To remind myself how far I've come - my debt diary. - SOA added

xela_17

If you're going to stop buying them anything at all (bar very big things) then it might be an idea to give them a "base rate" each week and then let them do jobs to earn more on top. I don't know how old they are but when school starts you might want them to spend more time on homework rather than doing loads of jobs. Well done on the thrifty spending in Eurodisney btw and I think it's brilliant that your kids seem to be becoming so good with money.

chocaholic110

OK, I definitely don't understand this - the £12 of luncheon vouchers I have on ebay are selling for £12.01! What is the point? Going to ask on ebay board to see if anyone can help me make sense of it!!

Been a funny old day

Went to collect some resources from a freecycler which was good because I got free resources and as a bonus she is a published author and gave DD some of her signed books which is very kind, but it was also bad because her dogs jumped all over me, dirtying my T-shirt and making me sneeze all the way home.

Then went to do a couple of hours at school to find the road was closed and couldn't get it which was good because I didn't have to go (Yay!) but bad because I'll have to go another day instead.

Then I went to our local market town, got there to realise I'd forgotten my purse which was good because I coldn't spend anything but bad because I had to go all the way home again!

Went back again and managed to resist all sorts of temptation which was good, but also things were bad because we saw a motorcyclist have an accident in the carpark. Then I found a penny (good!) but when I was pulling out of the carpark some idiot pulled up beside me instead of behind me, tried to pull out when I did then swore and did a nasty gesture at me before roaring away and going through a red light on the market! I had DD with me so stayed calm but did lots of swearing in my head!

fiveyearplan

I wouldn't ask why the £12 vouchers are going for £12.01 - if someone's prepared to pay.... anyway it might draw people's attention to the fact that they are paying 12.01 for 12.00. It takes all sorts. What a day you've had! Hope you have a good evening.

chocaholic110

Well, the five items I have on ebay are all selling, all with more than one bidder. Fingers crossed the prices might go up a little bit in the next 4 hours.

Also I had a load of points come through on Test and Vote so redeemed for £12 HMV voucher - always handy for DS's Christmas presents.

Feeling a bit as though I want to spend money though! Argh! And not even sure what I want to buy, just have a shopping urge! Usually by this time I am starting to buy for Christmas but neither child knows what they want. I have a few bits and pieces put away (from sales) but nothing major.

Gonna try and keep my mind off shopping by not goind anywhere (though the internet can be just as tempting to buythings!) and challenging myself to start sorting out stuff for school next week. So I want to

• Sort out the trolley full of books and paper I brought home from school
• Sort through stuff collected yesterday
• Type up group lists and class info etc

Hopefully that might start to get me into the mindset for planning - and because I wrote it here, I'll have to do it, right?

chocaholic110

Well, I sort of did what I planned to do.

Sorted through my trolley, then put most of the stuff back in because it's stuff to put away at school (so why did I bring it allhome then? The mind boggles!)

Sorted through much of what I picked up yesterday, am quite pleased with lots of it.

Went up the attic and went through some of the stuff on the shelves up there to make room for the Year 1 / 2 / 3 stuff I won't need for a while - any idea why I stiil have all my old essays and lecture notes? Not just from my PGCE (5 years ago) but also from my degree (11 years ago!!!). Have sorted out a load of stuff to throw away.

Phoned local paper to advertise the Kodak easyshare printer dock I bought 6 months ago, never been used, never likely to be used, only bought becauae it was half price when you bought the camera. Used the camera loads, the printer is still all wrapped. Guess I'm not as MSEing as I would like to be Naughty chocaholic!!

Listed 3 more items on ebay, 2 more to do. Hopeful that two will do well as they are teaching books that seem to be selling well. The others might be a bit hit-and-miss but we'll see!

Arranged with a colleague to go into school tomorrow so can do all my printing out that I need to do for planning.

Put all the baby clothes I have been given in the loft. My best friend and cousin have both recently given birth to big strapping boys (over 9lb and over 11lb, gulp!) so didn't get much / any use out of the first size clothes (all pretty much neutral colours). Lucky me has inherited them - here's hoping for an average sized baby of my own!! Lots of the clothes still have tags etc on. This definitely could end up being a "freebie" baby. We haven't been at all proud and have accepted anything offered.

chocaholic110

How could I forget??

Inspired by the Christmas thread that I saw on here earlier I went through the Christmas stuff I have accumulated in the loft.

So far I have presents for:

Dad
Step Mum
Step Sister
Sister
2 nieces
OH's Dad
OH's step mum
Step Dad
Best friend's 2 boys

Also have a huge amount of wrapping paper and enough Christmas cards to be able to send them for the next 10 years! Also, cards for my Mum's family (loads of them) get sent to my Aunt's house to distribute. I sent mine there last year on my Uncle's birthday in early December. My debauched family though were apparently so drunk that they forgot too give them out. My aunt gave me them all back in January so I don't even have to write them!! All I need to do is check that no-one has changed partners, had children over the last year and I can resend the same ones (DFW? Or mean and lazy? you decide!!)

Also found that I have for DD - a sleepover suitcase full of girlie sleepover items, a box set of Daisy meadows books and a Cranium game - well, it's a start.

Nothing for poor DH or DS though! Having said that DS only ever really asks for DVDs, books and computer games. Have had years of buying educational / construction toys / board games etc for him to leave them in the box untouched. I think I might have finally learned my lesson!

Also nothing for OH's grandma, and I think I may have touched on this last year, there is mothing to buy for the woman. Every year she issues a big list of what she doesn't want (usually comprising of all the thoughtful presents we have bought for her in previous years). OK, so what do you want? Thinking of maybe getting a basket and making up a hamper of tea, biscuits etc - any ideas? Must investigate where to get baskets!

Might also do something similar for my Mum and my best friend - the only other people I don't have presents for...maybe a trawl through the Christmas thread on Old Style or Family moneysaving???

chocaholic110

Payday today! Woohoo! :j Although weird as it sounds I actually prefer the couple of days after payday becasue everything gets paid then.

£20.75 cheque finally turned up from Home of Research so paid that in the bank. Also £10 Argos voucher came from IPSOS so that means £50 now in Argos Christmas fund - not bad for not really doing anything.

Still not heard from OH's mechanic friend how much it cost to get his car passed the MOT - while it's nice hanging onto the money for a while longer it's frustrating as it means I don't actually know how much spare we have (or possibly how much more we need to pay it!!:eek: )

My main target for today is to get a week's worth of maths planning done

Firstly though am going to have a bit of a clean downstairs - amazing how appealing cleaning can sound when there's less appealing work to be done!

chocaholic110

Signed up for My Movie Stream through Quidco - two weeks of free movie rentals, a free DVD to keep (from a choice of 16 - I chose Charlotte's Web and will add it to DD's presents) and £5 from Quidco which has tracked already despite it syaing it can take 7 days.

No maths planning done yet, I did look at it, just didn't write anything down! But I do have a lovely tidy house and an empty ironing pile - can't have everything!

chocaholic110

Well, first day back at work over with. Tomorrow is the hard part though as the children are back. Then the fun really starts! Finding it hard to get motivated though. I think it might be because I know I'm not going to be there all year. Everytime the Head mentioned something today I just kept thinking "I won't be here then". I also worked out how many days I actually have to work / how many playground duties / assemblies I have to do before I can stop work. Probably not the best of attitudes to start work with!

Also, the estate agent phoned to say that our buyer can't get a mortgage She is putting our house back on the market and says she will really push it. The buyer thn called at our house herself and said it wasn't that she didn't like the house but the financial advisor at the estate agent couldn't get her a mortgage. She said that she is off work this week and is seeing someone else to try but I won't hold my breath!

The_Dragon

chocaholic110 wrote: »

the estate agent phoned to say that our buyer can't get a mortgage She is putting our house back on the market and says she will really push it. The buyer thn called at our house herself and said it wasn't that she didn't like the house but the financial advisor at the estate agent couldn't get her a mortgage. She said that she is off work this week and is seeing someone else to try but I won't hold my breath!

Oh bother Choc! I thought this was all sorted and you would be moving soon :mad: - does this mean you will have to drop out of the house you are buying?:cool: