Mortgage Free for a better life for me (and the family)

12357…17

Comments

  • craftingmad
    craftingmad Posts: 2,758 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 27 April 2015 at 6:51PM
    Oh dear, not a good day yesterday for all the "little things" as we had another family day and as we don't get many of them now that hubby has to work away, I'm determined not to feel guilty.


    Anyway today I shall continue:-


    1/ Swagbucks - DONE 70/70 bonus 7 swagbucks :)
    2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE no close enough for payments offered :(
    3/ Check for any surveys - DONE - Nectar survey 60 points:)
    4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE - not a winner :(
    5/ Enter 10 competitions - DONE 11 entered :)
    6/ Check for new coupons - DONE - 50p bodyform coupon through post (and 3 free samples) :)
    7/ No heating on all day -
    8/ GiftHulk - DONE 1043/850 including 85 bonus :)
    9/ Plan dinner for tonight - DONE Pasta bake using ham which is use by today :)
    10/ Water plants (if it doesn't rain!) - DONE - still growing nicely and the good news is that a couple of the sugar snap pea seeds I planted have started to sprout :)
    11/ List item for sale on Facebook - DONE bulk lot of wired flowers listed for £10 (fingers crossed they sell) :)
    12/ NSD - DONE :)
    13/ Hang washing outside to dry - DONE :)
    14/ Turn off mobile phone to save battery once everyone's home - DONE :)
    15/ Meal plan for week and make shopping list - DONE almost everything from stores. Only got to buy 3 things from supermarket - peas, frozen potato items & gravy granules :)
    Mortgage - £2338.07 BTL 1 £51,089.10 BTL 2 £81,504.52 BTL 3 £77,497.02 No Craft Spending in 2023 0/365 Stash Busting Challenge 2023 0/2023 [COLOR
  • craftingmad
    craftingmad Posts: 2,758 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 28 April 2015 at 5:25PM
    Morning all,


    Hubby goes back to Aberdeen today so am planning to enjoy the last couple of hours with him before he has to leave.


    My "little things" today are:-


    1/ Swagbucks - DONE 72/70 bonus 7 swagbucks :)
    2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE accepted for shopping centre visit for £10 amazon voucher and applied for another in same city on same day :)
    3/ Check for any surveys - DONE - none today :(
    4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE - not a winner :(
    5/ Enter 10 competitions - DONE 14 entered :)
    6/ Check for new coupons - DONE - found new Birds Eye on Checkoutsmart and printed more Um bongo :)
    7/ No heating on all day -
    8/ GiftHulk - DONE 715/900 target :)
    9/ Plan dinner for tonight - DONE Pizza :)
    10/ Water plants (if it doesn't rain!) - DONE :)
    11/ List item for sale on Facebook - DONE Sweet bags listed for £4 :)
    12/ Return wrong battery for refund - DONE refund of £63.60 back on debit card :)
    13/ Fill up carwith fuel at Tesco using 12p off a litre coupon which expires end of April (garage is right near battery place) - DONE saved £3.12 :)
    14/ Light grocery shop sticking to list and using coupons - DONE Spent £35.73 but used £3.90 of coupons and can claim back further £2.25 from Shopitse app and £2 from try me free product (was aiming for £30 but hubby bought £6 of packet soups as on offer to take back with him so still within budget) :)
    15/ Download remaining craft classes before trial runs out - DONE 6 more craft classes downloaded :)
    16/ Download free silhouette store cutting shape for my craftrobo - DONE it was a tree this week :)
    Mortgage - £2338.07 BTL 1 £51,089.10 BTL 2 £81,504.52 BTL 3 £77,497.02 No Craft Spending in 2023 0/365 Stash Busting Challenge 2023 0/2023 [COLOR
  • craftingmad
    craftingmad Posts: 2,758 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 30 April 2015 at 10:42AM
    Morning,


    An early start for me as I'm trying to get my little things earlier than usual.


    Here's today's offerings:-


    1/ Swagbucks - DONE 70/70 Bonus 7 swagbucks :)
    2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none near enough for payment offered :(
    3/ Check for any surveys - DONE 50 point YouGov survey and 10 point nectar seuvey (one quick question) :)
    4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE - not a winner :(
    5/ Enter 10 competitions - DONE 14 entered :)
    6/ Check for new coupons - DONE contacted supersavyme to see if they can post coupons as still cant print. No new ones found :(
    7/ No heating on all day - DONE even though the weather has turned colder :)
    8/ GiftHulk - DONE 490 - didn't meet target but better than nothing :)
    9/ Plan dinner for tonight - DONE Jacket Potato and Salad :)
    10/ Water plants (if it doesn't rain!) - DONE - Throwing it down here now so no need to water today :)
    11/ List item for sale on Facebook - DONE flowers listed on another group as not sold on original one :)
    12/ NSD (excluding money for kids youth club) - DONE only £2 for evening entertainment (including sweets) but nothing spent :)
    13/ Walk to youth club to save fuel - DONE - it was actually lovely tonight :)
    14/ Charge daughters phone whilst at youth club on duty - DONE 1 hours free charging :)
    Mortgage - £2338.07 BTL 1 £51,089.10 BTL 2 £81,504.52 BTL 3 £77,497.02 No Craft Spending in 2023 0/365 Stash Busting Challenge 2023 0/2023 [COLOR
  • craftingmad
    craftingmad Posts: 2,758 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 1 May 2015 at 8:04AM
    Morning,


    Hoping for another good day like yesterday :)


    Here's my "little things" for today:-


    1/ Swagbucks - DONE 101/99 2nd target - 10 bonus swagbucks :)
    2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none near enough for payment offered :(
    3/ Check for any surveys - DONE 60 point Nectar Survey :)
    4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE - not a winner :(
    5/ Enter 10 competitions - DONE 20 entered :)
    6/ Check for new coupons - DONE - no new ones found :(
    7/ No heating on until 4pm - Almost weakened but put on thick socks and an extra cardigan instead. May have to put it on when the kids are back from school though as it really is billy Baltic in the house. Heating eventually went on for an hour at 8pm. :)
    8/ GiftHulk - DONE 235/800 can't get anything else to credit but still playing radio loyalty in the hope of picking up a few more points :)
    9/ Plan dinner for tonight - DONE Chicken Burgers with homemade chips and rest of salad :)
    10/ Water plants (if it doesn't rain!) - DONE - raining hard so definitely no extra watering required:)
    11/ List item for sale on Facebook - DONE Listed scrapbooking kit for £6 :)
    12/ NSD (excluding money for kids judo £3) - DONE :)
    13/ Charge up phone and ipad at judo - DONE 2 hours free charging :)
    14/ Make up more tattoo kits ready for festival at weekend
    15/ Make 2 items to help use up craft stash - DONE 2 scrapbook pages made using only existing stash :)
    Mortgage - £2338.07 BTL 1 £51,089.10 BTL 2 £81,504.52 BTL 3 £77,497.02 No Craft Spending in 2023 0/365 Stash Busting Challenge 2023 0/2023 [COLOR
  • craftingmad
    craftingmad Posts: 2,758 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 1 May 2015 at 9:53AM
    So I have properly been doing the "little things" for a whole month and have just added it all up. I'm amazed how all the little bits really do add up so here's my


    APRIL SUMMARY

    Loyalty Points

    Nectar - 1143 (£5.71)
    Tesco Clubcard - 345 (£10.35)
    The Works - 5 (£0.05)


    Savings

    Checkoutsmart app - £7.14
    Coupons Used - £15.42
    Telephone credit for complaining - £15
    Misc savings from shopping around, going without etc - £31.40
    Shopitize - £1.05


    Survey Sites etc

    Ciao £0.02
    Gift Hulk - 22197 (£13.31)
    Pinecone - 300 (£3.00)
    Swagbucks - 1658 (£9.94)
    You Gov - 200 (£2.00)

    Earnings

    Quidco - £7.95 cashed out


    Misc

    Competitions entered - 285
    Competitions won - 1
    NSD - 13


    Actually Saved /Earned / Cashed Out In April 15

    £ 10.00 craft chalks comp win
    £ 15.42 coupons used
    £ 7.95 quidco
    £ 46.40 savings made / credits
    _______
    £ 79.79
    Mortgage - £2338.07 BTL 1 £51,089.10 BTL 2 £81,504.52 BTL 3 £77,497.02 No Craft Spending in 2023 0/365 Stash Busting Challenge 2023 0/2023 [COLOR
  • craftingmad
    craftingmad Posts: 2,758 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 1 May 2015 at 4:03PM
    Morning all and happy May.


    The sun is shining today but it is bitterly cold and my little lass is sneezing lots :(


    I'm starting May as I mean to go on so here's my "little things" for today:-


    1/ Swagbucks - DONE 70/70 bonus 7 swagbucks :)
    2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none near enough for payment offered :(
    3/ Check for any surveys - DONE 60 point Nectar Survey :)
    4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE - not a winner :(
    5/ Enter 10 competitions - DONE 33 entered :)
    6/ Check for new coupons - DONE - no new ones found but 50p off Plenty through the post :)
    7/ No heating on until 4pm -
    8/ GiftHulk - DONE 1102 including 80 bonus for reaching target :)
    9/ Plan dinner for tonight - DONE Eggy Bread and salad
    10/ Water plants (if it doesn't rain!) -
    11/ List item for sale on Facebook - DONE - relisted scrapbook kit which didn't sell on other selling group onto different group :)
    12/ NSD - DONE :)
    13/ Complete Quidco No Spend Offers - DONE 30p tracked :)
    14/ Make craft item to get ready to stock online stock
    15/ Check totals and start new monthly spreadsheet - DONE found that I had actually earnt more gifthulks and swagbucks and also more nectar and clubcard points than I first thought. April totals amended :)
    Mortgage - £2338.07 BTL 1 £51,089.10 BTL 2 £81,504.52 BTL 3 £77,497.02 No Craft Spending in 2023 0/365 Stash Busting Challenge 2023 0/2023 [COLOR
  • craftingmad
    craftingmad Posts: 2,758 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 2 May 2015 at 6:56PM
    Morning all,


    The sun is shining -lets hope its like this for all the long weekend:)
    I'm working on Sunday and Monday face painting at a local event so probably won't get any time to spend doing my "little things" but today I aim to make up for that. Here's my "little things" list for today:-


    1/ Swagbucks - DONE 70/70 bonus 7 swagbucks :)
    2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none near enough for payment offered :(
    3/ Check for any surveys - DONE Nectar 80 points survey (but not currently credited so my fingers are crossed)
    4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE - not a winner :(
    5/ Enter 10 competitions - DONE 100 entered :)
    6/ Check for new coupons - DONE no new ones found but have requested John West Tuna one through the post :)
    7/ No heating on until 6pm - DONE still not on :)
    8/ GiftHulk - DONE 200 :)
    9/ Plan dinner for tonight - DONE Eggy Bread and salad (didn't have it yesterday as kids fancied pasta):)
    10/ Water plants (if it doesn't rain!) - DONE strawberry plants getting bigger, lots of lettuce and spinach seeds sprouting and now 6 sugar snap pea seeds shooting as well. Caulis also looking good :)
    11/ List item for sale on Facebook - DONE two items listed - fingers crossed for a sale :)
    12/ NSD - DONE - no money spent in May so far :)
    13/ Get washing done and outside on line to dry - 3/3 loads washed and on line 1st 2 loads dry and airing inside :)
    14/ Make craft item to get ready to stock online stock
    15/ Wait in for lady collecting topper sheets sold on Facebook - DONE £30 in holiday money tub :)
    16/ Check that got enough food for lunches on Tuesday to save going food shopping with the kids - DONE kids can have crackers in their lunchboxes on Tues. Might just need to pick some milk for cereal for their breakfasts :)
    17/ Plant sunflower seeds from school - DONE 8 seeds planted. Hopefully will grow well and we may even win the prize for the biggest sunflower head. If not at least we will hopefully get some free seeds for the birds :)
    18/ Switch off my mobile all day to save battery - DONE :)
    Mortgage - £2338.07 BTL 1 £51,089.10 BTL 2 £81,504.52 BTL 3 £77,497.02 No Craft Spending in 2023 0/365 Stash Busting Challenge 2023 0/2023 [COLOR
  • craftingmad
    craftingmad Posts: 2,758 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 6 May 2015 at 7:52AM
    Hi all,


    Well I had a busy bank holiday weekend face painting at a local village festival. I didn't earn as much as I was hoping for due to a combination of bad weather on the first day and also another stall offering "free face painting". The other woman was pants but it wasvery hard competing against free. However I did walk away with £65 for the weekend plus a free t shirt so its better than a kick in the teeth.
    However my kids also came back with two goldfish they won from the fair so have just had to fork out £50 for a tank and all the bits required :( I used to have fish when I was their age though so I think it will be nice to have them again :)


    Anyway my "little things" list for today is:-


    1/ Swagbucks - DONE 17/70 :)
    2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none near enough for payment offered :(
    3/ Check for any surveys - DONE 80 point Nectar Survey :)
    4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE - not a winner :(
    5/ Enter 10 competitions - DONE 111 entered :)
    6/ Check for new coupons - DONE - 600 bonus nectar points on £30 spend added to my nectar account :)
    7/ No heating on all day - DONE not turned on at all :)
    8/ GiftHulk - DONE 140 mainly thanks to Radio Loyalty :)
    9/ Plan dinner for tonight - DONE Pasta (quick and easy as have after school clubs and guitar lessons tonight)
    10/ Water plants (if it doesn't rain!) - DONE rained earlier but has also been very warm so watered again. Now have 15 sugar snap peas sprouted from the seeds and the cauliflower and strawberry plants are getting much bigger :)
    11/ List item for sale on Facebook - DONE 39 craft magazines listed for £10 :)
    12/ Meal plan for week and shop accordingly - DONE meals planned for whole week and shopping done (just got to get pizzas on Saturday as daughter has a friend round and I said they could choose toppings themselves. £70 spent on food (but also got some presents for daughter whose birthday's next month) :)
    Mortgage - £2338.07 BTL 1 £51,089.10 BTL 2 £81,504.52 BTL 3 £77,497.02 No Craft Spending in 2023 0/365 Stash Busting Challenge 2023 0/2023 [COLOR
  • craftingmad
    craftingmad Posts: 2,758 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 7 May 2015 at 8:12AM
    Morning,


    1/ Swagbucks - DONE 105/105 second target reached bonus 11 swagbucks :)
    2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none near enough for payment offered :(
    3/ Check for any surveys - DONE 120 nectar points from a survey :)
    4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE - not a winner :(
    5/ Enter 10 competitions - DONE 122 entered :)
    6/ Check for new coupons - DONE no new ones found :(
    7/ No heating on until showers tonight - DONE not turned on until 7.00pm :)
    8/ GiftHulk - DONE 1134/900 including 80 bonus :)
    9/ Plan dinner for tonight - DONE Corned Beef Hash & Chicken Nuggets for son :)
    10/ Water plants (if it doesn't rain!) - DONE absolutely chucking it down now so no need to water :)
    11/ List item for sale on Facebook - DONE listed 2 tickets to a craft show in Bolton which I have just won :)
    12/ Enter survey on Tesco receipt for 25 clubcard points - DONE entered and complained about fresh fruit being awful :)
    13/ Turn mobile off while at home - DONE :)
    14/ Read book tonight instead of going on tablet - DONE book almost finished :)
    Mortgage - £2338.07 BTL 1 £51,089.10 BTL 2 £81,504.52 BTL 3 £77,497.02 No Craft Spending in 2023 0/365 Stash Busting Challenge 2023 0/2023 [COLOR
  • craftingmad
    craftingmad Posts: 2,758 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 8 May 2015 at 9:54AM
    Morning all,


    The goldfish are home (even though the tank was not ready as it should have sat for 3 days we only managed 24 hours before the guy who was looking after them wanted them out) so I'm hoping the goldfish will survive as the kids (and me) have already fallen in love with them. I will be annoyed if I've spent all that money for nothing!


    Anyway I've got a busy day today with a meeting at my son's school and polling day.


    Here's my "little things" list for today:-


    1/ Swagbucks - DONE 70/70 bonus 7 swagbucks :)
    2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none near enough for payment offered :(
    3/ Check for any surveys - DONE 40 point Nectar survey and a Pinecone survey :)
    4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE - not a winner :(
    5/ Enter 10 competitions - DONE 145 entered:)
    6/ Check for new coupons - DONE 80p Alpro yogurt, 25p Tesco ice creams and 50p off soft & gentle :)
    7/ No heating on all day - DONE :)
    8/ GiftHulk -
    9/ Plan dinner for tonight - DONE Corned Beef Hash & Chicken Nuggets for son as didnt have time to have last night due to fish mercy dash :)
    10/ Water plants (if it doesn't rain!) - DONE Absolutely throwing it down again tonight but plants indoors watered:)
    11/ List item for sale on Facebook -
    12/ Turn mobile off while at home - DONE :)
    13/ Charge mobile / ipad up at Judo tonight
    14/ Collect prescriptions from Dr's - DONE and walked there to save petrol :)
    15/ Avoid buying anything else for the fish - DONE No spend day apart from magazine required for £10 survey and judo for kids tonight :)
    16/ Survey to earn £10 - DONE submitted and now waiting for cheque through the post :)
    Mortgage - £2338.07 BTL 1 £51,089.10 BTL 2 £81,504.52 BTL 3 £77,497.02 No Craft Spending in 2023 0/365 Stash Busting Challenge 2023 0/2023 [COLOR
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.2K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 608K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173K Life & Family
  • 247.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards