New and scared but so determined

hillside777

Hi Freeby

It's lovely to catch up on your news. Thanks for posting, you've been missed.

You were up early for a Sunday. Two hours before me.

I hope you have a great MSE week.

freebyfifty

Good Morning

Thought I'd catch up with my diary again, I really must try to get back into the habit of doing this daily but I have no idea where my time is going at the moment :mad:

Pay day today and I will have a roof over my head and heat and light for another month I have also paid another chunk off the horrible Carp one card I love looking at the balance now and can see the end of that one looming very soon especially as my budget for the month forecasts another chunk coming off it soon. Woo Hoo and Hooray. I know I have loads of others and I'll still be ploughing away for a long time yet but to get rid of another piece of my debt feels like a huge achievement to me

There hasn't been anything much else happening in my little world apart from the humungous event that is payday so I am off to obsess a bit more over my spreadsheets and to write the meal plan and shopping list for next week.

Have a brilliant day x x

freebyfifty

Good morning

Not that much to catch up on over the weekend.

I am still making my meal plans and writing a shopping list and heading to Mr T to get exactly what is on that list and nothing else It is working too I have been quite disciplined with myself and there is less food getting wasted and most importantly less money being thrown away Who knew it would last this long? Not me, that's for sure.

The carpital one debt is coming down nicely and I can see the end coming closer and closer with every little PAD I make :T At the beginning of the year I thought I could maybe possibly perhaps get rid of it by October but now it looks like I could be making my final payment to them on my August payday :j A whole 3 months before I thought I would. :j I am a little bit chuffed with myself for that. Then it'll be on to the next one, which has been coming down quietly by itself and I hope it's gone by the end of the year Still loads after those ones though What was I thinking when I took out all those horrible credit cards. I think some gremlin must have got hold of my brain

Also, I have money in the bank Just a little bit, but it's there. The people in the bank must be having a stiff whisky and need a day off to recover from the shock of my account having a little spare in it :rotfl:

Oh heck, this post is coming across as quite smug and up my own you know what, I shall go now before I want to hit myself :rotfl:

Have a brilliant day x x

MuffinTops

You never sound smug freeby, just proud of yourself which you jolly well deserve!!!! (I think "jolly well" is allowed in this context???" )

Well done for battling that card 3 months early, that's such an acheivement! Wooh to you!

freebyfifty

Good Morning

Well, surprise surprise, it is raining again. I cannot wait until my holidays in three weeks when I head of to the sun and warmth. :T Knowing my luck, it will probably rain there too :mad:

Busy week this week with things the DDs are doing. All the end of term stuff that gives them a better social life than their mother - mind you that wouldn't be hard All of it has been paid for out of various budgets so I don't have to 'find' the cash from anywhere so I am still feeling in control and ahead of the game

I am just about to write the meal plan and shopping list for the next couple of weeks until we go on holiday so I can use up whats there and the cupboards will be empty while we're away. It does mean a big shop when we get back but I get paid when we are away so (hopefully) all my wages will still be in the bank untouched when I get back I know I'm early with my list but it's a list.............need I say more???? (all list lovers will be with me on this one :rotfl:)

Fat club again tonight :eek: I swear that this maintaining your weight lark is harder than the actual losing it. Too scared to eat incase you put it on and too scared not to eat incase you lose anymore :mad: I keep hoping that one day it will all click into place and I can stop fretting about it so much.

Right then, off to bang a few more nails into the ark where the giraffe misjudged the ceiling and then it's good to float me to work

Have a great day x x

freebyfifty

Good Morning

I'm a bit peeeeeeeeeeed off with Ama2on this morning :mad::mad: I have a credit balance of £26 with them at the moment thanks to survey sites and I needed to buy a gift voucher from them for my DM's birthday but instead of using my credit balance they took it from my card details so it's come out of my bank :mad::mad: Apparently, it's what they do for gift cards :mad::mad: It doesn't matter that much as the money was in the bank and I still have my credit with them but it was still £20 out of my budget :mad::mad: Funny how a little thing like that throws you off balance.
I have been doing quite well with the survey sites lately I have always got the vouchers for Ama2on but after closer inspection today (and my being in the huff with Ama2on :mad:) I have decide from now until the big C in December I am going to claim Bootz and M&s vouchers to put towards presents Why is that pesky time of year never very far from my mind???:o Hopefully, as long as the surveys keep coming, I'll have a little stash :T
I also got a cheque for £9 this week from clothesforcash :T I decided that I was going to have a massive clear out of all the wardrobes and cupboards :eek: I have to admit to being lazy and I couldn't be bothered to list the good stuff on ebay so I flung it all in one of clothes et al's sacks and got the courier to collect it. £9 better off :T I feel a bit guilty for not taking it to the charity shop or putting it in one of those millions of charity bag thingys you get through the door but, hey ho, I'm 9 quid better off with another sack pending pick up I'm clearly not feeling that guilty then :rotfl:

I really should be putting the very few bits and pieces I have sorted out on ebay. Does anyone know when the next free listing weekend is? I should start building up a little cushion for that time which is never far from my mind again. I have a zillion books to get rid of as well, which, now I have a kindle, will probably never get looked at again. Is there a place that buys your books????? I'll have to google that one. I'm just too lazy to package them separately and trudge to the post office 16 times a week.

Does anyone have any more money making ideas?? It has been the little bits that have been coming in in dribs and drabs that have been making all the difference to my bank account lately and giving me a bit extra to pay towards my humongous debt, so I'm always on the look out for new ideas.


I'm turning into a real old miser, sorta a cross between Del boy and Scrooge - now that's not a pretty picture :eek:


Have a great Saturday x x x

macpumpkin

Hey Freeby :wave:, I just stopped by to say that I think you are doing really amazingly with the debt busting and that I had a couple of ideas of things which I do which may work for you

I sold a lot of books on Z8pper, they don't sell for that much but if you want to declutter and have 50 items then they will send a courier to collect them. I think I made about £50 this way.

I always get B""ts vouchers from Survey Sites as a lot of the presents are on 3 for 2 before Christmas and if you time it right you can use a double advantage card voucher or take advantage of the triple points weekend that they always have before Christmas.

Invest in a good mac when it is on offer. I've had mine for 16 years and it is still waterproof and way cheaper than lots of umbrellas!

Invest in an epilator, I think mine cost about £50 in 2004 as razors work out more expensive in the long term.

January is the best time to go on holiday (children permitting) as the weather is rubbish in the UK and so will cheer you up and the holidays are always a lot cheaper out of season.

Always send off for free samples (recently I have acquired 14 sachets of G*rnier facial moisturiser and cl!pper tea bags)

Sign up to W8nderbug survey site as I have done product testing and so haven't bought any washing powder since October.

Switch your bank account as I have made quite a bit of money this way. I think H8lifax has a £100 pound offer if you switch by the 14 July and you don't have to change where your wages are paid into as you can just transfer it across. (Same goes for all your direct debits as you can just set up a couple for a few pounds which goes from one of your accounts to pay another one of your accounts so it messes up it doesn't matter as it is a small amount and being paid from yourself to yourself).

I hope this helps. I have subscribed to your diary and I look forward to reading your posts even if I don't have time to post much.

MuffinTops

Hello Freeby,

My bed is screaming out for me, but just wanted to say that ebay tend to do a free listing either every 2 weeks or every 3, depending on their mood! The last one was last weekend so it'll either be this first weekend in July or the weekend after.

Selling books is good on Amazon, Green Metropolis and WeBuyBooks. Amazon, in my opinion, give the best return but you do have to wait until someone wants that book and buys it, rather than Amazon buying the books off you in one go. I think they have a trade in section now too, but they offer so much less than the books are actually selling for that I don't think it's worth it, unless you're in desperate need for space.

MacPumpkins ideas look great for saving little bits here and there! I really agree that it's the smaller things you do that makes such a difference.

x

freebyfifty

Okay, so I have not been here for a very long time

I thought I should catch up on my diary and try to remember everything that has gone on in freebyland over the past month.

I have been sticking to the MSE wagon like glue and haven't tumbled off in a very long time.
I had a little disaster last week when my exhaust fell off my car :eek: and it cost £200 to get it repaired, but thanks to being focused and in control of my money I had that spare for emergencies. That would never have happened this time last year. I would have to had gone begging to my DM & DF
It hurt like mad to part with that money and I have to admit to being down for a couple of days afterwards, funny how spending money used to make me feel great and now it makes me feel depressed. When did that change happen????
So now I have to build up that little emergency fund again, but according to my budgets it really shouldn't take that long and I suppose that's exactly what it's there for.

The Carp One card is nearly gone :j I can't quite believe that I have just over £100 left to pay and it will be gone forever :T I wish I could afford to pay it right now, today, immediately but what with the car nicking my spare cash it will have to wait until I get paid in three weeks. I'm not bothered by that though, it'll still be gone 3 months sooner than I had originally budgeted for :T
The next one I am planning on getting rid of will make you gasp with horror when you see the balance :eek: What was I thinking :eek: Actually, I wasn't thinking, I was just spending This one will take me a year to get gone :eek: But when I think about it, the last year of being a DFW has just flown by so I shall just plod along and in the not too distant future will be able to strike that one of my list aswell

Taking one day at a time seems to be the key for me at the moment. If I can get through the day by not spending over my budget and by making a small PAD to my debt then it has been a good day

Roll on lots more good days

MuffinTops

I've been hoping for a little update from you to see how you're getting on! It sounds like everything is going really well, even without updating every day. So it shows the MSE force is strong in you now!

What a nuisance the exhaust went, but it is a good reflection on how far you've come that you could still sort it out. I'll look forward to seeing your update and promise not to gasp too loudly with horror at your next card balance.

Hasn't the time flown since starting this journey? I keep feeling low about how many more months to go, and then realise that it'll shoot by just as fast as these last months have.

Take care Freeby, and well done on getting so close to clearing that first card. x