DFSD's motivational ramblings...

Chocforever

That's brilliant - well done! We like bingo...

My gambling proceeds are doing wonders for my £10 a day challenge. In fact I was totally unimpressed when an Amazon sale came through today (first in ages) because it was less than £10 and it needed the effort of wrapping and posting!

Fingers crossed for more wins,

CF

debtfreesomeday

Hee hee - yes, my £1-odd Amazon sales will not feel the same either (if I ever get any more!:o). Well done on the £10 a day challenge, I'm definitely not at that level but have made my £1 a day for this month already! :rotfl::o EDIT: WOW! Look at your £10 a day balance! That's amazing, well done!

Yes, we do like Bingo, although I'm not quite sure what I'm going do once our free £5 a day BB offer runs out... will start having withdrawal symptoms I think!
I got up early to make packed breakfast/lunches today and nearly fired the laptop up to log in to BB for today's £5 spend... but I was running a little late by the time I'd faffed around in the kitchen so will have to do it tonight. It's getting to become the highlight of my day, I think I may need help! :o:o

DFSD
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debtfreesomeday

Pay day today, so I've moved all the money to their required pots and paid all the bills that needed paying. The Lloyds CC is now cleared :T (was cut up ages ago too) and £100 has gone into the tax and insurance pot.

We were £130 overdrawn this month, but I worked out the budget last night and we have £200 leftover for any other bits we may need. I'm going to keep £50 of that aside for extra petrol as we have a few longer trips planned this month, other than that, I may need to buy one or two more 'little extra' Christmas presents that I've seen for specific people.

I was screened out of another survey last night, and have had one more sent to me today which I shall have a look at tonight. Nearly up to £5 payout on one but keep getting screened out of them lately. :rolleyes:

DFSD
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Chocforever

Only one CC to go - you are getting so close to paying them all off. :A

Yes, my £180 of bingo winnings appeared as real money in my bank account so my monthly total looks great. I never thought I would manage £10 a day, but having tried the challenge three times and made the target, I think I'll have to put the target up to £15 a day. But not in December because I have enough on and I will probably only have about three weeks where I can realistically do DFW stuff. And some of us haven't started out Xmas shopping . I have just started browsing the shops and seen a few things I want LOL.

Take care,

CF

debtfreesomeday

£180! :eek::T Wow! That's brilliant! Is that all from BB?

Yea, December probably not one of the best months to up the target, maybe try it in Jan or Feb when things are less expensive and everyone is trying to be frugal generally? I won't rub it in, but am so glad we did the shopping early this year, we certainly wouldn't have the money to do it now - we've let our good intentions lapse a bit over the past couple of months.

DFSD
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debtfreesomeday

Right.

I'm think I finally might have to succumb - I can feel a challenge coming on... :think::eek::D

I'm hoping to save as much as possible of that £200 I have spare and pay it off a debt at the end of the month. As a lot of the spare money is spent on bits for the house / 'treat' food etc., I'm vowing not to buy any of those things this month.

The treat food is out of the window anyway, as the diet is going well and is now a necessity (2nd day in!:o) and, although there's lots of lovely things I would like for the house, we need nothing at the moment. I have had my eye on some lampshades from ceiling lights from Habitat for about 6 months now, I have been sooo good and not ordered them. They'll be £45 for two, but they can wait until the sales, or I may even ask hubby to buy them for my birthday early next year. The 'old' me would've just bought them and shoved it on the credit card and worried about it later.

The only thing I definitely HAVE to buy, is 4 packets of gingerbread hanging hearts for our christmas tree for 60p each - 2 packs for my Mum and 2 packs for us. Christmas would not be the same without the smell of gingerbread radiating from them!

The previously mentioned Christmas gifts can be scrapped - we've bought people enough! I'm not spending any more on them, that was the old me talking too - treating people to things we can't afford. The only person who might get one extra little gift is hubby - and that will be a £10 max spend.

Inspired by the lovely Chocs :A, I'm also going to try and make a bit more money. I'm going to see if I can borrow the camera from work to take some pics for eaby - will also photograph and list a few household things we no longer want on the notice board at work, that might sell and make us a bit extra. Will keep up with the surveys and bingo too. We shall certainly have more 'stay at home Sundays' if we can too, we had a lovely day last weekend just pottering round the house and relaxing, staying out of the cold weather - and we didn't spend any money!

Wish me luck...

DFSD

Chocforever

Yep, from one game!

Xmas shopping isn't too bad for me - I only buy for close family and a few friends. My family decided a couple of years ago to stop buying for aunts, uncles, cousins etc because it was getting so expensive, and most of it ended up in the charity shops by New Year! I usually spend quite a lot, though, on the people I do buy for. I think I will curb that this year as I have less money and I know my friends have too. At least that's the intention. If I see the perfect gift, I will no doubt buy it.

Since I have started posting on your diary (hope you don't mind!) I should explain that I am saving to buy a house rather than a true DFW. I have a mortgage on my flat so I suppose that counts. I need to get into good habits as when I do buy a house (maybe next year) I will need to get a huge mortgage. I am not in the best of health so I will be planning to pay off the mortgage in 10-12 years in case I need to downscale my work. My health problems are not life threatening, by the way, just chronic and affect qualify of life. I had to take a pay cut at work this year so the extra cash has proved very useful. So thanks to the inspiration of people like yourself on this site, you have made a real difference to me.

Best wishes,

CF

debtfreesomeday

Hey Chocs - course I don't mind you posting, it's always a pleasure to hear from you and nice to know I'm not rambling along to myself all the time like a crazy person (although I confess to being a little crazy - crazy is good in my books! :D)
It's really nice to hear other people's stories too and to hear how people are getting along. Since being a DFW, I have felt such a range of emotions for people on here - from such sorrow when people are having a hard time, to extreme joy when someone's life takes a turn for the up and they finally get the break they have been waiting for and working so hard towards. (My, that was a bit deep for 3pm on a Wednesday!:eek:).

Great idea to get into good habits before buying a house. It won't feel like such a shock to the finances or such a struggle when you do get your house and you will be in a better position to do so, I'm sure.

Sorry to hear your health is not the best too. As you may have picked up from previous entries, my darling Mum has a chronic autoimmune disease which is causing her lots of serious problems. I know what it's like living with something that affects your life on a daily basis. Although I can't feel her physical pain, (I would take it for her if I could), it has created such mental anguish for me and my family - from the moment we wake up in the morning, to last thing at night, and all those sleepless early hours lying awake upset and worrying about her. It has left me with no confidence, and a general state of feeling very low and tearful all the time. Sometimes it's just hard enough getting through the days without worrying about the bills or debts isn't it!

Shame about the pay cut too. I'm expecting one either next month or in January - our pay has been 'under review' for a while now. I just want to know now!

The win must've helped a lot, especially with Christmas coming up. So nice to hear MSE'ers winning it too. S'pose I'll see you on BB tonight then! :rotfl:

I agree about the aunties/cousins etc etc. I have a large extended family and it can be so expensive, but I don't buy for cousins and auntie's, uncles etc either. I'll buy a box of chocs or biscuits for their family if we have the money - and usually I only buy two of those. I'm sure many of your friends are feeling the pinch too with the past year under our belts, so I'm guessing lots of people are trying to curb their spending this Christmas too.
My family are not into expensive gifts, it is very much the thought that counts. Hubby's family are different though and it is expensive to buy for them. :eek:

Goodness I can talk/ramble/mutter on can't I?!

:oSorry!

DFSD
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debtfreesomeday

Got a little bit of money to add to the new challenge already - just checked Quidco and £18.28 is ready to be paid out at the end of this month. Shall go straight off the virgin card, leaving the balance now at £1217.03

debtfreesomeday

Chocs (or anyone else!) - do you know if you have to actually press the CLAIM button on BB to win? I've pre-purchased some cards but really don't want to stay up that late to keep an eye on it!
Thanks
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