greent's mfw journey

greent

Saving_Glut wrote: »

Hi greent, I am watching silently from the sidelines to learn if you reach your £8k op this year. A very impressive target which you seem to be taking in your stride!

Seperately, can I ask what the acronym ‘MFP’ stands for?

My Fitness Pal

Am on target to meet it mid next month. I would actually exceed it (slightly) by looks - so am starting my 'Florida 2020 Fund' with some of this excess - first payment of £15 (from tcb payout) going into the new fund today
x

greent

brizzlegirl wrote: »

Loving your sorting the jobs that have been lurking for ages. It’s like decluttering...ridiculously pleasing...almost out of all proportion to the event itself. Love it

Yes! Am soo looking forward to some things being done!!

brizzlegirl wrote: »

And I have now decided to make sure I buy advent calendars for my kids even when they have left home. Nice idea x

Definitely do this! x

Saving_Glut

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greent wrote: »

My Fitness Pal

Am on target to meet it mid next month. I would actually exceed it (slightly) by looks - so am starting my 'Florida 2020 Fund' with some of this excess - first payment of £15 (from tcb payout) going into the new fund today
x

Exceed your target and commence your holiday fund simultaneously?! How fab!

I like the seed capital you’ve used to start your holiday fund greent. Done in good MFW style!

greent

So the students have made their way back to Wales (one should be back, one still travelling). Was lovely (and noisy - and quite expensive!) having them home for the weekend They have taken back (between them) 2 shelves' worth of food from the freezer and 4 bags of food from the fridge/ cupboards! And both have a large pack of toilet rolls and have stocked up on toiletries from the stash too -and their (wrapped) advent calendars, of course! :xmassmile:xmassmile

Listed lots of bits n pieces on fb00k for sale - 3 have sold so far - still have some bits to list. Most items belong to the kids, so they get the money - I'm more inclined to keep trying with their items for longer (they also tend to be things like toys, so have wider appeal) When I think back to what the pending sale pile size was (and it's been added to several times since) we have come a long way :T

Florida fund has increased by the grand sum of £10 this weekend :rotfl: It * should* have a better jump at month end, as I'll add the unexpected invigilation hours pay to the total.

Other than that, not much really to report.
x

apple_muncher

Glad you had a lovely time with the whole family.

greent

Brrrrr!! It's very chilly today! It's snowed a teeny tiny bit in the county - but not where we live. Definitely noticeably much colder, though - my hands are cold even inside the house (which does absolutely nothing for my very itchy eczema - they're already looking rather manky

Gained £5 today - answered the door at lunchtime - I expected it to be the postie but it was a MORI poll person - I agreed to fill in an online survey about my radio listening habits (which are none, so it's not like I expect it to take me any time!) and he then gave me £5 - so it has been added to my Florida Fund :T (current balance = just over £40.... I have a way to go yet! :rotfl:)

Have decided to go out and about tomorrow - I suspect that town will be manic on Friday due to BF - plus I have DS2 at home for an Inset anyway (and on Monday) and he has a dentist appt, so not really do-able. I've written a small list and shall gather together any relevant vouchers I have to take with me (such as a free hot drink from McDs) and see if I can get in the free for 3 hours parking outside of town - if I can, the walk in/ back out can be my exercise for the day! I definitely need to try and get DS3 a choc advent calendar - was convinced I'd bought him a Malted-Teasing choc one, but can't find it anywhere

OH is out in London tonight with an ex-colleague - he catches the train in from Maidenhead and back again. He spotted H@rry Ke@ne through a shop window so took some pics I think he's had a few to drink... (OH, not HK!)

In my search for the apparently non existent advent calendar (:() I emptied under our bed (Xmas shopping) - so shall re-sort that before I put it back under and double check what I still need (rather a lot, it would seem - am hoping for a few BF deals) I also emptied my wardrobe (well, currently half empty) -so shall fully empty that and have a good sort out - am sure there are some things in there which can go and my Summery shoes can be put properly away in boxes at the back and all the boots brought forward - I shall turn the fruitless exercise into something worthwhile

Keep warm, fellow diarists!
x

Hazelnutty

Good work on the free fiver! I think Aldi has branded choc advent calendars as well as their own ones, both pretty cheap (less than £2 for a Galaxy one DD got)

greent

Hazelnutty wrote: »

Good work on the free fiver! I think Aldi has branded choc advent calendars as well as their own ones, both pretty cheap (less than £2 for a Galaxy one DD got)

Darn - read this after I'd been shopping! Still - I did manage to pick up a Cbury one for £2 (dithered between that and Malted one for several minutes) in Wilko - and used my L0ve2sh0p vouchers from RM surveys to pay for it - so I'll take that

Boy have I shopped today - actual real physical-visiting-of-shops shopping, too - not the online kind which I normally do! I hit Tesc0 quickly this morning - bought some books in there for presents and some 3 for 2 wrapping paper and tissue paper (I have a stash, but it's DD's 21st bday next month, so I thought it deserved something a little more special than the random rolls I have in the box ) Used a cashback payment giftcard from tcb, so spent less than £5 real money (and transferred the card's monetary value to Florida Fund ) Came home and had a breather, checked I was fully organised for stuff and went into town - parked outside of town - managed to get a good space quickly in the free-for-3-hours car park and strode in, by-passing the Victorian Xmas Mkt on the way (lovely, and I want to visit before it ends, but I was on a mission!)where the stalls were just opening up. Got the kids bank accounts updated, picked up a free bag of toffee popcorn from a little Tesc0, had a wander into the stunningly beautiful Gloucester Cathedral(not that I'm biased, or anything! ) - I'm not religious in any way, but I find it so grounding being there - it's good to touch base sometimes - plus there's an exhibit in there which leaves after this weekend which I wanted to catch a look at ) Having given my soul a boost I hit some more shops - checked out the YS reductions in the little Sainz as I wandered through (it's a shortcut!)but resisted and then hit Wilk0s - where I bought the advent calendar and some chocs for stockings - using L2S vouchers for all bar 20p :T

Quick look in the window of a few more shops, and I nipped into Debnums - had a £12 reward voucher which expires end of Dec. They had some Leg0 minifigs on offer which DS2 wants, so got some of those - and then some skull shaped chocs and skull decorated glasses for DS1. The skull stuff was a silly price, but had 30% off - I then had a 10% off voucher and then used the reward voucher. Paid the remaining small balance with my Debnums card to get points towards a future voucher

Trotted to WHSm1th and picked up a book for DS3's stocking (had a voucher, so it only cost me £1), a pack of Xmas cards (free with 02 instead of 6.99) and 4 individual cards (Xmas/ DD's bday) -where I used a 25% off voucher to reduce their cost

Popped into B00ts to check out offers on N07 and Sanctu@ry - nothing yet. Then nipped upstairs in H&M to kids dept - couldn't find DS2 a top he'd wear in his size (he's very short of l/s tops - he only has 3!!) but had to get him some gloves (his have gone walkabout - meaning he only has fingerless - and it's getting too cold for just fingerless ones) - 3 pairs for £2.99 - bargain! Got DD a jumper reduced to £5 - it's a style she'll love, so that was a good find

Nipped to M&S and picked up a tin of shortbread on offer from £10 to £5 - and used my reward vouchers - bargain! Then had to hot foot it back to the car park outside of town - was hungry and thirsty by that point, but resisted all of the lovely food stalls in the Xmas market - no time to stop!! Also popped to Mata1an on way home - found DS a l/s top, some slippers and some fluffy socks (socks = for his stocking) - think that's the only shop where I didn't have any money off! Came home and made a fishfinger roll for lunch - was quick and was hot food Just about to have another cuppa - and then best sort that shopping and get it away before the smalls get home!

Feels like I did quite a good amount of shopping for not much actual money spent - result! :j

Hazelnutty

Wow, greent, I feel tired just reading that! You really seem adept at working all the different vouchers and MSE systems, which I really admire. I know I could do better as I really only do the basics (comparing for insurance, a bit of Quidco, switching energy). I hope you're now putting your feet up for a well-deserved rest and whatever treats you most enjoy!

CathT

Excellent use of vouchers, you really do make your money work hard for you.