Giving Credit where its due

Now we all love a good shopping experience, whether that be instore or online but one of the things that has been getting to me lately, is the amount of time it can take for some parcels to reach you if you opt for free standard delivery. So you can imagine my amazement when an order I placed on Saturday, just arrived and delivery was free! It was from JD Sports. I had £50 to spend on Hubby from my Mum and he had chosen some Running Trainers in the sale for £49.99 and I asked him if there was anything he wanted from me, for his birthday and although he is not a lover of relaxed sport wear, I reminded him that they do stock Fred Perry a brand he likes and he chose a jacket aswell.
On the checkout page, there was an option to enter your mobile phone number to recieve delivery text updates! What a great idea, why can't all retailers do this? I got a text to say order had been despatched and then one this morning to say parcel was being delivered between 12 and 3pm and it is here! Right on time! I must add that I entered the JD sports site via my favoured cashback site so have also earnt 6% money back on the order!

Spend £50 at Space NK and get £10 off!

Use code SPECIAL1 at checkout, offer ends midnight tomorrow night, Monday 14th December. Also receive complimentary gift wrap! www.spacenk.co.uk

An Unexpected Shopping Expedition

I was planning to spend today, doing housework, catching up with the ironing etc when my Mother In Law requested the pleasure of my company to go to a shopping centre. I really didn't want to go but thought I could at least do my Sainsburys Shop instore rather than online this week and use my nectar points off the bill as I had forgotten to redeem them in Argos last week - Pah!

So I took £30 worth of points off of my food shop and as I walked past WH Smiths, I saw they were doing buy one get one free on Annuals and as my little Man loves Wrestling and Football, I picked up two annuals on these sports for a total of £3.99 so was well chuffed as it is just a little something extra to wrap up but I do feel that this is where you have to keep yourself in check, as you have to stop somewhere!

For anyone still looking for a party dress or xmas day outfit French Connection sale started today www.frenchconnection.com I do so love FC clothes!
www.monsoon.co.uk has 40% off their Fusion range too.
www.select.co.uk also has up to 50% off partywear - its time to sparkle!

A Super Salmon Xmas Supper

As you know I am always on the look out for cheap, tasty and nutritious meals which are easy to prepare, as I hate cooking, so I was really impressed with this recipe on yesterdays "This Morning" with Phil Vickery. It is a great way to use up stale bread as he said stale is better and I have some Sainsburys Basics Salmon fillets in the freezer which I am trying to empty to make way for Christmas Fayre! As you know I mostly shop at Sainsburys so would use their Basic range cream cheese at 45p for 200g, the Basics Salmon fillets cost me £2.24 and a pot of fresh coriander is £1.19 again at Sainsburys.

Phil’s crunchy salmon bake
Published: Mon, 07 Dec, 2009,

Phil Vickery: Quick and tasty crunchy salmon bake with green beans and coriander.

Servings: 4-6 people
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
500g salmon fillet, cut into 2cm pieces
200g cream cheese
2 tbsp milk
1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped roughly
100g fine beans, cut into 2cm lengths and blanched
salt
pepper
4 slices bread, crusts removed, cubed, very small
50-75mls olive oil
100g roughly grated parmesan cheese

Method
1. Heat the oven to 200°C gas 6.
2. Place the cubed fish into a large bowl.
3. Add the cream cheese, chopped coriander, and season really well with salt & pepper.
4. Spoon into a 20cm x 6cm deep baking dish.
5. Toss the bread cubes with the olive oil and a little pepper and the roughly grated cheese.
6. Bake in the pre heated oven for 35-40 minutes.
7. Serve with green salad

Copyright Phil Vickery
November 2009

You can also see a video of how to make it, here http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/thismorning/food/crunchysalmonbake/
What a great supper for Christmas Eve or Boxing Day!

More Xmas Present Shopping

After a couple of eventful shopping trips this week, I was feeling relived that most of the presents are now bought and the few bits that are left can be bought locally or online, where I can earn some cash back!

I needed a few bits for the older folk in the family and was lucky enough to be given a 40% money off voucher for Peacocks from a friend who works in there and as I needed a few bits of shopping aswell as I have avoided a normal weekly shop this week (see last post) I popped into town earlier.

I went into Iceland as I needed more milk and potatoes and had noticed that a large bag of spuds was only £2. I also picked up some frozen sausagemeat at £1 per pack which I use to mix with stuffing and make into balls to accompany the Christmas Dinner and the other thing I needed was butter. Holy Moly, I couldn't believe that 2 packs of Willow Butter costs only £1! so perhaps I do now know why Mums go to Iceland!

My peacocks haul consisted of a Fleece jacket and some underwear for my Mum, a jumper for my father in law and although I had already bought a present for my mother in law, my husband said I should get her something personal aswell as her gift is for the home. I had noticed that she is still using a PVC handbag that belonged to her friend who died 2 years ago, so a new bag was an obvious choice. Imagine my surprise when after discount all these items only came to £19.80! So a big thanks to my friend P for the voucher!

Things are getting a bit tight...

and I am not talking about my clothes, although they are too, but more about finances at the moment. I am sure I am not the only one feeling a little bit panicked by the fact today is December 1st and Christmas Day is only 3 weeks away this Friday! I feel as though I still have so much to do and so little money to do it with even though I save with a Christmas Club and have shopping vouchers from Park!
I have found it so difficult to cope with my husband getting paid weekly since he started his contract in July, we just feel as though we are constantly playing catch-up and never getting in front of ourselves. We have one week (1st of the month) when all our direct debits come out, so by the time we have done the food shop that weeks wages have gone. Then we have one week where my husband has to buy his monthly fair, so again another week where we have kissed away £220 before we have eaten! It honestly makes me wonder if it is worth working, I know that sounds awful but when you still feel that you have to watch every penny, it makes you wonder, as I honestly don't feel we are any better off than in the 16 months he was out of work!
I have two daughters learning to drive and saw a lovely little Ford KA yesterday when visiting a friend and it was only £800 and I thought, that is when you know there is a problem when you can't afford to buy it for them, after all £800 is nothing really these days is it? I am sure it will all work out in the end but I have made a consious decision not to do a Sainsburys online shop this week in an effort to save some money and instead will try and live out of the freezer which is quite full but mainly with cheap bread brought up the co-op! I will obviously need some shopping but mainly fresh stuff and sarni fillings along with cereal and some sweet bits for the kids. In an effort to do this I popped into Aldi today for the cereal and fruit and veg. Harvest Mom Coco Pops at only 99p a pack, a very large pack of Brussel Sprouts for 53p, Brocolli for 49p, Grapes for £1.49 a punnet, Bananas at 73p and Pears for 59p a bag and there were 7 fruits in it! Bakewell Tarts at 68p for 6 and a large Rich Tea Biscuit pack for 39p. As I have been buying food for Xmas each week I picked up a really large pack of Shortbread for only £1.79, so was very pleased with my purchases.
Tomorrow it is my intention to pop in to Icelands and pick up Milk and Bread as I don't know anywhere that is cheaper on these two items, a 4 pint carton is only £1 and Kingsmill Bread is always 2 loaves for £1.50. I shall also be popping in to Savers for loo roll as you always get 6 rolls of Kleenex for the same price as 4 in the Supermarkets.
Are you feeling the pinch right now?

Spend your nectar points at Argos?

For anybody that has a nectar card and doesn't know how or where they want to spend their points, how about using them up, buying some Christmas Presents at Argos? Yes you heard me correctly, you can spend your points in 500 point lots, just tell the cashier how many you would like to use, each 500 points is equal to £2.50 off your purchase. I must admit I am thrilled with this as have a Laptop to buy when I go shopping on Thursday!

Some great savings for Xmas - a round up of the discounts available

So many special offers going on at the moment, I thought it best to do a round-up of the best deals available.

1. You will know from the past I am a great lover of Orgins Skincare and they often have fantastic freebies with purchases. At the moment the deal is 3 freebies with 2 purchases plus free standard delivery and gift wrap. www.orgins.co.uk



2. www.nectar.com have loads of offers for card holders, double or triple points from retailers such as Argos, Amazon and Play.com to name but a few, don't forget you must enter the retailer via the nectar site. Argos are also offering a free £5 voucher if you spend over £50 and free delivery.

3. Looking for a fab outfit for Xmas day or that office party? Whistles has 25% off for Chiconomise readers enter code WCFF09 at checkout. www.whistles.co.uk

Asos has an offer for free Standard delivery at the moment www.asos.com



There are some great deals in their clearance section, I just bought these fab gold shoes for a skint student who loves to party for £10! There are also some great jewellery pieces for stocking fillers. My friend S is looking for a belt for a friend and I saw this great Fiorelli Disco Hip Belt was £25.00 NOW £9.50! click here to buy it!



You can also get £10 off a £75 spend using this code STEALLATER (courtesey of Chiconomise).

4. Looking for something special? Then Goldsmiths the Jeweller now has an outlet section GoldsmithsOutlet.co.uk where you can get top brands with 50% off such as Tag, Gucci, Armani, DKNY etc and they are also offering free delivery this week, thats a saving of £5.25! I am totally loving the Tag Watches, The Diamonds (of course) and these great Gucci cufflinks Was £ 205.00 Now £ 102.00! A great site to treat that special person in your life!


5. Looking for Sportswear or Trainers? JD sports is offering free delivery on orders over £50. Enter JD Sports via the www.topcashback.co.uk site to recieve 6% cash back on purchases! Thats £3 on a £50 pair of trainers for doing nothing!

6. I have a request for a bottle of Alien perfume by Thierry Mugler. If I buy online via topcashback, I can get 3% cashback with Boots plus 144 points on my advantage card but if I buy from Salonskincare I get 8% cash back for an item costing the same amount of money. It makes sense to buy the gift set at £36 so that you have a body lotion and shower gel aswell, it makes the gift look better and is a great way to "layer" your fragrance. Also if you spend over £50 on Thierry Mugler products with Salonskincare you get a free Angel Fragrance Gift set!



Watch that cash back mount up ready for next Christmas, Topcashback is also adding a Christmas Bonus of an extra percentage, so sign up to a cash back site now!

Great offers on make-up from Eyes, Lips, Face - the perfect stocking filler!

If you are looking for some fantastic quality cheap make-up for stocking filler pressies, then I recommend you check out Eyes, Lips, Face or ELF for short! I recently read a review by Yummy Mummy who is as pleased with this make-up as she is with her usual buys from Mac and other High End brands, but not only that, with orders over £25 you get a free make-up Palette worth £15 and free delivery on orders over £30!

Recessionista Tips for a well planned & Frugal Xmas

1. Set a realistic budget for each person you are buying a present for and stick to it.

2. Wrap Presents as you buy them. Far easier to wrap one or two, than to spend a whole evening wrapping presents just before Christmas. Make a list of what has been bought and for whom, so that you don't forget what you have bought.

3. Buy a few things each week i.e. biscuits, sweets, wine and nibbles. Buy fresh meat, Chipolatas, sausagemeat and party food a little at a time and freeze until needed. Pork was on offer in Tesco last week and chickens are half price in co-op for those who prefer not to have Turkey. If you go out and buy everything you need in one go, you will spend hundreds that you may not have and you will have to reach for the credit card at the checkout! The only things you should be buying at the last minute are cream (but you can get Long Life now), cheeses, salad stuff, dips, fruit and veg.

4. Check out mysupermarket.com to compare prices on Christmas Goodies.

5. Boots and Superdrug both have 3 for 2 offers on a range of gifts, great if you are buying smelly gift sets for either sex, make-up sets for teenage girls etc. If you are buying 3 gifts at £10 each, instead of costing £30, it will cost you £20! Woolworths is also back, but online only and has 3 for 2 on Toys, Jewellery and Gifts, 30% off of Bikes and half price kidswear.

6. If you need to raise some money to fund Xmas, set aside a day where you can have a sort out, photograph items and get them on ebay. You need to do this as soon as possible to allow for payment and the withdrawal of funds in time for Christmas.

7. Do you have Nectar points or American Express points you can use for buying gifts? Check out FruGals surprise purchases with her Amex points here.

What will you be doing to save money and do you have any tips for getting organised at Christmas? please share with us!

Online Christmas Shopping Part Two

I have just started asking Family and Friends what they would like for Christmas as I really need to get started if I am going to have everything bought and wrapped by 1st December! Amongst the "I haven't really thought about it" and "I haven't got a clue" (honestly if they haven't got a clue, how the hell am I supposed to know?) I was happily greeted by a rather enthusiastic teenager who said "a pink leopard print hairdryer I have seen in the boots catalogue, some shoes for clubbing and a new mascara". Thrilled to get an answer, I wasted no time in ordering this young lady some of her goodies, online today! I wouldn't have wanted to go out shopping in this disgusting rain anyway, so an online shopping experience using all the tools I mentioned in a previous post, was the order of the day!


1. Boots currently have 1/2 price on selected electrical goods from the likes of Mark Hill, Lee Stafford, Remington etc so knowing this I didn't need to use a Shopbot to compare prices of the Hairdryer, it is reduced from £54.99.
2. Boots gives 3.5% cashback on all of the cashback sites I checked, so I logged into topcashback and proceeded to the Boots site via the cashback site.
3. I ordered the hairdryer and a dior mascara and both items totalled £47.49.
4. Before proceeding to checkout I added my Boots advantage card number and this transaction earned me 188 points.
5. I selected free standard delivery, as at this time of year there is no rush to receive this parcel and delivery is scheduled for next Thursday.

To sum up:
1. I have saved the hassle of going shopping and the expense of bus, train fare or petrol. My local Boots is very small and stock is limited, I know they wouldn't have had this item and I would have had to travel some distance to buy it.
2. I have earnt 188 advantage card points by buying these items at Boots which is the equivalent of £1.80 to spend instore.
3. I have earnt 3.5% cashback which equates to £1.67 to leave on the cashback site until I wish to withdraw it.

Recessionista Tips:
1. If you can't get free delivery on the items you wish to purchase online, you will need to weigh up if it is still worth buying online for the amount of cashback that particular retailer may offer.
2. Always check back to your cashback site approx 1 week later to ensure your cashback has been added to your account.

Check out the first Xmas pressies I bought here.

The Art of Online Shopping

With so many people doing their Christmas shopping online this year, I was reminded whilst watching GMTV this morning, about a few things that I have mentioned on this blog in the past, but which are so easy to forget.

1. Firstly, compare prices on the items you wish to buy. You can do this by using a comparison site or Shopbot as they are called. Here is a link to a page on moneysavingexpert which lists various shopbots, but do remember to check more than one as they do not cover all retailers.

2. Secondly, once you have found the site which offers the item you wish to buy, use a cashbackwebsite. Cash Back websites are listed on this blog, scroll down the right hand panel. The most popular ones are Quidco and Cashbackking but again, check all of them and see which one offers a cashback deal for the retailer you are wishing to purchase your item from. Cashback can range from 1% to 10% and last year a friend of mine had earnt £98 in cashback for online purchases over the period of a year, which she withdraw for Christmas Shopping expenditure, so taking a little bit of time can really be worthwhile, you don't make or save money by not being bothered, it all takes time and effort. Always remember to check all the cashback sites as often a certain retailer many offer different percentages as cashback on different sites, whereas other retailers will offer the same percentage across all sites. Also remember you must enter the retailers site via the cashback site to get your cashback.
3. Voucher codes are a great way to save money even if you only get free delivery as this can save £3 - £5 alone, so check those sites out aswell, again there are voucher codes sites listed on this blog.
Happy Shopping

Trade in old Monsoon clothes for New!

I totally love the fact that you can take your old Marks and Spencer clothes in to any branch of Oxfam and recieve a £5 M&S voucher, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to find out that Monsoon are now offering £5 off any purchases over £30 when you take in any old Monsoon garments! Great for us Mums who buy their clothes in there but also the kids stuff too! get all the details here.

Don't forget that both of these offers will come in handy for Christmas. You can give your M&S voucher as a present or use it towards a purchase and your £5 off in Monsoon can go towards a wicked party dress or a Christmas Day outfit for the kiddies!

My first Christmas Present Haul from River Island

Firstly let me say that I am quite sad that I can't actually copy pictures from the River Island site to show you what I have bought, but will tell you about them anyway. It all started when my daughter reminded me that it is her boyfriends birthday next week and that she was hoping I would buy him something as his parents had bought her a birthday gift last month. She suggested that I have a look on the River Island website as they had a sale on and that he always likes to have new clothes. I was amazed at the bargains I found and we picked out a lovely cardigan for him reduced to only £12! I must admit I do love that cardigan look over a shirt, polo or crew neck T-shirt on boys/men. Then I thought, well hang on a minute, I will have to buy him a Christmas present aswell and then I have another daughters partner to buy for, a 22 year old nephew and a 20 year old niece so why not do the whole lot for the £3.95 standard delivery! I got mens t-shirts for £5, a lovely stripe v neck jumper for £10 and a cute top with a sequin panel for my niece for £10. All in all 6 items for a total of £62.95! So if you have any teenagers or young adults to buy for this festive season, do hop on to the site and have a peek at the sale section, far better to grab a bargain now than to leave it till the last minute when there are no sales on and you might pay £30-£40 for a mens cardigan! www.riverisland.co.uk

Free £10 spend at Molton Brown with Red Magazine

Molton Brown £10 free spend with £4 Red magazine.

Grab a copy of November’s Red magazine (£3.50 with Louise and Jamie Redknapp on the cover) and on page 205 you'll find a cut out voucher entitling you to £10 off a single transaction at luxury soap sellers Molton Brown.

If you buy a full price item in there for £10, you'll get it for free as the voucher requires no minimum spend.

This is valid in store only until Tues 3 Nov in U.K and Ireland. It's not valid in department stores, outlets or spas. Find your nearest Molten Brown here.

Molton Brown also do a make-up range aswell as body products and a mens range so you could use your voucher towards a Christmas Gift.

Tis the Season to be Jolly

I have been thinking about doing this post for the last few weeks and now I really must take the "Bull by the Horns" and talk about Christmas. The key to a successful Christmas is careful planning and spending and the more Frugal your Christmas needs to be, the more you will have to stick to these rules.

Xmas Cards & Wrapping Paper

I always buy these in the sale straight after Xmas. Boots is the best place for me, but last year I got my Christmas crackers from the local co-op, so I already have what I need, but if you don't, write down everybody you send cards to, family friends, colleagues etc
Do you send special cards to Mums and Dads and for overseas family?
Buy Cards, wrapping paper and tags from a supermarket or anywhere you have a loyalty card for i.e. Boots so that you get something back for your spend.
Buy 2nd class stamps, posting cards early means you won't need to pay out for 1st class postage making a saving of 9p per card sent.
Aim to write them out now and post on 1st December. Check postage dates for overseas and send within plenty of time.

Presents

Make a list of people you usually buy for and next to each name enter an amount you think is reasonable to spend on the person concerned i.e Mum £20, Friend £10 and stick to the budget! Once you have your total you will need to divide this over the amount of paydays you have left before Xmas i.e. a total present list of £150 would mean you having to find £50 each month for presents if you have no savings or Christmas Club money to take care of this. Certain items will become harder to get hold of, the closer you get to Christmas, remember the Wii Fit last year? well you couldn't get one for love nor money past mid November, so prioritise your list. You won't have any problems getting Grandad a jumper from M&S on Xmas Eve but may have trouble getting Little Johnny the lastest Game from Toys r us.

Once you have your list and know roughly the amount you wish to spend, don't be afraid to ask the person concerned if there is something specific they would like, within your budget. We are all grateful to recieve something we really want rather than the usual "old Tat", so to cheer yourself up, make a list of what you would like as well! My list usually consists of things like Ren Otto Rose Body Wash at £16, a reasonable price for a pressie but in my eyes a luxury, as I wouldn't spend that amount on a shower gel for myself! I always write next to the item, the place it can be bought, either a shop, online or both and then leave to my husband to sort out who is buying what.

Clothes

Need a party dress - how much would you like to spend? If on a tight budget check out asos.com click on women and then click on clearance and check out dresses or click on their outlet tab and click on dresses. I picked up a bargain party dress last week from the womens clearance section for £9! Buying now is one less pressure closer to the time. You may want something more casual for Xmas Day, jeans and a new blouse, a knitted dress? think about what you will be doing on the day, are you cooking? going out to eat? pick your outfit accordingly but if you are cooking, do invest in a cheap apron to save any fat splashes on your new clothes!

Food & Drink

Make another list!
First make a note of Dry goods i.e. tins of sweets, Xmas puddings,things that can be bought in advance then a separate list of fresh foods such as cheese, cream, dips etc.
Many supermarkets already have offers on tin sweets such as Roses or Quality Street, if they are on "buy one get free" or half price, then buy them now, I can guarantee that the special offers on these kinds of Xmas goodies will not be available come December, the same goes for Wines & Spirits. If you don't have provision for your food shopping then the best way to deal with this is to buy a few things each week on top of your usual weekly shop. Although it will make your shopping more expensive each week, it will be far easier than buying nothing and trying to scrape up £100 the week before Christmas!

I have been busy making notes and speaking to various friends and family so that I can show you some case studies for Christmas Budgeting. By doing this, I think we can all see how other people cope and what good advice we can take from other peoples situations. To finalise these case studies I will be offering Recessionista advice on how they can make any cut backs if necessary. I am also in the process of collating information on some good shopping websites so please keep checking back as I am hoping to get this all on the Blog this week if possible. If you have any great ideas of your own, please let me know!