Jo_R's debt-free diary, slow and steady progress!

bevan840

Hi Jo

I don't really use Quidco, used it once to do my Asda shopping about a month ago and it still only tracked at £0.00 I tend to use TopCashBack more and have so far made £30 out of bits and bobs Even got a fiver for signing up to do the new scratch card I'm doing hehe Plus they don't charge admin fee so whatever you earn you keep, where Quidco takes £5 before you receive anything.

It should track first, just to show that whoever you bought from tells Quidco, sometimes will have an amount, sometimes wont for a while, should then confirm it, then eventually become payable

Jo_R_2

Ah right - checked in just now to Quidco and has tracked one of the DVDs which has been dispatched already - that was quick!

Has spurred me on to getting on with the Christmas shopping though - can't explain the relief to actually have money there JUST to spend on Christmas instead of dipping into December's lot of money and inevitably being short:eek: All being well will have a little more next Christmas as will be putting some away each month from January:)

Just sat looking at DD1's "extensive" list for Santa:rolleyes: Bless her, apart from the hundred or so things she wants, she's put on there, "Purthyoum [perfume:D] that smells nice for Mummy", "neckles for Mummy" and "ring for Mum with dimon on it please" - awwwwwww!

No idea how am going to sift through this lot... DDs have been little monkeys and taking note of *every* toy on during the ad breaks on breakfast-time kids tv and DD1 went to the trouble of writing down almost everything she saw the other day:eek: I still can't work out which she wants most - although those bloody Lelli Kelly boots are a firm fave for both DDs - but the ones we found on the internet when looking the other day were £65:eek::eek::eek:

bevan840

Awww bless DD1, must be lovely to have someone do that for you, and so young too. Awww

I'll definitely be doing the same from Jan, work out how much we will need by Christmas and then divide it by 12 and put that away every month Might mean the CC's take a few months longer but so long as I feel happier about Christmas means less stress and guilt No idea which account to use though lol think I'll start using the 'Savings' page more on the budget spreadsheet I downloaded from Eagerlearner

At the moment the boys want everything expensive too, new PSP's, EACH!!! DH has finally got off the idea of bikes realising that we wont be able to get a bike for £20 They have been spoiled rotten every year which is why they 'expect' expensive pressies, but back then, DH didn't have a house and bills to pay, still no idea what to get them though

In case you change your mind about Quidco, I have a refferal link for TCB if your interested They also do 'Top Ups' TCB always give you 100% of the cashback, depending on how much you earned during the month, depends on how much of a top up you get the month after, so you can get up to 110%

Jo_R_2

Might have to look into that Sal, sounds good!

Went through DD1's Christmas list this morning over breakfast. I now feel clearer over what to buy and what to skip - turns out some of the things were also for DD2 :A

Glad baby is easy to buy for: wooden baby walker and some clothes and he's sorted!

Still not sure what to get OH, even though he says hes not bothered... I just know if I really didn't get him anything he'd be quietly miffed!:rolleyes:

bevan840

aww bless, DD2 as well, she's a little :A indeed!!

I know what you mean about OH's! It was only by chance that I got an email from Lovefilm about DVD boxsets reduced for a couple of days, was looking for me and saw one I though DH would like, text him to ask him, he said yes, 1 week later and it's now hidden under my side of the bed

Jo_R_2

More quiet time whilst OH and baby are snoozing upstairs:D

Feeling guilty...:o OH gets a cheque from Tax Credits for his Working Tax Credits (I get the Child Tax Credits paid directly into my bank account.) He cashes it and usually gives me some to use on whatever.

He gave me £40 two days ago, I planned to use it on buying some clothes. As of today I have £18.70, frittered away yesterday on one late lunch for both of us, a couple of bits we needed from Asda and a couple of drinkies last night:o:o:o

Really annoyed with myself, but also a bit of a lesson methinks. Firstly that is why I SHOULD NOT carry cash around unless it is for a specific purpose, and secondly made me realise that because OH usually pays for stuff like this, just how much he must pay... He knows how tight things are for me and is fine about it but it did make me think.

Somehow got looking at mortgages and houses to buy locally last night...:eek: Is a way off yet, want to pay off debts first then start saving but think OH is getting disheartened at the mo, he feels he's ambling along aimlessly so we discussed last night opening a savings account thinking he can start saving now to give him something to aim for.

He also asked me to sort out a balance transfer on his cc so did that, got me thinking that I could do that with my Tesco cc so been potentially looking at the Nationwide one with a 13 month 0% offer. Might hold off for the mo, currently on a 6.9% LOB rate, going to wait until my PPI refund comes through and see what I can pay off then deal with the situation then.

Keeping_Positive

I agree cash is so easy to lose track of. I had a couple of splurges this weekend. Mum stressing me out. Dont get too disheartened though it wasnt a couple of hundred!

Good idea to get OH saving a bit. there will eb something there reasy when you hit your target.

EssexHebridean

It's so easy done isn't it - frittering. It's probably the thing that's made the most difference to me actually, really stopping to think before I spend. Having said that though, your spends weren't actually that bad - you said yourself the Asda stuff was bits you needed, and as for the lunch and the drinks, you know what they say about all work and no play....!

Jo_R_2

Pretty rubbish weekend, you know the ones where you end up sniping at OH and he at you and you fall out? ALL weekend? That was us

I won't bore you with it (LOL) as think we've come out the other side of it but we've argued about pretty much everything! Think everyday life is just getting to us like it does now and again. It has been hard as work messed up his holiday when baby was born at the start of March meaning he hasn't had ANY holiday to use all year:mad: So he's had no respite and he works a really strenuous job doing long days, he looks forward to the weekends but they rush past, so going to plan something this next weekend to keep his chin up, not sure what yet though.

Listed a handful of baby clothes on ebay earlier so been good:D

Jo_R_2

Got a few things on my mind so will get them down here before I go to bed. Might end up a bit of a list but hey what can you do - better than forgetting!

• [STRIKE]check online banking, still waiting for PPI refund, will be coming either via account or cheque[/STRIKE] - nothing yet, boo!
• phone to check registered on electoral roll here - am cursed with this as at last address gave details 3 times before they actually got me registered there!:eek:
• [STRIKE]tot up receipts and adjust running totals on SOA[/STRIKE]
• all washed laundry to put away - some of it done!
• [STRIKE]one load of laundry to wash[/STRIKE] and dry on line if not raining - tumble dried - again - rained on and off all day
• [STRIKE]shopping[/STRIKE]
• [STRIKE]take raffle ticket stubs to school and get more raffle tickets for Christmas Fair (can only hope to win!)[/STRIKE]

Gonna leave it at that as eyes are bleary!