Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

Suffolk_lass

Back to the rhubarb - the old wisdom was to not pick after the end of August because it becomes more acid then but my Mum (in Scotland) is still picking hers and looking to discard any with a red "acid stripe" (as she calls them) in the stick. We have stopped, but ours was really funny this year. Four patches all doing different things. Some of it looks like yours (only smaller. We will top feed the ground this year as it has suffered from us just leaving it without any feeding. 

I've just received the anti-body finger-!!!!!! test in the post. It is a self-test and report so will do that when I have long enough to complete without interruption (after the dog walking we are off to shortly. Very pleased to hear yours is negative, I am rather hoping mine might be positive and long-lasting so I can be a tiny bit braver. I certainly had something long-lasting and awful at the end of January, caught from a woman who coughed on me at a party and had been having ill since September with lung problems after some asian travelling. Now that would be interesting!

themadvix

Morning all,

Interesting about the antibody test SL, although I heard that there's only evidence of antibodies for up to 4 months after infection, so it may not show anyway, even if it was that.

Not sure where yesterday went! Still ploughing on with plenty of work, which is good. I finally reached payout on YG yesterday too - ooh, that reminds me, I need to claim it! (Done!) I am keeping on track with my steps/yoga/no snacks programme, which is good and can feel the difference already. While we're away I'll eat what I like, but we'll be doing loads of steps!

We have a viewing booked for next Thursday (?!), but nothing else as yet. I've told the agents I'm Covid-free though and will drop a key round today or tomorrow so that they can do viewings while we're away. Am also picking up key for a spot of cat-sitting for my favourite kitty-that-doesn't-live-with-me (no litter tray!). That's next week.

Am considering switching a couple of accounts - need to do some more research. Not for bonuses this time but a) ethics and b) ease of use - to Starling, who'll allow you to put money in different pots within one account (and pay 0.05% on current account - better than nowt at all). 

Have firmly closed the browser window on Cheery's old diary - fascinating though it was, I was getting too drawn in and really need to get things done! I have, however, adopted her timed lists approach (and yes, I should be working currently!), which seems to be working!

MS things:
* YG redemption! (That's £115 withdrawn from surveys this month)
* Clicks (20p/2 days away from VB payout)
* Dinner last night (roasted veg and pasta) used peppers and squash from the garden
* Tonight we're having hm pizza (followed by the end of the crumble - it's not a snack, so it's fine!)

Gratitudes:
* Good evening class last night, even though I wasn't feeling it
* Nice walk with DH in the evening
* Saw a  squirrel and magpie on my early(ish) walk this morning

Have a good day all!

ETA: I have just completed the form for an allotment - currently the waiting list is >200 people long (across the town), so I figured I have nothing to lose by applying. If I'm still here when my names comes up I can make a decision then! (*Must get back to work!*)

Hazelnutty

That's a really impressive survey total, Vix. Can I ask what sites you're on that have a good return? I'm on Pr0lific but haven't ventured further. I already work long hours so really need to focus on a few key sites (some seem like a lot of clicking with little reward!)

themadvix

Don’t think it was all earned  from this month Hazelnutty! I did very well from prolific though, due to a couple of long surveys - one every day for a week and one that covered two weeks. Normally I stick to short surveys from there (as I’m usually doing them instead of working!). I also do Onepoll and YouGov. I think I cash out YG about once every 18 months (depends on how much political stuff is going on!), which is £50. They never screen you out and the surveys are interesting and aren’t about products. Onepoll is usually 10/15/20p per survey, usually short, screen you out quickly if they’re going to and also aren’t about products.

I am on the pinecone panel too, they are product surveys but they ask a few quick screening questions first. They can be a bit tedious (usually because, even if I’ve qualified, I would never buy the product), but at £3 a go aren’t to be sniffed at. You can’t sign up to them though - you have to receive an invite or referral and they don’t expand the panel very often (you also have to do the majority of the invites or they’ll kick you off).

 NewVista is similar to YouGov, although less political. £50 cash out (like YG, in bank transfer form), and relatively well paid - they send a ‘various topics’ one once a week that’s 50p and usually only has a few non-demographic questions. Again, because of the high cash out level, it’s a slow burn.

 Finally (I think!), viewsbank have a 10p poll every working day - there are surveys too but I never do these these days (they used to be quite lucrative). Cash out at £12 (PayPal or bank transfer, I can’t remember).

I avoid companies that send product survey stuff because I just don’t buy any mainstream stuff or prepared/packaged goods (I’m sure pinecone would kick me off if they knew who moaned  about the packaging/environmental issues of every product!). I also prefer quick surveys that don’t get too bogged down in repetitive questions - life is too short.

Hth!

(The nicest thing happened on way back from picking up the cat sitting key- a lad on a bike (12/13?) cycled past and wished me a wonderful day! And he seemed pleased and surprised when I thanked him and wished him the same! And people say about the youth of today!)

South_coast

Ooh, a couple of different ones there for me to look at as well - thanks Vix 😀

Hazelnutty, I'd also recommend Vypr (takes literally seconds to answer the questions), and if you're doing receipt scanning make sure you've got the whole set (Shoppix/Storewards/Huyu/ZipZero) as you'll already have the receipts to hand. All of these will only get you a very small amount of money, but are very low impact in terms of time x

themadvix

Morning all,

Just a bit of work to finish up today before cutting the grass, tidying the house and then (after the viewing at 5) packing for our weekend away - oh it's been a long time coming! Stir fry tonight to use up bits in the fridge. 

Big money and ethics win yesterday was moving my savings in Marcus to Skipton - increased interest rate (1.2% compared to 1.05%), no hassle as I already have an account and Skipton win by far over the ethics of Goldman Sachs I've been unhappy with having the money in Marcus for a while, but there really wasn't anywhere else for it to go, so this was a fantastic result - another win for the MSE email.

I think I'm going to cash out my £6.60 on Qmee and abandon it - it's not for me in terms of time spent/earnings, but I'm pleased with what I've got so far. (On the surveys note, there's also Shop & Scan (along with their food on the go and TV and web monitoring surveys, and DH does the petrol panel), the RM postal survey, the Gfk TV survey - basically I'm a survey fiend, but so many of these are just part of everyday life that I don't even think about them!)

MS things:
* Clicks (these are viewsbank, Swagbucks daily poll and search (occasionally a quick survey if I have time, this is a very slow burn, but minimal effort) and Microsoft Rewards - Bing searches and daily bonus points (now use Ecosia as main search engine, to plant trees, but still do bonus bits on Bing) - takes max 5 mins per day
* Savings switch - BIG win here
* HM pizza last night
* Use it up stir fry tonight
* Will redeem £10 from RM survey for *bucks credit for the weekend - might need a couple of breakfasts

Gratitudes:
* Lovely lad yesterday evening
* HM pizza
* Family quiz night (although we were the quizmasters and I definitely don't enjoy it as much, although we did have a round title p0rn film or nail varnish, which was quite entertaining, especially as all but one were nail varnish colours!)

Have a good day all!

Karmacat

So sweet to hear about the young boy! 

As for swagbucks, I'm a little teed off that they've stopped doing the easy quick game that gave me 10 points a day - I found a mah jong on there that I really liked, but I've no idea how to get any actual points from it.  I'll just be doing it for a bit of fun every now and again ...

themadvix

I wondered about that game as you mentioned it the other day... They're always reducing the value of what you earn, but I guess that's to be expected - it is money for nothing after all. 

Karmacat

Absolutely - really can't blame them!  The sb thread on here, by the way, has a wrinkle about how to get points for the mah jong - and since I actually genuinely enjoy it, I'm going to give it a go.  Playing computer games like that, simple ones, stops me obsessing about research etc

themadvix

Sounds good!