My Debt Free, Lose Weight & Be Super Frugal Diary 2009

ragstoricheswannabe

i have applied for some of the freebies and havent recived any yet. the first one i did about 2 weeks ago.......... what job do you do bamby?? there always seems to be plenty of overtime going.....

Bambywamby

I work in a nursing home Rags, we are under paid, under staffed, under valued and over worked but hey ho someone has to do it. As you say, the good thing is there is always plenty of overtime and when we have paid our debts up, I shall look for something else. Maybe something that will go hand in hand with my degree or at least enhance it.

I am very pleased today, I have got weighed and I have lost 4lbs. :j I shall keep up the good work and aim for another 2-3lb on my weigh in day...which is now a Tuesday.

The freebies I have got recently are teabags, shower gel, low cal biscuits, perfume samples, face creams, three biros and a small cuddly toy. I love getting freebies through the post, nice little surprises.

I have just got up after having a few hours sleep, I am going to do a quick lunch and then on to a little "one to one" caring job where I look after an elderly lady in her own home. I am just hoping I can stay awake long enough to cook her tea and then put her to bed, working nights really make me pooped.

Not much DFWing to report today, store cupboard lunch, washing on the line and checking on 13 Ebay items that go off tomorrow and ofcourse working my second job.
Catch up soon Bam x

sharronloves2spend

We are going to majorca bambywamby and as long as i can get all of the spends toghether it will be a lovely treat for me and the kids and your totally right, why not we work hard and providing no debt is added to it will be guilt free.

Agreed about the ebay fees they are a bit steep, but untill carboot season (where people want things for pennies!!) starts i want to keep my hand in. I listed my Radley hand bag so i am hoping that will boost the holiday pot. And after much protest (from hubs!!lol) guitar hero is getting listed tonight. What sort of things do you sell bambywamby??? I'm amazed at what people buy, i sold some old weight watchers books and couldn't beleive what people paid for them I have £47.33 in paypal so far:T want to make £100 per month (including a couple of carboots) we will see..

Well done with the weight loss, i'm at weight watchers tomorrow so i'll let you know how i get on, want to shift at least three stone before August.

Off now to walk me little dogs, will pop back later

Love Sharron

ragstoricheswannabe

well done on the weight loss bamby!!!!! oh and i too work in a nursing home....... never much overtime for nurses though and the management only let us fill in carers overtime if they are desperate.

where are you finding your freebies? sounds like the sort thing i would use, looked on the freebies board here but not much that i would use is listed.

Bambywamby

Majorca?...I have never been, O/H has hankered after going though...have you been before Sharron? If so, what are the good bits that have got you going back again?
I just long for somewhere hot & lazy this year...already feeling over worked and need to chill.

You go girl listing Guitar Hero...everybody in the house has to help and you will be having a great time in Majorca before you know it. At the moment I am selling clothes that I bought pre-lightbulb...most of them are brand new and never worn...I think I had a bit of a spending habit..."comfort buying" as they call it. When the decent weather comes, I shall certainly think about doing a car boot sale...one mans rubbish is another mans treasure and all that.

Good luck at WeightWatchers tomorrow, 3 stone is totally doable by August and you will be able to take it nice and steady to get to goal. Are you using the Monthly Pass? My friend says that is the cheapest way of going to WW & having access to the online site.
Let us know how you get on. :T

Thanks Rags, 4lbs gone forever I hope.
In our area we are having problems getting police checks through for new staff, they are getting delayed by 4 to 6 months, (Humberside Police are notoriously slack so I understand) and our Manager won't have new employees without their POVA and CRB checks so we are working two staff down. When their checks come through overtime will dry up to some extent, so I am making hay while the sun shines. :rolleyes:

If you put the word "freebies" into Google, you get a list of sites that gather all the freebie information together on a weekly basis. I tend to put a phoney email address into the freebies sites though, otherwise you get endless spam.

After losing four pounds today, I stupidly went and ate three bags of crisps...very annoyed with myself.:mad: I think being so tired lowered my willpower.
I will have to make up for it over the next few days and eat like an angel and do a bit of extra exercise.
No work tomorrow yay! I shall be wrapping Ebay parcels, exercising and giving the house a going over. My upstairs bathroom is covered in water marks and toothpaste. No I don't have toddlers or young children...I live with two messy men. My teenage son has only just grasped the concept of remembering to flush the chain after having a wee...asking him not to soak the bathroom when he shaves and washes will be another mountain to climb...I am sure by the time he is 30 he will be nearly perfect, only nearly though...only females can be totally perfect.;)

Sleep is calling me now, I am taking a good book and a hot ribena to bed.
Have a great evening folks,

Bam x x

sharronloves2spend

We are going to magaluf bambywamby, we haven't been there before, infact we haven't been abroad in ten years:eek: Ds3 has a learning disability and struggles with any change in routine, so we have avoided in the past going abroad in favour of staying in this country so that we could come home early if he got distressed (which we have done). So this year as he's a bit older and a bit easier we thought we try it.

I lost 2 and a half pounds so i am delighted with that my total is 6 and half, (don't forget the half lol). I wouldn't worry too much about one bag of crisps (or 3), a little of what you fancy does you good and your less likley to fall of the wagon, How much weight do you want to loose bambywamby?? I have a long way to go but i am determined to get it off this time. I figured i've been on and off dieting ALL my adult life, and i'm sick of it now. I need to get my weight and finances in order, it's the only two areas of my life that i'm not happy with.

Well guitar hero is on ebay wit two watchers and me radley bag is at £36. Pre lbm i too was a BIG spender, hence the reason we were in so much debt. I just can't help it i love buying stuff, not just for me but for kids/hubs/dogs/cats/neighbours/parents/whoever wants it really!!! A physcoligist would have a field day with me......i have issues


My hat goes off to you and Rags, care work is so tough and i think most people do it for the love of the job rather than the money. I used to be a pharmacy technician and we used to service a bupa care home with meds, every month we would do a visit and the patience and empathy the care workers had was incredible, not to mention having to clear up up 'mess' that needs dealing with on a daily basis:A

Well i'm off now i have a date with my ironing board, so catch you all later

Love Sharron

Bambywamby

Well done on your 2.5 lbs weight loss Sharron...2.5lbs gone forever. Keep up the good work. :T

I want to lose three stone, but I am taking it a stone at a time so I don't get fed up with the long slog.
I have been watching Biggest Loser on Sky Real Lives, it's very impressive...4 hours training a day and 7lb weight losses every week...admirable, but I will stick with my small steps approach. I have a pedometer somewhere, I shall dig that out and make sure I am doing my 10'000 steps a day.

I love Radley bags and those matching purses, particularly like the doggy ones...however I will not be treating myself to anything like that for a while.
Well done on giving yours up in the name of debt busting.

Well just a quickie today, not much to report. Just done the usual clicks and checks and sold a few bits & bobs on Ebay.

Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive.

Ciao Bam x

Bambywamby

Yesterday I cooked a large chicken and I have managed to make it into 6 different meals. Chicken & veg curry, Chicken soup, Chicken and sweetcorn crumble, pasta with chicken and mushroom sauce and chicken and mushroom topped pizza.
All of them I have frozen, except the pasta which we ate for tea. All the meals were bulked up with veggies so there are cheap, tasty and healthy.
A tin of Campbells mushroom soup (it's condensed) makes a really nice sauce for pasta and for the chicken & sweetcorn in the crumble.

Now I am just toddling out in the piddling down rain and the freezing cold to post three Ebay parcels ...oh I can't wait to be debt free.

Bambywamby

Our current fixed rate mortgage runs out on May 1st, in the last few days myself and the O/H have been mooching around mortgage brokers websites looking for the best deal. We are going to go for another fixed rate deal for the security of knowing what we need to pay monthly. Even though interest rates are currently fabulous he is convinced inflation will shortly go through the roof followed by the interest rates (I have no idea being financially ignorant, however the idea of having a fixed rate does appeal to me). Our current mortgage company is offering a 5 year fixed deal with no product fee and no deposit needed. The mortgage is 4.9% - saving us around £60 a month compared to what we currently pay...(over a period of 5 years that is saving of £3600.)
Our mortgage company has told us we can't sign up for this mortgage earlier than 3 months before the expiry date of our current deal. So on February 1st we shall be on the phone, booking our new mortgage. It will be such a relief as we really cannot afford having to pay any more on top of our current mortgage (£1019 pm :eek: )...5 years security...fab!:T

ragstoricheswannabe

im not sure but think even if the rates go up before feb, the quote you have got lasts for a few months, sure mine was for 90 days. would check though.....