Tales from a country cottage

ani*fan

I tried to get a voucher but unless they were boots over £100 I couldn't find one. Yet another confession...I don't know about cash back sites. Do they not involve tracking and clearing cookies and all kinds of things I don't know how to do?

They're for work, and I just realised it has been 5 years since I bought new work shoes. And they are just the right combination of funky and practical and I truly, honestly love them.

So £78 for 5 years works out at...just over £14 a year. Not that bad eh? *tries to justify outrageously large spend*

ani*fan

The culprit...was sure I'd bought 2...

ani*fan

So I've now checked out quidco and realised I could have got £4.68 cashback on the shoes.

:mad::mad::mad:

Wonder if I can return them, then buy them again via quidco? I'm still not signed up for it and not sure really how it works but I'm sure I could learn.

Ayeshalush

ani*fan wrote: »

I've PM-ed you Ayeshalush.

Sorry to be so mysterious everyone. I just like the anonymity of this place and don't want details that might identify me on my diary.

Do I sound paranoid?!?! Like anyone would even care?!?!

Anyway, £5k is a serious amount to have paid off. And I'm jealous of your spreadsheet skills. Got any tips for a wannabe spreadsheet user?

Finally got the tax situation sorted. Got stung for another £55 for being a couple of days late with my return. :mad: That'll teach me. Fortunately the guy on the phone was very lovely and apologised for the delay in telling me about it.

I'm so sorry ani*fan fior making you feel uncomfortable. I did intend to tell you not to answer my questions if they were too personal, but got interrupted (I was at work) mid post and it slipped my mind.

Thank you for goung to the trouble of pm-ing me.

I fully understand why you don't want to be identifiable on here. There's no need for apologies, it's your diary (despite the essays I seem to be posting lately - bet you're wishing I'd go back to lurkdom, lol!!) to post (and not post) as you see fit.

Re spreadsheets, my main spreadsheet is a bit like a bank statement (and I do reconcile it to my bank statements:o - wouldn't take a genuis to work out my job lol!!). At the start of each month I 'pay in' my salary and deduct off all direct debits, standing orders, etc that I know will come out during the month. I then allocate budgets for the month for food, petrol, my 'pocket money', dog expenses, clothes, birthdays, xmas (i save a little towards this each month), car maintenance and annual expenses (I save money each month to enable me to pay tv licence, car insurance, rider insurance etc in one payment so that I don't have to pay any extra for credit facilities). As soon as I make any extra payments, draw money from my acccount, etc I note it on my spreadsheet so that I always know how much money I have at my disposal for the rest of the month. Hope that makes some sense.:o

It helps that I have a desk job and sit at a computer all day, so my spreadsheet is always open and I have no excuse for not keeping it up to date. It's probably a bit over-the-top for some people but it works for me.

I think you deserved a treat for sorting out your tax.:T...and you need a little treat along the way or it will just become too hard and you won't stick with it.

I used to use Quidco but now use TopCashback. Quidco charge you £5 a year to use their site (deducted from cashback earned) but TCB don't charge you anything. TCB rates are comparable with Quidco and I believe they have a guarantee where they will match any websites that pay a higher cashback rate. I have had over £400 from TCB without any problems. I didn't have any issues with Quidco but just preferred to get the same service for no fee:D.

Well better shut up now as it seems I've written another essay:o.

A
x

Igamogam

ani*fan wrote: »

The culprit...was sure I'd bought 2...

Wow those are serious work shoes :rotfl: The cash back sites are easy enough to use - I am no technical whizz ( cant get my head round spread sheets for example) but can use the cash back sites

ani*fan

Igamogam...:rotfl:Aren't they fab? It's so hard to find shoes as chunky as that and I lurve the shape. I'm so excited for them arriving! Guess I like my feet planted securely on the ground.

Greenanne...buy the jewellery. It feels great to have nice things on their way, especially after being so good for so long!

Ayeshalush...no worries whatsoever. If I didnt want to say, I wouldn't have answered your questions. The problem is that once I start on about my job, I can't shut up. I'm definitely one of those people who can endlessly bore people to death about work. (Ask OH who bravely tolerates this daily and somehow still loves me .)

I'm genuinely interested in spreadsheets. At the moment, I'm using a folder and some paper to keep track of my finances. I'm constantly having to cross-reference, get online, look things up, it's a major hassle. I'm going to try making my own one but I don't know where to start.

Did you make your own from scratch or is there a ready made one online I could download? And how on earth do you organise it? I have a rough idea of making the wee boxes do things (like adding up numbers and stuff) but I'd maybe need some help with that.

Do I sound stupid? I feel it when it comes to spreadsheets.

Great tip about TCB too. Thanks for that.

Igamogam

Not wanting to lure you into buying more shoes but............... when in 5 years time you next by a pair of shoes take a look at ART if you dont already know them and my second favourite is CAMPER - I buy both on Eb*y and they are my shoes of choice for work - the frogs love them

ETA - be warned they are very pricey but strangely only cost 'under £40' when OH asks and of course I have always had them for 'ages'

greenanne

wow love the shoes.
are they doc martins.
they look like they'll last forever.
my jewlery is on it's way now as i write this:o oh well never mind.was £21 for the necklace and earings.
i to am interested in the spreadsheets.is there somewhere we can get info on them.

ani*fan

The shoes are Zola brogues by Schuh...my favourite shoe shop. They do look like doc martens because of the stitching. Glad you like. We have good taste.

Can you post a photo of your jewellery? I'd love to see what you're buying. It feels like a real occasion since we're all trying to be so frugal. :rotfl:

I don't know about spreadsheets. I'm going to google it now and see if I can find anything.

Knitting_Nora

On the spreadsheets side - if there isn't anything you can easily download, then basic excel can do all sorts of things with just a few keystrokes.

And I say this as someone who, just a year ago, was found using excel because it made the figures line up nicely...and a proper calculator on the desk beside it to add them up.

Go on, laugh it out...you probably deserve the treat!

Anyway, I now have a very simple doc with my debt detail on individual tabs and a simple calculation to show what I'm using to pay them off, dates etc. I may do more in time...but I really like my calculator, and like any pet, he gets lonely if he isn't played with regularly.

Nora