically downgrade to a smaller car? Lower road tax, insurance and running costs are worth it if you can then buy your dream car a year or 3 down the line without having to borrow!



• Set up an automated direct debit to pay the full amount on your credit card. Don't buy anything on your card, unless your bank a/c can cover it. To avoid a large direct debit, and help keep with budget consider manually transferring money to your credit card during the month. If you find it difficult to manage your credit card stop using it.


• Practise minimising your costs starting with the largest average monthly spend. e.g. are you on cheapest mortgage, cheapest loan, cheapest credit card, are you on the cheapest mobile network and package for your usage, should you cancel your landline, should you use skype more, (use skype for calls – its free!!)do you need sky digital, are you heating your house and water effectively? are you using the cheapest broadband provider, are you getting free banking?


• make a shopping list and stick to it


• Make use of advantage cards/ clubcards every time you shop. You will get vouchers in return for points built up --which are very handy!


• Cook your own dinners! Keep the takeaway for the occasional treat. For the price of a large pizza & extras you could cook dinner for 4 days. Freeze extra portions for the days you don't feel like cooking;
• Invest in a smoothie maker or hand-held blender - it saves loads of money in the long run if you like smoothies and it means you won't throw out your leftover fruit;

• Keep a spending diary, or at the very least check your balance regularly, you should be able to estimate your balance before you check at the ATM;

• Have a kettle @ work - cuts out buying teas & coffee. Eat losts of fruit instead of (more expensive) sugarery snacks.

• Make sure that you are reclaiming all your entitelements from the Tax man i.e. medical exps, rent, refuse charges etc.

• Have your hair cut/coloured in a hairdressing school.

• make sure that your charitable / religious donations are made by standing order, so you can pay out less & fill in the Revenue form @ end of the year to allow the charitable body claim your tax back.

• walk/cycle rather than driving. "win/win".

• If you are eating out decide on a starter and main, or main and dessert - you don't need to kill your social life, but just make wiser decisions.

• In winter time, turn down the heat a few degrees and put a jumper on.

• Hand wash the dishes rather than using the dishwasher.

• Buy a travel coffee cup and make yourself a cup of coffee to take on the bus/train rather than buying expensive coffees on the way to work.

money off vouchers
 

You can print out the money off vouchers for groceries from Pigsback.com

[quote=jenniferalan]

• Set up an automated direct debit to pay the full amount on your credit card. Don't buy anything on your card, unless your bank a/c can cover it. To avoid a large direct debit, and help keep with budget consider manually transferring money to your credit card during the month. If you find it difficult to manage your credit card stop using it.

(Why not just cut it up and use a debit card? I don't have a credit card and I don't want one!)

• make a shopping list and stick to it

(Shop in Lidl or Aldi or if you must shop in Dunnes/Tesco buy own brands... much cheaper, same product!)

• Make sure that you are reclaiming all your entitelements from the Tax man i.e. medical exps, rent, refuse charges etc.

(must check this out!)

• Have your hair cut/coloured in a hairdressing school.

(I trained as a hairdresser, this is not asways a good idea!)

• Hand wash the dishes rather than using the dishwasher.

(Get the kids to do it, lol! My mum only bought a dishwasher after I moved out! tut tut... slavery!)

In reply to something Kiara said - NEVER EVER CUT UP YOUR CREDIT CARD. It's actually a crime and you can be fined plus the fact that you will still be charged for using something you don't have. Just ring the bank and cancel it.

i wish i could
 

hi jennifer,

your ideas are good but for some can t be done.
my work doesnot allow me to bring a kettle in because it is not safety tested. ( i tried before).
i now bring instant coffee to reduce on coffee spend and get the hot water from the canteen, but they are catually speaking of charging us 30c a cup for hot water !
the other solution would be cut coffee at all, but hey, i am afraid i don t have that kind of willpower !

regarding the free banking, make sure you checked they havent charged you if you are using their free banking, that happened to me before. i claimed and got the money back.

discounts :
i am very mean with money.
this means i try to get a discount every time i shop for larger unusal items ( ie when we got the kichen appliances in the old house for the kicthen, we got 5% discount and another 5% because one of the items was a demo unit).
i also managed somehow ( i still can t believe it) to get 20 % discount when i bought 200 enveloppes for the wedding ( they were sold individually), but hey if you don t ask you can t have it, and it works 95% of the time.
same for computers, printers, cameras, any of the like, buy more than 2 or 3 things or over a certain amount = ask for a discount...
.
take-aways and restaurants : never break the 1 euro tip barrier, if the change is 80 cent, he egts 80cent, but if the change is 1.20, then i only give 20 cent. mean yes, but very effective.

credit union : i am a big fan of credit unions, for various reasons, their openeing hours are way better than banks, and their rates for lending are way better too. only drawback is that savings dont earn that much % interest, but i still love it, save 20 euro a month or 500 and before you know it you ahve enough for the summer holidays or for that new tv/couch/kitchen/car...

holidays, shop around for flights, you may get the exact same flight at 2 different prices , this happened a good few times before, we just used different countries traveling comparison sites...
shop around for hotels and b&b, depending on the country, this can also save you a lot of money, ( i try to avoid pakcage holidays at all costs, and end up booking it all myself, but at least i have no bad surprises...)

presents for birthdays, anniversaries, for the crafty ones, make them yourselves, i always try to make preents for new births, weddings, and so on , as they are more personal, and also cost way less !

hope i don t sound too too mean...
all the best

cascais

hi cascais,

u have very good ideas! 30c for electricity is too high but it is still a lot lower than buying coffee.

just out of curiosity where have u got discounts from before? ive never even thought of doin this

Hi cascais, your ideas are quite good, apart from the tips one. As the wife of someone who relies on tips to help make ends meet, I really feel that 20c is more an insult than anything else. If you feel so strongly about not tipping much it would perhaps be better not to give anything, which is what I do if I feel the service wasn't up to scratch, but if someone gives exceptional service I like to reward that with at least 10% of total bill. Just my opinion on this matter, not everyone might agree. Regards, gillo

I'm such a meanie
 

Right a have a few tips or ways to save money, might not be great for some but work great for me :)

1: TESCO - as in their motto every little helps and it sure does - Tesco have a motto that if when you purchase something at the til and then realise on your receipt that you paid more than it said on the shelf or special offer sign(even 1c more) then they will refund you the full amount and give you the item/s free. eg if you go in tesco and see a bottle of wine,on the shelf it says 9.99 for this exact bottle so you buy it and then AFTER you have paid for it check your receipt and it says 10 euro for the wine,take it to customer services and you get a FULL refund AND the wine aswel :) happy days. tobe honest i use this alot.in the last 6 months i have got full refunds and the item free on the following items to name a few : A lexmark wireless printer (it was supposed to be 89.99),vacuum,beans,coffee,hot chocolate,soup,clothes,underwear,dvds,ps2 games,cds,perfume,toilet rolls,chicken fillets,ham,pork plus many many more

2:TESCO yet again (tesco's will ban me soon,lol)- clubcard points - if you dont already have a clubcard get one,also sign up for tesco wine club and babyclub and finest food club,yeah you might not drink or have a baby but some of the vouchers they send are great,i got the baby club vouchers through and there were general vouchers on them,spend 40 euro and save 5 euro or spend 20 euro and get 1000 clubcard points all these on the baby vouchers :)

3: TESCO When you get your tesco club card vouchers through dont spend them in tesco,they can be used for so much more.recently i went to the UK with my partner,2 kids and took the car aswel and all it cost me was 2 euro,yes 2 euro.how I did it - i had 4500 tesco point (most acheived with the free vouchers i got through in baby club statement and wine club and i dont drink),i saved it because there valid for 2 years,3 months later another 4000 points,equivalent to 85 euro to spend in tesco BUT i got 4 times that amount if i used them for stenna line so i had a total of 340 euro to spend at stenaline.it cost me 342 euro t take us all and car to UK - bargain :)

4: THE INTERNET Anything that i cant get free or cheap in tesco I buy on the internet. I can get flights all around the world for as little as 2 CENT return :) you can get a discount code for almost everything just search on any search engine for discount codes for whatever,say if you wat to buy flowers from interflora put in discount codes for interflora and hey presto.I recently sent a bunch of 40 red roses to my mother in law in england,i found discount codes and i sent - 40 red roses in a glass vase,teddy bear,chocolates and free delivery for wait for it - 6.99 euro.

i have many more trade secrets so keep checking, Im gonna try out some of the other money saving tips aswel,oh and i only have a regular bank account,no laser or visa card,no credit cards just a paypal account and thats all you need - costs nothing
:)

Hi betsy, this all sounds brilliant especially the internet shopping but I'd love to know how you pay for stuff on the internet without either a credit or laser card. I'm really curious to know, it would be brilliant to do this. Recently, on a trip to Scotland my husband and I tried to rent a car and simply could not do it without a credit card, (we got rid of ours a year ago), none of the companies would even accept laser cards. It was so frustrating, so I'm really interested to know how it's done. Thanks, gillo

Regarding not being able to bring a kettle in to work - why not invest in a thermos? You can make your coffee at home and drink it at work!

to be honest gillo it can be quite difficult,unless you really do your research.we rented a car without a credit card.i have a paypal account,but i was able to pay cash when i got there.im not sure what there policy was but i read all the t&c before i booked.I booked it online and didnt have to pay a deposit and paid cash when i got there and it was the cheapest rental i found aswel,all i need to bring was a recent utility bill and 2 forms of ID(eg passport and driving licence)
cant remember who it was now but i just searched the net,it was def a rental company that supplies just outside dublin airport but comes to collect you from airport and takes you there,only 5 minutes away.

oh yeah gillo get yourself a paypal account,most online stores accept paypal or search the net and find a store that sells what you want and accepts paypal,99.9% sure you will find one.paypal is free.all i do is set up a tansfer from my bog standard bank account to my paypal account, say i want to buy something on the net for 50 euro then i just transfer 50 euro online from my bank to my paypal account.it does take about 3 days to transfer but sometime if i have a few quid spare i just transfer it into my paypal account anyway just incase i find a last minute bargain,the money is there staright away then.

You're a star, betsy. Thanks for that info, I'm delighted to know that. We had to ask friends to rent the car on our behalf and pay them back, how annoying. I'll definitely look into the paypal account. Thanks a million, gillo

more tips to get more for your money or get it free
 

another thing i do is:

Search engines: i search for money off coupons.I get loads and loads of printable money off coupons online from loads of different sites.This could be anything from 50c of butter or 2 euro of cereal or 5 euro off razor blades (things that most people use everyday) and you just print them off and take them with you when you do your shopping,simple :)

i also get lots of freebies online - from toothpaste to sanatary towels,creams and clothes.again search engine for freebies and away you go,all you have to do for 99.9% of them is fill in your address and they send them out to you FREE,i dont have to sign up to any of the poxy scams like get them free if you rent 5 dvds etc(you get my drift,lol)

OH I LOVE THE INTERNET

hi betsy would u be able to post links to the sites u get the coupons off?

i will try and sort out a few but to be honest each one has different things and may not suit everybody,so just get on google aswel and type in things like printable coupons,money off coupon roi etc etc different ways that it could be worded,they will also bring you up blog results from different sites etc that are worth a read because people often put links on there.mark your favourite site in your nline favourites on your computer and just pop back every week and see whats new, most of these offers have valid to dates aswel so just check first.

but will go a hunting for you all now :)

Right guys here is one to have a brouse at www.couponmaster.ie

they have a few printable coupons and also some freebies.just have a brouse

here is another one http://www.mysavings.com/free-produc...ser-favorites/

mainly for freebies but hav printable coupons aswel

here's anothe that may be useful for the online shopper

http://deallocker.com/

Discounts
 

Dominic Littlewood had a great programme which included how to get a discount. NEVER say "is that your best deal" Always say " I like the item but I dont like the price" Then shut up and let them reply.If the item is €799 you say " I would really like it to start with a FOUR. ie €499........then shut up !
Keep at it and you'll be really surprised. But remember......SHUT UP after you say something , even if the delay is uncortfortable. Let him/her reply. Ive tried it and it works. I didnt feel at all embarrassed...after all it's my money. Good luck !

i wonder would that work in reverse.. say if you were trying to sell something?

Crikey Kilkie, I was nearly going to think of that !

i hope i never try to sell you anything Ocker or we'll never agree!!! we'd have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable silence!

this website is brill, i ordered loads of free samples!! :)

thanks for the link

Thanks
 

I ordered loads too! Thanks

I just thought of something else that i do!

The Body Shop provides samples of products, that is if u ask very nicely! i get samples on a regular basis but i also buy at least one item so i dont feel guilty lol

dicounts , tips, and samples
 

betsy the website are great, great work,
i also done the tesco money back thing, i was charged 4 times the price for a bear in a big blue house dvd so i got the money back and the dvd for free...

in reply to gillo,
i don t really tip 20c, if the bill is 29.80, i ll leave 30, that is what i mean by it. (i think that equals to no tip)
i have to say i don t really believe in tips, whay should the customer have to pay 10% more, if they want 10% they can charge me 10% more on the initial price.
people shouldn t relly in them, example for a delivery guy. this person is still getting paid ( yes the salary is porbably rubbish) but they are getting paid, why should i give them more money ? if they want more morney , they should ask for a raise!
if the service is good, i will still tip 1 euro or under, i agree this is very mean, but this is a voluntary contribution, like it or not like it.
someone always said " mind the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves..."

jennifer,
i got discounts from did electrical for sure (lucan), woodies ( lucan) the craft shop in the blanch shopping center ( can t remember the name), curry's, (arramount furniture (300 euro discount on a 799 furniture) but this one bit back, the delivery crew was rubbish and broke a good few things in the house when delivering) and some others can t remember the name. they do not like doing it and make you believe this is "exceptional", but believe me... it works wonders and happens regularly...

i often get samples too.
when this was running i got the free kitten food pack out of whiskas, for my cats too ( not kitten anymore, but heuy , it still has food in it)...


in reply to the person ( can t rember who) who sh=uggested to bring a thermos, i have tried it before, unfortunatley, even if you get up early to make your coffee in the morning ( which is extremely hard in my case) the coffee is cold by lunchtime...

hope i am not offending anyone with the tips suggestions, these are after all only my personal experience...

cascais

tips
 

Hi cascais, I take it you must be on a good salary as you don't believe in tips, and you say you would rather pay 10% on the original bill than tip your server. Well restaurants/bars who do charge service charges, never usuall give it to the person who really earned it, it just goes to line the pockets of the owner/franchise holder. You also say people shouldn't rely on tips, well if you ever visit the USA or if you have already, you will encounter a very hostile attitude to this way of thinking, and not a very good reception on repeat visits to establishments where you didn't leave a decent tip. You are entitled to your opinion, and fair play to you for admitting to being mean, unlike a lot of people with this opinion who try to justify it. For example, like the lady who recently stood at her door waiting for her 1 euro 10 cent change out of 60 euro for her takeaway, while my husband rooted around for coins in the soaking wet and wind, and making sure her food arrived hot and dry, saying she needed the change for her coffee machine next morning. She would have been better off saying nothing. Regards, gillo

just a little reply to the previous post from gillo

yes i admit to being mean and quite proud of it actually.

as you seem to have taken offense by what i said in my posts, i will not make any further comments after this ( and also not to takeover the post) .

the various takeways i order from cleary state in the front page what their delivery charge is, nowhere is it written that i am expected to tip the delivery man.

you have no idea what i do for a living or what my husband does, or what we earn. i find it quite offensive to assume i am on a good salary.
to clear things right out , i can tell you i am on 2 jobs at the moment, one of them involving door to door activities.
still i do not expect to get tips, i will take them if they are given, but i do not expect them and always come prepared with my change ready and always say to the people that offer them that they do not have to tip me.

you also have no idea whether the woman that ordered the takeaway for 60 euro was alone or was with 5 or 6 other friends and each scrapped the bottom of their bags to make the total because it is the only takeaway they ever had as they cannot afford them. she may have said she needed the change for her coffee in the morning but may have thought it was polite to share the change with her guests...


this is all a matter on how you percieve things i guess.
some may say that it s a culture thing, and may be right i suppose.
my behaviour actually tends to compensate my husbands how tends to overtip ...( so the delivery guy can get lucky or unlucky depending on who shows at the door)

i do not intend on visiting the USA anytime soon so i think i should be safe enough on that front.
(although i agree that i have read that it was good practice to tip quite a bit over there)
if io was to go over and be received with mixed reactions because of this , i would just reply that there are plenty more restaurants, and if one does not want my business, well maybe the next one will. (i always make sure i am happy when i am the customer paying the bill)

i hope i am not overshadowing the great thread started by jennifer and those dcomments will not offend anyone else, (apologies in advance if they do)

this will be my last contribution to this post
kind regards

cascais

I have always asked bar owners, restaraunts owners etc in the USA why they don't pay their staff properly. They look in disbelief when I say that I am subsidising the pay rate of $2 per hour by also paying for the meal drink etc. A taxi driver told me a fare would be $20 plus tip then asked me how to get to a major street in Boston. What a joke ! I only tip when I get exceptional service.

Hi, Ocker, I totally agree that tips should only be given for a top service, which was my point in the first place, Everyone knows that it is not compulsory to tip, just a kind gesture to show appreciation,much the same as this site stands for. Personally, I always like to give a little gift (nothing elaborate, just a packet of biscuits or cakes eg) when I collect an item, after all the person is giving it to you instead of selling it. But it's only right that tips are not given for lousy service and I wouldn't care where in the world it was. Long live goodwill gestures that's what I say,sure where would jumbletown be without it! X

For budgeting and money saving advice, check out the Money Advice and Budgeting Service MABS website, www.mabs.ie . You can use their budget spreadsheet to calculate outgoings. If you find yourself in financial difficulty, you can make an appointment with a trained money advisor. The service is free and confidential. They can help you to negotiate with your creditors to come to an acceptable and affordable repayment plan.

For those on very low incomes or totally dependant on social welfare, the Community Welfare Officer can offer help, in the form of an Exceptional Needs Payment for many different things. They can also help with grants for First Holy Communion and Confirmation expenses.

Family Income Supplement is a payment made to families on low incomes, where at least one spouse is in employment of 19 hours or more.
FIS income limits in 2009:
From January 2009, if you have: And your family income is less than:
One child €500
Two children €590
Three children €685
Four children €800
Five children €920
Six children €1,030
Seven children €1,160
Eight children €1,250

So if you have one child and your income from is say, €400
you would qualify for €60 FIS.

It's important to be aware, that no matter how little you may qualify for, you will still get a minimum of €20 each week.
Check out www.welfare.ie

If you are a single parent, you can claim an additional tax credit. If your child lives with your ex and spends only part of the week/weekend with you, you are still entitled to claim the allowance.

I make sure to keep my expenditure to a minimum, on €212.00 a week I don't have a choice.

I bring a flask of coffee or hot water and some fruit with me when going out so I am not inclined to buy snacks.

If I do get the urge to buy snacks I read the ingredient list and that is one sure way of putting me off.

I encourage people to visit & have food here rather than going to restaurants to eat. This way they are sure of good service, no tips expected unless it's tips on fun things to do or doing something in the house.

I hand wash dishes because I gave the dishwasher away to save on electricity.

I use energy saving light bulbs all over the house & turn off lights when room not in use.

I never use immersion to heat water, the oil central heating heats that.

I installed a wood burner which heats all rooms if I leave the doors open into the rooms so central heating is only needed to get temperatures up and then it's turned off.

I get my wood from local woods and forests, from ditches where limbs of trees have fallen. Also buy from local person who provides chopped logs by the trailer load for €50. Thus cutting out the need to buy bags of cut sticks in stores.

Bought locally mined Anthracite for little or nothing which does the job.

Air dry clothes as I don't own a clothes dryer - reduces electricity costs.

Use bottle gas cooker which costs €30 x 3 a year.

Make big pots of delicious vegetable soup which are nutritious and healthy. Freeze some, eat some. No MSG or other flavour enhancers.

When cooking spuds, I boil a big pot, mash and save, some for freezer some for fridge & some for dinner.

I mainly buy my clothes in Charity stores, except for more personal items.

Do all large grocery shopping in Lidl.

To feed the desire to shop, I window shop online :) It saves the feet and conserves energy - no need to go buy coffee, drive or wait for public transport.

Get local people to do work on your house that you cannot do yourself. Word of mouth is the best adverti*****t.

A friend of mine has had to cut back to the bare minimum as she is saving really hard for a deposit on her first home.

She says "We thought making sacrifices would be hard, but quite unexpectedly, we came to see these things as obstacles to living a fuller life. Lack of money brought/bought us a valuable commodity...time"

Nicely put.

Some of the things she did to save money was..

Use the local library to borrow books and movies.
Make lunch and use a flask
Swap clothes with friends to change her wardrobe
Sold as much as possible of her possessions at flea markets (She lives abroad)
Make presents (nicked some of my ideas for this) for Christmas and birthdays
Grew vegetables...organically
Bartered her skills for other peoples skills
Entered as many competitions as possible (and won some)
Babysat for friends and took in dogs for friends going on holiday (all for the going rate of babysitters and kennels)

Hey Betsy,
Can you give us a link or an example of these sites you can get free creams and things?

Nicely put indeed and I totally agree


Yes I do barter, like for instance last year I spent time searching for a shed for a friend who is a tiler, I managed to get a shed for him and he did some tiling for me.

I also sorted out his laptop which is to be paid for by more tiling.

I have actually bartered with people around the world, some of my own formulations of natural creams for something they can send me - exchange of energy :)

The idea of babysitting and pet sitting is a good one :)

rowing our own organic veg and fruit is in the pipeline this year.

Also I'm not sure where I read the idea of creating vouchers as gifts. My 18 year old niece had no money to buy gifts for her parents and siblings this Christmas so I suggested she create a book of vouchers for each of them.

She had the following in the voucher books she created:

For her mom:

Foot massage x 3 vouchers
Shoulder massage x 3 vouchers
Make over x 3 vouchers
House cleaning x 3 vouchers
Brother sitting x 3 vouchers
Car cleaning x 3 vouchers
Yard Cleaning x 3 vouchers

For her dad she had vouchers for Poo patrols, dish washing, cooking, car cleaning and so on.

For her brothers she has vouchers for cleaning their rooms, play time, football playing, story reading, and so on.

For her sister she had Girls afternoon, make overs, room cleaning and other similar promises.

The idea is they give her a voucher when they want to claim the offer.

When they visited me they were full of chat about the gifts she had given them and all agreed they were the best they had received :)

This idea can be used for birthdays also.

im on the hunt for the freebie websites aswel for you.

another one i thought of that i use alot aswel instead of having a credit or laser card

I have a 3V Card - a bit about it if you dont already know

its a prepaid credit card
you can order them online free from www.3v.ie
basically if i wanted to book flights or tickets or pay for anything online etc i just top up my 3V card.
so if my flights are gonna cost me 50 euro total i just go into the shop(i know Byrnes toystore top up but not sure who else) ask them to put 50 euro on the card,there is a 2.50 euro charge to top it up.they give me a receipt with my visa number on it and then they email the expiry date to me straight away.i pay for the tickets in the same way i would if i had a credit card.simple.

saves me buying stuff on a credit card that i know i cant afford to pay back- only buy what i have cash to pay for.
there are charges to top up the card,i think its something like this:
2.50 euro if you top up upto 100 euro i think
5.00 euro anything over this - dont quote me on this but its something like this.

hope this helps some people kerb their spending habits :)