Countdown to Freedom

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Woohoo, I have secured a free card for DS birthday from the grabbit link - lovely

Tilly

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Goodness, what a week this has been. I have just returned from a market research evening on a well known high street store - not just any high street store - and am now the proud owner of a £50 note for my couple of hours work.

I have also redeemed MySurvey and Shop*Scan points, allowing me to add a further £15 to my Amazon account, ready and waiting for birthdays. Over the course of the last few weeks we have received a total of £76.01 of 'free' money, :T in the form of Amazon vouchers. Who would have known this world of free money existed before MSE? Certainly not me.

I may have to lie down in a darkened room again now. Too much excitment, I'm only used to this frenetic activity when either I, or DH get/s paid.

As I seem to say on so many posts, it's now Wednesday evening, middle of the week, heading towards the end. The weeks are racing by at such a pace. I have a ridiculously busy Thursday, but a glorious Friday - I'm taking the day off! No work, no kids, no cooking, no shopping - I aim to do anything I like. Right now I am considering spending an hour in the quiet room of our local church. Its a truly glorious room and I relish the chance to sit in peaceful contemplation and prayer.

To balance that out, in the afternoon, I may take the dog for a run - weather permitting.

I hope everyone is enjoying this weird journey that we are on together. Best wishes, Tilly x

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Morning, very cold and snowy here but as I am having a day off, I am not fussed.

Plans for today, as DS is off school he and I will take the dog for a long walk first thing - he's having a lie in as it's a training day at school. I did finish washing all of his school sports kit and clothes when he came home yesterday - how do boys manage to get so filthy?

We are to the supermarkets after that and then I get an hour of quiet time which i really need at the moment. My head is full of work and plans and it needs a rest.

Money wise, I received the £15 JL vouchers for having the Whic& subscription. I will be cancelling the subs today but I have realised what an interesting magazine and site they have so may take it up again in the future.

DH popped to Ald@ yesterday and bought 4 21 day rib eye steaks and 4 pork fillets. Excellent value and they are safely tucked into the freezer.

It's been a good money saving week and apart from planned purchases there have been no 'popping out' to the shop days where you go in for a pint of milk and come back £10 lighter.

The exercise is going well, what with the dog runs and shred it there's definitely more activity, as I work with my laptop there are some days when I forget to stand up for the whole morning, which is mad. Hence making exercise a bigger part of my life has proved a big help. Not just for the body but my mind is benefiting.

I have just heard that a very close friend has been diagnosed with cancer, still waiting to hear what is possible in terms of surgery and ongoing treatment. He is only in his very early 50s which is tragic, it brings home the fragility of our lives here and the absolute need to live every day. During the last three months, I have certainly learnt that living does not have to mean spending and, in fact, quite often the opposite is true. Even our kids are engaged and taking this journey with us. It's great to see them budgeting and considering things they need to buy in a different light. That can ony bode well for their futures.

Best wishes to all Tilly x

coldcazzie

If you've anything to eBay Tilly, its another free listing weekend this weekend. Hope you and DS have a lovely day x

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Morning Caz, thanks so much. I had meant to ask if anyone knew when the next one was. DH has a colour printer to put on and it's driving me mad. It's sat on a shelf in the garage for 4 months (in its box) but on a shelf which is my larder. I will go and find him and let him know. Big thanks and enjoy your day. You made me laugh yesterday about FD web site Tilly x

coldcazzie

Haha I got so frustrated with it because it has no option the edit the reference for payees you've already used, so you have to use the same reference as you did when you set it up. I even looked at deleting them and adding them again with a different reference - you can't do that either! :mad:

Hope you get your larder back! Tomorrow is going to be manic for me, fingers crossed I can get something up on Sunday! x

abouttimetoo

Hi Tilly

So sorry to hear about your friend and how true your words are regarding the fragility of life... I truly hope things go as well as they can

On a lighter note, well done on your latest progress and it's exciting to see how much you are building up with your 'Tilly's little earners' (as I have now named them ) It's an amazing world this lark isn't it and I know what's done is done but how on earth did we get to this stage in life without knowing some of these tricks many moons ago

More well done's on your exercise and weight loss, 9lb really is fab, although I think you have just passed them on to me

I hope you are enjoying your day off and got some TT (Tilly Time) did you get to visit the church? To other women I would wish them an ironing free day off but I know the two of us like ironing so I wouldn't want it to spoil your day if you didn't have any ironing to do on your day off :rotfl:

I've had 4 days away this week and have not been very well for most of them with some bug I've caught, I've also come home to a £205 car repair bill which has somewhat bu**ered my plans up but I've managed a £1000 capital reduction this month so can't complain too much. Apart from the car it's been 5 NSD's too but pay day can't come quick enough. I think you were saying something similiar in an earlier post that there comes a point in the month were you have done all the money jiggling you can do and you must wait for the next salary.

Anyway, onwards and downwards as they say round here

Regards
ATT x

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi ATT, what a lovely day I have had so far. We went for a fast dog walk and she LOVED it. I love watching her play in the snow but less happy when it's icy as I worry she will slip and her her hips etc. she is a big breed and they are prone to hip problems. She met a 'friend in the park' and had a good old play for 10 min or so. Much snow flicking with noses took place and long chases. I really do enjoy watching dogs play. They have the same quality as kids for taking delight in the smallest thing which appeals to me.

DS and I tackled the shops and I went armed with some coupons. This is quite new to me so being the spreadsheet idiot that I am, I had them all written down clearly showing what I needed to buy. I found about 80% of the items - all things I wanted so no unnecessary purchases. I got to the checkout and the cashier said, "you can't use coupons unless you have the items" to which I replied "i have bought them all, they have all gone the through the till, shall I unpack". I so nearly got my spreadsheet out to show her but then thought, I seem mad enough as it is. Quite interesting to see her reaction as it was most begrudging. I didn't cheat, I saved the Tilly household a tenner, yet she was most resentful. Although I didn't really need much food today, DH wanted me to get another 10p/fuel voucher so I had to spend >£60. Fortunately for DH his favourite lager was on offer, so I bought a couple of slabs to put away. Definitely a win win on the fuel and the beer x

It's quite funny the relationships we build on here as although virtual they are still important. Sorry to hear you have been under the weather, it really is such a miserable time of year. I don't know about you, but I am longing for the change in the air as Spring approaches, I love the way it smells different. Does the soul good I find.

I did get off to church and they have a beautiful and quiet prayer room. It was superb and I spent a good hour sitting quietly and thinking. Some things sad, many memories but also thinking of the future and the lessons learnt from this site. I absolutely agree with you. Where were our heads for so many years. I am certain we would have been mortgage free by now if I had followed the same principles. It really is two fold, reducing your spends and using your disposable income more wisely. I really am loving it, just wish I got paid more often to satisfy my OP needs:)

Thanks to Caz, I have four things ready for listing on eBay and hopefully they will sell. It will allow me to claim back my lost larder shelf for one thing.

You will be glad to know ATT that I did manage to fit in some ironing too so this means I will only have a little to do over the weekend. Excellent.

Finally brilliant news on the £1k OP, given the car problem thats marvellous. Enjoy the weekend and hope you don't get snow. It's forecast here for overnight which we could well do without as we have a three hour round trip tomorrow. Fingers crossed it holds off, however as the kids are now on hols, perfect timing for some fun in the snow.

Best wishes Tilly x

macgirl

Hi Tilly
So sorry to hear about your friend. I have heard of 2 friends of friends in the last 2 weeks and you are right, it does give clear perspective to what's important and how our "troubles" are nothing really...
Hope your friend has a good outcome.

I laughed at your super efficiency with the coupons and annoying the cashier :rotfl: Good for you!!!
Glad that you can feel your fitness improving - it doesn't take long, but a bit of effort really does pay back. Have a nice weekend

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Morning, well this should be an interesting post as I have DH at my side telling me things to write. .

Being a very un-handy man, he repaired the Henry vacuum cleaner late yesterday. I had been looking at new hoses to buy but he cut a section off the end of the split hose and reconnected it. Excellent job done but I was sitting there thinking how much is this going to cost, will I need an entire new cleaner after he has finished! LOL. Saving of almost £10 plus postage so well worth the effort.

It was -10 when we got up yesterday with a couple of frozen pipes, so DH really did have a DIY extravaganza day.

To finish the day he made home made pizza and pizza garlic bread with a huge salad. The dough was delicious and as I was finishing off its and pieces from the freezer, the cost was negligible.

Had a quick whizz into B&M and the cereal my DS has was 1/3 the price of Tesc@ so I stocked up a little. Basic food for the week was only about £25 but the bargains have increased the spend BUT that will save us money week on week. Menu plan going well and as the kids are off school, they are cooking one night each in the week, following the plan. It will be a big help as I have a busy week, but also gets them thinking about planning, taking things from freezer, cooking etc.

I have a little ironing to do, so that's first on my lit and I am to swing a kettle bell today - not sure what this entails yet but nothing ventured etc.

Hope everyone is coping with the cold and not having too many problems.

Best wishes Tilly x