PigginSkint's DFW Diary

PigginSkint

Today’s to-do list:

· Check all Avon orders, ready to put online tomorrow night
· Work out and make a list of all the returns and credits I need to record online and work out how much I need to pay Avon
· Check balances for a couple of my credit cards so that I can complete my 1st-of-the-month figures and update my sig.
· Take DS’s stuff to him at his Dad’s
· Do surveys
· Do daily clicks on Quidco and Pigsback
· Look for credit card deals on Quidco
· Phone Virgin and enquire about possibility of a balance transfer deal
· Cook some stuff to freeze (veggie burgers etc)
· Put clean washing away

PigginSkint

embarrassed_about_my_debt wrote: »

hey piggin, def worth a phone call to the cc company and ask as it was an error if they could re-instate the offer, worse thing they can say is no and they could say yes.

Hope you manage to get this sorted

Thanks for the advice - I will give it a go!

PigginSkint

peb wrote: »

Oh rhubarb - is it worth appealing? If not as you say try and find another LOB card. At least OH appears to see what his head in the sand approach has resulted in.

Anything you can do for the migraines? You seem to haveing more recently; I suppose they can be stress related.

Rhubarb???!!!!Yes what I said was something like that!!;) And yes, I think OH has had a very nasty wake up call!

My migraines seem to have a number of triggers and I think I get a migraine when I get more than one trigger happening at the same time. Last week it was hormones (IYKWIM! there is a strong hormonal element to my headaches), stress and being over-tired.

I am going to have to go to my doctors soon anyway as I have now got only one migraine tablet left.

PigginSkint

I have just spoken to the Halifax. The first thing I did was to check whether it was right that had lost the promotional rate, the answer was yes. Then I asked whether anything could be done about it. The bloke was very nice and put me on hold while he 'had a look' (whatever that means!). He said he would put a request through to reinstate the promotional rate and a decision would be made within 72 hours so suggested I phone back on Monday to find out. He asked what the reason was for the cheque bouncing - I told him the truth, which was that OH had been assured by his bank that even though he was overdrawn that they would honour the cheque, but they didn't!

I suppose I shall have to hope for the best!

embarrassed_about_my_debt

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you piggin!

peb

and me too!

and don't forget to go to the doctors - one tablet only left may not be enough.

PigginSkint

embarrassed_about_my_debt wrote: »

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you piggin!

Thanks! It's worth a try isn't it?!

I have decided that from now on I am going to insist that OH pays this bill by cash, or he gives me the money and I pay it - then I can be sure it will actually go through. If they ask, I will also tell the Halifax that this is what I will be doing.

PigginSkint

peb wrote: »

and me too!

and don't forget to go to the doctors - one tablet only left may not be enough.

Thanks! And yes, I will get myself there sometime soon.

PigginSkint

Update on yesterday's to-do list:

PigginSkint wrote: »

· [strike]Check all Avon orders, ready to put online tomorrow night[/strike] Done!
· [strike]Work out and make a list of all the returns and credits I need to record online and work out how much I need to pay Avon[/strike] Done!
· [strike]Check balances for a couple of my credit cards so that I can complete my 1st-of-the-month figures and update my sig.[/strike] Done! See updated sig below. It is not hugely different from last month, to be honest!
· [strike]Take DS’s stuff to him at his Dad’s[/strike] Done!
· Do surveys Didn't get chance to do this.
· [strike]Do daily clicks on Quidco and Pigsback [/strike]Done!
· Look for credit card deals on Quidco. On hold until I hear back from the Halifax.
· Phone Virgin and enquire about possibility of a balance transfer deal. On hold until I hear back from the Halifax.
· Cook some stuff to freeze (veggie burgers etc). Didn't get chance to do this.
· Put clean washing away Ditto!

PigginSkint

Hi All

News from the PigginSkint household today (including stuff I forgot to mention yesterday):

OH didn’t get the part in the panto. Is it horrible of me to say that I am relieved?! What I said to OH was ‘perhaps it’s for the best’. He wouldn’t have been able to do the care home job or anything else as well, and for what? 3 months work. I said to him that it is not a good idea to give up something so soon after starting especially for a short term contract – employers would be much less likely to take him on if they thought he was going to leave as soon as something better came along. It is much better, as I said to him, to find acting work that he can do as well as his other work, not instead of.

He has just found out that he has got another audition – this time for a pilot for a TV show. The filming will take place over 3 nights and also it is local (well, fairly local – at least not London) so he could easily do it as well as working at the care home. That’s the sort of thing he needs!!

DS started back at school yesterday and when I saw him at his Dad’s yesterday evening we discussed the diary for weekends up until Christmas (Ex wanted a swap because he is planning on taking DS to see Top Gear Live as a birthday treat – DS will absolutely love that!) and we also looked at his new timetable. The big news, as far as I am concerned, is that he will now be cooking on a Thursday. This means that it will now be his Dad’s responsibility to make sure he has all his ingredients, instead of mine! Woohoo! Expense spared!!!

OH has still not mowed the lawn (hoping that he will do it today!) which means I have now had to put up with having the lawnmower and strimmer in the back half of my living room for the last week! Can someone please explain the logic of this to me?! I understand the reasons for him not actually mowing the lawn (a) couldn’t find the circuit breaker (is now found) (b) work (c) rain, but why get them out of the shed? Wouldn’t it be more sensible to leave them in there until you actually have the opportunity and the means to mow the lawn!

After a brief lull I have had a flurry of Amazon orders again – I sold 4 over the weekend which I posted on Monday and I have just had an email to say that I have sold another one. So far, since the beginning of June, I have made over £90 of pure profit on Amazon sales – woohoo!!

I looked on Quidco last night and it would appear that a payment of £27.82 is about to hit my bank account – woohoo!!!

I think I forgot to mention this last week – I looked at my accounts on a couple of the survey sites that I frequent to see if I have earned any rewards. On Ciao I have earned absolutely nothing, so I don’t think I will be rushing to do any of those surveys. However on Lightspeed I had earned enough to get a £5 Boots voucher, which I have now ordered. I like Boots vouchers because I can use them towards buying T-gel shampoo, which I use to keep the eczema on my scalp under control and which is also hideously expensive (about £7 a bottle). So I am very pleased! It also means I can add it to my total for the Make £10 a Day Challenge when it arrives.

I have now updated my sig and because of the various problems over the last couple of weeks, it isn’t a lot different from last month. But at least the overall figures have not actually gone up! Latest progress is as follows:

Total Credit Cards
1/6/08 = £24,183.92
1/7/08 = £23,849.84
1/8/08 = £23,844.44
1/9/08 = £23,843.98

Catalogues
1/6/08 = £199.89
1/7/08 = £181.89
1/8/08 = £161.89
1/9/08 = £127.84

LTSB Loan
1/6/08 = £6,889.87
1/7/08 = £6,744.17
1/8/08 = £6,592.87
1/9/08 = £6449.36

Total Non-Mortgage Debt
1/6/08 = £36,273.68
1/7/08 = £35,775.90
1/8/08 = £35,599.20
1/9/08 = £35,421.18


Hopefully a combination of factors will see these totals falling at a faster rate in the months to come:

· OH no longer has a credit card to spend on
· OH’s income has now increased significantly (could still do with a bit more though)
· I shall now insist on payments on bills that OH pays being made in cash, or to me so that I can pay them!
· OH has had a very nasty wake up call about what can happen if payments are missed or not paid on time
· My efforts at sorting out my finances mean that, with some careful budgeting and making sure that OH pays the Halifax bill, I just about break even every month.
· With Christmas coming up, my Avon sales will increase.

Wow! That was a longer post than I intended it to be. I will put today’s to-do list in a separate post.

Bye for now!