We Made Money with Baby Oleg!

 

Ssshhh!!! Don't tell my girls... but the Baby Oleg dressed as Olaf they've been cooing over on TV... we've just sold it on eBaby for £24!  Yep.  Sorry, girls, what you don't know can't hurt you... and as if you need another cuddly toy!

We comparison shopped and purchased this year's car insurance through comparethemarket.com.  I am not necessarily endorsing this website, but it is very smart to use comparison website when it's time to purchase new insurance.  For a limited time comparethemarket.com is giving customers who purchase insurance through their site the choice of either a Baby Ayana dressed as Elsa or a Baby Oleg dressed as Olaf.

We chose the Baby Oleg because at the time, Baby Olegs dressed as Olaf were selling for more on eBay than Baby Ayanas.  Baby Oleg did take a few weeks to arrive, but when he did, my husband immediately listed him on eBay without the girls ever knowing.  A week later someone out there bought Baby Oleg for £24!  That £24 is going directly into our "Home Expenditures" category on our budget, since that really needs a boost at the moment after we bought our older daughter her new bed.

Not only did we get the best-priced car insurance saving £94.09 over last year's and Baby Oleg that made us £24, we also get the Meerkat Movies app that gives us a voucher code for 2 for 1 cinema tickets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Hey, if you don't mind going mid-week to the cinema, it's a cheaper way of going out to the movies!  We used this twice in the last couple of months (we bought insurance through comparethemarket.com sometime last year, too) saving about £10 per visit to the cinema.

I actually didn't start out this blog post with the intention of talking so much about comparethemarket.com.  My intention was to show you that sometimes there are ways to think outside the box when it comes to making and saving money.  Twenty-four pounds isn't a huge amount of money, but it has helped to boost our "House Expenditure" category on our budget and hasn't added to the stuffed animal/cuddly toy mountain in our girls' rooms.  Another way we thought about selling Baby Oleg is by asking ourselves how much we would pay for Baby Oleg at the toy shop... if at all.  I definitely wouldn't buy him for £24, but if we had kept him, that would have been £24 lost. 

I'd love to challenge you to think about the money-making items in your house.  Is there anything collecting dust, something that you don't love or your children no longer love that could make a few "bucks"/"quid" by selling?  We are currently in the process of slowly de-cluttering our house... and it feels soooo good!  Please leave a comment if you've sold something in a similar unconventional way as we sold Baby Oleg.  

Love Is in the Air! (Or Whatever.)

Love is in the air, but how best do you express your love to your loved one?!  With a stuffed sloth, of course!  NOT!!!  Seriously, if my husband were to spend any amount of money on this stuffed sloth to say "I love you" on Valentine's Day or not, I wouldn't be happy.  I'm trying to understand how anyone would seriously think this would make a great gift... or the sloth key ring, sign or mug.  Seriously?!?!

Ok, I'm finished having a mini rant... almost.  Everywhere I turn there are advertisements for Valentine's meals for two at restaurants, say "I love you" with expensive jewelry, overpriced gifts at the supermarket such as ceramic popcorn buckets for a date night at home, and overpriced bouquets of red roses (that will die within a week).  I'm not trying to completely offend everyone who chooses to express their love to their loved one with gifts, but what I want to point out two things.  First, as my husband loves to point out, he doesn't need a holiday to tell me he loves me; he tells me this every day and in many ways.  Second, what if your loved one doesn't hear "I love you" with gifts, like me?

You may be wondering, "Lauren, what do you mean that you don't hear "I love you" with gifts?"  The very popular book The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman explains that there are 5 ways in which people express love to and accept love from their loved ones, not necessarily with a gift (although that is one of the love languages): words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch. In short, words of affirmation are those such as, "Honey, thank you for washing the dishes", "You are such a wonderful husband." Quality time is simply spending time with your loved one without distractions, such as a quiet meal together, taking a walk, a catch up over a cup of coffee. Receiving gifts is just that, receiving a gift, but it doesn't have to be pricey, just thoughtful. Acts of service is simply doing something for your loved one, such as completing a job for your loved one that he or she has asked you to do or that you know he or she doesn't particularly love to do.  Physical touch also doesn't need much explanation and, yes, men tend to have this as one of their love languages.

Oh, and you likely have two love languages in which you can most identify with.  "What's yours, Lauren?" Acts of service and quality time.  I feel very loved and appreciated when someone does something for me and when I simply spend time with my friends and family.  Gifts are fine, they're ok, sure.  Thanks very much... ok... next.  Because of this, I'm not the best gift giver, which is why I completely stress out when it's someone's birthday or Christmas.
                               
I find it imporant to recognise my loved one's love languages when I accept their expression of love.  My mom loves to send cards for every occasion, and I love that she loves to do that, and I know she is saying "I love you" with that card.  But I also know that she'd rather tell me that she loves me in person but can't always because she's thousands of miles away.  A dear friend of mine lives in Ottawa, Canada and loves to receive and give gifts and I know that.  However, luckily my husband doesn't love to receive gifts... and he definitely doesn't love to give gifts!  He, like me, feels loved by quality time.

If you're sweating over how to express your love on Valentine's Day in a couple of days just keep in mind that your gift doesn't have to cost a lot.  It doesn't have to cost anything!  Make breakfast or dinner for your family. Draw a bath for your wife.  Watch your husband's favourite movie with him (oh no! maybe I shouldn't have suggested this one!).

I've been trying to think about how to sort-of celebrate Valentine's Day with my family.  I've decided to simply have a nice meal with my husband and daughters on Tuesday.  I may give them a Lindor truffle or two... which is one of my favourite gifts ever... and they love them, too.  My husband made heart biscuits this weekend with the girls (I know, I was shocked, too!)... and that's perfect: quality time with the girls (I was at work), act of service because they had been asking to make cookies and almost free.

Use Jars to Help Save Money

I love to use jars to organise every day items such as coffee, marshmallows, rice, seeds, pens, markers, cotton buds.  Simple products simply look prettier and more organised in a jar.  Of course we're more attracted to products in pretty packaging than less expensive products in plainer packaging and marketers know this!  They whack up the price of products just because it's in more attractive packaging, not necessarily because the product the package contains is worth the extra amount.  Did you know that a huge part (perhaps around a third) of the price of an item we pay for is simply for the packaging?

Watch the Vlog about this here:

As a part of my money-saving mindset, rather than keeping products in their original packaging, I purchase and empty less expensive items into jars to make them appear more appealing.  For instance, I save about 80p by buying Sainsbury's Basics raisins/sultanas compared to the normal store brand raisins.  When we have hot chocolate at home, my kids love to put the mini marshmallows on by themselves; it's nicer to have a jar of marshmallows on the table, than a crumpled, hard-to-stick-your-hands-into package of marshmallows.

I don't pay directly for any of my jars, rather I clean out jars from pasta sauces and condiments by putting them in the dishwasher and letting them dry completely.  If the label or all of the glue from the label doesn't come off in the dishwasher, peel off the label and rub vegetable oil over the glue.  With a little elbow grease, washing up liquid (dish soap) and an old tooth brush, the residue should come off.

When I fill a jar with an item that has cooking instructions, I simply cut out the cooking instructions from the package and stick it inside with the item, such as the red lentils.

Another benefit of having items put in jars is that it's simply easier to find in the cupboards hopefully resulting in being able to find items when you need them rather than having to re-purchase them when you do your shop.

Items that can be stored or organised in jars aren't limited to food stuffs nor do they even have to be put in the cupboard or pantry.  Since they look pretty, if you're limited on drawer space, like me, then using jars can be an attractive way to display other items, like I do my pens, markers and scissors.  Of course, they need to be kept out of the reach of children just in case.


I'd love to know what you use jars for.  Please leave a comment on the blog below or on the Finding the Pennies Facebook page.