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Posts Tagged ‘budget’

  1. Asda – It’s Over.

    July 14, 2013 by Amy Hansford

    Dear Asda,

    We work well together. We have done for years. But – and I’m sorry to say this – you’ve changed. And I can wholeheartedly say that it’s you, not me.

    I remember the days when I’d wheel a tiny newborn through your store, with Little L marvelling at your twinkling lights and I enjoying the delicious calm that settled. And of course when I realised you sold clothes – well, that was a special day.

    That memorable day when I discovered online ordering. Being able to find the second cheapest of everything was a godsend for our budget.

    But then you changed.

    No sooner had you lulled me into a false sense of security with your ‘click and collect’ service, you moved the goalposts. Despite two years, two years of devoted service completing weekly surveys on your Mumdex panel, you went behind my back and changed everything.

    banana400Three times I selected ‘1 kg of bananas, 68p’. Three different shopping loads. And each time, what did I get, Asda? What did you give me, even though you’d promised me a bunch of tasty yellow fruit? One. Sodding. Banana. Each frickin’ time.

    But, you know, I thought I’d persevere. I thought I’d try and work on our relationship. I shrugged off substitutions. I dutifully gave you hours of my life ordering online. And then, the final insult.

    Asda, you took away my price filtering options.

    The one thing that was holding us together, you tore apart.

    I can see why you did it. Money. That’s all you care about really, isn’t it? Not our bond. Not our relationship. Bloody money. ‘Oh no, forget our best comparison feature, we’ll make it hard for people to find the cheapest product and our Price Beating service will be a breeze. We’ll rake it in!’. Well Asda, now I know. You’ve shown your true colours.

    I’m leaving you, Asda. I’ve found someone else.

    Goodbye.


  2. The next great impressionist

    April 30, 2013 by Amy Hansford

    I’m an alright parent. I try to do one activity a day with/for Little L. I don’t always succeed. We watch a lot of telly. God bless Cbeebies.

    Very, very occasionally I do something that’s not half bad. That happened this week. And I’m so damned chuffed, I’m sharing it with you on here because it’s a brilliant idea and it’s what we’re doing from now on.

    With three birthdays this weekend, we’d already got the presents sorted but not the wrapping paper. Thanks to funny tummies, we skipped on swimming and spent the morning snuggling up under a blanket instead. By lunch, I was feeling like a guilty lazy mum so thought I’d be brave and set up some painting. But what? Then it hit me;

    We’d make our own wrapping paper. We had everything we needed – paints, bib, huge roll of paper from Ikea. So this is how it went down;

    Having set stuff up in the kitchen, I drew three themed pictures; butterflies, jungle and under the sea. These matched the presents.

    2013 04 26 paint 1

    Because I’m lazy, I can’t be doing with paint pallets. Instead, I splurged the paint directly on to the picture tactically. That way Little L could schmoosh it around as she wished.

    2013 04 26 paint 5

    When I say schmoosh, I mean it literally. Having been taught to do so at nursery, Little L automatically started painting and using her hands. It’s all good – I still didn’t have to clean paint pallets so I was happy.

    2013 04 26 paint 7

    And so, to the finished article. Cheap (free!), entertained Little L, and end-of-painting-time-tantrums were avoided by the golden phrase ‘this is the last one now, okay?’

    2013 04 26 paint 8

    I was really rather impressed at what happened next. I put the rag on the table to clean it and Little L took over to do it herself. A child who paints then cleans up after herself. I know, I have no idea either. Blooming well done Busy Bees nursery for training her up, that’s all I say.

    2013 04 26 paint 11

    And that’s your lot. 15 minutes worth of me being impressed at what a mess it wasn’t. Time where Little L was impressively focused. A result that meant funkily wrapped presents. So if you invite Little L to a party, expect a one-of-a-kind wrapping on the gift.


  3. Frank’s Green Gown

    August 20, 2009 by Amy Hansford

    The fabulous Phil Dunk over at the Timewarp forums has discovered this superb Frank surgeon gown. Notoriously difficult to find, this little beauty is pretty much perfect. Phil suggests that you may wish to snip off the elasticated wrists. Aside from that, this is an incredibly important find, given the difficulty people have had tracking them down. And at just over a tenner each, it’s worth getting a couple! Well done Phil!


  4. Janet Weiss at half the price

    August 4, 2009 by Amy Hansford

    Since publishing pictures of our lovely Janet Weiss pink dress on AIBM (from the Rocky Horror Picture Show), we’ve had a couple of enquiries regarding budget versions. While that’s not something we can do with this costume, I can instead share my top tip for instant Janets.

    The Jackie O costume is a godsend – pretty good on colour and shape and with a high neck – golddust! All it takes is a gingham collar and belt, white buttons and a bit of white trim, and it’ll look perfect with a white cardigan over the top. Who wants bulky arms under a cardi anyway?
    Always available on Ebay for cheaper than the stores (watch our for p&p), this is a great solution. You should be able to do the entire outfit for ?30.

    I may not maintain the Student’s Guide to Rocky Horror Costumes anymore, but I still keep my eye out for bargains!