Blinking in the brightness of the lightbulb moment

Cat2011

July Spending diary

25Jun £53.57 Fuel
26Jun NSD
27Jun £80.00 Netbook
28Jun NSD
29Jun £2.00 Fee for underfunding bank account. Grr!
30Jun NSD
01Jul £61.50 Sports nutrition (budgeted for)
........£65.99 Sports clothes (budgeted for)
........£? Mystery shop purchases
........£0.10 Toll bridge (5p?? seriously?!)

02Jul £? Mystery shop purchases
03Jul £? Mystry shop purchases
.......£56.01 Fuel

Cat2011

So I've worked out I need to earn an extra £574 this month. That's an insanely high total!! Will have to work hard for it. I've set up a savings and spending tally above which I'll update through the month. Really doesn't help that my computer at home has just died :S. Wanted to get lots onto eBay. Will have to have a look at getting it repaired, or buying a cheap one on eBay or something...

Cat2011

So had a flick through eBay. Decided to buy a cheap replacement computer. Figured I'd have a budget of <£50. I bid on 4 different computers, and I didn't win any of them. So in the end I had to raise my budget, and bought a little netbook for £70+£10P&P. I opted for the slow postage, so saved myself £5 on that. I also didn't realise that there was over £20 in my paypal account, from a mystery shop company - so in theory the computer only cost £60 . I have a big widescreen monitor at home, and my old laptop got plugged into that when working at my desk, then could still carry the laptop round with me. Had been thinking of getting a littler laptop anyway, so figured the netbook would be good for portability, and can still plug it into my monitor . Looked at "spares and repairs" prices for my laptop on eBay, and it goes for £60-£80, which is pretty good. So if I can't get it fixed I can at least sell it for parts.

Got some shops booked for Sunday, and had a lovely payout of nearly 90 quid today from previous shops. Hopefully the netbook will work out ok, and I can get on with the selling on eBay...

Cat2011

Woohoo. Netbook has arrived. And it even works! I was a bit worried I'd get a dud. I love it . It's so dinky. I plugged my widescreen monitor into it and it suddenly occurred to me that the netbook doesn't have a DVD drive, so I wouldn't be able to install the software :eek:. But I plugged the magic black box that connects my monitor up in anyway. The netbook said it was looking for things, restarted itself a couple of times, and bobs your uncle the monitor works! It won't let me have the big monitor as my main screen, only as an extended desktop which is a little pants, but the netbook is so small it sits below the big monitor anyway, so doesn't really matter. So - now back on the interweb!

Popped out to do a super easy mystery shop this morning. Just had to go and record the price of some products - no making enquiries or memorising names or anything painful. And it paid pretty well . On the drive down/back I had to seriously resist stopping off at a garage for a yummy drink, but managed to have a NSD so far. Suspect might have to pop to shops for a food shop tho.

This afternoon is dedicated to eBaying, then popping out for a run tomorrow, or exercise, or something. Then massive amounts of shops tomorrow afternoon/evening. At least now I won't have to stop off at work to type them all up. I can do it from the comfort of my desk with tea

I've been thinking about applying for the Aqua cash back card and using it for my petrol and food spends to get the 3% cashback. I got a letter through the door yesterday from Aqua - maybe that's a sign

Also thinking of switching current accounts again as one of the banks is offering a bonus - think it ends soon tho. My oldest Santander account will stop paying its 5% interest shortly, so its ideal timing. Will look up which bank it was.

Right - back to the eBaying... :A

Cat2011

Applied for the Halifax account. Not sure if I'll get it or not as credit record is a bit rubbish due to all the credit cards. Hope so, as that £100 will really help out . Have 9 direct debits on the account I'm switching, so really hope they don't !!!! it up! If I miss a payment on my credit cards I'll lose the 0% which will be a pain. Will have to keep an eye on all the payments, maybe make extra payments just in case. Will see how it goes...

cazmanian_minx

If you use their direct debit switching service, you'll be able to get it sorted if they do mess it up - they'll be able to write to the card issuer/bill issuer/whoever and tell them it wasn't your fault and make sure your credit record doesn't show a late payment. First Direct has just helped me sort out exactly this problem (and it was the mortgage payment which went AWOL, which is the only one that I desperately didn't want them to get wrong!).

Cat2011

So once again been an age since I posted. Been so busy! last week I spent 3 evenings running around doing shops, so was up til 1 or 2am writing those up, then had to do a full days work too. They were a fair distance from home, but got mileage paid as they were desperate, so will make a good profit from them. Hoping I get paid for the shops on the 28th - so will forgo the usual balancing on the 25th, and work out my months income from the 28th. That's still July . Hoping they pay me this month instead of next!

First I knew that Halifax accepted my account was when I got a letter listing their overdraft charges :rotfl:. Then got a letter with my account number, then my card, then my pin. I've registered for the online banking and fille din the form for switching and posted it - I also filled in the form online so not sure why they need it twice? Think they've already paid the £100 bonus for switching, but will need to check the balance before I add it to my totals above.

Got today off work - so the fridge man can finally fix the ruddy fridge freezer. It's been not working since last November - I paid for some insurance to cover it and this is the 6th time they've been called out! :mad: . Now got a man who seems to know what hes doing - he's basically replacing all the parts, and I pray that it works, as my lodgers are getting a bit fed up of the milk constantly going off! (As am I!).
Time off also means I get to catch up on things, like tidying my room - it's an absolute pigsty :eek:. Can also list more on eBay.

Managed to start getting my jewellry on eBay, listed bracelets so far, but not had a single bid or watcher. They end Sunday eve, but only up for 99p, so guess I can just keep relisting til someone buys them! Also decided what to do with the windsurfing kit. I originally bought 3 sails, but have only ever used the smallest, so I'm selling the 2 bigger sails. Theres 32 watchers on one, and 20 watchers on the other, and I've had quite a few emails asking about them so reckon they'll both go - just hope I get a decent price. Cross fingers and will hopefully make a total of £100 from the 2 sails. Really hoping someone comes to collect, as not looking forward to trying to box htem up! So I still have a full windsurf set, in case I ever go out again. Also thinking of exchanging the sail/mast/boom for a kiddies version as they're smaller and lighter. Then can sell the set I've got as my mast is pretty super duper and should fetch a fair bit. We'll see.

Struggling with getting in enough money to be debt free this month... waiting on lots of mystery shopping payments - they take so darn long to pay out! Best get back to the ebaying then...

Cat2011

I sold the sails! Had quite a few people ask if they could buy them for a fixed sum, but I said I'd rather let the auction run as in the end there were 46 people watching one, and 24 watching the other. Thankfully it paid off and I got £177 for the pair! I bought all 3 sails for £160 2 yrs ago, and am keeping one, so I'm glad it went for so much. I was hoping I'd break £100 - so very chuffed. Just hope the guy is happy with them! He's already paid, I'm dropping them off tomorrow.

So somehow have to come up with another £170 or so.... not sure how that's going to happen! I have some tyre levers with a bid on for 99p.... that's a start . Bike stuff seems popular, so I'll see if I can dig out any more. No one is remotely interested in the jewellry on there . Will also have to probably find more than £170, as spent a fair amount on purchases for mystery shopping too. Lots more to eBay tho - will have another bash at it this weekend.

Cat2011

Mystery shop payments are starting to come through which is nice. Unfortunately not as nice as it could have been - I had 24 emails from one company saying I'd been paid (they said individual emails per job), so I got all excited about a big payment, but turns out there were only 5 jobs, and the emails had just been sent out repeatedly! Never mind... My bedroom is overflowing with toilet roll/laundry soap/toiletries that I've been buying through the shops... Its looking a bit more promising that I'll make my target, but still a bit concerned about any extra money I've been spending. I barely spent a penny in the first couple of weeks in July, but with doing all the shops in the evenings I've been "treating" myself to nice dinners, so that's £10-15 I shouldn't be spending on food shops several evenings a week. Will just have to see how it all comes out on the 28th.

Cat2011

So its payday again. I did a quick calc, and I reckoned I was about £560 short of debt free. Then this afternoon I had an email saying I'd been paid by a mystery shop company and an ebay thing which was another £130 odd to the pot. So balance stands at 413 short at the mo. I'm expecting a stack of mystery shop payments before the end of the month, but only 2-300, so don't think I'm going to make the debt free , will see what the weekend brings...

My natwest card runs out of 0% this month, so I get to clear that , yay, then I'll only have 5 credit cards... I'm supposed to get ym statement on the 25th, but its not shown up yet, soon as it does I'll pay it in full and cancel the card

I was poorly a couple of days last week, and then had a hectic weekend, so had yesterday off sick too - just couldn't stay awake enough to function. Had lots of sleep and feeling a bit chirpier today .

Got myself a date tomorrow which should be fun, we're going for a walk in the country then finding a pub for a drink. It'll be nice to get out in the sunshine as I've been working/sleeping through it all so far.