Debt Free by 40 Debt Diary

oakdale_minx

Passed my first AQA review - yayy!!

Free dinner tonight! Doing a mystery shopping assignment and obviously can't say who it is, but it is home delivery so will be a welcome break from cooking.

I joined the chocolate tasting club about a year ago and get a box every three months. Received a box yesterday which reminded me I was a member and I need to cancel the subscription. They are very dear, (15.95 a box) and I'll have to pay for this box as it's already arrived, but I'll cancel the subscription. My hips don't require any more chocolate! (but i'll persevere to eat them!)

The top I ordered in a fit of weakness from QVC arrived. It doesn't fit, so there's no decision needed as to whether to keep it or not. I won't get the postage returned but i'll have to take that on the chin and see it as a lesson learnt for having a blip.

Decided to try to use up a big bag of dry chick peas lurking in the cupboard. I love chick peas but always buy tinned ones . Did a batch in the slow cooker and I'm trying out a chick pea cake recipe from the OS board. Will report back on how it tastes!!

Nothing from the posty. Was really hoping for some Capital One statements today.

scottishspendaholic

oakdale_minx wrote:

Passed my first AQA review - yayy!! I should be able to fully go live in a few days. I'm going to really put in as many hours as I can with it and I'm going to try to average 20 questions a day, but hopefully to more than that. If I can do 20 questions a day, that's just short of £170 a month less tax/NI so will be that extra 'cushion' for my finances.

Yay! Brilliant news oakdale - whoppeee!

I'm so chuffed for you!

scottishspendaholic x

oakdale_minx

Quiet day today I think. Although woken up at 5.30am by the breamaker starting up! I'd dusted it off and decided to use the timer for the first time. The thought of waking up to the smell of a lovely freshbaked loaf costing me about 9p was the plan - but instead was woken at 5.30 when it started mixing!! It was very loud and I live in a bungalow so couldn't get back to sleep with the racket! It's baking now, so it' nice and quiet, so it will be hot buttered bread for breakfast, beans on chunky toast for lunch........and knowing my bread 'addiction' (it's always been my downfall is there such a thing as a breadaholic?!), I'll be baking another loaf this afternoon!

Fence panel broke and fell down in the wind about 2 months ago. It was a fence not joining another garden so my responsibility. OH had a new spare one which fitted to gap perfectly and he fitted it with his son yesterday (so he's not all bad I guess!). That's saved me the cost of a big panel and the fitting of it, so he's earned his dinner this weekend!! I'll be staining it later - we found a big tub of the matching stain in the shed left by the previous people, so another saving there.

OH got the Vax down from the loft so I'll be shampooing the carpet ina minute to get the smell of beer out. Still stinks!

OH is going to see his sister tonight so it's just me for dinner. I've got some reduced Quorn mince in the freezer and a few potatoes so I think i'll do a mince potato, cheese and bean bake tonight with lashings of brown sauce (and HM chunky bread!!). The cupboards are a bit bare after that so I'll need to go to the supermarket today for the shopping for the next week. Might try Lidl and see if that's any cheaper.

Only 8am - I'm ready to go back to bed now! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........

oakdale_minx

Payday - hurrah!! Got my measly annual 2.5% rise, so an extra £35 in my salary. All helps though.

Had an email from my senior researcher/trainer from AQA, we've had a quick chat and i'm fully fledged, and can go for it! Excellent news - just frustrating that i'm at work and willing the minutes to go by so I can get home and start earning extra pennies (and pounds!)

Capital One only have 5 days left before they fail the 40 day compliance rule for sending me my statements from my old closed account.

There's only a few days left for the Abbey' solicitors to put in a defence for my first claim (the one for £610), I'm expecting a 50% offer very soon which I'll be turning down.

Having my shopping being delivered from Asda this afternoon, I used a £10 off voucher and I've done a meal planner. If it wasn't needed it wasn't on the list! I'm going to aim for as close to £120 for shopping as Ican get.

I was very good last night. OH was away for the night and I was sooooo tempted to get a chinese. Even got the menu out and marked what I wanted with a pen. But, I held off and held off and at 9pm I decided I really didn't want it, I'd have loads left over, I'd feel rough for eating all the junk in it and it would cost me about £15. I haven't had a chinese for about a year, possibly a lot longer and I was very close to giving in, but I didn't feel hungry and I knew I was buying it because I had a night on my own and I could be 'naughty'. So, £15 saved!

Need to phone the tax office and register as self employed. Want to make sure I put money aside as I don't want to go mad, earn a couple of thousand extra from AQA and mystery shopping and be faced with a tax bill next year.

oakdale_minx

Fab timing - got home and there is a hige envelope of statements and loads of other gumph from capital one - all sent special delivery! If I hadn't had a little premonition this morning and stuck the note to the door, I'd have had a card shoved through and it would have been a few days until i'd got them.

£288 in charges - preliminary letter printed and will be whizzing off today.

oakdale_minx

Shopping from Asda was over two hours late yesterday due to traffic problems out in the sticks. I called the CS department and they've refunded my delivery charge, which makes the shopping even cheaper as I used a £10 voucher.

Got a phone call yesterday - I've won a competition I entered on the MSE comp board - a car? a holiday? a weekend pampering? a lifetime supply of chocolate? No, a training session in London for an adult and 3 kids with David Beckham. Gutted. I don't have children and I have no desire to meet David Beckham. My OH is over the moon. He is a Man United fan born and bred (he was even born in Manchester!) and is going to take 3 of the kids from the football club he is on the committee for. Mega brownie points for me! Bit of a bummer I don't get anything from it, but hey ho. I'm going to ask him to get David to sign something for me and I'll stick it on ebay.

gallygirl

Me me me!!!!¬ He can take me along and get him to sign me!!!!!!!! If that had been me I'd have asked to swap the 3 kids & an adult for 4 sessions with an adult :rolleyes2 !!!!!!!

Congrats on win - sods law that a) you didn't want it, and b) can't sell it!!!!! Best bet is not to enter them - otherwise you might use up all your luck!!!!!

Well done on getting through AQA - how many can you answer an hour?

lubava

Hello okdale. I've just red your whole diary and i'm so impressed by you. Very entertainin.I like the idea of being debt free by 40 but it will 30 for me.
keep up the good work. And good luck with Abbey charges. I'm going through the same with Abbey for £2000 and so far they refusing to pay so I just sent them letter before action - waiting for the reply.
Keep writting.

oakdale_minx

Ali - Do I detect you like Mr Beckham - hhmmm??!!!! :rotfl: I must have entered well over 100 competitions on the day I entered this one, I remember entering it and thinking my OH could take kids from his team, I never thought it would be the only competition I'd win out of them all!!!

lubava Glad you are enjoying! I do feel I ramble on about a load of rubbish a lot of the time!! my first Abbey claim should be moving along soon - today is 28 days since the claim was issued , they acknowledged it on the 13th, so I think things might move along a stage in the next few days. Fingers crossed. Good luck with your claims , I've realised it purely a process and find it quite funny that everyone gets the same letters at every stage - why on earth do they send out letters saying 'give us another 4 weeks to investigate' when they know full well they are going to say no?! :rotfl:

Had a letter from citicards about my claim for charges - sent to my old address! Luckily i'm on friendly terms with my ex and he passed it on rather than chucking it! It says nothing interesting, but they will investigate etc etc.......there's only a few more days and I can go for a court claim with them.

oakdale_minx

No bank charges this month - hurrah!! First time this year, an achievement as I've been hit every month since January and this is the first month I've managed to turn it around so I won't incur any.