A Year of Living Frugabulously

Marty82

£67 of calls over your allowance!!!!!! You should contact Vodafone to get an extra minutes package as it will cost you less and will be a known sum rather than a surprise at the end of the month. It's called a "bolt on" with O2 but not sure of the name with Vodafone.

Go to "settings", "general", "usage", "cellular usage" to get call time and data usage figures. Scroll down and you can reset the statistics manually whenever you please but I would suggest your bill date would be a good idea. You can also download "My Vodafone" from the app store which tells you all your usage and bill details in a quicker and easier way than via the website. The O2 equivalent app is great so I hope the Vodafone one helps you.

Should really go and update my own diary as didn't do so yesterday but still haven't fully formulated my thoughts about the potential expense of my boiler. Not fabulous or frugal either which has left me very grumpy today!

Lula-Hula

Marty,

you are a darling, thank you :kisses3:. I trawled through the settings but completely ignored the 'cellular useage' bit as I didn't have a clue what it meant . I've sussed out the vodafone bit already, but thank you again for pointing this out

Of course :doh:in the States they call mobiles 'cell' phones & now it all makes sense :idea:.

You'll laugh at me even more when I tell you that we popped in the library earlier & I grabbed a copy of '2011 for Mac for Dummies" :rotfl:.

I will learn how to use spreadsheets effectively & then wow my boss with my awesome skills; he'll give me a HUGE payrise & promotion, a new office far away from Grumpy & the Goblin; Prince Charming will arrive, fresh from getting his Porsche resprayed magenta at the garage next door & totally rock my world, where we'll live happily ever after commuting between our swanky city apartment with roof terrace & our cornish cottage with walled garden, just 5 minutes walk from the sea ...

Failing that, at least I'll be able to keep track of my spends & mobile useage

RosaBernicia

Eeek and :mad: to Vodafone - but sometimes calls are completely necessary and that's what buffer funds are for.

Does DD1 have Skype? I am skating close to my minutes now that I have a social life again and think I am going to start arranging to call people on Skype instead of by phone. I get unlimited texts so can discuss times to call that way - then both are free

Rosa xx

Pippilongstocking

Ah the joys of Skype. Thoroughly recommend

*subscribes* excuse the time delay since new diary start, I blame the time difference

Hugs and a belated happy new diary. Loving the sound of your pads. Can I help in the garden?

taxi73

Wow..that's some phone bill..glad you've realised what it is though that caused it...everything else sounding fabby though

Lula-Hula

Pippilongstocking wrote: »

Ah the joys of Skype. Thoroughly recommend

*subscribes* excuse the time delay since new diary start, I blame the time difference

Hugs and a belated happy new diary. Loving the sound of your pads. Can I help in the garden?

*reaches for credit card to book a flight south so Pippi can have stern words with naughty leeks* It's lovely of you to be here & perhaps you can tell me if it's normal to have penstemon still flowering ?

Nope, unfortunately DD1 doesn't have skype, no laptop or home phone so contact is actually cheapest by free minutes on mobile ... t'would be cheaper still if she'd go on the same network as me ... there's some family & friends deal going on but you know how it goes ... if a mother suggests something, then it's imperative for a daughter to do the complete opposite . She & her BF are househunting so when they are moved in, all these things will be possible

Anyways, I am on the strictest of strictetty budgets from now on so there'll be no wanton chattering again.

November has definitely exceeded my budgetary expectations, and we're only halfway through .

I have to use cash from now on, every spend on the CC has to be paid back & the cashback is not actually enough to warrant using the CC. I still feel the need to carry it with me in case of 'emergency' but overspending at Sainsbugs is not exactly an emergency is it ?

I've just added up all the Amazon gift certificates I've claimed since January & was amazed to discover it's £95 & I have another £5 due any day.

I've mainly used them to buy books or cds throughout the year & only have about £20 to spend at the moment, but will try really hard to save them all up from now until next November & then use them for christmas presents next year.

I'm feeling chilly now, so off to bed with a hottie (bottle not man ) & book.

I just don't know how I keep it all together what with my rock n roll lifestyle :rotfl:

G'night
xx

ZTD

Lula-Hula wrote: »

I'm feeling chilly now, so off to bed with a hottie (bottle not man ) & book.

A hot water bottle is warmer, more reliable and wets the bed less than a man.

And you can shove a stopper in and it stays in...

Lula-Hula wrote: »

I just don't know how I keep it all together what with my rock n roll lifestyle :rotfl:

You got one of those too?

I saw this and thought of you...

Marty82

Can I ask how you have managed to earn £95 of Amazon vouchers? I'm assuming it's through surveys. I'm a member of various survey sites but am trying to make sure I'm on them all so any help would be great!

Think I'll be having a hot water bottle in bed tonight too as well as being fully clothed! Talk about sexy. Lol. I should really go to bed and read too but am enjoying being stretched out on one of my new sofas. Can't decide which Lovefilm DVD to watch: Frost Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire, The Piano or Twilight?

Karmacat

Morning Lula! Don't be down, sweetie, you've done what you can .... I'm worried for you with your amendments to your post yesterday .... you're doing fine! We all make decisions we'd rather not have made - look at me, with my year old mattress that cost £600 wanting to get rid of it! And paying out uselessly for Denplan for 6 months, which cost me £160 .... for ages, I wanted to kick something very hard about that, but I've forgiven myself ... its just part of it all.

Hope today is nice - even tho yesterday ended with a hottie, it still sounded like a good'un.

Lula-Hula

G'morning to all & it's a fabby autumn day out there today.

Z - welcome & tanks for bringing your very particular brand of humour, which always makes me giggle out loud :A.

Thanks also for the link ... I've just spent an hour watching various you tube van-living style videos & I've concluded that I will NEVER go to some eco village squat type place in a city *shudders* I wouldn't get in their showers with my wellies on.

I never get why people who choose to live outside societies norms, decide to do so in such an ugly manner. Why have great hunks of metal & plastic spray painted with graffiti, rather than real earth products ? Aesthetics are free . Living in the woods in a cabin or shelter & crafting a home using ancient skills & materials, I get; that is really living 'off the grid'.


As you can see dear KC, I'm perfectly fine & back on form just rather frustrated that I can't immediately get started on the Escape from Reality Fund, although I might just pay back the £300 to the Buffer Fund for now, & not worry too much about paying the £1,000 back to the ISA to start with. I need to start with a manageable target & also see some result quickly or I'll just feel defeated before I start.

I'm not sure I could do a van conversion myself ... let's be honest here; I'm the woman who happily pays someone else to wash my car , can you imagine me trying to do electrics, plumbing & drilling .:rotfl:

I fully accept that I will be earning & saving my way to the E.R.F & I'm guesstimating about £10,000 _pale_ to start the alchemy.


First target then = £300 payback to Buffer Fund - I'll add that to sig to make it more official.

Hiya Marty - yes that's all earnings from surveys, I do Ipsos, MySurvey, Valued Opinions & YouGov (although still only about half way to payout) I get all rewards in amazon -evouchers as that seems to be the best way - you often need less points to convert rather than other vouchers & I ALWAYS convert asap rather than letting them build up.

I also do the 'secret surveys that we're not allowed to talk about' - will PM you about that one next time they're recruiting - who pay in paypal amounts.

I also get offered short surveys for my littlest DD to complete so that probably helps boost the funds & also do a bit of product testing too which helps, have just completed one where I had to eat something every day for a week & although I'll never eat that product again now as sick of it, I did earn £4 for it .

Right, the outdoors is calling me & my wellies are hopping about in anticipation.


Bye for now ...