PigginSkint's DFW Diary

PigginSkint

I didn’t have access to a computer on Friday so I wasn’t able to do an update then. Also we were out all day on Saturday and complete knackered yesterday!!

There should have been a payment going out to one of my credit cards on Friday but it didn’t happen. It hasn’t happened today yet either – very strange. It is showing under ‘Transfers and Payments’ (which shows which ones are due) on my online banking with Friday’s date but it hasn’t actually gone out of my account. I can’t understand it! I am quite glad that it didn’t go out on Friday because there wasn’t enough available balance to cover it – I went online last night to transfer some over from my other account.

I did my Avon deliveries on Thursday night. I managed to do most of them - one of my customers is on holiday so I won't be able to do that one until she is back. One other customer decided she didn't want hers because it was not the price she thought it was going to be - she got the price wrong, not me! Grrr!!:mad:

We finally got round to watching our first DVD rental tarting DVD yesterday (Walk the Line) and I got an email yesterday to say that the next one is on its way. I thought we wouldn’t get the next one until we had returned the one we have got, so that was a bit of surprise. I also checked the T&Cs yesterday to see how much notice we have to give to cancel the subscription – it apparently takes effect immediately from when I click ‘Cancel’ on the website. That’s good because that means I don’t need to do that until Friday (the first payment is next Monday) so we have got until then to watch as much as possible! I shall have to keep an eye on my emails for any others being sent as the subscription won’t be cancelled if we have still got DVDs…perhaps I ought to cancel it on Thursday just to be on the safe side!

Still haven’t turned the heating off (MUST do that tonight!). Still haven’t put my Avon books out (ditto). Must also pay my Avon money into my account – couldn’t find my paying in book this morning so I shall have to do that tomorrow. I also need to post my book off that I have sold through Amazon – I have that with me today so I shall do that at lunchtime.

Oh and it is 4 days until pay day!! Hooray!:T

PigginSkint

One thing I forgot!

In the post on Saturday I got a letter re my Halifax credit card – offering 5.94%APR life of balance on credit card cheques and balance transfers. I’m not going to do this yet as (a) this the credit card we (or rather OH does!) spend on when we need to – I shall have to reactivate the Egg card to use instead (b) I still have 5 months to go on the 0% deal on the LTSB card. However if they are offering this now, they may well do it again later when I need it – i.e. when the 0% runs out. I will have to keep my fingers crossed for that one.

PigginSkint

Phew! What a morning! I was planning to catch my ‘normal’ train this morning (I got up early enough) but events conspired against me! One reason was that ‘certain people’ (i.e. OH) decided to hog the bathroom when I really needed to get in there to put my hair up and take my tablets. But the main one was that I could not find one of my inhalers. Now the one thing that really drives me mad, to the point of turning green and splitting my shirt, is not being able to find something! I used my inhalers last night before getting into bed and left them where I always leave them – on the top of my chest of drawers. This morning I came to use them again and I could find the blue one but not the purple one. It took me ages to find the b*****y thing, after much flinging of things around and slamming doors (constructive I know!!) – it had fallen off into my bag (small rucksack/backpack really) which had been by the chest of drawers at the time. :mad: Now I didn’t want to start flinging accusations (I like a quiet life as much as the next person!) but what I am almost sure happened is that when OH brought me up a cup of tea in bed last night (he is lovely really!) and put it on top of the chest of drawers, he managed to knock the inhaler off which then fell into my bag.

Anyway, all of this meant that by the time I found it, it was too late for me to catch the train that I wanted to catch (the 7:31) and the next one (the 7:40) and I avoid the next one (8:03) like the plague because it is always packed and I hate having to stand. So I decided to go for the one after that (8:08) which, because it is only a few minutes after the previous one, tends to have plenty of free seats. This meant I had loads of time before I needed to leave the house.

I was het up and I was boiling hot – I hadn’t yet got round to switching the heating off because it is such a pig to get at, involving a great deal of furniture moving and kneeling in a tight space with a torch. Our house is warm anyway because it is small, a mid terrace, and double glazed (I had my windows and doors done about 2-3 years ago). Our bedroom is particularly warm because the hot water pipes are under the floor. Anyway, the long and the short of it is that as I was hot and had a bit of time, I moved the settee and the TV, got on my knees with a torch and switched the heating off and adjusted the timers so that the hot water will only come on for the shortest amount of time possible morning and evening (an hour each I think).
I was actually quite glad it was raining when I was walking to the station this morning – it cooled me down!!

My LTSB credit card payment has still not gone out of my bank account so this morning I have cancelled it and redone it to go out tomorrow – let’s hope it works this time. At least as it is the same bank as my current account it shouldn’t take too long and hopefully will avoid any fee for late payment.

Watched Spendaholics last night – OMG! OH and I were amazed – that bloke spent £15K a year just on champagne and going out! :eek: That’s almost what I earn! OH was disgusted because this bloke was an events promoter, which is what a good friend of OH’s does, so OH knows what’s involved and as a result could see where this bloke was going wrong!

3 days to go until payday!! :T

PigginSkint

I had a bit of a mad panic yesterday because I realised that although there was enough available balance in my current account to pay my LTSB credit card payment today (which has actually gone through this time – hoorah!) there wasn’t enough to cover the Capital One payment which will go out tomorrow – oops! There would have been enough if I hadn’t got a fiver out of the cashpoint and gone to Aldi on the way home on Monday – or perhaps I should say, if I hadn’t spent so much in Aldi on Monday (£13 ish) but then there was stuff we desperately needed, e.g. cheese, bread etc. Anyway last night I had one Avon delivery still to do which I managed to get rid of which was £5 (I have still got one other to do but that customer is still on holiday), plus some change which I had left in my Avon purse (I try to hang onto some while I’ve still got deliveries to do). Then I got my pot of change that I keep in one of the drawers in my chest of drawers, plus other pots of change from elsewhere in the house and bagged up loads of 2ps 1ps and 5ps. Anyway I now have a grand total of £23 to pay in (OH will be doing that today) which is great because when I checked this morning I was actually only about £14 short of what I needed.:D

I am finding that if I keep OH up to date as much as possible with the money situation, he responds well by curtailing his spending!!! I have to say that I had a bit of shock yesterday – he brought the bin and recycling boxes back round to the back of the house without even being asked, and he only needed reminding once to empty the litter tray! :T He is good at helping round the house but he usually needs several reminders and the occasional guilt trip!

I’ve decided that I need to cancel my current DVD rental free trial tonight so that if they send us anything today we have got chance to watch it and send it back before the payment is due on Monday.

PigginSkint

Oh heck! I’ve made a bit of a mistake! I should have cancelled my free 2 week trial for DVD rental with lovefilm earlier! I went online to cancel it last night and discovered that they posted another DVD to me yesterday…my payment goes out on Monday and they don’t process returns on a Saturday or Sunday. Arghhh! :eek: I hope this DVD will arrive today, otherwise we are stuck! OH is under strict instructions to post it straight back when it comes as he is at home all day today (it will be too late if we wait until I get home to do it) and I have suggested he takes it to the post office and gets a proof of posting cert for it. Then we have got to hope that they receive it tomorrow so they can finalise my cancellation. If that doesn’t happen £12.99 will go out of my account on Monday – ouch! :eek: (If that happens I suppose I shall have to re-subscribe so I won’t be wasting the money) I feel such an idiot – I nearly cancelled it yesterday morning (rather than waiting until last night) and I so wish I had now! Doh!:doh:

Confession time! I fell off the DFW wagon slightly last night – we went to our local shop to buy some milk last night and in doing so passed the Chinese Takeaway which smelled soooo good. :drool: This is not a good thing to do when you are very hungry. So we got tempted and gave into temptation and had Chinese for dinner - £15.30. I paid by cheque because by the time it clears I will have been paid.

I feel so naughty though, not least because I really need to lose some weight. I did really well at the end of last year – I lost 20lbs post LBM because I was being really good and buying as little food as possible – but I have put nearly all of it back on again. Lots of crisps (cheap ones), biscuits (ditto), beer (ditto) and homemade cakes and puddings!

One good DFW thing I did yesterday was that I went onto my Seller Account in Amazon Marketplace and adjusted some of my prices to try and sell some books. Let’s hope it has the desired effect!

PigginSkint

Hi All

Woopee! It’s payday!! :j I’ve just checked my online banking and it is definitely in there. It is a slightly different amount from last time (by about £3) which is a bit puzzling – I shall have to peruse my payslip when I get it later this morning.

Good news on the Avon front – I went out to collect my Avon books in last night and got lots of orders. I totted them up when I got home and I am up to £76 already – hooray! :j I’ve only done roughly half of my normal houses as well, so this is good news. I got one new customer as well, which is a bonus – someone who has been having the book for 2 years now and this is the first time she has ordered. I got a first-timer last campaign as well. First-timers are always a cause for celebration because once someone places an order, they are likely to order again. What is strange about the one I got yesterday is it is someone who shouldn’t have had a book this time. I have started to alternate for those that have never ordered – I leave them a book one campaign and then leave them out next time and so on. OH put the books out for me and left one at this girl’s house by mistake…and what a result!! Last night I got all the books ready to go back out again and OH is going to do that for me today – he is very helpful like that!

Well the DVD from lovefilm arrived yesterday and OH took it to the post office in the afternoon to send it back. I shall just have to keep my fingers crossed that they receive it today. I’ll keep you posted!

The Sainsburys shopping came last night so we now have food (and beer!:beer: ) in the house again. Whenever I get a delivery I always realise what I have forgotten to order… and this time it was my favourite vegetarian sausages. Doh! :doh: Oh well, probably going to have do some frozen food shopping soon anyway and I have got plenty of home-made stuff still in the freezer (last night it was the last portion of the brown lentil bake I made a few weeks ago).

I had some fun playing with some figures yesterday afternoon (sounds a bit rude the way I have worded that!). I have a notebook in which I write down all the regular incomings (e.g. salary, child benefit etc) and outgoings (mortgage, utilities, credit card payments etc) together with approximate and definite dates so I can keep a track of what needs paying and when so I can work out if I have got enough to cover everything. This is a useful way of making sure I don’t forget anything! Yesterday I worked out what the minimum payments will be on my credit cards for the coming months (LOB ones in particular) and it was quite satisfying to see how these will drop as the balances get smaller. Every month is a juggling act to make ends meet (I am sure many people on this forum can relate to that!) so if the minimum payments get smaller, that makes the juggling easier IYSWIM!

Well, I think I have waffled on long enough now. Have a good weekend everyone! I tend not to update over the weekend as I spend enough time on the computer during the week at work so I shall update again on Monday. See ya!:hello:

PigginSkint

This is one relieved piggy signing in today! I checked my emails on Friday and there was no sign of my account with lovefilm having being cancelled. I have been feeling rotten all weekend (an absolute stinker of a headache) so did not go on the computer at all. I have just checked my emails this morning and discovered that they sent the email confirming the cancellation at 23:59 on Friday night – hoorah! :j I have just checked my bank account this morning to make sure they have not taken the payment out…and they haven’t – double hoorah! :j :j Right, time to see which one to do next – I will have a look on quidco to see which one will earn me some cashback at the same time.

OH has been doing some spending this weekend - spending makes me break out in a cold sweat these days so I have had to try and control myself and not criticise! However, what he has spent money on has not really been frivolous (I suppose…) as he has been to order himself some contact lenses. He is giving monthlies a go because he is finding it increasingly hard to see on stage without his glasses…and I suppose £25 per month isn’t toooo bad! Also as he has this touring stage play coming up I suppose he will need them. I am so glad that I don’t have to wear glasses anymore so at least that is one expense we won’t have.

DS is making smoothies at school today using, of course (!) fruits that are not in season. So muggins here had to go to Sainsburys yesterday afternoon and spend a small fortune! Nearly £10 just on a small amount of fruit – yikes!!:eek: If only it had been later in the year I could have got most of the fruit (e.g. blackberries) from my parents’ garden for no money.

Oh well, at least I have saved on pocket money for the past 2 weeks – I stopped it as punishment for breaking the controller for the PS2 (slamming it down in frustration). Luckily OH was able to mend it – lucky for DS as he would have had his pocket money stopped for the number of weeks it would have taken to pay for a new one!

Avon seems to be going well this campaign – I picked up another 2 orders on Saturday which takes me up to nearly £100. I’ve still got the main pick up to do this evening so hopefully I should get some more. Plus my customer that was on holiday should be back now so I can get rid of the last delivery.

Just checked my online statement for Littlewoods and the minimum payment required is £0 again, for the 2nd month running, even though there is a balance of £30. I think I might just pay a little bit off this anyway (perhaps £5) because I know next month I will start paying for the TV and the payments will go up. Once that starts I think I might use whatever cashback I earn to reduce the balance. However, one other option is that I have recently received a letter from Littlewoods offering buy now pay April 2008 on orders of £150 – I think I might use that to buy OH and I new bikes. I could use some cashback to reduce the cost of them but I think there won’t be enough to make it worth doing. I think I might just order them anyway but I think they will stay in the house until we have fixed something more substantial in the garden to chain them to! (sorry – that last bit was a bit ‘stream of consciousness’!)

That’s all for now – this week is going to be a busy one as I am involved in organising and administrating some exams that are taking place this week so I don’t know whether I will get chance to update much. Should manage it tomorrow though as I will back at my desk for a couple of hours mid to late afternoon.

PigginSkint

Woohoo! Just noticed that my post count has gone past the 200 mark!

Dr_Hook

PigginSkint wrote: »

…and I suppose £25 per month isn’t toooo bad!

Have you looked into ordering contact lenses over the Internet? I got a 6 month supply for £30 (though that doesn't includes cases & cleansing fluid)

Really enjoying reading your DFW diary - a real inspiration!

Doc

PigginSkint

What a happy piggy I am today!

I have updated my spreadsheets with my current balances and updated my sig and the result is… 2 targets smashed to smithereens! What was my current small target – to get my total credit card debt to below £24K – DONE! What was going to be my next small target – to get my total credit card debt down to below what it was at my lightbulb moment – also DONE! Woohoo! :j

Admittedly this has been achieved by cheating ever so slightly – by paying 2 of my credit card bills a day or 2 early so I could count them in today’s figure rather than waiting until 1st June, but who cares?! It’s good for the morale!;)

So the next small target is to get the total credit card debt down to below £23K. I should certainly manage that this month because it currently stands at £23,221.08 and my monthly minimum repayments are in the region of £530.

It’s also good to see the balance on my loan dropping steadily – it is now £1000 less than at my LBM. It went up slightly between March and April because I took a repayment holiday in March – it helped the cashflow that month. I think I will probably do the same again later in the year – I can take one once I have made 6 consecutive monthly payments. I know it means I will pay more interest and I know it means that the final payment will be later but as the repayments are £182 a month, every little helps to make ends meet every month! As I’ve still got 4.5 years to run on that loan I think I should celebrate the small victories with this as well so I think I should have a small a glass of pop when it falls below £8K! By my reckoning, that should happen in about November.

Ooh I really must do a new snowball to see what it comes out with this time. Last time I did it, it came up with Feb 2011 as the estimated DFD! 2 years before it’s original calculation! However, I think I have discovered a mistake in my calculations – I thought the minimum payment on my Sainsburys credit card was 2.5% of the balance when in fact I think it is actually 2.25%. This will obviously make a difference to the snowball. Obviously I want to become debt free asap but we have a much more pressing concern of affording the payments every month.

I did a few quick calculations last night and I have discovered that the difference between my incomings and outgoings is not nearly so great as it once was (not taking into account OH’s contribution to the family finances). This is reassuring because if we have months where OH’s income drops (like the last few months) we can just about manage.