twinparents07's joint diary 'doing it together'!!

twinmum07

I have been paid so a little PAD this morning plus another tonight.
I have £30 in Amazon vouchers on Toluna but haven't made it back around the rest of my survey sites yet. No idea what I am saving my amazon vouchers for but hey!
I have made a ridiculous number of loaves of bread over the past 3 days so the freezer is well stocked up to avoid panic warburtons buying and to try to get ourselves organised for the shift to packed lunches.
I went for my first ever 5k run this morning and managed a not so fabulous time of 40mins16secs but just proud I actually made it around the full 5k!

We have a busy week ahead with half term. My friend is coming up tomorrow and then take that on Monday. Tuesday I have to do a mystery shop too.
After half term the twins are going to a party so might try to hunt for a suitable pressie for a 4 year old who likes cars and see if i can bargain hunt and use cashback.

twinmum07

Have been PADing like a loony but my bank account now looks scarily empty, especially given that it is only the 5th - oops!
Our printer needed new cartridges and I bought DH some running trainers so a couple of unusual purchases.
We have done menu planning for the week so if we can keep up to that for the rest of the month we should bring the grocery bill down a little.
I think we need to have a good rake through our finances as I think i am feeling like we're not getting anywhere and it is all a little 'grrr'!

DancerSupreme

Hi, how are things going for you at the moment? Nearly the summer holidays!!

Meant to ask before, how do you get your points up on Toluna. I seem to be taking forever, never withdrawn from them yet!

xxx

chevalier

hope things are going well for you.

twinmum07

It has been rather a while since I have posted - oops!
We have lost our focus a little bit and slipped up on our overpaying.

I went up to working 4 days rather than 3 days a week in September but have to pay for childcare for all 3 kids so haven't really benefitted much from that.

Our surplus each month seems to have slid into being spent on treating ourselves rather than on meaty debt repayments so we need to rebudget and refocus.

I am trying to get my head back into surveys and other little bits at the moment

twinmum07

Quite nice to update our signature and see that we have actually paid off 19.7% of our debt - only 80.3% to go!!!
I have been back into my OnePoll, Pure Profile, Toluna and YouGov accounts but can't remember what other survey accounts I used to use and can't find my book that had it all in.

We have just been to Staples to get our new moneybusting diary for 2012 and I was very good and ignored the pretty ones and bought a reduced boring one. Whilst I was there got some hardback Marvel comic A5 and A4 notebooks reduced to 99p to go in the pressies box. Also got some marvel mini-pads for 29p that will be fab for stocking fillers
More amazingly, resisted the lovely smells coming from KFC!

CuppyCake

Hello there

I'm glad I have found your own DFD, subscribing! Good going on paying off 20% of your debt, you must be really chuffed! Always good to see when progress has been made!

Take care, your cheese, chips and gravy loving friend, CuppyCake :P

twinmum07

Cuppy - I am annoyed that our talk of Cheesy Chips sunk into my tiny brain and I couldn't resist for tea - the diet restarts tomorrow! I have so little willpower

I have had a fun evening reading MSE, inspiring myself whilst 'enjoying' a glass of £2.99 Aldi wine! DH is trying to write school reports whilst distracting himself by fiddling with whats the cost every 5 mins!

I love getting back into full debt-busting mode but hate that it leaves me feeling a bit helpless as I just want to be able to do something useful now. We should have a good end to December and start of January. I marked exams in November so should have a cheque for around £200 coming this week and we get our end of December pay on 21st a week and a bit early, which shouldn't be a bonus as we need to leave it untouched until our normal payday but I did 2 days extra work so should have £200-£300 in that paypack for that and I have gone through the threshold for an extra £100ish a month, which will be backdated from Sept and backpaid this month too, so an extra £600-£700 pre-tax, plus the £200 cheque. I need to pay for childcare as I have acidentally blown that money on Christmas stuff for the kids that they really didn't need (ho hum!)
I am looking forward to putting a good chunk of that onto debt repayment.

I have a job interview in mid-January so I need a proper interview suit as I haven't had an interview for 9 years so the old suit is thoroughly dead. We have a Next outlet nearishby which is great but has no changing rooms so need to be able to buy the right size without needing to try on. My diet has been going a little (this is code for A LOT) wayward lately and the size 14s I was so proud to be into are getting rather snug so I need to diet back into them before my interview so i can stress myslef about what not to say at interview more than what to wear.

CuppyCake

I apologise for leading you astray, won't happen again!

Congratulations on your job interview I would definitely say that a new suit is a worthwhile investment, and what with the sales around the corner, it could be quite a bargain!

twinmum07

Tomorrow I think we talk about our favorite salads - that might put me in a better position when choosing tea!

I am terrible with sales and get more excited by the price than practicality so would be likely to come home with a neon pink cat suit in size 6 just because it was a bargain! Might not be the best to set a good impression but avoid me having to list my weaknesses in that dreaded interview question