13 Moons part 2 - Freebird & Frugabulous

se999

Well done on getting control of the cash, and finding a system that's working for you

Lula-Hula

se999 wrote: »

Well done on getting control of the cash, and finding a system that's working for you

Thank you very muchly ... I will be proceeding with other plans soon.

I got all carried away by the excitement of the car insurance savings. It's now tracked & so has the £1.50 for using comparison site so a total of £44 cashback coming my way ... eventually.

I headed off to sainsbugs first thing after dropping DD at school & loading washing machine with the first round. I spent rather more than expected in sainsbugs , admittedly I did stock up with a few jars & some squash for DD & with half term & packed lunches approaching, I also stocked up on a few relevant items for those as well. The rest was mainly meats ( well, fresh chicken & sausages) noodles & fruit & veg.

DD made a fantastic stir fry in food tech the other day & having declared that once stir fried, broccoli is perfectly edible :shocked::j she begged me to buy some stuff for making stir fries & declared she'd happily create them herself :T. Never one to refuse a 'get-out-of-the-kitchen-free' card I ran up & down the aisles grabbing armfuls of noodles ( on offer ), chicken strips (also on offer) veggies & soy sauce.

Got to the checkout & discovered I'd spent £44 . I did get to use my double points voucher & now have nearly £10 to spend. I had to use the CC to pay as I only had £10 cash on me; having forgotten to load purse up with pocket money :doh:

Came home & hung first load of laundry out & loaded the second. Put all the shopping away & made a cup of tea for the man who has replacing the shed door frame ... had completely forgotten about that too.

Postie delivered more car insurance offers ( too late mate ) & a very generous cheque from great aunt who has just cashed in some bond & wanted to share the proceeds. What can I say, this lady was reusing wrapping paper & regifting before MSE was even conceived & was genrally known to be very frugal. Great Auntie > :kisses3::A:T. To avoid any form of temptation, I took the cheque straight to a branch of my online ISA provider & asked if I could pay it in there ? Thankfully I could, so that kind gift is now safely beyond my reach & earning a small amount of interest.

I came home & after a cup of coffee completely lost the plot. About a year ago I resisted the temptation to buy an i-phone & decided I could happily keep my old phone going for a while longer. I have .

After doing all available surveys I meandered on to quidco to check if any payments were due soon ( no, still only have 90p & my limit is £1 so no payment for me ). I became aware of a £40 cashback deal for the new i-phone with my current mobile provider ... I clicked through & discovered deals beyond my wildest dreams.

Actually, that's a birrova porky, in fact, there was a deal to upgrade my phone, ie double the price plan, pay a mere £169 :whistle: & then get a shiny new i-phone 4s.

There, I've done it. On the CC but covered by pocket money & both emergency & imaginary savings.

I feel it would have been rude & disrespectful not to. It will match my laptop & hopefully they will talk to eachother so I can upload pics. I do not have matching shoes or handbag, but if the urge to acquire them, get spray tanned & relocate to essex becomes unbearable, I trust I can find it within myself to resist.

I'm off now to scrub something & create a meal from scratch as penance.



* dons flak jacket & runs for cover *

Mags30

I've finally caught up! Happy new iphone :T you are going to :heart2: it.

RosaBernicia

Lula-Hula wrote: »

ETA - thanks Rosa, missed your post while I was typing, hope all ok with you ?xx[/COLOR] [/COLOR]

Mild drama on the weekend when I decided have had enough of trying to do masters course at the same time as everything else, refused to hand in last assignment and immediately feel very very much better - back in control of my life myself, and can now have an actual life before finishing up with resubmission. Am already a much nicer person to be around. Enjoying being able to socialise again and have both paid off car loan and been assured I will get my return to full time hours, so the money situation will become much easier and hopefully stretch to both debtbusting and socialising. Debating starting diary to keep plans on track without having to hijack anybody else's but will decide in a couple of weeks when recovered.

Interesting you say Goblin's moods may be just moods... suggest you just decide it's all in her head and nothing to do with you ANYWAY, then you can just let all her nonsense go by

Enjoy iphone, I love my Android.

Rosa xx

Lula-Hula

Hiya Mags, welcome back lovely

Rosa, first of all may I say congratulations on seizing back control of your life. That's a very brave & powerful action & you sound 'lighter in spirit' already. Well done on paying off car loan & resuming usual working hours too.

As to diaries, I never consider your presence on mine a hijack, every post you write is appreciated & very welcome.

On the other hand, a new diary is always fun . You get to make it all about you :rotfl:

I'll be having a new one myself very soon but do hope all regulars will continue to participate as on here, whether by simply reading or posting too :A.

Thanks for being so supportive about the new phone, I remember investigating the one you recommended Rosa, & so nearly went for that, but in the end I chose to go for one that would sync easily with the laptop ... should make future plans run smoothly.

It's my last little bit of CC extravagance, & goodness knows there's been a fair bit of that in the last year :whistle:. Having bought 3 laptops & 2 mobiles, I now hope that we are fully upgraded & have all we need in the way of communication gadgets for at least a couple of years.

As well as paying off debts, I've also been creating a mental inventory of expensive items & buying new ones where possible eg the cooker - gosh, I have been spendy haven't I . I expect to have to replace the washing machine soonish. I've had it for a few years now & paid extra breakdown insurance while being a DFW with the view that it would be cheaper than replacing.

Alongside trying to make regular payments to the ISA, saving for rainy days & emergencies, I'll also be setting up a fund to cover replacing large household items. I'd love a new sofa & cosy armchair, new curtains & blinds, but am determined to save for those non essential items.

In theory, I should have approximately £500 a month spare ... :rotfl: The reality is that once all these new savings plans are up & running & I actually live within a fixed budget, rather than using the CC & the trickle of different income streams to shuffle/juggle money around, there won't be anywhere near that much.

I need to increase all the monthly payments to funds to take into account rising prices & costs. I need to allocate money for dental & optician costs & also the potential horror of DD needing expensive braces.

Some things won't change; I'll still be buying from ebay where possible, but I am going to set up a specific clothes fund account & transfer money from wages into that every month. I have a redundant basic current account with a debit card but no overdraft & I hope that will work as effectively as using the other account has for savings funds.

See, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about money & budgets & how to get the most out of my income , I don't spend all my time on shopping sites you know .

I've eaten many bad things today, but I did do a Davina weights work out while DD was at GGs so have now achieved 3 workouts this week :j. Tomorrow is either walking, cycling or yoga.

I'm off to bed now & will post the weekend task list in the morning,

G'night
x

fedupandskint

Hello there shiny new gadget lady!

Well you've upgraded everything and just think, you mught not need anything new for more than 2 years. Hope you're enjoying your new i-phone and have worked it all out.

I've run twice this week and am about to head off out for another one to make it 3 and make it back in time for the rugby at 9am, then its on with a combo of washing, gardening, cooking and housework for the usual weekend tasks. Just need to sort something nice out for tea from the freezer. Better go and have a rifle through and see whats in. I'm trying very hard to use up what I have and only buy fresh fruit and veg and milk and stuff. Did stock up on some half price toothpaste yesterday and deoderants. That's ok though as I'll use them and have enough in now to last a good few months!

Karmacat

Wow! Lula, you know how to make a plan, don't you! Love it! I love your description of actually buying the phone too :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Seriously, I think there's a lot to be said for buying the best you can, when it comes to expensive things like phones and laptops - its certainly what I did with mine last year.

Enjoy :j:j:j

Lula-Hula

Hi Fedupandskint, I don't actually have the phone yet, I opted to get it delivered to store in town rather than home - where I may not be in, or work - where everyone will then know my business.

Karma - I completely agree with regard to buying the best that I can afford with certain products. My laptop is capable of far more than I will ever need & hopefully the phone will be the same, thereby lasting a good long time .

I've always bought cheap hoovers though, on the basis of hating hoovering, but recently a teeny weeny little British designed one has recently caught my eye. I love products that are beautifully designed, in all sense of the word, not just the aesthetics. I will check out prices & reviews though, like hell am I paying hundreds of pounds for a cleaning product that needs to be replaced within a couple of years.

I do think that aside from being less wasteful buying one product that lasts, it's age related as well. I just feel that somehow I should be of an age where I can afford to buy good quality stuff & appreciate it. Like I say, still happy to buy pre-owned stuff off ebay it's all about balance .

So today, sun is shining & it's chilly looking but gorgeous out there. We've had so little rain that things are turning brown & leaves are falling. The ground is rock hard & I just can't dig it at all. New beds may have to wait a while longer.

DD is not feeling well at all, having her second cold since returning to school & also suffering with ear ache. She said the earache came on during a PE assessment yesterday where she came 10th out of 60 children in the field laps, so may well be chosen for the cross country team. She's spending the day resting so I'll probably get all my chores & tasks done today.

List to follow ...

Lula-Hula

Task List :

Laundry

Ironing

Clean bathroom

Clean kitchen

Wash floors

Tackle paperwork ( progress, file or bin)

Declutter stuff for charitizing

Make & eat some yummy food

Get outside & enjoy the weather

Karmacat

I like the last few items on that list

Interesting on quality vs. cheap .... even 15 years ago, I'd never have *dreamed* of going to a charity shop/buying second hand. I'm proud of it now!

But as for vacuum cleaners... I seem to have the kiss of death for them, I always have, I don't seem to be very good at closing the clasp of the dust container (where the bag used to be). Sadly, it means that I can't just whoosh it back and forth, they don't pick up properly, and they cut out after ten minutes, so I only ever do about 5 at a time, as I need it to be always working so I can hoover up beasties to chuck them out

Short hoovering times ... I knew there must be a reason

Hope you *do* get out there.