Minniepoos: New Year - New Life (and it's GONNA be good!)

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Thank you Madhatter. I'm really enjoying being so industrious at the moment!



I've managed to get my total for WeBuyBooks.co.uk up to £45.28, but I'm sure between us we can break the £50 barrier. I'll have another good look tonight to see what I can find.

The figure Carphone Warehouse has come back with is £40, so that should be with me within 14 days.

I put the old bookcase on Facebook for £15 and within 15 minutes someone has said they want it. They live just round the corner from me and will collect and pay on Friday. I know I can't count it until it's gone, but it's a good feeling knowing things are happening.

I've also got a few things to take back to New Look tomorrow which will give me another £30 or so back into my bank. And I have a cheque for £1.99 from a TMF to deposit too.

It's been raining for the last couple of days so I haven't been to town to sort my Housing Benefit. I have to go in tomorrow though as I have my Jobcentre+ appointment so I'll get everything done then.

There have been developments on the job side of things, but I'm going to keep it to myself for a bit longer. I've made a huge decision, and I want to make sure it's completely possible before I broadcast it to the world. It's exciting though, and is really spurring me on to make/save as much cash as possible right now.

I need to go into the city one day next week too as I have some cash (1p, 2p & 5p) to pay in. My bank doesn't have a branch in town. Although I'm thinking about opening a Post Office savings account just so I can deposit all the money I save up, wherever I am. I really want one with a book, so I know the running total at all times, but I'm not even sure if anyone does this anymore!

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Inspired by my bookcase success on Facebook earlier, I also decided to put a brand new pack of pillows on there that my folks gave me last year. Within 20 minutes a friend had seen the post and is going to buy them. That's another £5

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I tried to open a basic savings account at the Post Office but they don't seem to do one! You have to either start off with £500 or limit the amount of times you can withdraw. Neither of which are any good for me.

So I popped into the Halifax and they opened one up for me straight away - I was in there less than 10 minutes in total (it took longer than that for the Post Office to tell me they didn't have an account suitable). I had a £5 note in my purse so I opened it with that. I'll pop into town again on Monday to pay in the £15 for the bookcase that I got earlier today, and the £5 for the pillows that I should get on Sunday.

It's definitely a better plan than just storing the money in the house. It's still easy to get to (just waiting for a cash card), but it's far enough away that I can't spend it on the spur of the moment.

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I'd started my plans to earn money from free clicks and such like, but kinda forgot about it almost straight away. So tonight I went onto InstaGC and in 2 hours I made enough to cash out 2 x £1 Amazon vouchers. I know, not that impressive an hourly rate, but my evenings are spent mooching around on the laptop doing not much, so I'm very happy with it!

The WeBuyBooks.co.uk total has ended up at £52.57 so I'll get that packed up and sent off tomorrow. I realised I still have DD's old phone so I'm nagging her to take all her pics etc off it so I can get it sent off. Looks like it will get about £10.

I've just spent another half hour or so on NeoBux but I can't seem to build up my total very quickly at all. I'll keep going for another week, then if I can't improve it I'll drop it and just concentrate on InstaGC - as I've proved that works.

I found out today that, much to my disgust, DD has been throwing away coins that can't be used at school (that she gets in change from the supermarket on the way in) :mad: I've told her in no uncertain terms, that she needs to bring these home and I'll put them in my pots with mine. They're only 1p, 2p and 5p but seriously??!! Honestly!!

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I was due to go for a meal tonight with a close friend but she's had to cancel because of work. I'm kinda glad, as I don't want to spend money if I don't have to.

Seeing as I now have an unplanned free evening, I'm going to sit on my laptop and work through the 'no spend needed' cashback offers on TopCashBack. The email I received says you can get over £50 for free. I intend to find out if this is possible...

I've also caught up with the free surveys, but I don't count anything until it's been cashed out, so my total won't be updated yet.

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I've gone public with my big news tonight, so I thought I'd share it on here as well. I've accepted a job as a waitress. I live in deepest darkest Norfolk, and the job is in Manchester, so DD and I are preparing to move. We've found an apartment we both like which is available from 18th March, so all going well, we'll be up there sometime before April.

It'll be working for one of my best friends (who I've worked for before). It's just a minimum wage job, and having been Operations Manager and Office Manager recently, it's a massive change of pace, but I want something busy that I can work hard at, but come home and forget. A job that won't start to take over my life. The low wage means I will still get tax credits and some housing benefit. The tips are meant to be fairly good too.

It's just a new start for both of us. Too much of my life has been spent down here, and a lot of it hasn't been particularly good. Time for change.

So, lots of packing to do, along with selling whatever we won't need once we move. That will include my fridge freezer eventually, as the place we've found comes with white goods included.

It feels good to have a plan.

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It's been a week since I last posted. It wasn't meant to be so long, but I temporarily lost my mojo. Spent most of the week sleeping, and wallowing in a little bit of self pity. I'm not that good at motivating myself when I'm not in work, and coupled with the fact that it's warm in bed, I achieved almost nothing.

BUT, I'm back, and will do my best to make up for it this week.

I managed to send the boxes to webuybooks.co.uk and should hopefully get the payment this week.

I have quite a few bits to go on ebay, and that's going to be a priority this week. My two fish are going to a friend at the weekend, and once they've gone I can advertise the dresser they currently live on.

I have another CAB appointment tomorrow to redo my DRO budget, as obviously I'm not working now. I hope they can start moving a bit quicker on it as now I have a plan, I just want to get it done!

The apartment we wanted in Manchester has fallen through, as the landlord won't accept a guarantor. Seems crazy, as it's no extra work or extra risk to him, but I can't argue. It's annoying too, as once I'm there I'll be earning and able to pass the referencing checks, but what can you do?! Still, it's a big city, I'm sure we can find somewhere else we like.

I've got some boxes so might start packing a little. Although I might wait until the dresser has gone so I can stack them there. Instead, I might go through the garage and find things to either sell, charity shop, or dump. There's quite a bit in there, so hopefully I can get money for some of it. It's nice to declutter anyway, and will make the move easier.

I read a random blog somewhere over the last couple of days, about keeping things you don't need. Silly things, like extra pyjamas you've not worn in years. I know I only wear about a quarter of the contents of my sock drawer so that will be sorted this week, along with the rest of my clothes. My wardrobe is ok - I keep that very streamlined.

I'm also going to go through my kitchen cupboards for foods and cleaning products I never use. Seems like a waste, throwing things out, but most of them I moved from my old place 9 months ago and haven't touched since. Might as well get them out, again, less to move.

THEN, if all the above goes to plan, I hope to do a little crafting. I've got a couple of cushion covers I've been planning on making, so I might reward myself with a little bit of time to do them.

Last week I managed to cash out £4 in Amazon vouchers on InstaGC and I'm about 3/4 of the way to having another £5 voucher.

I think that's everything - waffled on for ages

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Lots of stuff has been happening over the last few weeks....

The apartment we found fell through, but we went back up to Manchester this weekend and found an amazing house that's pretty much perfect. I'm waiting for a callback from the agent right now so I can get my application in.

I've made a few more Facebook and Ebay sales, but there is plenty more to go.

One of my friends has decided to apply for the house I'm currently in, so it looks like I can move around the end of this month. I'm entering panic mode now - 3 weeks, and I have to do EVERYTHING! I'm actualy grateful that I don't have a job right now :rotfl:

As soon as I hear from the lettings agent, I will call the new school we've decided on and make an appointment to look round it next week.

And then once that's done, I'll call StepChange and get my DRO underway.

IT'S ALL HAPPENING!!!!

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I've called Stepchange, and have a callback with an advisor to discuss my DRO on Thursday. Now I've finally done it, I hate having to wait!! Right, back to sorting out stuff....

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Stressful doesn't even begin to sum up my week!

I did the Equifax trial last month, and cancelled it before the payment was due to be taken, but somehow the payment went out anyway.... This made me go overdrawn (which made 3 times in 8 months) so the bank is closing my account. They will only stop it if they get a letter from Equifax saying the payment was taken in error. I called Equifax, got the payment refunded but they won't send a letter (not company policy...) and say the fact that they've refunded it should be proof enough that it was an error. Stalemate.

So, time to move banks.

I'm going for Lloyds this time, and have printed off the forms to apply for their basic account (as it has to be done by post).

This has raised loads of other problems, as they cancelled all my Direct Debits and as I can't set up new ones until I have my new account (up to 2 weeks) I'm having to pay the balances rather than the direct debit amounts. So, I'm completely cleared out and have nothing put aside to help me move. I need £1200 for the rent & deposit, then some extra to pay for the van rental and my girlies new school uniform.

I just keep repeating to myself "every problem has a solution". I'll work something out. I always do. Just need some inspiration.

On the other side of things, I've been selling stuff quite well. Still more to go though. And packing is in progress. I don't think I'll get a good night's sleep until we've got up there.