Diary of an Ex-Spendaholic - Sorting it out in 2010

Ex-Spendaholic

Woohoo its pay day. :j :j I just love pay day. I'm going to try to have a No Spend Day though just for the hell of it and just because I'm more disciplined these days. Once upon a time pay day meant rushing out and spending it which is why I'm here on this board in the first place. :rotfl:


I have just phoned Tax Credits as DD is attending preschool play group 3 days per week at a cost of £18. They say I may get something towards it. Will know next week.


Tonight is ebay listing night (was to be last night but various issues took over). I have 5 items to list in total and hope to get about £100 after fees. We shall see.


I'm entering loads of competitions but winning nothing. Sadly I think the days of comping providing luxuries are long gone.

Ex-Spendaholic

The bedroom revamp and associated clearout continues. Bought our bed yesterday and was pleased to find that it was £50 less than advertised so that was a nice little bonus. The £50 will get the curtains hopefully. :j

As a result of the clearout I took clothes OH no longer wanted to the Cash4clothes shop and got £7 for them. :j

Still have to list the ebay stuff.

Ex-Spendaholic

Having a good day. My 4 weekly tax credit payments are going up from £206.62 to £257 to allow for the playgroup costs. :j This means it is really only costing us £5.40 per week. Then in November they go up to £307 every 4 weeks as the overpayment will be cleared. Of course when the baby arrives they will go up again. Can't believe it really as we've never had any sort of benefits before. OH is no worse off being self-employed than he was when he was employed. No doubt the coalition will throw a spanner in the works next year but we'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Bedroom is nearly finished, house is decluttered and clean and I will get that stuff on ebay some night this week.

Ex-Spendaholic

Bedroom finished :j

Items listed on ebay :j

£6.16 on its way from Quidco :j

£5.50 received from Cash4clothes :j

House all totally decluttered and clean once again :j

New sealed tin and the old one still has the money in it :j



Week beginning Mon 4 October I will:


Send phone to Fonebank

Buy some Xmas presents for both daughters

Buy those tins of biscuits

Ex-Spendaholic

Biscuits finally bought. :j That means that I have all the Xmas shopping done for everyone who doesn't live with us ie parents, nieces etc. I have most of DS stuff in and some for both DDs. Will get them more this week. Nothing for OH but I never really panic about his until the last minute.

Stuff doing well on ebay. :j

Phone is going to Fonebank this afternoon. :j

Have just been to the M&S online sale and got a load of stuff for the DDs - socks, vests, PJs etc. Some real bargains. Also at Matalan yesterday got cot sheets and blankets. These were a really bargain at packs of 2 on 2 for £5. Gone are the days where I pay £15 for a Mamas and Papas sheet. :eek:

Ordered the 2 DDs, 2 pairs of PJs each from the Kids Pyjamas site.

Got some Littlest Petshop stuff for DD1 which is going away for Xmas.

Also bought xmas cards today in Poundstretcher. That will stop the kids from dragging me into the Disney Store or somewhere to pay a fortune for them.

So Christmas preparations coming along nicely.

Ex-Spendaholic

Have been out spending money rather than saving it but it is for Christmas and I did get good deals:


Peppa Pig Vehicle Set £40 down to £20
Lego Set £30 down to £15
2 x Littlest Petshop Deco Pets £10 down to £5

Will get Tesco Clubcard points on those


Also ordered some stuff from Play.com

Littlest Petshop Rescue Centre £30
Toy Story Jigsaw £5
Buzz Phone £12.43
Toy Story Alien Game £12.43

I'll get Quidco cashback on those. :beer:

So thats more stuff sorted for the DDs. I'm going to forget about Christmas for a while now as we have had a few unexpected costs so far this month (and its only the 6th) :eek:

Stuff doing well on ebay. :j Wish I could find more to list but there doesn't seem to be anything left.

Ex-Spendaholic

Phone finally gone to Fonebank. £42 + £1.50 Quidco. :j

Ebay stuff sold at weekend £130 (after fees) :j

Another item listed on ebay - expect about £70 for it. :j

New digital V plus box negotiated from Virgin Media at no cost. :j


Despite my pledge to cut down on Xmas shopping, I've been busy taking up offers from the Grabbit board. :rotfl:


For DD2

3 items from Boots online - Peppa Pig Supermarket, Dream Town Cottage, Dream Time Cooker. These were all £50 each but on 3 for 2 cost £100. Plus with the points I'm getting 2800 points back which equates to £28. :j Quidco too. Also a Hungry Caterpillar book from Amazon for £1.99 instead of £6.99


For DD1

Have ordered Blendy Pens from Amazon - £9.99 instead of £19.99
Have ordered Hello Kitty Duvet Set from Play - £9.99 instead of £19.99
Have ordered Littlest Petshop Wii game for only £8.99 at Play
Will get Quidco on the Play items.


For Myself

I've bought 6 Burts Bees toiletry sets from Boots online. These should have cost £60 in total but with a 3 for 2 glitch have paid £20 instead. Also ordered 3 Soap and Glory Hat boxes. These should have cost £30 but actually cost £15. All have loads of points attached too. This will keep me in toiletries for ages and also do for the Secret Santa in work etc. Also 2 M&S Duvet sets on their double discount offer meaning they cost £27 instead of £45. :beer: Got 2 new towel bales in Debenhams too - 2 for £20. :j All of this will get Quidco cashback.


So my next move is to buy a new Quinny Zapp Xtra pram for the forthcoming baby. I can buy it online at Boots and get 2800 points. Together with the points I already have this will then get me a moses basket and stand free of charge. :j Could use the maternity grant but I also have enough in paypal having sold stuff on ebay.


So whilst I seem to be spending an awful lot of money the good thing is I'm getting lots of good deals, lots of points and I'm generating money on ebay. I do have to slow down now though for a couple of weeks.


Oh and got a Xmas cake in M&S for £3.99 as they are half price at the minute.

Ex-Spendaholic

Have had a great time taking delivery of Christmas toys. :j One item isn't as expected so its going back to Play.com for a refund of £13.49. Haven't a lot left to buy. DD1 has said she would like a Flicker Scooter. Looking about for a deal on one.


Its DD's birthday next week so need decide what to give her. May give her the pram and doll. Going to take the kids to an indoor playcentre and then have a Dominos Delivery that evening using the £15 off a £30 spend which is a bargain. Have lots of Haagen Dazs ice cream in the freezer having won a year's supply of vouchers and with it being on offer for £2.50 at Tesco at the minute.


Ebay item doing well, once its sold I'm ordering the pram from Boots.com then once the points are through I'll order the moses basket, stand and bouncy chair. :beer:

Hopefully the Fonebank cheque will appear in the next few days.


Oh and today has been a NSD. :j

Ex-Spendaholic

All good.

£42 cheque received from Fonebank.

£70 from ebay.

Ordering pram tonight. Will then have enough Boots points for a free moses basket and bouncy chair. Was going to get the moses basket stand but remembered about a free voucher from Argos so will use that.

Xmas is well on its way to being sorted

Ex-Spendaholic

How long is it until payday? :eek: Thankfully its Monday. Have had quite a few unexpected expenditures this month but at least we've covered it. One of them was a car expense of £130. I'm hoping to get this back through the warranty scheme but I'm not holding my breath.


Ordered my pram at last. With the current Boots deal on I managed to buy the pram using paypal (from stuff sold on ebay), get 8900 points :j and £7.50 quidco. That will bring my points balance to the equivalent of £120 ish. So I'll be using £60 of it on a moses basket and bouncy chair and hanging on to the rest for another time. Then I'll buy a stand for the basket from an Argos voucher I have. Feel like I've kitted the baby out for free. :rotfl:


Kids are off school next week - that will be a saving of £25 on school dinners. As I'll be at work myself the kids won't incur any expenditure for me while they are off. :j There will be no clubs on either so that will be another £6 saved.


I'm waiting on a Play.com refund of £14, M&S refund of £21 so together with the above savings thats £66 going spare. I'm going to buy DD's fliker scooter for Xmas with that. Hopefully Smyths will come up with one of their money off coupons in the next week. I've also a Peppa pig toy to take back to Tesco as youngest DD got one for her birthday. That will be £20 back but I no longer have also got onethe receipt so will probably have to exchange for more toys.


So no great money making schemes around at the minute. I'm still comping but winnning nothing so its not like there is anything to sell or give as a Xmas present. Will keep at it though.