Long Haul or Do Up House??

pennywisepoundstupid

Hi PWD, just want to say well done and good luck, i've subscribed and will be reading.

Polly_Wolly_Doodle

Hi you two,
Yup Cia that's a good way of doing it, updating monthly, as i get less obsessed that should be possible!
Put a few more bits on ebay today and am stalking the house for other things! The stuff that would sell for decent money is of course the stuff i like but i suppose the things that i could replace in the future should go now and the things that i can't replace should stay.

Hi Pennywise, i'll have a look for your diary too, it's really great how people's stories can be so helpful, either inspirational or putting things into perspective.

This coming month is going to be a real struggle, it's a l-o-n-g time till pay day for us, as we were paid early for Christmas but it'll be back to the end of the month for Jan pays. So the dates the ccs are due will be critical.
Stood in Tesco at the checkout today looking at the leaflets for ccs and loans, thing is i don't think either of us would get accepted just now, so ebay and praying for later cc payment dates it is!!

Oh noticed the other day that DH's rbs cc statement hadn't come through, got him to phone and yes they were delayed due to the snow (it still hasn't arrived) but payment due on the 4th Jan and no account will be taken if people are late, charming huh?

Our phone line is faulty due to the snow but can still use the internet on the same line, so feeling semi cut off!
Anyway Tesco was useful got the Gordon Ramsay Christmas cookbook for £3, so that's my sister's late Xmas present sorted! Got a couple of cds reduced for my cousin and other odds and ends, so pleased about that.

Right time for bed. Hopefully tomorrow will bring some more money making inspiration!
Night all xx

Herewego

It may be worth while signing up for online cc statements I find it motivating to log on and see the balance reduce.
Im sure with time you wll start looking forward to the statements arriving so you can plan what payments to make and online speeds this up a little.
Did you or any family get perfume gift sets for xmas as i found the small shower gels and body lotion sell quite well on ebay and they are the sort of things that get left on the shelf

Polly_Wolly_Doodle

Thanks HWG, haven't received any smellies yet but half of Christmas is still at my Mother's to be picked up when we go over there for Hogmanay! So fingers crossed there will be more stuff to ebay!

Not a lot on today, couple of ebay parcels to go to the post office and now that the snow is melting lots of dog poo to clear up in the garden!!

Need to do lots of washing and start thinking about what the children need for starting their new school, DS needs a school bag, DD has a proper satchel that started a trend at their old school, so would like to get him one too but they are pretty expensive, although should last for years, there are a few on ebay so we'll see how the stuff i've listed goes.

Have a great day all.

Polly_Wolly_Doodle

Good Morning :j

Up and at 'em today, Dh off to work, i go back on the 5th, not looking forward to it but need to keep telling myself that it's income and convenient!
Rubbish night's sleep, Dh snoring and snuffling, then DD wandered through at 3am with a sore tummy, poor girl apologised for waking me up, bless.
Anyway not a lot i could do, laid out a couple of towels incase she was sick - thankfully she wasn't. Then felt like i just got back to sleep when the alarm came on. Of course DH presses snooze every five mins for the next half hour - what is the point of that, either get up or give everyone an extra half hour, ggrrrrr.

Right don't seem that have had any post of a cc nature for days so i think i'll get my cc folder out and try and see what statements should come in what order, dates etc and make sure Dh's rbs wasn't the only missed one....

26 months left on santander loan or 789 days :T. This is the one that will really help, roll on Feb 2013 - gosh i hate this wishing my life away stuff!

Right first load of washing in, toddler at nursery, daughter reading in her room and son watching Toy Story 3 AGAIN, he's got a box of all his things now ready for leaving for college tomorrow, awwww!!!

PWD xx

Polly_Wolly_Doodle

Right another day another spreadsheet! Have done one now to show when cc statements are published and when the payments are due to try and keep me on track.:A

Think i'll try and put the info in my diary so i know if something has gone missing in the post.
Looks like two are outstanding, Dh's rbs which we realised and have paid and his capital 1 one, payment not due till 17th Jan from online but i like the paper statements i can scribble on and file, sad person!

Next task is the tv license, always used to pay for the whole year but think i'll try monthly this time and see how that goes, no point in paying the whole thing on a cc that takes forever to pay off at huge interest! Need to do this online as phone still not working :mad:.

Then the next task is looking for tyres for my car and probably DH's as well, always used Costco in the past for branded tyres but don't think i can stretch to that....
Anyone any advice on tyres??

PWD xx

Polly_Wolly_Doodle

Good Afternoon,

Right interesting day so far! Meant to be going to my mother's at some point but none of the kennels are open, ggrrr. I know i should have been more organised but i'm not really wanting to go so haven't been!
Anyway may now have to take 6 month old mad pup with us to a second floor flat :rotfl:!
Will just stay the one night anyway, so hopefully we'll survive.

Right to money... changing electricity from e-on to edf, not much cheaper but there is a credit back for joining. Phoned e-on today to see what my credit is with them and it's over £100 :j but i have to wait for their final account and then hopefully i'll get a cheque. Suppose i should now phone (oh yes the phone is working again - HURRAH) edf and see when their first DD will hit.

Got a letter from Opus following my complaint letter about not being able to register on line as my card is closed. So one phone call later and it's sorted, so can now see my balance on line for free, their customer service phone number is an 020, another silly little success.

Also good news from Canon, they are sending a complimentary battery for our camera as ours 'disappeared' when it went for repair. May well be selling the camera to make ends meet, gee it's bloody tough trying to live on cash / bank / real money.
Dh got the bus to work today, so that was £4.50 in very small change and we now have pennies left.
Somehow although this is the right thing to do, DWD i mean, it's sooo stressful watching what's coming in and going out and fretting all the time if i can afford to buy loo roll, still onwards to 2011.

TBH not really looking forward to 2011 as it's just going to be more slog and stress but at least it's all progress (in fact 2012 will be tough too) but the aim is to reduce the weight and see how little we can spend on food etc. If i could reduce my waistline i have quite a lot of new clothes in the next size down, so i don't even have a new wardrobe as an excuse .

Right better go and phone edf!

Hope everyone is having a great debt busting day, ohh applied for a new Barclaycard too but didn't get an instant decision so can only assume that'll be a no but felt like trying, silly PWD you should know better given the massive debt lump....

Polly_Wolly_Doodle

Good Morning All,

Another interesting few days! Went to my Mother's with two of the children, just stayed one night so it was okay. Actually because i couldn't talk DWD it was quite relaxing and good to take a break from it, and as the shops were shut there was no embarrasment of admitting i only had 16p in my purse and plastic at it's limits!

Feels very strange not to be hitting the sales and for me especially the Boden / Crew online sales but this month is going to be hell so i feel okay resisting, quite strong and empowered actually :money:.

However i am seriously worried about my tyres and i'm sure the children need new shoes. On my spreadsheets next month should be easier so just keeping my fingers crossed that i don't get a flat and i don't cripple the children's feet for life .

Money, well no statements but Opus online shows a net reduction of £95.44 :j, so i'll update my signature to keep me going. Think the PADing will have to wait till next month too.
Ebaying like mad and i've done well too but now trying to keep track of the fees and postage more as well so i only transfer what is real money.
Also converted mysurvey points into a £5 paypal voucher and that's gone into paypal a lot quicker than i expected, but as above can't put it to the debt, will be spent as Tesco / Lidl instead, boo.

More to ebay today, must keep the momentum going.

PWD xx

Cialilerin

Good to see you are so motivated. I was going to have a no spend day today but dropped demon child at nursery and bought myself a newspaper to celebrate!!

chevalier

Hey there PWD you know for a minute I thought you were a relative of mine. They had done a similar thing with regards to buying houses and doing them up, and they got caught out by the credit crunch the same way.

Have you done a statement of affairs? It might give you some insight into where you can cut back some more, and also mean we can make suggestions about it!
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

You have to format it for MSE...

Grr about the tax credits. Can you phone them back and say it would put you into hardship to pay back so much a month.?

The other thing I would have a play with is the snowball calculator as it can give you an indication of what debts to pay off first to minimise interest https://www.whatsthecost.com i think is the link. That might give you an idea whether paying off the closed cards with a high interest rate is better than paying off active cards with a lower rate.

My gut tells me that paying off the highest interest paying credit is the way to go, but it does depend on the amount on the cards.

I notice that you have done some surveys. But have you got OH on board doing them too? They often need men to balance out the sexes in surveys, so he might get more than you! (sorry am assuming you are female ). Also can either of you do mystery shopping as a cash top up?

good luck with 2011
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