Learning to Live on Less!

White_Iris

Itsadogslife wrote: »

Sorry to hear about the dogs vet bills. my pooch is currently having some blood tests done for possible thyroid and even though she is insured, I will have to pay the £75 excess. She could do with a bit of a dental too but that isn't covered on the insurance and would cost a lot. If she has a good chew on a pigs ear, it sometimes does the trick but she is 9 and so the dog breath returns. I have tried to do it myself but she is having none of it.

I am having my hair cut next week by my friends sister who has finished all her training but decided against it. I also have a box of garnier nutrisse ready and waiting for the dreadded greys

Do you have any colleges round by you, you could offer to be a model and let them cut your hair for free?

Hope all goes well with fido's blood tests. I know what you mean about dental work - super expensive. When doggo #1 goes in for his routine work on his feet he has to be knocked out (which is why it's so expensive, general anesthetics cost a fortune) i usually ask then to check his teeth and anal glands (bleugh!) at the same time, since he's already out they usually don't charge. This time DH took him in and forgot to ask :mad: but I think he's ok to last until next year.

Sadly no college near by for freebie haircuts but I'm always on the lookout for signs in hairdressers windows asking for models, most usally want to do something elaborate though, rarely just a simple tidy-up.

LianneH wrote: »

Hi WhiteIris

I notice that you do a lot of ebaying. I too have accumulated a small mountain of girls clothes from my daughter.... wanting to pick your brains.... whats the best way to list them? Do you do it in bundles or per outfit? Ive had a look on ebay and its a total mixture - is there a case when you would do a bundle and when you wouldn't?
thanks!!
Lianne xx

If it's a complete outfit (dress/top/tights or top & trousers) I usually list that on it's own otherwise I tend to do small bundles of two or three items. Since I usually start everything at 99p I don't risk larger bundles as I'm unlikely to get enough for them.

Things have sold well for me this way but it does take a long time to get through everything! I've set aside a huge bundle of tops an trousers to take to the car boot sale next week as I just don't have the energy to photograph and list them all, hopefully the pile will reduce after the car boot and it'll be more manageable to list the rest.

White_Iris

Ooh, forgot to add that I've just sold a book on Amazon - £17 coming my way! Straight back out and on to the credit card though.

LianneH

[/QUOTE]
If it's a complete outfit (dress/top/tights or top & trousers) I usually list that on it's own otherwise I tend to do small bundles of two or three items. Since I usually start everything at 99p I don't risk larger bundles as I'm unlikely to get enough for them.

Things have sold well for me this way but it does take a long time to get through everything! I've set aside a huge bundle of tops an trousers to take to the car boot sale next week as I just don't have the energy to photograph and list them all, hopefully the pile will reduce after the car boot and it'll be more manageable to list the rest.[/QUOTE]

thanks WhiteIris! I think its the large bundle in the bedroom thats putting me off, i keep saying i will get them photographed and listed but seems like a lot of energy that i just dont have after work and then dealing with DS! I suppose i just need to get my finger out and get it done! Well done on the book from Amazon!!

Hope your doggies are doing ok!

XX

White_Iris

In an effort to bring in some much needed cash I've just applied for some work marking exam scripts. If I get accepted it won't be until next May but it would bring in a few hundred pounds and it's work I can do at home. I'm not overly optimistic as I haven't taught GCSE for a few years but it's worth a try.

White_Iris

Bad news on the car front. It was more badly damaged than we thought - the repair work and service will cost over £500. I've now emptied our Christmas savings pot and the money we put aside to buy oil (I'll worry about how to top up the oil tank when I need to) so we should be able to cover it but we've never had so little cash and/or available credit before, it's not a nice feeling.

Thrifty85

Just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed reading your diary - only noticed it for the first time yesterday but have read all the pages and picked up some really good tips from you, thank you. You're doing really, really well. It's horrible when large unexpected bills show up (such as for the car/dogs) but please don't get disheartened.....you WILL get there :-).

taplady

Hi Iris - I dont usually read the diaries but I spotted yours and am trying to catch up with all you've done so far. Seems like you've had a few unexpected bills lately which is tough. Keep going though, we had a very difficult 5 years paying off our debts(similar amounts to yours) but we got there eventually and its a great feeling.
I'll pop back when I've caught up! x

White_Iris

Aww, thank you Thrifty85 and Taplady. I really enjoy reading other peoples diaries for motivation and inspiration, it's nice to know other people read mine too!

White_Iris

We've been waiting on two extra payments to DH from additional work he's been doing over the last few months. The first of those should be arriving in the next few days but we've just found out it's quite a bit less than we hoped. We had an idea it would be about £400 but it doesn't even cover the £350 we 'borrowed' from our emergency savings to pay for the holiday cottage we rented a few weeks ago. I don't regret having the holiday but it's just one more financial disappointment to add to our recent pile .

The second payment (for something different) should arrive with his August pay at the end of the month. Again we don't know exactly how much this will be but this time I'm not going to guestimate - anything extra will be a bonus and something to be thankful for.

White_Iris

So after initial panic at the amount of money we've had to spend in the last week, the figures have worked out like this...

Credit card - £805 :mad: (will be reduced when the pet insurance pays up)
Emergency savings - £250 (will be increased at the end of the month to about £400)
All other savings accounts - £0 :eek:

Over the next few months we have to order some oil to get us through the winter (approx. £400 for 500L), pay for car tax (Sept) and pay for car insurance (Oct). I'm only going to get 6 months tax this time so that our car costs are staggered over the year and we don't have two large payments close together. The oil is getting low so that's a priority and unfortunately it will have to go on the credit card but the car tax and insurance should be covered by our monthly allocated savings (hopefully ).

So, not great but not catastrophic. We have enough grocery and fuel money left to last us to the end of the month and a tiny bit of spending for treats - we'll just have to find lots of free stuff to do for the rest of holidays.