Money Saving Tips

[gillo]

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

[cascais]

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

[Ocker]

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.

[gillo]

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

[erica]

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.

[HappyHunter]

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.

[unapam]

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)

[MandyD]

Originally Posted by betsy10112000

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

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

[HappyHunter]

Originally Posted by unapam

Lack of money brought/bought us a valuable commodity...time"

Nicely put.

Nicely put indeed and I totally agree

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)

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.

[betsy10112000]

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 :)

[betsy10112000]

for all those looking for freebies here is another website i found
http://www.100megsfree3.com/arlana/FreeStuff.htm

now alot of them are for US and canada but there are quite a few thats for ROI and UK. sign up for alot of the UK ones aswel just put in your address and postcodes as EIRE or ROI,it works i still get all the free stuff sent here aswel.perfect.

still on the hunt for other sites for you

[betsy10112000]

here is a link for a free pack of seeds
vegetable seeds or flower seeds - for all of you JTers out there that want to try and grow your own food :)

https://www.hiddeneden.com/free-seeds.aspx?

oh my god i have found loads and loads and loads of freebie stuff sites,am i allowed to put all of them on here or what? or is that just going off the initial subject all together.

let me know what people think - i could start a new thread for all te freebie sites and all the freebies we can all register for?

let me know

[jenniferalan]

hi betsy ur doin a great job findin all these sites and passing the word on! Feel free to post here, I can't wait to see what kind of ones u find, I can only seem to find sites that trick u into providing info for free stuff!

Ps just wondering do u get many junk in the mail after the freebies come or any phone calls

[MandyD]

lol I can never find any good freebie sites either...just the ones who want something in return, as you said, Jennifer.

[Chris P]

Originally Posted by betsy10112000

oh my god i have found loads and loads and loads of freebie stuff sites,am i allowed to put all of them on here or what? or is that just going off the initial subject all together.

let me know what people think - i could start a new thread for all te freebie sites and all the freebies we can all register for?

let me know

Hi betsy10112000,

There's no need to post any more links to freebie/coupon sites or indeed to start a thread dedicated to them.

Members can simply do a Google search for them and decide for themselves what is of interest.

A word of warning: there are a lot of freebie/coupon sites on the net. Many are excellent but some are not; in other words, you could be spammed or worse. Some sites expect you to register but before you do, you should check out the page content, level of updating, and link titles (don't click on them unless you're pretty certain that they're safe).

Regards
Chris P
Admin