Countdown to Freedom

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi ATT, thanks for your lovely post. I am just off to sort dinner but will respond later. I laughed when I ready about multiple con calls, as I am well known for being on two at the same time, dependent upon when I am presenting and being IMd at the same time - what a mad life. Back soon

Tily x

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

ATT, I have so far finished two responses to you and my iPad has shut the site down. I will post again tomorrow from my laptop otherwise I am going to scream.

Hope you have had a good night - we have caught up on Sherlock - loved it

Tilly x

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Morning ATT, firstly thanks for your lovely post. When I am rambling on and documenting my thoughts, dreams, plans worries etc, it is hard to understand why anyone would find them interesting. However, it is a big help to me. Since starting my thread, apart from holidays, I have kept up with it as its a daily focus on where we are with the journey.

Life is for living but I think we (Tilly household) did too much living before and not enough planning/saving. This diary has definitely made me understand that I spent too long working and then over compensated by buying too much stuff because I felt guilty. It has certainly made both of us think differently, and in fact the kids too.

I am uploading this before I lose it and will come back.

Tilly.

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi ATT, sorry to write to you in bits, but having a few connectivity problems.

I am registered with Quido and TCB, but purchases rarely seem to work correctly with Quidco so we focus mainly on TcB. This year any on line purchases will be checked via that site beforehand. We are not losing out on free money. I can't imagine ever earning £2k through it but who knows. I have given myself a target of earning £500 free money this year, and this will be used towards Xmas.

Only 353 ish sleeps to go :eek:

Tilly x

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Last bit ATT, I am registered with Groupon but have never used them, also have read a few times that people find it difficult to book for their haircut, massage etc. However, this may prompt me to have a go and see what happens. They have some amazing deals.

Do you ever have problems redeeming?

On the book front, I love books and turning real pages. I tend to buy mine from charity shops, car boot sales etc. I also have a habit of leaving a book somewhere, so someone else can pick it up and hopefully in turn pass it on. My kids are totally different though, one reads everything and anything possible and the other is a nightmare.

Have a good day and hopefully an MSE day too.

Tilly x:beer:

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Saturday plans, off to movies later so will be buying sweets from Ald@ to take.

Will only be buying fresh fruit, veg and yoghurt - plus the sweets above. I will pop to the market though and stock up on spices as we use LOADS.

Those are the main spends for the weekend - will have to keep an eye on the trolley in case anything makes a break for freedom and jumps into the trolley.

We didn't have a chance to do phone/broadband analysis so that needs to be done today or tomorrow.

Have a good day all. Tilly x

abouttimetoo

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

ATT, I have so far finished two responses to you and my iPad has shut the site down. I will post again tomorrow from my laptop otherwise I am going to scream.

Hope you have had a good night - we have caught up on Sherlock - loved it

Tilly x

No problem Tilly, it's infuriating when that happens isn't it. I've missed the Sherlock Holmes so far but have heard good reports, particulalry the one on NY day, I might try and see them via catch-up TV as I think they are on Iplayer

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

Morning ATT, firstly thanks for your lovely post. When I am rambling on and documenting my thoughts, dreams, plans worries etc, it is hard to understand why anyone would find them interesting. However, it is a big help to me. Since starting my thread, apart from holidays, I have kept up with it as its a daily focus on where we are with the journey.

I'm not a fan of management speak but we do use one at work which I think is applicable here and that is 'the art of the possible' I think most peoples default position is to think of why they can't do something or why it will be hard e.g. I've a busy life and family, I don't earn very much, I'm a single parent etc so when we read of others in our position who are making things happen they are showing us the art of the possible and we derive comfort and inspiration from it IYKWIM. In 2007 I went from having £60k of mortgage to £270k of mortgages (not sure what I was thinking of now ) all on just my salary, however, I see others on here with far greater personal and day to day financial committments than me who also earn less and it gives me a good old kick up the you know what

Life is for living but I think we (Tilly household) did too much living before and not enough planning/saving. This diary has definitely made me understand that I spent too long working and then over compensated by buying too much stuff because I felt guilty. It has certainly made both of us think differently, and in fact the kids too.

I am uploading this before I lose it and will come back.

Tilly.

It's great to see that you are striking a better balance now and I've seen you comment more than once about the sense of contentment and order it's bringing you and the family and that the home is working better. This is something close to my heart as for me it's all work, work, work and because of my work situation this is something that is incredibly difficult to change. I of coursre know it's only me that can change it but that doesn't make it any easier...

abouttimetoo

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

Hi ATT, sorry to write to you in bits, but having a few connectivity problems.

I am registered with Quido and TCB, but purchases rarely seem to work correctly with Quidco so we focus mainly on TcB. This year any on line purchases will be checked via that site beforehand. We are not losing out on free money. I can't imagine ever earning £2k through it but who knows. I have given myself a target of earning £500 free money this year, and this will be used towards Xmas.

Only 353 ish sleeps to go :eek:

Tilly x

lol re 353 sleeps to go, thanks for that thought!

I think £500 is a good target for and that you should be able to achieve it. For me part of the trick was not thinking of shopping on line as just tangible purchases e.g. a book, a dress but absolutely anything I would do on line can earn cashback e.g. opening bank accounts, swapping credit cards etc etc and once I twigged to that it opened my mind up. If like me you organise buildings and contents insurance on-line, breakdown recovery, airport parking, etc it can all build up via TCB, how did we do without it!

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi ATT, highly recommend catching up on Sherlock it was fantastic. Good to see us making such quality programmes again.

I have just finished making 2kg of lemon curd :T the kitchen smells gorgeous but my upper arms haven definitely had a workout....

I laughed at your mngt speak comment, working for a US company, there are times when I can't even think in normal speak, which is why I write this diary quite simplistically. Definitely does my head good.

Off now to track down kids for cinema - definitely looking forward to another Sherlock fix this afternoon.

Enjoy your sorting with your Mom. Sounds a little like mine and certainly the bigger the house, the more places to put stuff. Mom has things in cupboards, wardrobes, chests of drawers, everywhere, yet the surfaces look empty and neat. Then you pull open the drawer under the bed and :eek::eek::eek:

Off now so enjoy your day. Tilly x

abouttimetoo

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

Last bit ATT, I am registered with Groupon but have never used them, also have read a few times that people find it difficult to book for their haircut, massage etc. However, this may prompt me to have a go and see what happens. They have some amazing deals.

Do you ever have problems redeeming?

Good question and like you I have read some horror stories from the business offering the deals, you might remember one in the papers in the last month regarding a woman who did fancy cup cakes. My own experiences (plus that of mother and friends) have been very positive. I would say that my mother uses them at least twice a month for meals out and her and her friends are in a good routine of say four of them going for a meal so one will buy voucher for two then refer the offer (thus getting extra benefits for them) to the other two for one of them to buy so they can go out as a foursome. I would say my mother used them at least 30 times last year and only once had a problem which was speedily resolved in that when she rang to make the reservation the restaurant readily admitted they had comletley underestimated demand and had been overwhelmed and could no longer take the booking and a refund was easily arranged.

I've used them lots too and always 'quiz' the business a bit as to what the set up is and from what I can see my opinion is that sometimes the businesses (particularly those that are using Groupon for the first time) totally underestimate how popular the offer will be and/or realise they have left it open for far too long rather than just being sensible and doing it for 24 hours to test the waters. One of the massages I had last year was with Saks, in that particular salon they only had two massage rooms and were using Groupon for the first time. They said they realised they had left the offer open too long on Groupon and had estimated it would take them until October to get through all the customers who had taken it up rather than the March which was when they had anticipated but their take up rate was something like 500% more than they had expected so some might argue that the 'fault' lies with both Groupon for not advising correctly and the business for being naive with their first offer.

Once you have purchased many offers are open for many months so I would also recommend using it or booking it quickly to try and prempt any problems.

My final bit of advice would be to check the small print e.g. my mother once ordered a meal with King Prawns and was charged extra when the small print clearly stated that meals including King Prawns and something else I can't remember would carry an extra charge in the restaurant

I'm waffling on now lol, my advice would be to do it! Don't forget to use TCB for your ordering

On the book front, I love books and turning real pages. I tend to buy mine from charity shops, car boot sales etc. I also have a habit of leaving a book somewhere, so someone else can pick it up and hopefully in turn pass it on. My kids are totally different though, one reads everything and anything possible and the other is a nightmare.

Have a good day and hopefully an MSE day too.

Tilly x:beer:

Yes, I lurrrrve books! Although I am a massive gadget girl I can't bring myself to buy a Kindle or similiar as I want to turn the pages. I love the thought and spirit of you leaving books for others to find but I just couldn't bring myself to do as books are my babies If I did see one left behind it would never have occurred to me that it had been left deliberately for others, I would just be worried that their owner was missing it :rotfl:

My mother would relate to what you are saying about your kids, I've always devoured them from being a tiny girl and will think nothing of having 4/5/6/7 books on the go at the same time. By contrast my sister read Harry Potter when she was about 30 and it was quite a family 'event' as it was her first ever apart from compulsory school books!