PigginSkint's DFW Diary

chevalier

Well done on your progress.
I was just wondering (quietly) if OH couldn't get a regular job, but I guess if he now has something til November, then this is less of a question....
One thing he could do is online surveys, he could do them when he is away assuming he could get an internet connection. Would add a few pennies to the funds?
chev

Annie021063

Hi Pigginskint
I have so enjoyed reading your dfw diary so far. I am also on a dfw campaign and can so sympathise with your hiccups and your successes. Your determination is to be commended and I look forward to the next installment. I have managed to shave off nearly £10k since starting my DFW campaign with another £8k to go but hopefully I will be DF by April 08.
Keep going - I will certainly keep reading
Take care

firstyearisthehardest

hi pigginskint

I've read through your whole diary and i think your doin great and really brave to be facing your debts head on.

There was just one thing I noticed and I hope you dont take offence but from some of your posts it seems your OH is not as commited as you to the dfw life. This wouldn't be a problem but it seems that he is running up more credit card debt in your name and not his own.:o This is a very similar situation to one that my sister is in at the moment although Im aware I dont know your circumstances. Perhaps its easier for him to spend on credit cards that are not in his name (subconciously - im not saying he is deliberately doin it!!). Maybe if he was only allowed to use his own money or borrow from you for essential items only then he would be more into the dfw life that you are obviously trying so hard at and determined to do.

Good luck with everything!!

PigginSkint

Hi All! Well I am back at work today after 10 days off (alternately woohoo and boo!). We have quite long break at Easter – Good Friday, Easter Monday then Tuesday and Wednesday as well – then I booked the other 2 days as annual leave. It is a bit of shock to the system being back at work – my body clock is set completely differently at the moment so it was a bit of a struggle to get out of bed this morning.

As I spend nearly all my working day on a computer I tend not to go on the computer at home very much. This is why I have not updated my diary since I was last at work – I did mean to but I never got around to it!

I have done very little moneysaving-wise since I last updated so I haven’t really missed much. I have started reading a book that I have got about selling on ebay (because I haven’t yet taken the plunge!) which I shall sell as soon as I have finished reading it – so I am reading it very carefully so as not to crease the pages or the cover.

Today I have relisted some of my books on Amazon because the listings had expired. I dropped the prices and changed the delivery settings to included delivery to USA to see if that will improve my chances of selling them - I have done the same on the other books I have got listed. So fingers crossed!

I still haven’t updated my sig (bad girl!!) so I will try and do that tonight or tomorrow.

PigginSkint

chevalier wrote: »

Well done on your progress.
I was just wondering (quietly) if OH couldn't get a regular job, but I guess if he now has something til November, then this is less of a question....
One thing he could do is online surveys, he could do them when he is away assuming he could get an internet connection. Would add a few pennies to the funds?
chev

Thanks for your comments! I have to say it is something I wonder (quietly) as well from time to time! However he does have a regular job of sorts because he works for a theatre company that does regular work with old people and children in the area. Unfortunately it has been a little thin on the ground of late - mainly due to a funding problem around Christmas time which meant that they couldn't do any paid work until it had been resolved. Luckily it has been resolved now so that side of things should improve now.

The problem is that he has to be careful what 'other' work he does because it will affect his profile as an actor if he is seen to be doing stuff that isn't arts related and will have a negative impact on his career development. Having said that, when things have been really tight he has done other work but of the low profile variety (i.e. not dealing with the public). I can't criticise him too much because he will do what needs to be done to pay his way!

PigginSkint

Annie021063 wrote: »

Hi Pigginskint
I have so enjoyed reading your dfw diary so far. I am also on a dfw campaign and can so sympathise with your hiccups and your successes. Your determination is to be commended and I look forward to the next installment. I have managed to shave off nearly £10k since starting my DFW campaign with another £8k to go but hopefully I will be DF by April 08.
Keep going - I will certainly keep reading
Take care

Thanks for your comments and good wishes - I really appreciate it!

PigginSkint

firstyearisthehardest wrote: »

hi pigginskint

I've read through your whole diary and i think your doin great and really brave to be facing your debts head on.

There was just one thing I noticed and I hope you dont take offence but from some of your posts it seems your OH is not as commited as you to the dfw life. This wouldn't be a problem but it seems that he is running up more credit card debt in your name and not his own.:o This is a very similar situation to one that my sister is in at the moment although Im aware I dont know your circumstances. Perhaps its easier for him to spend on credit cards that are not in his name (subconciously - im not saying he is deliberately doin it!!). Maybe if he was only allowed to use his own money or borrow from you for essential items only then he would be more into the dfw life that you are obviously trying so hard at and determined to do.

Good luck with everything!!

Thanks for your comments - I do know what you mean! And I do agree with you to a certain extent. However he is very responsive to 'gentle' criticism! I have also given him the responsibility for paying the bill for the credit card that he spends on which has certainly been enlightening for him to say the least. He has just paid almost the entire balance on the card which obviously is a huge weight off my mind!

I think part of the problem is that he has only very recently got a debit card - because he has now got a business account - and is not yet accustomed to using it. Therefore whenever he has to pay for a train fare, for example, he automatically whips out the credit card.

Anyway, he is learning , and I have found that the more little snippets of information that I give him - such as my current targets, the current credit card balances etc etc - the more responsive he is to trying to solve the problems that we have.

And I will say that neither of us is any way extravagent - we know people that are and that makes us feel a whole lot better!

PigginSkint

I finally got around to fishing out my insurance documents last night and I am still not sure (a) whether I am covered for the theft of the bikes from the garden (I think I am) and (b) whether it is worth claiming at all. The reason for (b) is that there is a £100 excess on contents and also I have a 15% no claims discount. If I lose the entire 15% NCD I doubt it’s worth claiming at all, given the £100 excess. But on the other hand, looking at the price of new bikes last night it might just help! Oh I am so confused!!!

I got home quite late last night (invigilating again yesterday afternoon – yawn!!) so by the time I phoned Halifax it was 8 o’clock. I got to speak to someone but she said that the office was closed and someone would have to call me back, so hopefully they will phone me back tonight.

Despite feeling very tired and not actually very well last night, I managed to fish out the other 2 figures to update my sig to show the situation at 1st April – see below. The total credit card figure is a little higher than I expected but I am still not far short of my first small target. This means that I when I update it to show the situation on 1st May I should have hit that target and be well on the way to the next one! Hoorah!!

PigginSkint

Another long and busy day yesterday so not much to report really. My Avon delivery came yesterday morning but I was too tired to bag it up last night so I will have to do that tonight. It won’t take me long as it is a very small order – only £70 worth of sales, about 12 customers and only about 20 items. Very strange, don’t get many of them – it’s usually about £200 worth of sales, 20 customers and about 70 items. Well, here’s hoping the next one will be better!

Yesterday was a day to celebrate, though. OH finally got round to putting the Venetian blind up in DS’s room – I only bought it about 6 months ago! Woopee!!! :j :j I think it was sitting in the back garden at the weekend that finally tipped the balance – looking up at the mess that was DS’s window with its rather babyish curtains (which belonged to previous owners – I have been in the house 10 ½ years!) and the blackout curtains on the same rail. Well I say ‘on’ but they were both hanging off very untidily as they couldn’t both fit on the same rail really – well they could but whenever you to tried to open and close the curtains they had a tendency to come off. I am too ashamed to admit how long they had been like that!

I wonder how long it will take him to put up the curtain pole which I have had even longer!

PigginSkint

I’ve sold a book! The first one in weeks! Hoorah!! Admittedly it is not for very much money (the selling price was £2.99 – Amazon Marketplace) but it all helps.

I managed to get round to bagging up my Avon deliveries last night so I can go and do those tonight – I won’t get to the bank tomorrow but I should have some money to pay in on Saturday.

Also I have just had notification that my first DVD from lovefilm.com is on its way – 14 day free trial plus some piggy points. Excellent! The first payment date is 30th April so I must be extra careful to make sure I cancel the registration before then – don’t want to pay any money accidentally now do I?!!