Mad Chick's Frugal Foray

[MissEllie]

Make sure she irons them too Lucy!

[Mad Chick]

Unfortunately, my days of freebie washing were short lived - Nick fixed the washing machine but on the plus side, it was free to fix so cheaper than the new one I was looking at

I have had a friend staying for a few days so frugality has been compromised. But my plans for lunches and dinners out were downgraded to staying in with some lovely home cooked fare so although not particularly frugal, were frugaler than it could have been

My trusty old winter boots gave up the ghost a few weeks ago. They have served me well for the last 7/8 years as I am very heavy on shoes and boots. I have been keeping an eye out for some more but had resigned myself to waiting until next autumn and paying full price as I couldn't find them on offer anywhere. I even looked on eboy at second hand ones but they were still selling for more than I was prepared to pay for second hand. But yesterday I just happened to pop onto the amazonian website and they had them at 40% off AND they had them in stock, in my size, in PURPLE

So although an outlay, they were something I needed (and in purple!) for a really good price. A little bit of waiting sometimes reaps rewards

[Mrs B]

I think we need to see a pic of the boots Lucy, they sound divine though.

[MissEllie]

The boots sound like they were meant for you Lucy , great bargain
Glad the machine's fixed, living without a washing machine isn't fun

[Mad Chick]

Well, Frugal February isn't exactly turning out to be very frugal here

The washing machine gave up again yesterday - there was even smoke. I think, it is safe to say that she has washed her last load. There is only so much freeloading one can do with friends washing machines so a new one has had to be ordered. I gave Nick my criteria - a washer/dryer (don't often use the dryer function but it's good to have for emergencies), a large load capacity (which will hopefully stop me from overloading it and killing it too quickly), a quick was (a proper quick wash, not the 64 minutes our current one thinks is quick) and a delay/timer function. He quickly narrowed the choice down to one and then set about finding it for less. The cheapest we could find it online was £594 delivered. Then we found one on fleabay, brand new from a shop with full warranty and delivery but had a couple of minor scratches on one of the side panels, bidding finishing in 27 minutes... we got it for £346

So even though we have spent money we didn't think we'd have to, it could have been worse

I have also gone through my jewellery box and found quite a few gold earrings and a gold bangle that I will never wear again. I have done the rounds of the "We pay cash for gold" places, haggled a bit and got the princely sum of £190 - not bad for stuff that hasn't seen the light of day for over 20 years

[Sara]

Thats actually great lucy, You looked around and got the right price, and made money back.... That in my mind is what frugal is all about


Yippeeee for the fancy new washing machine too...

[Linda Pattison]

Your washer will save you money in the long run, the new ones are almost all at the Energy Star level and draw little power. They also have better cycles for cold water wahes now that the detergents are made for that. I estimate we save about $10/7 pounds weekly using cold water so over a year that's a lot of money. My whites are as clean as they were in hot water.

[Mo]

l that jewellery went more than half way to paying for the washer.
The stuff I had when first married lasted longer than the replacements, they don't make them to the same standards. False economy for us, but more profit for the firms. Grrr.