WelshWoofer's Staying Debt Free Mission

WelshWoofer

Another mini-triumph:j:j
Was just looking at the gas and electricity bill from Npower and they've put the direct debit up by more than £30 a month. In the spirit of money saving I've rung them and demanded to know why - apparently I have underpaid for a while and am in debit on the account. Having had a small paddy with them they've reduced the joint DD for gas and electric from £97 to £85 a month - only £12 but it all counts.

Thinking about it, the dog insurance is £12 a month so effectively its free now! The way my mind works! I can justify anything - think it comes from working in sales for a long time before teaching:o.

Whilst they were on the phone I queried where my energy monitor I was promised was and apparently they've run out and won't get anymore and the manager as a gesture of good will has crdited my account with £20 - not bad considering I'd forgotten all about it anyway!

So, today I've saved £12 a month on Npower and £25 a month on Sky making a grand total of £37 a month:T I won't be a millionaire overnight but better in my pocket than theirs!
I can't think of anything else to phone up about ( I spoke to the water company a few weeks ago) but will keep trying!

Hovel_lady

Thats great :T as you say much better in your pocket than theirs.

WelshWoofer

Just been into town for my haircut - I used to pay £55 for a cut and colour and as I'm going grey and have dark hair it needs doing at least every 6 weeks. BUT, today I have just had it cut and dried costing £30 and am doing the colour myself for £5:j
Whilst there I decided to stock up on toiletries in Boots as a lot of the ones I use were on offer - I got 2 lots of shampoo and conditioner, bubble bath, toothpaste, deodorant, shower gel and managed to get a £5 No 7 voucher which got me a nice new nail varnish for just £2 - all for the princely sum of £10. At full price this would have cost more like £25 so a good saving.

I got home to find that an unwanted perfume (that exOH bought me!) has sold on Ebay for £15 plus postage - I really didn't think anyone would want it and I certainly don't so free money really!

WelshWoofer

In order to stop myself obsessing over what I can save on next (its this weeks fad!) I've just spent the best part of 2 hours giving myself an overhaul...... dyed hair, sorted and painted toe nails, done all the hard skin on my feet:eek:, bleeurrgh, full bodyexfoliate, defuzz, face scrub .... the works!
I am officially the cleanest person in the village!

In years gone by I would have paid someone to do a lot of this for me - still would to be honest as a treat - but needs must and I actually quite enjoyed it.

The man is coming to fit the new wooden blind for the office/guest room tomorrow morning and then all of the latest house redecoration plan (for now) will be finished. In the last 2 weeks I have painted the office room (small box room really) and downstairs loo myself and put together a load of Ikea furniture and sorted finishing touches (pictures, plants etc). They both look OK too.
I've had a new carpet laid in the office room too. Downstairs has had the carpets ripped up in the hall, kitchen and loo and a new wooden floor laid and the hall and stairs have been redecorated by the decorator (too ambitious for me!). It all looks lovely, if I say so myself!

The next house project is the living room but that needs a new carpet, wallpaper on one wall, paint, soft furnishings etc so that will have to wait for a few months yet. I want to save up for these and not put them on a card and reinvent my debt so its the old fashioned way of paying for something when I can afford it;).

WelshWoofer

Well, the blind man (not with a guide dog!) has been and it looks very nice. Have just taken the dog to the park and popped into Cartridge World for an ink refill on the way home - it cost £8.50 rather than the £14.97 it is in T*sco.:T

I need to sort out the mortgage letters and send them back today too - the quicker they get done the quicker it all goes through. I had a valuation letter yesterday and the house is worth just about what I thought it was so no bad surprises there thankfully.

Right, the house needs a good clean as my mum and sister are coming for a few days tomorrow.

WelshWoofer

My mum and sister love going out to eat so I've just rung the local Indian to book a table for tomorrow and discovered they do an early bird offer from 5-7pm at £7.95 for 2 courses and poppadoms so we're going then! Bargain!

Today, I've gone all Mrs Beaton and made some oaty biscuits/flapjack thingies for my visitors using stuff in the cupboard - mum loves it when I try to cook, I think she thinks she's finally domesticated me!

I've also completed all of the mortgage documentation and sent it back, so that's another yukky job out of the way thankfully.

Going to have a quiet night watching telly before the onslaught tomorrow and I have to be the hostess with the mostest!

WelshWoofer

Well, the visitors have gone and the house is now back to normal - all clean and tidy (I cant stand mess!)

A mini-drama with exOH resulted with him asking (via email) for some things from the house and mentioning things he contributed to whilst he lived here like the fridge, hoover and mower. In the spirit of keeping things amicable I have agreed to the bits and pieces he wants and have transferred the cash for half of the electricals to his bank account. It wasn't too much - £135 - but I'm not sure where to take the money from. I think what I'll do is try to economise and absorb as much of this as possible from the current account and see how the month goes and if I'm running short take some from the savings account to see me through to payday.

I'm off to Mr T's armed with £8 of vouchers and a list later - I will need to spend £40 to get the money off but will try to stick to that if possible and stock up on freezer and cupboard things and hopefully the amount to pay will be £35 ish.

On the positive side, the loan account has now disappeared from the internet banking and is completely paid off and the only thing owing is the decorating costs on the CC which will be paid when the bonus arrives next month.:T
I need to start really budgeting to make sure I don't slip back into old habits now, especially now its just my income to rely on.

Right better go and get a bath and pop to do the shopping before the rugby this afternoon - come on Wales!

Lula-Hula

Hello,

I'm loving your diary of positivity. I'm soon to be DF (again) so will be popping in for tips & inspiration etc

Good luck
xx

WelshWoofer

Thanks Lula! It always amazes me that anyone reads this except me!

Been grocery shopping and once I got going I decided to do a big stock up shop and spend a bit more than I'd planned - after vouchers etc it came to £42, so not overly extreme.

I now have plenty of veggie stuff (I don't eat meat) in the freezer to last at least 3 weeks and a nicely full storecupboard as well as lots of nice fresh stuff including fruit and veg. I've written a meal plan for this week using up the fresh things first so minimising waste and trying to keep it varied and healthy. I lost about a stone and a half on Slimming World recently and am happyish with my weight now and want to keep it that way.

I think that next week all I'll need to buy is some fruit and veg and milk (oh, and dog food!) so the spend should be £15 or so balancing out this weeks stock up.

Will update my signature now and then settle down to watch the rugby.

WelshWoofer

Just remembered that I had an email from Amazon about trading in some textbooks I'd bought and no longer need (teaching different exam board stuff now).
Apparently I can get £20 in Amazon vouchers for them - had a quick look at what they'd be if I sold them on Amazon and its worth trading in as there's no postage costs and guaranteed cash. I did put them on ebay a while ago and there were no takers so I think I'll take the money and run!

So that's £20 from them and £17 from the ebay sale to put towards Xmas presents - I want to get up to £100 by Xmas shopping time by doing things like this and that will pay for most of the immediate family presents (mum, dad and sister). So £63 to go! Might sell the dog - only joking!:eek: