DFSD's motivational ramblings...

debtfreesomeday

Thanks skysky, I'll have to check that out tonight after work.

Well I don't think we should talk about new tyres any more as we did yesterday... on the way out of work last night, we got an almighty flat tyre - picked up a huge screw in it - and had to shell out £80 for another one.:mad:
We are well and truly, absolutely skint as can be now this month and are definitely going to end up in our overdraft. That's nearly £200 in a week on flippin' tyres!

debtfreesomeday

We had to fill the car up with petrol this morning - you can definitely tell petrol prices are creeping up again, it put about £2 or £3 on the price of a full tank already.

We are extremely skint this month after all the unexpected extras we've had to pay out for this month. We are going to have to transfer a bit over from an ISA (not that there's much in there anyway!) so that we can eat and get more petrol if needed (which it will be!). I need to get a few bits of shopping after work tonight but have narrowed it down to the bare essentials - fresh fruit and veg etc. We have plenty in the freezer for the rest of the month.

I didn't get round to do the surveys or check out the scratchcard thing last night, but I shall try and do so tonight for sure.

I'm also going to get back in the swing of things in entering competitions. I did quite a few yesterday, but before that I haven't done any for a good while. You've got to be in it to win it as they say!

Hope everyone has a good weekend xx

debtfreesomeday

Oh why isn't the weekend longer and where does it go?!?

Had a good weekend, doing garden stuff and got a few bargains without spending much money, which is always good!
Back at work today and feeling more miserable than ever about it though...

We've had to transfer some money over from our 'emergency saving pot' this month as we're very skint! Hopefully it should tide us over to pay day.

On a good note, I had a phone call this morning to tell me I'd won a luxury spa weekend to Barcelona with flights, 5* accommodation and spa treatments included. :j Will be nice to take a bit later on in the year, maybe for hubby's birthday.

skysky69

Thats a fantastic win! I really must enter more competitions - where did you enter the comp from, on here?

debtfreesomeday

Morning skysky x Yes - it was on the comp board on here. I go through phases of entering loads and then not doing it for a while. It's an easy way to pass half an hour or so and you've got to be in it to win it as they say!

Another of our books on Amazon sold last night for £3.88, which brings the credit card total down to £3674.31 once that little payment is made off it.

Last night we had to get some shopping in. We're trying to slash our grocery budget this month as we are so low on funds, but we spent £40 last night, which isn't bad considering we hadn't actually bought any shopping this month yet!
I also went through all the food cupboards and freezer to see what we have, what I needed to throw out etc. I hate throwing food away but we had some stuff that was 'growing things' in the fridge and some tins that were a year out of date and that we'd never eat anyway.

Tonight I have to list something for my sister on ebay, will have a last scout round the house and see if there's anything else I can put on there too.

Will probably enter a few more comps today too after my win yesterday. :j

Now I'm just waiting eagerly for the long weekend!

debtfreesomeday

I changed our energy supplier this morning and made us £100 through Quidco. :j It should save us a few pennies a year too on the gas and electric bill.

SkySky - did you pursue the weight watchers leader course? I've started doing it online again as it's the cheapest monthly option at £9.95 a month, but I'm not doing too great this week it seems.

What I'm finding this month is that we don't have a lot of extra money to buy in fresh fruit and veg every week, and are using what we have in the freezer instead. Some of which, isn't ww friendly! Oh to be a size 12 again...:o

debtfreesomeday

Another win this morning - a book on the Galaxy book club website - selected one I think my Mum would like to read as a treat for her. Seems to be my lucky comping week this week, maybe I should buy a lottery ticket this weekend!

skysky69

Well a pound on the lotto won't go a miss just this week - you do seem to be on a lucky streak at the moment! I have sent off my application so am waiting to hear back at the moment! Exciting times! I only have 4lbs left till my goal weight which is very annoying!!! I have stayed the same for the past 2 weeks so am making a conscious effort to try harder this week! I know what you mean about fresh fruit and veg being expensive though. If you want to swap receipe ideas or anything, let me know, I get the magazines and they have good ideas in. As I volunteer as a helper at the meetings, I find this the cheapest way as it is actually free! But I do have to give up a couple of hours of my time one night a week.

I had a very productive day yesterday (if you look at it from a particular way!) I registered with Sun Bingo through quidco and got £15.00 - you had to deposit a tenner and spend the lot, so I made a fiver effectively (I know it will take a while to come through) but then because I deposited a tenner, they mathed it with a tenner, so I played bingo for hours And won £28.00 so effectively made £35.00 :rotfl::T I can see how it can be addictive for people though. I think there are a couple of other bingo sites offering the same kind of deal on quidco so will have a look later. As long as the tracking reliability is good, I don't mind waiting for a little while to get the tenner back.

debtfreesomeday

Yes - I think I might forfeit a pound this week and see if I'm a millionaire by Sunday morning! :rotfl:

Good luck with the application, I really hope you get positive news back. The leader who runs the classes near us is horrible and I would never go back there. It's a shame, because when I lived in a different area, the leader was lovely and encouraging and I really enjoyed the classes and did really well. I am doing it online now as I said, but there's just not the same motivation there really. I lost 1lb this week, and as it was my first week back, I should've, and could've, done much better, but it's my own fault. I've got people coming over for dinner tonight and have cooked them a lasagne, but am thinking of going out and buying a ww ready meal lasgane for myself and having that instead of the full fat version. I know it won't taste the same, and I'll probably get some comments from one guest in particular, but at least I'll feel better about myself. :rolleyes: I'm determined to stick at this this week, I am miserable at the weight I am and need to lose about 3 stone. None of my clothes fit properly and I've lost all confidence I ever had.
Thanks for the offer of recipe-swapping - I get the mags too actually as had a susbcription bought for me, but thank you anyway. I do have a couple of old cookbooks from back in 2002/2003. There are some nice recipes online, but I just find that buying all the ingredients costs a lot of money!

Well done on your bingo wins, that's great! There's noting like money for nothing is there. And like you said, you get the tenner back eventually, plus your winnings!

Hows the saving for the caravan service thing going? x

debtfreesomeday

I recently applied for another 0% card to shuffle the balance on my virgin card round - don't want to leave it to the last minute when my current 0% runs out - and I was declined - looks like my credit score is shot. I'm not sure if this is because I've recently taken out two mobile contracts, or because I've moved quite a bit within the last 5 years, or what. I checked my credit score at the end of last year and it was ok...

BUT - this now means we're probably going to end up paying interest on the dreaded vrigin card when it runs out. I have an egg card account with zero on it though (card was cut up and it was paid off) I was wondering if they would be able to offer me a good balance transfer deal if I phoned them and said I may close the account otherwise... worth a try I guess. I think I'll leave it a couple of months and then try phoning them.

We've paid off £435.41 off the credit card this month - not quite the £450 I would've liked but not far off it. We won't be paying any more off this month unless another book or two sells on Amazon which would be nice! I was so desperate to try and pay it off before October, when we start paying for our sofas, but if we carry on the way we're going there'll be about £1000 left on it by then. The sofas are costing us £100 a month for 12 months, so we'll have to drop the amount we're paying on the credit card balance by £100, meaning it will take longer to pay off. :mad: urgh, I'm tired of juggling!