Mennies Bid for Freedom

mennie

Shopping came in under budget today so paid £9 into savings and £9 into mortgage.

Made £1.25 on clicks today - its definatley going up:j

Got accepted on a £12.50 mystery shop for next week

mennie

I ended up being very late home from work yestersday so didnt manage much.

I feel like all my attempts are quite piddly, but there is no where for us to make big savings and no spare money, so really having to watch pennies and hope they add up.

It was be much better in October when we come off the fixed rate and will have £75+ extra to overpay and save.

So in the last few days I have......

• Taken homemade soup and bread to work for lunches
• charged phone on the train
• been washing hair at night to save on drying it
• Received 2 sim cards - will sell them
• recieved a sample of free kitchen cleaner
• Aquired a load of ice cream tubs so I can batch cook some more for the freezer

This weekend I will be ........

• Doing a carboot sale. We dont have much to sell, so I dont except to make much, I would be happy coming home with £10 profit.
• Make chillis, curries and soups for freezer
• applying for a new job, is a little less money, but will give us more security and better life long term.
• buy advance train tickets instead of a monthly pass
• get a contract phone, I am spending £30-£40 payg at the moment:eek:
• Phone Halifax about insurane prices, got a leaflet through and it looks the same as we pay and they give you a cheque for £50
• contact N Power with meter readings
• clicks and surveys
• apply for freebies
• enter comps
• count up change jar.

[Deleted User]

well done mennie!!
I am in a situation where I cant really make any OPs at the moment, but getting into moneysaving habits is making me feel good and knowing that Im not wasting anything (hopefully!) , that when the time comes money wise I can start ploughing some money into the mortgage I will have prepared myself well!
I know it can be discouraging, especially when I see the kind of OPs some people are able to manage, but we can all only do what we can do with our lifestyles, circumstances etc...
your list sounds great for saving money!- I am getting into batch cooking too and our shopping bills have gone down hugely - OH was very pleasantly surprised looking at the credit card bill for this month! ...it makes me cringe to think the amounts of food we'd buy and then end up wasting or throwing away..
good luck with the car boot sale I keep meaning to do one of those too...!
tyo

mennie

Well this weekedn hasnt really gone as planned. Spent all day yesterday in bed with a migraine and the car boot sale for today has been rained off:mad:

Yesterday I managed to make £1.85 in clicks and start the job application form. Have acheived nothing off my list

Today I have

• Had my shower at the gym
• had breakfast at my parents
• been given a leek and corguette from them

Today I will

• Make a pan of soup
• Make a couple of portion of chilli for the freezer
• make a loaf of bread
• order my new phone
• Buy advance train tickets
• phone Halifax
• phone N Power
• Apply for Freebies
• Daily Clicks
• Enter Competions

I have kept a spreadsheet of all the money earned through surveys, mystery shopping etc since feb.

Ebay and Carboots 321.34
Found in street 1.88
Freebies 22.55
Vouchers 95.24
Unfranked STamps 5.60
Mystery Shopping 74.51
Daily Clicks/Surveys 67.91
Total 589.03

I will set myself a target of reaching £1500 next year in this way:p

mennie

not a very productive day, due to exceptionally slow internet connection today for some reason

I have

• Ordered new phone with contract - cheaper that my current PAYG usage by £15 per month - should also get £90 cashback
• Made 15p in clicks and applied for 1 freebie and entered 1 comp
• Ordered train tickets online saving £4.20 for this week, will order the rest of the months when connection speeds up
• loads of veg for £1.50 as market trader wanted to leave as it was raining.

For £1.50 I got

• 2 cabbages
• 1 cauli
• 6 carrots
• 14 potatoes
• punnet of cherry tomatoes
• 2 bunches of spring onions
• 6 onions
• 30 brussel sprouts
• 5 turnips
• 1 iceberg
• 3 slim long peppers
• 6 cooked beetroot
• 1 celery
• 1 pack of mange tout.

What a BARGAIN:j

Off to start cooking now:p

mennie

Have got really into UBB this year so been watching that at night and then going to bed so havent had time for much:p

• Got a free breakfast on my commute this morning.
• got £91 cashback for my new phone contract
• ordered the rest of my single train tickets instead of season ticket for the month saved £70 and got some cashback
• made 2 loaves
• will chop and freeze alot of the veg tonight for soup as it will got off otherwise.

Today I am mostly loving cashback:D

mennie

Going to stay with family for a few days, then we have family coming to us, so the next 2 weeks will be expensive and I wont be here much:(

Not managed much really

• Have still been taking HM soup and bread to work for lunch
• Got 6 bottle of conditioner with my £4 vouchers
• Got paid £8 for a mystery shop, just did a £12.50 one and have a £10 one week after next
• Made around £1.50 in clicks this week

This weekend I will be getting ready to go, but I will make sure

• everything is turned off when I go
• Will chop and freeze the surplus veg

mennie

Well I am back from an expensive few days of staying with rellies and the hosting some other rellies.

There is nothing like an expensive few days to get you back onthe money saving wagon.

Not much to report, havent done any money saving for the last few days. I did get another 2 massive carrier bags of veg for £2, so will be chopping and freezing it all.

Did my weekly shop today for £20.50!! Had some coupons

Got 2 free mini bottles of pantene and a £1 voucher through the post today

At the minute my joint account will be £8 in the red by the end of the month. I allow £48 per week for shopping and never spend that much. SO as long as I spend under £40 I should have a little left to over pay the mortgage and add to thr savings. This may be my littlest one yet. I am talking £2 overpayment and £2 to savings. I would be annoyed if I dont manage anything though.

I am waiting on a £12.50 MS payment and did a £10 one yesterday, but that goes in the xmas account.

They next few days I will be

• Batch cooking chilli and fishcakes
• Chopping and freezing veg
• Making soup for back to work
• Making bread
• Appying for freebies
• Daily clicks
• Talking to N Power and perhaps switching suppliers - through top cashback

mennie

Didnt have a hugely productive day yesterday as mum invited me round.

Did manage to list about 100 items on Amazon. No takers yet but fingers crossed;) I also applied for 5 freebies

Got 2 free pregnancy test in the post yesterday, no good to me now, but will keep them for any emergencies. Also got a plants and seed catalogue with a £5 voucher and no minimum spend, will have a look later as I wanted to get some raspberry canes.

I have been accepted fot a tesco dog food trial and I should receive 3 weeks of dog food to trial today. If my fussy madam likes it I should save £6-7!!! Arrived this morning, will probably only save me around £3. As there is not that much, but every little helps!!

I have been out to the garage to take the meter readings this morning so this weekend I will do the following

• Do a grants search on the main website to see if we are eligible for anything eg, cavity wall insulation- -Dont qualify for anything, but did apply for a free energy meter thingy ?!?!?
• Give my readings to N Power with a view to switch - Phoned them, we are £65 in credit with gas and £50 in debit with leccy, if we want to leave them before March, we need to pay £40 exit fees, even if we are staying with them, but just switching to a cheaper tariff. GUTTED!!! Stuck with them till March now, but it is diarised for then!!
• Apply for freebies 7
• Enter Comps 2
• Daily Clicks - Made 54p
• Make Bread - Bread machine is doing its magic as we speak.
• Make Fishcakes - Made 6 portions
• Make Bean Chilli - 8 portions
• Make Soup 6 portions
• Make Rasp and Damson Gin - made two bottles of raspberry,and 3 of damsons
• Made some candles, I ordered some wicks from ebay and melted down some old odds and ends and made 3 new candles

It really feels like winter today. Determined not to put heating on though:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

Hi mennie
you seem to be doing great!! I know it can be frustrating to only feel you are making small OPs but every little helps...Im sure the change in lifestyle (eg, grocery shopping, batch cooking, applying for freebies) is the big thing when it comes to saving money and making your income stretch as much as possible , and you sound like your doing really well!

It is feeling wintry isnt it?? I am getting the blankets out to sit under as the heating on in september just doesnt feel right!