A sense of the past explains the present and foretells the future

saorsie

Well I made it :j the ISA / Halifax 0% 'Trust Fund' has officially become 'paid up' as of Friday 6th August 2010 with the receipt of my o2 world cup goals cheque. I suppose technically I am now 'debt-free' as I have no outstanding credit commitments. Any balances all have funds squirrelled away to pay them when they become due whether that be my cashback E** card which is paid off in full monthly or the Stooze-vehicle card in March 2011 - mmmmmm now that is a good feeling - in fact, wait one - IT'S A GREEEEEAAAAAT FEELING - so empowering! :T :T :T :beer: :beer: :beer:
Did think I was going to need to delve into the motoring fund this week as car point-blank refused to start on Thursday - finally got the RAC out to look at it yesterday (using a bypass number {02002220700} rather than the lo -call one they provide which would have cost me 20p a minute from my mobile - I think not! :eek: ) to discover that unsurprisingly the battery was flat due to lack of use so cheap but a little embarrassing especially when he lifted the bonnet and there was no end of debris and foliage wafting about in the engine compartment! May still have to delve into long term savings fund this week, however it looks like it will be the 'vet pot' as eldest dog (15 - aaaah bless) has developed an inflated ear flap - best way I can describe it really .

Surprisingly V*rgin have allowed me to withdraw £10 scratchie money at the weekend - I was a tadge fearful after reading on the boards that they had become a little - well mean! - regarding their withdrawal policy from playing the free scratchcard however it went through without a problem and the resulting £10 has now been lodged in the e-bike fund which should now start gaining momentum as all available sums get diverted into it's lovely shiny direction.

Have a free £5 m*tched b*t materialising at the weekend with a net profit of £4.31 and also a couple of bits to put on flea bay, including the £15 o2 sim that led to the £20 cheque as above - may as well capitalise!

-s-

benbenandme

Hi, not sure how I've missed your diary but will be subscribing now

saorsie

Thanks BenBen - always enjoy reading your diary and sharing your trials and tribulations x

Well the e-bike fund is now flourishing nicely particularly after my decision to decommission the sealed pot (actual as opposed to virtual that is still going strong) :eek: Thinking behind this was that it's just sat there in the cupboard, doing nothing, not earning it's keep - so it's been emptied and paid into the bank <£32.49p's worth in case anybody's interested> and then transferred to the e-bike fund. Any loose change will now be popped into a designated bag and be paid into the bank when it's worthwhile ie totals more than £1 and I'm in town (thankyou HSBC and your lovely change sorting machine)

Recently discovered on the boards that you can trade in n*ctar points for Amazon vouchers - well let joy be unconfined! :T Have ordered my first £5 so that can sit in my Amazon account until there is something I need or until it's joined by a friend courtesy of a survey site perhaps as part of the 'saorsie's buy things she needs (or occasionally 'wants') for 'sort of free' scheme' Do they ever expire btw as that could scupper any 'long term scheme' plans?

-s-

saorsie

Well decided that a new avatar is required so one quick rummage later and a lovely Buddha courtesy of a trip to Thailand in 2008 seems to fit the bill! Have had some fabulous hols in the past four years (think the last one to California in Oct 2009 may have contributed to the lightbulb flickering to be fair as there was a bit of scraping around to get the money together ). Have postponed the thought of any of substance for this year whilst I got things on an even keel. The 'holiday fund' presently gets fed with the princely sum of £30 per month and stands at £305 at the mo + a fair few air miles collected which may cover a flight so an MSE jobbie could be on the cards October time. However my passport needs replacing shortly so it might be better to postpone the jetset lifestyle until next year and plan a 'mini-break' for now whilst the holiday fund gathers pace - in fact, after the e-bike kitty reaches fruition, I can see 'Holiday 2011' taking it's place - oooooh I love a plan me! :cool:

-s-

saorsie

Well NSD's are coming thick and fast this month - not sure why I struggled so much in July (perhaps because you spent money too often without planning, silly saorsie ) Have actually parted with cash today and will be doing tomorrow also but as they are all connected with Myst*ry Sh*pping they don't count as 'technically' it's somebody elses money!

Have a m*tched b*t finishing tonight and another on Sunday courtesy of BenBen's kind reminder so in total £9.83 that I didn't have before will go whizzing towards the e-bike fund May also look at another couple tonight - if the money ends up in the right place, sounds very cryptic but I know what I mean :cool:

Got a fabulous book from the book man at work which is ideal for my capsule wardrobe planning, a Colour me Beautiful bible for the princely sum of £5, I didn't even bother checking the library or Am*zon to see if it could be found cheaper I was so excited. Anyway to cut a non interesting story short I have established that I am a 'cool & clear' so have a pallette of around 30 colours that I should wear and a 'full hourglass' <mmmmm lucky me?> so also a comprehensive lists of which tops, trousers, skirts, jackets, dresses etc I should wear to enhance my err womanly curves! I am in seventh heaven and have done a further wardrobe sort, culminating in putting a few things on ebay that I've always been vaguely unsure of <and therefore hardly worn> and am know convinced are definitely not for me! Am even starting to sort through all my jewellery to cull the stuff that doesn't suit my colouring, I'm starting to scare myself now! :rotfl:However I am now adamant that there will be no purchasing of any clothes until I have an complete overview of what's needed. I think Hypno talks about a site on her fabulous diary 'my capsule wardrobe' or something like that so am heading off to have a look.

Laters

-s-

saorsie

Well tut tut tut - a week has gone by without posting and lo and behold unsuprisingly I have skidded off the well trodden path a little - not too much but the the social & entertainment budget has taken a right hammering this weekend and is now technically 'in debit' to itself Now as always there is a lesson to be learned from this IMHO

• yes I did have a fabulous time catching up with friends so it wasn't wasted money as such
• this was not a spur of the moment thing, I was aware that it was happening and therefore either a) should have allowed extra,if I could afford it, in the said budget when I was allocating spends last payday to cover this or b) If I couldn't have afforded to add any extra, I should have restricted my expenditure out of that budget throughout the month so there was enough left for partying on 21st!

Anyway by the by, what's done is done, it's not a disaster as I do have some spare funds remaining that I would normally shift across to the 'pet project' the day before payday so it will just have to be minus £30 odd this time

I also fell off the tee-total wagon during the festivities (mmmmmm hence the overspent budget I guess) and have awoken to a throbbing headache the past 2 mornings - SO THIS IS WHY I SHOULDN'T DRINK - NOW BE TOLD!!!!

On the money-making (as opposed to money-frittering :mad:) front, it is still quite postive, with MS money hitting account this morning, another withdrawal from J*ckpotJ*y in the system and reached £10 payout from free scratchies at B*tlins B*ngo oooooh and 3 out of 4 e bay sold yesterday items netting £50 so that's been withdrawn from paypal and will be heading to the e-bike fund when it lands in account :j. Now waiting for rain to stop so can go and post the items however it seems keen to linger so may just have to get wet. Have had to put tumble drier on for first time in months so have made the decision to get rid of it, then I can't be tempted to use it with associated hideous electricity consumption - also need the space in 'utility passage' more than I need the appliance IYSWIM. There is a launderette just around the corner which accepts drying only so will not be totally stuck if monsoon season strikes.

However in an effort to balance my 'badness' I did pick 1.75kgs of brambles yesterday and made them into lots of lovely jam this morning so that'll keep me going for ages and have a handy MSE gift to give to people (will jazz up with fabric, raffia and nice label prior) instead of buying the obligatory bottle of wine / flowers @ £5 a chuck :money:

-s-

saorsie

Ooooh the universe is indeed listening (see Memory Girls fabulous thread for explanation), or what goes around comes around perhaps. Less than 5 hours ago I was berating myself for 'accidentally' using my tumble drier and needed to, well - stop doing it basically Had an e mail this afternoon to advise that I'd won an energy monitor in the competition I entered a couple of months ago :j - now that is karma - either stop using the appliance voluntarily or the universe will demonstrate to you why you should + give you palpitations in the process at the electricity you're throwing away :eek:

-s-

carlos*the*mackem

Hello you!

Apologies for being away for so long; busy at work, then on holiday with the kids

Well done on EVERYTHING so far (including saving for your dream bike).

Now I'm back I'll be reading with interest (and posting, whether you like it or not )

joshua_blue

hi saorsie

thought i would drop in.... i see you do matched betting.... i know this is not every1's cuppa tea & should most defo be approached with the utmost caution ... im not doing it just now for a couple of reasons thus: ive done virtually every easyish offer plus some not-so-easy hi wagering offers; i dont have any bankroll just now....

hope you make a fortune from m'betting

saorsie

Carlos - man! :cool: Wondered where you'd got to <says she who hasn't written on her diary for ages - been to busy playing with my energy monitor! >

Joshua - thank you for visiting and your pm - I do love a spot of m*tched b*tting, I must admit and have done fairly well so far however nowhere near your magnificent amount! May well take you up on your kind offer of technical assistance as I reckon I'm now needing to enter into the realms of the 'not quite so straightforward' which I've previously worked through, so all offers of help gratefully received.

Still pootling along with the old money making/money saving ways.
Have noted that it's free listing on Flea B*y this weekend so some of the casualties from the 'Capsule Wardrobe' project may find their way onto there and won a tube of R*mmel instant fake tan in a competition which I will never use (especially now I've done 'my colours' based on being milkbottle white, a healthy 'faux' glow will throw it all out! :eek:) so that can go also.

The beloved VSP is now officially the 'fund passport renewal pot' as have realised that I'm expiring on October 4th. Sooooooo will be rounding down each day until the princely sum of £77.50 (the robbing dogs!! :eek:) is squirrelled away. Quite like this idea of setting aside the VSP from other pet saving projects actually - previously I would wait until it got to a tenner and then shovel it across to whatever is top of the hit list at the time, which is the e-bike fund at the mo, but think I need a bit more diversity now to stop me getting complacent.

Have decided to break the embargo on buying clothes and fund a pair of pull on boots (only one's that will stretch over my muscley calves ) from M&S - these will fit into the winter capsule wardrobe and I also have a £5 voucher gained on Wednesday by recycling an M&S skirt to Oxfam via their store so rude not to really.

laters

-s-