DFSD's five year plan... and all it brings along the way

debtfreesomeday

£6 just received already from yesterday's surveys! :T

debtfreesomeday

Believe it or not I've just done another £3 survey - that's £9 in two days! Brilliant!

4 out of 5 of the ebay parcels are wrapped and ready to go, one still hasn't paid :mad: so that one will have to wait until after the weekend to post.

Chocforever

That's great. Are you doing the ones that pay in Luncheon Vouchers? I recently signed up with them and received my first booklet. Not sure what I will do with them - I looked on here and a lot of people just seem to redeem them with a supermarket shop rather than against a lunch IYSWIM.

Things have been very stressful here with one thing and another, but thankfully looking like they might get easier now. I may then be able to get back into some MSE stuff and get building up that pot again.

You did so well with Ebay. I put a few things on last month, but very little sold. They were mostly clothes and brands that normally sell easily. Maybe I timed it wrong and need to wait until autumn clothes buying time. At least I have the items ready to relist so it is no hassle to do so.

Have you any plans for the weekend? I can't wait to put my feet up and relax!

debtfreesomeday

Hi all

Chocs - No, not doing luncheon vouchers as I don't find them of much use - I'd rather have the cash in my paypal account! If it's the same survey company, there's an option to say how you'd like the rewards sent to you - cash or vouchers.

Hope your relaxing weekend managed to de stress you a little. Sounds like you've had a tough month, I hope it is easing a little for you now.

We had a lovely weekend thanks, my dear parents came up to see us and bring us a new washing machine - well, a 6 month old washing machine that is now surplus to a family member and is in a lot better state than ours - ours was on its last legs.

I was shattered at the weekend though and not feeling great, as was hubby, think we had a bit of a bug or have just been overdoing it a bit lately. We had a very easy day yesterday though and managed to sleep better last night which has helped.

Last night we had friends over for dinner as we had lots to go round, followed by a Love Film DVD. It was really nice to just 'sit' for an evening!

Moneywise - we had to fill up with petrol on Friday (approx £40). We also picked up a few bits from the supermarket (£12 ish) and we spent £21 on a takeaway over the weekend for us all. Oh, and £8 was spent on ebay postage. Not bad spend wise, I'm more than happy with that (apart from the cost of the petrol!).

I've transferred the paypal balance after the last buyer finally paid up on Saturday. Around £190 is on its way over to the bank account. :T I also got sent another £3 survey on Friday, I earned £12 from those surveys in two or three days last week - brilliant! I also completed another 'points' survey this morning and I think they are going to send me something dishwasher-related to test.

With regards to the ebay cash, we have spent £110 of it. We've paid for some new garden furniture (£75), and, although it's very early, found a real sale bargain on a crib for the little one in the John Lewis sale, so have ordered that to put away. (£32.50). It will save us some money later on.

So there is about £80 left - £20 will go in the 'garden fund' e-saver to make it up to £100 - more than enough to finish the landscaping - and the remaining £60 is going into the other e-saver as a buffer in case we need it at the end of the month. If not, it will go in the ISA where will will be saving £400 per month from next pay day to cover maternity leave.

As for the pregnancy, I am feeling absolutely fine which, although great, is concerning me slightly as it makes me think something's not right. I see the midwife again on Thursday so will ask her about a scan within the next few weeks. After that, all being well, we can start to tell our families and friends.

Tonight we have left over roast beef for dinner again - yum! My darling parents brought us up some treats, so the storecupboard is full again, we just need to pick up some fruit sometime this week. Oh - we also started to harvest our crop of potatoes at the weekend. They were lovely, although a little on the small side, so we'll leave them for a couple more weeks before digging any more up. The courgette plants, however, are unstoppable and we have lots of courgettes ready and almost ready to pick. We used one last week and will need to use a couple more in the next week before they get marrow-sized! We also have tomatoes, blueberries and the odd strawberry ripening now. I love the garden at this time of year.

DFSD

debtfreesomeday

We've ordered some materials to complete the garden - £80's worth - leaving £20 in that pot for the other bits and bobs we'll need whilst landscaping. If the weather holds out, hopefully we can get it finished at the weekend. :T

Our car tax is due this month, and, thanks to the ebay sales, we have enough to pay for the year instead of 6 months. A good thing really, otherwise it would've been due again in February when the insurance and first MOT are due, not forgetting the possible arrival of a little person, all being well, and cut in wages due to maternity leave. So, the 'surplus' £60 made on ebay will not be going into the ISA this month but will be combined with our tax pot savings of £100 and put towards paying our car tax for 12 months instead.

I've done some sums this morning and so far this month we've only spent £53.24 on groceries and £107.48 on petrol. We'll definitely need more fresh fruit and veg and maybe two more tanks of petrol before payday, so the petrol budget will be over I think, but we did have a 4 hour drive this month which we don't normally do. The grocery budget, however, will be well under. :T

The bank account is looking healthy too which is a lovely change!

DFSD
X

debtfreesomeday

A day off for me today! :j I've done two loads of washing and cleared the washing basket this morning, it's all out on the line drying so I hope the rain holds off. The kitchen has been given a good clean and I'll mop the floors later on.

33p has been transferred across accounts this morning and I've transferred £77 from the garden e-saver to the main account to cover the materials we've had delivered. There's £23 left in the garden fund now for the few other bits we need. Hopefully we'll get the whole garden completed at the weekend.

I've had a pending sale on Amazon for £7.22. Hopefully that goes through today - apparently there's some problem with the buyer's payment details so I'm not to send it out yet.

Not sure what else to do today really. I'm waiting for another delivery and also have an appointment at 4pm, so can't go out. I may tackle the spare room and try and de-junk it. There's car boot stuff, ebay stuff and alsorts dumped in there at the moment. I suppose I should get the rest of the stuff on ebay too...

DFSD

Chocforever

Hi DFSD

You are doing so well keeping up the momentum with the MSE-stuff. I haven't been posting much because I just have too much on and everything is getting a bit out of hand. I am trying to keep up with a few surveys and MSs, but the money seems to be going out of my account faster! I'm trying to stay chilled out about it and I'm sure I will get back in control at some point.

Thanks for the tip about the surveys. I think I have to fill in a certain type of questionnaire and then I will be allowed to opt for Paypal, which I agree is more convenient.

It is lovely to read how you are getting on and you are motivating me not to give it all up so thank you!

Best wishes x

debtfreesomeday

Sorry to hear you're still having a busy/stressful time Chocs, I really hope things calm down a bit for you soon. Not feeling very motivated myself at the moment, but have no choice other than to keep plodding along!

debtfreesomeday

It's ten days until payday and we still have money in the bank; not much, but it's not overdrawn as it would usually be!

I've worked out that after everything's come out, we'll have about £30 left for some groceries which will be ample. We have a full tank of petrol, but I'm really hoping we don't need to put any more in before pay day otherwise we are going to be overdrawn after all. We'll have to ration any driving at the weekend!

HOPEFULLY, we'll be doing a car boot sale at the weekend if the weather is nice. We have plenty to get rid of, but I just need to sort it all out this week. Fingers crossed we make a decent amount of money as well as clearing some space.

We spent quite a bit last weekend - we worked solidly in the garden and hubby sent all day lifting and moving heavy building materials so we were both exhausted, aching and had nothing defrosted to cook, so we bought a takeaway. We also picked up a few bits from M&S for dinner on Sunday as a treat so we did spend more than we'd have liked, but we really didn't have the energy to cook. We achieved so much at the weekend that I'm not going to beat myself up over it!

Another payment has been paid to the sofa debt today, leaving the balance at £206. Only two more payments to go on this one and then we'll be another £103 a month better off to put in our savings. :j

Haven't had any surveys for a few days now and nothing outstanding to report from the free scratchies.

Roll on payday is what I say!

DFSD

debtfreesomeday

Just paid our car tax for the YEAR - first time I have ever paid for a year in full in my 14 years of driving! Thanks to the ebay sales and saving £100 towards it last month, we had enough money to do so this time. It will certainly help in February when it would have been due - when EVERYTHING for the car is also due - it's usually our most expensive month. Plus, hopefully, with a little one arriving in early Feb we have done ourselves a favour by paying the 12 months now.

Yesterday I made an £8.50 profit on a world cup sweepstake we had at work. Also spent £13 on some groceries last night but didn't manage to get everything on our list, so will pick up the rest at the weekend.

Roll on Friday!
DFSD