Miss Optimistic's Diary to stay focused & stay organised!

SamanthaA

MissOptimistic wrote: »

It may not be DFW and I don't have the money to do it this week, but I am really glad I changed my mind - It will mean a lot to my Dad and after all you are not 65 every day - what would you guys have done?

Exactly that!
My dad passed suddenly, we knew he was ill, just not that he had stopped taking the medication!

No one can see the future entirly, and DFW or not, family comes in the top 5 for most people..

MissOptimistic

Hi SamanthaA - So sorry to hear about your Dad, but yes, life is short as we often get reminded. I only see my family about 4 times a year since we moved away 2 years ago, and I am so glad I decided to make the effort to go through for the birthday meal.

hypno06

Just catching up - did your dad enjoy his birthday bash? I would have done exactly the same - I am another who's dad went suddenly....only 55 so I agree, some things don't come into the DFW equation.

I was glad to see you have got a winter let sorted - that certainly makes a difference.

We are in a similar position, because we host a foreign student for the school year, so from September to May we get £128 a week, then from May to September, we get nothing......and of course that £128 a week is then very much missed! Add into that the fact that at Christmas and Easter they go home for the hols so we don't get paid, and you can see why I very much understand why the books don't balance for you!

MissOptimistic

Thanks Hypno! - yes my Dad had a lovely day, it was a kind of retirement 'do' as well. He didn't want to retire, but after 40 years as a bricklayer, he was sacked earlier in the year without so much as a thanks. He has found it very hard to adjust to not working and after a few attempts to find work, I think he has finally accepted that he has retired.
You were spot on, as usual with the holiday let thing. The lady who wants it for Jan and Feb is supposed to be coming to see me on Friday with £100 deposit, but I won't count my chickens until the money is in my hand!
She is paying £100 a week so I think I will keep £250 for Jan, and the same for Feb, which will leave £300 in an account for March, and £50 towards April (seeing as Easter is in April, I am confident that the bookings will start to come in then for April and May) I am going to stick to the £250 per month, and put the extra to one side to cover the winter. If it is busier than last year (hopefully) I may even be able to build up a surplus.
I will pm you a link if you like so you can see my holiday let?

MissOptimistic

Well today has been a bit of a 'nothing day' but looking at it from an optimistic point of view

1. I have spent nothing today
2. I have done all my ironing
3. I have sold a book on amazon for £8.15
4. I have sold some bits on ebay for £15.91

So I am well on my way to achieving the £10 a day challenge.

Only going to be working 4 days this week, and my sis is coming through at the weekend, so very much looking forward to it. Don't know what this week at work will hold, if you read early on in my diary, you will know that the shop ceiling caved in, so the plasterer is coming to sort it out on Tuesday - hope it doesn't interfere too much with business.
This time last year was our busiest time - not this year

MissOptimistic

Well another good day today, sold a DVD on amazon, so another £3.11 into the pot, and also managed to do a bit of christmas shopping (the DFW way of course!)
I took a photo of my nan in August with my 3 children and my sisters little girl, it is the only photo of my Gran with all her great-grandchildren, so I have had it blown up into a 10x8" photo and I am going to get a nice frame for it - the photo cost just over £2 but I get £3.50 cashback through Quidco so not bad!
Also got my brother Prison Break series 3 on DVD - I shopped around and couldn't believe the variation in price for the same product, but I think Amazon was the best deal at just over £16.
I have an awful lot of people to buy for (some may I add whom don't reciprocate) but that is up to them if they want to be miserly. I have been quite a smart shopper this year, using money from ebay sales and the like, so I don't think the damage will be too bad this year!

Today was a good day in the shop - no one in until 2pm, but then 3 customers more than made up for it in the last 2 hours - you just never know!

MissOptimistic

Well, you may remember early on in my diary I said the best way for me to tackle things was to take baby steps - to break this mammoth task down into small chunks and not look at the big picture too much (cos I panic!)
I started with the Next Debt which was £147 ish and managed to pay that all off, so now I have started with the Citi credit card, managing to pay off £60 this morning. I have quite a bit of money due in from ebay, amazon etc, so I am looking forward to seeing this total come down too - to be rid of it before christmas would be great, but I think that might be just a bit too optimistic!

WorkingHardDFW

you sound so positive and you certainly live up to your name.

Well done on clearing one debt :T and for aiming to clear another :T . What have you got to clear on the Citicard debt?

Congratulations on the baby steps - well done and stay positive for all of us!

MissOptimistic

Well I've been playing free bingo on the hour every hour, but no luck yet, (no wonder with over 2000 people playing!) but when I logged into my account there was a couple of pounds left over from my sign up bonus - I played with that too and won £7.75! I've added it to my £10 a day money.
Today was a relatively cheap day, just had to buy a few groceries (milk, weetabix and choccy biccies) to last us till the next time I do an online shop, which I think can wait till Friday because OH is away Thursday/Friday and I can just have a jacket spud and do kids pizza out of freezer for tea.

I am starting to think a lot more carefully about what I want to spend my money on, for example, I usually buy OK magazine for something to read at work, but at £2.95 it isn't cheap and adds up week after week. I am also trying to teach my kids the value of money - they get £3 a week and spend all of it without fail every week. So I have told them that I am going to give them £2 and save £1 for them, but if they decide to save any more of their £2 I will match it - Will be interesting to see how they do

hypno06

You are doing really well with the £10 a day stuff :T

Re magazines - if you go to quidco, you can sign up for 3 editions of glossies like Marie Claire and She for £1 - but the beauty is that you get £4.80 cash back :T

Just remember that you have to cancel the subscription after your 3 issues otherwise they will be billing you for the next few months.