Fire Fox's Debt-Free in 2009 Diary

Fire_Fox

Spoke to a helpful (!) man at MBNA and have written a letter to ask for the late payments to my credit card to be removed from the credit file. Not hopeful of a result but it's worth a try! Have also had confirmation that Experian have corrected my electoral roll information.

Signed up for three offers from the Freebies board - Wine Insider, Royal Mail surveys (free stamps; on the waiting list) plus free shower saver and energy saving bulbs. I have also registered to do surveys for YouGov, Ipsos Mori (first survey came in post today), Valued Opinions (never received confirmation e-mail?) and OpinionPanel for students.

:j

Fire_Fox

Mr. Fire Fox was shocked by our last electricity bill (£101 for two and a half months) so for the last two days he has not put the heating on until late evening! The washing machine no longer appears to be tripping out the electricity so that has gone back onto the timer plug to wash overnight. :T

I have come into work today to get some studying done in the quiet and warm, and realised I had forgotten to bring shampoo (I teach fitness classes so shower at work twice a week). Raided the lost property box and am quite pleased with my haul!
:money:

Mr. Fire Fox has been away so I polished off the bolognese sauce, and slow cooked some turkey drumsticks in white wine and dijon mustard (lovely) and Value lamb with tomato sauce and shallots (edible). Tonight he is having leftover chinese takeaway and I am having cod, green beans and egg-fried rice!

Tomorrow I am off to Asda, having successfully managed to go two weeks since the last trip. We still don't need that much freezer or store cupboard wise, mainly fresh stuff and junk food. So the plan is for me to only buy the amount that I can carry home on the bus to save £5 on the taxi.

Fire_Fox

So Asda was £85 ... but based on Mr. Fire Fox's pathetic attempt at a list, so I can't possibly be at fault. :rolleyes: And I got a taxi home after all, because I had five large/ heavy bags and the heavens had opened. It won't all fit in the freezer so I have blatantly overspent.

Expensive items were:
4 x mini bottles of wine £5 (for slow cooking)
4 cans cider £3
Fresh salmon £3.50
3 x frozen pizzas £4
Extra Special leg of pork £5.50 (whoopsie)
Large bag of grapes £2.20
4 x Extra Special chocolate £4.50
Pack of socks £3

Tonight for tea we are having defrosted sausage and ham casserole. I have found a recipe on the BBC website for 'slow cooked pork and red cabbage' (half getting old in fridge), and established from the Old Style board that it is feasible to stick a leg of pork in the slow cooker. So that will be started off in a minute with an onion, a splash of cider and an apple added halfway through cooking. We have pork maybe twice a year cos it's always really tough and dry so fingers crossed!

Fire_Fox

Been to Home Bargains to get hair colourant today, bought some Starclen as recommended by the Old Style gang, and a gorgeous large print of a plum-coloured rose for only £8! I have seen, and coveted, the same one at £60 so am pretty chuffed. Duly added purchases to my spreadsheet.

:j:j:j

mintymoneysaver

Stardrops is fantastic, I'm assuming starclen is some sort of relation?

Fire_Fox

Hi Minty, thanks for popping by!

Starclen is the big brother of Stardrops; probably works as a bouncer, a gorilla in a penguin suit! Contains ammonia so really cuts through the grease - certainly got my bathroom squeaky (literally) clean. And anything that encourages me to clean has got to be worth the money. My little family of cleaning products seem to be breeding like rabbits tho, so I probably need to practice abstinence for a while!

:rotfl:

Fire_Fox

£77 worth of cleaning products ordered from Natural Collection today, but I will get £25 of that back from Mr. Fire Fox and £5 back from Wepromiseto. Ecover shower gel really suits my sensitive skin, the five litre size is fairly priced and lasts me 18 months or so. Also bought Bio-D washing powder and fabric conditioner, tons of toilet rolls and kitchen rolls.

Completed a few surveys this week, so updated my signature to keep track of the free money I have pending. Lets hope it all comes through for me! Also signed up for some more freebies - tickets for an exhibition in November, £100 of skin supplements, diabetes blood monitor (for use with clients).

I am also considering setting myself a challenge! Read on these boards about some people getting paid every four weeks, which means they receive thirteen wage packets a year. Thought that would be pretty nice ... so might aim to make enough in cashback and survey vouchers during 2009 to equate to an extra month's salary. Hmmm.

:cool:

Fire_Fox

Another £33 gone on an online purchase, ink cartridges this time. 6% cashback which isn't much but it all adds up! Whilst on Wepromiseto I found a new entry of £20 cashback for a credit card that Mr. Fire Fox applied for only two days ago - gutted as I checked first!

E-mail from Maximuscle offering 20% off any purchase until the end of this month, which is perfect because I have just about a month's supply left. Will try to use this voucher in conjunction with the 15% cashback but know it's a long shot.

Fire_Fox

Completed several surveys for YouGov, all for prize draw entries tho. :mad: And something for Valued Opinions which is apparently worth £3.

Mobile bill arrived with £14 :eek: of calls to 08 numbers, all relating to financial wheeling and dealing (banks, credit ref agencies). Normally my bill has only £2 of extra calls so this is poor. I really must remember to use the "Say no to 0870" website. :rolleyes:

In our living area half of the 50W halogen lamps have been replaced with Wilko's 35W bulbs, the rest will be more expensive energy saving ones so as not to lose light. Then a cunning scheme to install a motion sensor in the hall to reduce wasted energy there - at £10 it's cheaper than new bulbs! Should all pay for itself within four months if my sums are correct: I want to get my monthly DD back to £25 even with the price hike. :T

E-mailed Lakeland regarding two faulty power saver plugs purchased a year ago. Not sure if I am being cheeky or MSE, but I did deliberately buy three to ensure longevity, and still have one in the original packaging.

Tonight's meal is Asda meatballs (£1 a pack x 2), Lloyd Grossman tomato sauce (3 for 2), Napolina tinned tomatoes (half price), mushrooms and onions (Value), and a third of a tin of lentils .... Mr. Fire Fox doesn't like pulses but am hoping they will cook down in the slow cooker!

tinypawz

Dinner sounds yummy!

I really must dig out my slow cooker....from cupboard under the stairs, I think, maybe.