Did anyone watch the TV prog last night Money For Nothing ? It showed a young woman rummaging through people's rubbish at a local tip trying to find something to upcycle and sell on for a profit. She chose a cast iron soil pipe (yes, really...), an old blanket chest and a box of china. She spent £600 on having the soil pipe converted into a lounger which she sold on for £400 profit, and £400 on getting the blanket chest made into a kind of sideboard making £100 profit. This was so unrealistic for the average viewer because who would risk that kind of cash upcycling something like that with no guarantee of selling it at the end. Anyway, you would need all kinds of trade contacts even to find good craftsmen to make the changes for you. Interesting but not a realistic representation of how to make money for 'nothing' as per the title of the prog.
The third item, the box of china, was a classic. When I first saw the china being lifted from the newspaper wrapping my first thought was why was this stuff not being given to a charity shop? What a waste! This young woman took the box home and just 'happened' to find a Clarice Cliff Bowl and ladle at the bottom. Pull the other one....she had spotted it long before she took it home...lol... She sold it on fleabay for £50.
I have to say, it was great that they gave all profits back to the original owners, although even that was not the whole truth. The bowl sold on fleabay would have incurred a £5 selling fee plus a fee from Paypal if it was used to pay for it, plus packaging costs etc......
What did you think of the prog? It should be on again next week, I think.
Bills, Bills, and more Bills
Crikey, they have started popping through the letterbox once again. Despite trying to cut back, our electricity bill for the last 6 months is £216.16 We hardly have the TV on, just a couple of hours on most evenings (sometimes not at all) and we use a battery powered radio so it has to be the washing machine, tumble dryer and computer. I HATE scratchy towels so always tumble dry those (insert a guilty face icon) I just don't know how to cut down further without making our home damp and our lives a misery.... Thinking cap ON.....
The solution must be to raise a bit more cash. I hope to increase sales of my crafty makes and will be looking for other ways of selling them like table top sales, for example. Car boot sales are a tricky thing to do alone so they are not an option. There is free listing on fleabay for the next couple of days too so I need to have a good rummage!
The push is on now too to get back to economical, healthy, home cooked meals. With that in mind I am meal planning properly and sticking to the plan. I think that we eat far better meals and with more variety when I do a proper written plan. Don't you?
Have a great day whatever you are doing x
I missed the programme, I am glad I did, I wouldn't risk that sort of money, we are on meters now for gas,water and electric, from October I will be monitoring it as well, but we seem to be doing very well with it. I am going to start doing meal plans again as well x
ReplyDeleteI didn't see that programme, I might watch next week if I remember. I'm glad it's not just me with high energy bills over summer. I did wonder why my gas bill was so high until last night I saw how deep my other half runs our daughters bath! He has been warned. X
ReplyDeleteI missed the programme but am snorting at the sound of it. Mind you I can believe about the box of china in the skip. I've known someone to do something similar in years gone past x
ReplyDeleteTry white vinegar in your rinse water and your towels won't come out scratchy when hung up to dry.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried tumbling your towels just a bit - I only tumble mine for about 20-30 minutes max (and never just one - I try and tumble 3 or 4) and then hang them on the line, and find they're still fluffy (and as a massage therapist I get through a lot of towels and need them to be nice!)
ReplyDeleteThank you to everyone for your comments and suggestions. I will try Mrs G's way first ( I have no white vinegar) and while we still have some dry breezes it's worth a shot...
ReplyDeleteI missed this program, I am a total cynic when it comes to these type of TV shows. The American ones were all outed as fakes a while back and I strongly suspect that our homegrown ones are the same. Who would risk making a program where nothing was found and no money was made. I line dry my towels as much as possible then throw them in the tumbler for 10 minutes or so, when it rains non stop they have to go straight in. It has been fine here after a chilly start, my legs are out in the air and I have been in the garden for some of the day.
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