DFSD's motivational ramblings...

Chocforever

Hi DFSD

Best wishes to you and your Mum that this operation works as intended. You really have been through the mill.

I'm amazed you can still focus so well on the debt busting. As you say, things may not be perfect, but in the grand scheme of things you are doing very well.

Burt's bees stuff sounds good. I tried some when I was staying with a friend (with their permission - sounds like I was raiding their cabinets!) and was impressed. There was some lovely scented shampoo.

I find the bingo sites confusing as they all have their own way of doing things and the site maps can be unhelpful. I've had some good and bad experiences over the last few days as I have tried a couple of new sites, but I think I am up overall. I quite like bingo - my gran would have been proud!

CF

debtfreesomeday

Thanks so much Chocs. Yes, things are very tough at the moment and I am struggling to keep it together to be honest. However, I know that if my parents knew I was in so much debt they would be so upset and disappointed, so I am trying to carry on and clear this debt as quickly as possible to make them proud (without them ever knowing) if you know what I mean. They've never been in debt in their lives, not even a mortgage, and have gone without many times when they have had to. They've worked extremely hard all their lives and never had what they couldn't afford. I wish I had taken a leaf from their book much earlier in life. So, I feel I owe it to them to do this, and to do it as soon as I can.

P.S. I'm a secret bingo-lover too! We once went to a Mecca bingo club for a laugh and, much to the utter disgust of all the regular oldies there, I won the full house on one game (£30!). We were also asked to move as we were sat in one of their 'lucky chairs'! :rolleyes::rotfl:
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Back to moneysaving news -
I've received another Burt's Bees pack in the mail this morning! :T:confused: These will be great for birthday presents throughout next year, I'm so grateful to them, it's saved me such a lot of money. I'm going to drop them a quick email to say thanks, as it's not often companies give away such great freebies.

Also did another survey this morning with a new survey company I've only been registered with for a few weeks - received 175 points but not entirely sure how much that equates to yet.

Have also spent a bit this morning on some supplies for making 'foody' Christmas gifts. I have bought 100 petit four cases, gift boxes, a lovely chocolate mould for making chocolate cups in that I can fill with yummy things, and a mini muffin tin to make truffles and Nigella's peanut butter cups in. I already have the jars I need to make cake / cookie mix gifts, just need to get some string or raffia type stuff to go round the boxes and jars. I'm really looking forward to making it all - I love making nice things for people, always have. It keeps me busy and my mind occupied too when things are tough.

Have re-checked the bank balance and it's not as bad as I thought. We will be about £60 overdrawn so far, but hubby's expenses should go in this week which is about £55. Then, all we need to buy this month is petrol - probably about £60's worth as we are going home again this weekend as Mum should've had surgery by then and I intend to cook some meals for my Dad which he can take out of the freezer when he wants them - he's currently living on ready meals and junk food, which in itself is worrying me a lot.

So, am guessing the overdraft to be under £100 by payday, which is manageable.

DFSD
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debtfreesomeday

I was sent another survey this morning, so have done that one for 175 points with R. opinions - not quite sure how their points system works yet, will have to check it out in more detail.

Dinner last night provided us with 4 extra portions to freeze for lunches - got one with me today. Bought breakfast in too although feeling a bit icky at the moment so not wanting to eat presently.

We had a trial run of making some of our Christmas present sweets last night. It went quite well but we definitely need the mini tray which I ordered yesterday, as we had trouble forming the shape of them and ended up making it into a tray bake and cutting them into squares which isn't so pretty. :rolleyes:
Hubby has taken some to share in work, we gave some to our neighbours and we've saved some for my Dad. Just need to make some tags for the various types of things we'll be making nearer Christmas now.

Was aiming for a NSD today but I need to buy a bulb for our floor lamp today which went last night. Other than that, no spends planned. :rolleyes:

ARGH - Just remembered I forgot to do the free scratchcards last night - grrr.

Have a good day all

DFSD
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debtfreesomeday

I've just solved the problem of the overdraft this month...

We just received our gas and electricty bills online and it seems we have been overpaying quite a bit. The last bill they owed us £55, now they owe us nearly £150. So, tonight I've phoned and asked them to refund the £150 which they did no problem. I know this means we may owe them a bit on the next bill with winter coming, but it should even out over the year. If not, then we'll pay the extra when we need to. At the moment, we could do with the money in our bank account rather than theirs! This is great, it means we should get through the month without being overdrawn now. :T

Tonight we've made some coconut ice for my Dad as a little cheery-up gift when we see him at the weekend. We had all the ingredients in already so didn't need to buy anything extra.

I also printed out some free Christmas patterned paper designs today to make the tags for our Christmas jars. Much better than buying special decorative craft paper from a craft shop. I did manage to order some lovely posh Christmas ribbon from a pound shop though which would've cost me a lot more in the shop I intended to buy it from. Some was only 65p - a Bargain.

Night
DFSD
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Chocforever

I'm so impressed with the treats you are making - they sound great, and you obviously have an eye for the decoration and packaging. Haven't had coconut ice in years and it brings back fond memories.

And great news about the refund. That must take the pressure off a bit.

I've been doing well recently, but spent loads today. Once I start spending I just buy more and more. It started with replacing essentials that had broken, which is fine, but ended with buying some treats I probably should have left in the shop. Oh well, I haven't been to the shops much over the last couple of months and I think that has to be the solution for me. Somewhat lacking in willpower! Anyway, sorry for hijacking your thread,

CF

debtfreesomeday

Hi Chocs, hijacking is always welcome! It's always nice to hear how you're doing too. :hello:

I sound just like you - once I actually spend money, I want to spend more - especially on things for the house and garden. Just don't leave me unsupervised in Next Home shop, B&Q or Homebase - that's just asking for trouble and financial ruin!
As you said, you have hardly bought much over the past few months, and you have been doing great, so a little blow out now and then doesn't hurt. It feels nice to treat yourself too. It can feel a long old slog - this debt-busting lark - if you don't have a few treats to look forward to along the way. (It feels a long old slog anyway, but treats are always good! ).

Have a good day

DFSD
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debtfreesomeday

One stressful weekend later and it's Monday again, although today I'm off work as I'm not feeling very well.

So, am not doing much today, but have managed to click my way through a survey for another 80 points (80p). Will soon have enough from that site for another £5 to paypal.

My darling Dad :A gave us some joints of beef yesterday and loads of groceries he'd been saving for us, so hubby put one of the beef joint in the slow cooker this morning before work, so that's tonight's dinner and tomorrow's sandwiches.

I've put two loads of washing on already as I'm at home. Have to use the dryer in this weather so pennies spent there, but needs must.

The refund from Swalec hit our bank account this morning, which was very quick. We would've been overdrawn by now if it wasn't for that. Ten days left until payday and just another tank of petrol to buy from now until then and maybe some fresh fruit & veg, so we shouldn't be overdrawn unless anything else crops up.

We paid for the house insurance at the weekend, so £200 has gone from our tax and insurance savings account. There's £138 left in there, with the next expense due from that being the car insurance and tax, both due in February. We should have an extra £300 in there by then though which should be enough. We also need the car serviced, but I still need to find out how much that will cost.

We also had to spend £45 on some essential bits for the car and house at the weekend. It shouldn't send us overdrawn though.


That's about all for today's update I think. I should be entering some comps whilst I'm off and sat in front of the computer but I really can't be bothered!

DFSD
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debtfreesomeday

Yesterday's slow cooker beef was a great success :T and we have enough left over for hubby's dinner tonight - he thinks he's won the lottery with his second roast dinner of the week, 2 days into it!

Today I've tried my luck on the Bingo britain website, no wins to report, but hopefully now I should get the bonus from tomorrow, if I've done it right. Also tried to do the free scratchcard on the virgin bingo site which I'd completely forgotten about but it seems I've locked myself out of that account. Did the TAB one which can only be played, not withdrawn, and got 25p on that one.

I've been browsing the boards and the DF diaries today to try and keep my motivation up, as I find it goes into hiding for a while the couple of weeks before payday when I'm not able to pay anything else off the debts. It's only about a week until payday though so if I can get through the rest of the week without spending any more I should be ok...

Off to browse the freebies board...:whistle:

DFSD

debtfreesomeday

Hubby's expenses for petrol have been paid - £57 today, so that should help the bank account which is currently £1.49 overdrawn. Around £28 is still to come out of the account, so that should leave us with approximately £27 left. We may need to buy petrol before payday, but will makes sure that only £25 or so is spent on that instead of filling it up completely as usual - I'm determined not to be in the overdraft come payday!

Need to have a look at the scratchcards tonight after work, and the BB £5 bonus if I've done it correctly, got a feeling I haven't.

Have bought a tin of soup with me today for lunch, dinner is going to be some sort of egg-based meal as we have lots to use, I'm thinking ham and poached eggs on toast - mmm. Trying to get back into the swing of things with the diet today, been eating terribly lately due to laziness and huge amounts of stress at the moment.

Got a few more surveys this morning, screened out of a couple, still can't figure out where the rewards and /or points accounts age are on the two new companies I'm doing them for.

DFSD

Chocforever

Pleased to hear things are still on track with the bank balance.

I think the BB daily bonus for new players credits automatically to your account provided you have played the previous day. I hope you have been lucky! It is possible to pre-buy tickets (obviously, only if you have credit in your account) if the games you want to play are on when you can't be logged in. Blimey, I could become an online bingo expert - whatever next!

I could do with a good bingo win. I've been getting through a fantastic amount of cash recently and I'm not sure what I've got to show for it. I work in a big town and it's very easy to spend money on a lunchtime on bits and pieces, car parking, train fares etc. I think I need to use the debit card instead so at least I can look back and see where the money went. I suppose it's a sort of cheat's spending diary!

Take care. And only a week until payday...

CF