PigginSkint's DFW Diary

PigginSkint

One other thing I forgot to mention earlier. I went to the dentist Saturday. As my new Tax Credit exemption certificate has not come (I don’t know whether I will be getting one) I took my award letter along in case they needed it. I thought, though, that I would still end up paying (I am an NHS patient). Anyway I explained the situation to the receptionist and she said that it didn’t matter – I didn’t have to pay. Woohoo!! :j She said that they (the Tax Credit people) would be in touch if there was a problem. So I suppose I will just have to wait and see what happens…and hope for the best!! Oh well, if I do end up paying, it shouldn’t be very much because I am one of those lucky people to have an NHS dentist!

PigginSkint

Hi All

Well I am feeling a lot less tired today so I might get some productive work done today.

I have got to go and pay some more Avon money into my account today. I have 2 deliveries still lurking (not 1, as I thought yesterday) – one for my neighbour who is still on holiday at the moment and another one which I tried for the umpteenth time (5th to be precise) to deliver last night. :mad: I will try yet again to deliver that one tonight when I try to get the books in that we didn’t manage to get in last night.

Talking of last night. How much did it rain last night in my part of the world? Answer: for about 20 minutes. When did it choose to do it? Answer: when we were out doing Avon - typical! None of us had waterproofs or an umbrella! Grrrr!!! :mad:

OH has not mowed the lawn yet but promised me that he would do it today. He had better or there will be trouble!!!

Interesting item in the post yesterday. Halifax have sent me more credit card cheques and a balance transfer offer for 5.9% APR LOB for both. The offer expires 24th October. Hmmmm – interesting! :think: In December I would have had to move the balance from my LTSB card – currently 0% until January. So if I transfer it to the Halifax card it would only actually be about 8 weeks earlier than I would have done it anyway. I think I will take them up on that offer, especially as there is enough available credit to move the whole balance! Woohoo! This means that all of my credit card debt (except for approx £100 currently lurking on my Egg card) will be on low APR life of balance deals, which is what I have been trying to achieve little by little for the last 3 years!! Yippee!!! The only one small negative is that I will be paying 5.9%APR instead of 0%APR for 2 months but I think that is a small price to pay, considering that I won’t have to incur balance transfer fees when moving it around any more! I think that will be cause for celebration!:j

PigginSkint

Hi All

Now are you sitting down? OH has mowed the lawn!! :eek: When I got home last night it was done!!

He still hasn’t sorted out his on-line banking but, hey, you can’t have everything!!

Still didn’t manage to get rid of that b****y Avon delivery last – that’s 6 attempts now! :mad: Are these people never in? Tonight I need to try and get my books ready to go out again. I was going to get OH to put them out for me but I have just realised that he is working all day tomorrow and Friday so he won’t be able to.

Yesterday I received a delivery from a new Christmas catalogue that was sent to me the other week. Loads of really big reductions so I got over £110 worth of stuff for less than £40. Bargain! The stuff I got was Christmas cards, paper, crackers and some free gift tags. Also a few presents for DS, some new slippers for me (£2.66!!) and some iron-on name tags for DS (which I was desperately in need of anyway). Got a few other things as well (can’t quite remember everything) and a free tin of roses – woohoo! I’m not very good at saving for Christmas but I do tend to stock up on things throughout the year so that I don’t leave it all until December.

I have also just received a copy of the Hawkin’s Bazaar catalogue (the first one I have had) which is brilliant – loads of good Christmas present ideas, within our budget and great for those hard-to-buy-for members of our family!

I think that’s all for now! Byeeee!!

PigginSkint

Hi All

What a day I’m having! There is so much to do still and I want to go home at a reasonable time today. DS will be on his own after school until I get home because OH is working all day today and won’t be back until late.

And I’ve a headache brewing. I just hope it doesn’t turn into a migraine – I can live without that!

Nothing else to report really. Did not do any Avon at all last night, I suppose ought to attempt to do some tonight.

One other thing I did do today – I have done my letter to GE Money cancelling the loan insurance. Just got to remember to post it now!!

Bye for now!

OberonSH

Have you thought about popping a little card through the doors - I called with your Avon but you weren't in, please call XXX to arrange a suitable time.

Try a big glass of water for the head - I find it helps. Good going on the numbers BTW, they're coming down at a nice rate

PigginSkint

Something has just occurred to me that is really rather exciting (well, I think so anyway). Once I have done my next balance transfer and all my credit card debt is on low interest life of balance deals it will mean that the interest rates that I am paying for my credits card are lower than that for my mortgages. Coo! Never thought I would see the day that that would happen.

The APR on my mortgages (about 7% - I forget what the exact one is) are not my highest APRs – that particular award goes to my overdraft which is about 10%. So I suppose once I have finished credit-card shuffling I really ought to tackle my OD. I am not actually paying anything off it – just about £40 a month in interest and £15 a month fee.

PigginSkint

OberonSH wrote: »

Have you thought about popping a little card through the doors - I called with your Avon but you weren't in, please call XXX to arrange a suitable time.

Yes - I do that all the time. I print my own so I don't have to pay the 60p per 100 that Avon charge for theirs. The collecting books ones just say ' I will call again.....' but my delivery ones say 'I will call again on.... please phone if this will not be convenient'. So as you can imagine, this is getting a bit annoying now!

Try a big glass of water for the head - I find it helps. Good going on the numbers BTW, they're coming down at a nice rate

Thanks for the advice - I drink lots anyway (water) but perhaps I need to drink some more!!

Thanks so much for posting on my diary! I love reading yours!

PigginSkint

Hi All

THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY!! :j

What a week it has been and I am so glad it’s over! (well, nearly!)

Did not do a thing last night. I was going to do Avon last night but I didn’t. The reasons were (a) I was tired (b) I had a headache (c) I made the mistake of wearing a skirt yesterday when it was actually quite mild – I was wearing tights underneath and tights combined with sweat and big thighs meant I ended up very, very sore, so I didn’t want to walk very far (even once I had put comfortable trousers and sudocrem on) because it hurt! Feel better today though.

Made a very MSE/DFW dinner last night. For OH and DS I made mince and onions, using a cheap (Sainsburys Basics) packet of mince out the freezer. Also flung in a tub of roasted vegetables (left over from last time – or maybe even the time before – we went to my parents’ for dinner). I had a portion of homemade chillibean casserole from the freezer. Served both with new potatoes and cabbage from Aldi. Yum!

I am trying to empty my freezer as much as possible because (a) it needs defrosting, and (b) the boys are running out of meat and fish – at the moment they have a choice of sausages, 2 portions of fish, sausages, pork chops or sausages! I think I am nearly there – it’s as good as it’s going to get I think (I still have supplies of nuts, cooked beans and breadcrumbs in there but they are sort-of store cupboard items!) So, I think a trip to Iceland is in order tomorrow (free delivery – yeah!).

I must crack on with my house insurance over the weekend. Need to make a quick phone call to Halifax to ask about my re-build cost, tot up the total of the value of my contents (perhaps add a bit just to be on the safe side) then I can hit the internet and start looking for quotes. I am sure I can save a lot of money. One thing I think I will do this time is pay it all in one lump (luckily there is enough in my savings account to cover it) rather than pay monthly, because I have realised that it is cheaper.

Right, I suppose I ought to get on with some work. In the words of the Fast Show - Today I will be mostly doing … photocopying. Oh joy!

Bye all and have a good weekend if I don’t post later.

PigginSkint

Hi All

Just a quick update to say that I have actually posted my letter to GE Money! Wow! Wonders will never cease! I normally end up carrying around letters for weeks before I remember to post them – if I post them at all!

PigginSkint

Hi All

Had a bit of an expensive (but worth it) weekend. Very naughty! OH came back late on a Friday so we ended up having an Indian Takeaway – normally lasts me 2 days but this time lasted 3. We were not very pleased with the service this time as they wouldn’t give OH what he wanted for his starter – even though we always have exactly the same, and it is on the menu after all! When the delivery came the lad was a complete drongo, wanted to see OH’s cheque guarantee card (not happened before) and then couldn’t be a****d to actually look at and asked OH to write all the info on the back. And he couldn’t be bothered to actually turn off the booming dance music playing in his car to serve the customer. :mad: We will be trying a different one next time!

Went out early on Saturday morning to go to Iceland because we needed to stock up. I actually defrosted the freezer as soon as I got home on Friday – unheard of! Spent about £40 but the freezer is now full and that will last quite a long time – a couple of months maybe – and will only have replenish a few items in the meantime (e.g frozen veg).

After the delivery came I went out again, this time with OH, because there was a French market on in town. Spent about £15 but got some really nice stuff and will keep us in sandwiches (or OH at least!) for the next week or so. Then, because we were very naughty and didn’t have a sandwich before we went out, we ended up having a pub lunch. Tut tut!

I have got a bit of a dilemma on my hands at the moment. I seriously need to lose weight and am failing miserably at doing it on my own. In the past I have been to WeightWatchers and it worked for me – gave up to save money. Last time I was a member I used the online service so didn’t have to face the pitying and often scathing looks over the scales which used to really depress me and could weigh myself in the privacy of my own bathroom. I am wondering whether to rejoin because the weight just isn’t going down and is in fact going up. WW have a promotion on at the moment for previous members £39.95 for the first 3months (instead of £49.95) and then the usual £9.95 a month after that – this is quite a good deal because the alternative promotion is £39.90 for the first month. The 3 month one works at £13.32 a month for the first 3 months which I suppose I could easily spend on food if I didn’t do it so I probably wouldn’t notice the difference. Hmmmm. Decisions, decisions! :think: The promotion lasts until the end of October so I have got until then to make my mind up.

I still haven’t done the 2 jobs I was meaning to do over the weekend – phone Capital One and search for quotes for my house insurance. I doubt I will them done tonight as I will be home late (invigilating this afternoon) and need to do Avon when I get home.

On the subject of Avon – I finally managed to get rid of that pesky delivery on Saturday. Hoorah!:j Just need to do my neighbour now but that’s easy – she is back from her holidays now (heard movement this morning!!) so I should be able to do that one tonight.

This week is going to be a nightmare one as there are exams happening which I am heavily involved in organising and administrating – I shall be out all day on Wednesday and Thursday. I am going to be very very tired by the end of the week!

Better get on with some work – I’ve got to go to the exam room in just over an hour. ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!:eek: