Keeping up appearances.......

NewLeaf_2

hi babe try opinion outpost for surveys xx

HappyNow

Hopelessly_Hopeful wrote: »

Convinced me. I am going to pop in and see if they still have some!

HHx

Hi HH, hope you managed to get some. I picked up another pack as I was passing, so I should now have enough to last me until Christmas. I would have bought more, but this is a tight month and I could easily have ended up with 300 dishwasher tablets and no bread or milk .

NewLeaf wrote: »

hi babe try opinion outpost for surveys xx

Thanks for that NewLeaf. I have signed up and done the introductory ones so now I am waiting for some paid ones to be sent. I'm also hoping to win the £5K free draw which I already have 17 entries to!!

brizzledfw

Hi Happy!!

How's tricks?

Brizzle

HappyNow

Hi Brizzle and anyone else reading .

Well as predicted this is a sorry month! I have had stupid amount of bills to pay, plus reduced income from our rental property due to the agent fees. We've also been to a christening, which meant buying a decent pressie (they don't know we're poor!) and buying drinks at silly prices. Payday is 13th July, so I will spend only the absolute minimum possible to survive between now and then. Even if I spend nothing (which is impossible becauswe we need at least £130 in petrol) I will still have emptied all our savings pots by the time payday comes around. I will end up using a credit card for the first time in months .

But I have done some things to minimise the disaster:

1) Our 6 months half price Sky Movies has come to an end so I rang Sky in the hope that they would offer me a magnificent deal. They didn't. They said we are still under the standard contract until September. So I cancelled the Movies channels which has reduced the bill to the bare minimum. I am quite proud of my family because although they were disappointed to lose Movies, they accepted it was the right thing to do. On 25th August I will ring them to give our month's notice to leave Sky altogether. I REALLY hope they offer us a deal then because I don't actually want to lose it!

2) I have coloured my own hair! My roots were looking very grey but I can get away for another few weeks without a cut, so I bought a DIY kit from Tesco and did it myself. I have to say, it looks just the same as when the hairdresser does it, so I will keep this up. It cost £7.

3) I have transferred yet another chunk of MBNA credit card back onto 0% because it had reached the end of its existing 0%. I needed to move £3200 so it cost me £128 in fees, but it is now back at 0% until June 2013. I owe far too much on MBNA and Virgin, and if they ever stop their rolling 0% offer I will be totally screwed, so I MUST prioritise these two. The next chunk goes up to full interest in October.

4) I have enough stock of basic food/toiletries/loo rolls etc to last until payday. We also have a reasonable amount of cakes/biscuits/sweets etc, but I have hidden them in my wardrobe and will produce them one at a time to prevent anyone scoffing the lot!

5) We have given up alcohol!! Well not completely, but I have only bought one bottle of wine during the last three weeks. This is saving at least £8 per week and is probably doing my liver a favour too. I would like to say I feel loads better, but in truth I don't feel any different.

6) I'm getting my mojo back with the home-cooking, and this morning I am making a slow-cooker full of lentil chilli using bendy vegetables I have found lurking in the fridge.

So all in all a poor month, but I'm not disheartened because I can see WHY it's like it is. It's just a blippy month and the overall debt trend is still downwards.

pennywisepoundstupid

Hi Happynow, found your diary yesterday and have just finished reading it, you are truly amazing and inspiring and should be really proud with how you are coping with everything.

I also have debt and like you my OH doesn't know the full amount and just thinks we are cutting back to clear a couple of grand, if only it was. I also try and hide the finacial difficulties from my children and family and ebay and do surveys to make sure my kids can continue with their clubs and have days out.

I have subscribed and will be following you on your debt free journey, wishing you all the best.

grannyx2

pennywisepoundstupid wrote: »

Hi Happynow, found your diary yesterday and have just finished reading it, you are truly amazing and inspiring and should be really proud with how you are coping with everything.

I also have debt and like you my OH doesn't know the full amount and just thinks we are cutting back to clear a couple of grand, if only it was. I also try and hide the finacial difficulties from my children and family and ebay and do surveys to make sure my kids can continue with their clubs and have days out.

I have subscribed and will be following you on your debt free journey, wishing you all the best.

Hello pwps, good luck on your journey too. I'm in the same boat, my OH knows we're in debt but not by how much and refuses to be involved. This means whilst I'm cutting back where I can, he is still buying "stuff" and insisting on his normal standard of living. This is actually fine by me, if not slightly annoying, as it is less stressful for me. I've stood my ground and refuse to pay for any frivolities and if he wants me to join him on holiday/out for coffee, that's fine but he'll have to pay for me.

It's taken me a year to finally get to a place where I am managing financially instead of hiding from the postman or not answering the phone and it'll take me about 10/12 years to be debt free, but I will get there in the end.

I'm too doing surveys, (Gosh how I hate the things) and knitting up a stock of things to sell on ebay/to friends.

It is hard to keep up appearances but at the moment I'm managing, my friends and parents know I'm finding things difficult but think its because I'm saving for my DS wedding and to visit DD in Oz. Both my DC know my situation and are really supportive, which definitely helps.

Anyway, nice to hear from you and again good luck on your journey.

Grannyx2 x

PS - I love your profile picture

Piquant_2

HappyNow wrote: »

NOW EXPIRED - IGNORE

For anyone testing the SavvyCircle Fairy dishwashing tablets, there is a really good offer on at Tesco BUT IT ENDS TODAY.

As part of the kit, we each got ten recipe booklets to hand out, each of which contained a £3 voucher for the tablets, to be used only at Tesco. Tesco currently have the thirty pack of tablets on half-price offer, down from £10.20 to £5.10. With the £3 voucher, that brings them down to £2.10 for thirty tablets - or seven pence each!! Even the Tesco value ones are six pence each and the Fairy ones are much better.

I picked up two packs last night, and it definitely works, so if you're in/near Tesco today it's worth doing (make sure you get the 30 pack though, not the 20 packs, and make sure they say Platinum on the label).........

I picked up three packs today, they're still on special offer and are a great price with the vouchers. Thanks Mrs H :T

HappyNow

Piquant wrote: »

I picked up three packs today, they're still on special offer and are a great price with the vouchers. Thanks Mrs H :T

Ah good, I'm pleased you got some . They're definitely up at full price again round here now, but the vouchers are valid until the end of November so hopefully another offer will appear before then. And yes, I KNOW we are supposed to give the vouchers to friends, but needs must !

HappyNow

pennywisepoundstupid wrote: »

Hi Happynow, found your diary yesterday and have just finished reading it, you are truly amazing and inspiring and should be really proud with how you are coping with everything.

I also have debt and like you my OH doesn't know the full amount and just thinks we are cutting back to clear a couple of grand, if only it was. I also try and hide the finacial difficulties from my children and family and ebay and do surveys to make sure my kids can continue with their clubs and have days out.

I have subscribed and will be following you on your debt free journey, wishing you all the best.

Thanks for reading and for the lovely comments PWPS . I see you have a diary too, and I will have a proper read of it when I get a spare few minutes. Good luck with your debt-busting. I'm new to surveys and am actually quite enjoying them but I daresay the novelty will wear off soon enough

grannyx2 wrote: »

Hello pwps, good luck on your journey too. I'm in the same boat, my OH knows we're in debt but not by how much and refuses to be involved. This means whilst I'm cutting back where I can, he is still buying "stuff" and insisting on his normal standard of living. This is actually fine by me, if not slightly annoying, as it is less stressful for me. I've stood my ground and refuse to pay for any frivolities and if he wants me to join him on holiday/out for coffee, that's fine but he'll have to pay for me.

It's taken me a year to finally get to a place where I am managing financially instead of hiding from the postman or not answering the phone and it'll take me about 10/12 years to be debt free, but I will get there in the end.

I'm too doing surveys, (Gosh how I hate the things) and knitting up a stock of things to sell on ebay/to friends.

It is hard to keep up appearances but at the moment I'm managing, my friends and parents know I'm finding things difficult but think its because I'm saving for my DS wedding and to visit DD in Oz. Both my DC know my situation and are really supportive, which definitely helps.

Anyway, nice to hear from you and again good luck on your journey.

Grannyx2 x

PS - I love your profile picture

Hi Granny :wave: nice to see you again. I'm determined to get an evening all to myself and spend a lovely couple of hours catching up on all the diaries. It's a bit harder now both kids are home from uni - they always seem to be peering over my shoulder! Little Miss is going away for a week tonight though so I should have a bit more time.

PinotGrigio41

Mrs Happy , I dont appear to have been to see you for ages and I have no idea why !!!

So.........3% :j:j Amazing progress, I am soooo pleased for you. Well done. Mre, You and the lovely Mrs Fluffy all started this malarky at about the same time I believe , and how proud I am that we are all still merrily chugging along in our own ways.

Youve had soem fab advice over here since I last popped in. Have to say, no disrepect to Tommy though, that I wouldnt go down the remortgaging route, been there done that 3 times and look where I still am and with a higher mortgage than I started with when we moved here 10 years ago. ! Not to say it doesn"t work for some, I'm sure it does. Obviously I'm not one of them though !

Well I have made a mess of this dishwashing thingy. I opened the pack, we took the photos of DD1 in her catalogue poses. Popped it all back in the box to keep it tidy and I havent looked at it since. Will I get in trouble ? Dishwasher still not working and I have no idea what I was supposed ot have been doing. Looks like i could have picked myself up a bargain in Tesco from what Ive read here for when it does work ! I am so useless at these sort of things and the surveys!! How can you be enjoying them. Please come to my house and do mine for me !!


Oops, just heard Mr Pinots alarm go off, so I will go and say hello to him .

Byeeee for now xxxx