A long time coming, a dfd.

redkez2012

Hi Hapless Harriett and Mummy2threeboys,

Thanks for stopping by and also to Mr James Jones of Experian, I did indeed purchase a copy of my report for the sum of £2.00. Apart from having to wait for my pass key to come via snail mail (for my security) it was all done relatively quickly and easily. I'm glad I have it now. I will probably re-do it in 6 months time to make sure that good stuff is happening/reflecting there and that the bad stuff is showing as getting better.

So a quick update on where we are up to, tomorrow is my pay day, I have three days left in work and then I have two weeks at home with my DS's.

Today has been a day where I wish I had a clone of myself, there was DS1's birthday, a colleagues baby shower and a family funeral. Somehow I managed to spend time with all three groups of people and get some work done (goodness knows how!) and I have consumed the last of my lovely £4.00 Ald! rose wine after my delish spag bog dinner and yet more cake, (cake at the wake, cake in the office from the baby shower, and two lots of birthday cake, sons and a different colleage at work who also celebrates today as their birthday!) I will be weeble wobbling around the office for the next few days!

Money wise, it's been a personal NSD however DH had to buy fuel, but as he has a second income it came straight from those funds. Only his first income is included in the monthly income/expenditure budget planner as his second income is seasonal and not guaranteed. If we are struggling to meet a bill then if he has it he hands it over for the greater good. I do try not to ask him for it though cos I should be planning the budget better, and as this is his nice-ies fund, he does have to clear his personal credit cards, overdraft and of course he has to get my Christmas gift(s) :,)) out of it.

Right O, I'm off to read a few more diary entries and then if the skies are clear, to hopefully see the metor shower.

Night All and thanks for reading - I'll update my debt sig tomorrow once I have paid a bill or two.

For now, RK2012 x

Giggles86

Hi RK2012. Sounds like you've had a very busy day, and deserved the cake after all your dashing around! Well done on your NSD and good luck with your journey.

redkez2012

Hi Giggles86 and thanks for stopping by.

Morning all,

Its pay day!!!!

So far I'm on plan.

I've bought my fuel for my car for my budgeted amount of £60 - that WILL last me the month.

I've paid my phone bill and changed the DD date to actually coincide with OH pay day (I'm so lucky, he pays this for me - supposedly!)

Right O, I'm going to try and do some work now so will be back later with a full update.

For now RK2012 x

redkez2012

And now the plan is out the window, okay maybe thats a bit of an extreme statement but ultimately the budget is going to have to be rejigged. The boys dont really have any 'organised' hobbies, they like football, cricket and tennis but dont belong to any clubs where a regular payment is require. That changed last week when a friend of my eldest suggested that they join him in a new hobby, and now I am £30 lighter as they needed some proper equipment........anyway, tomorrow I'll re-jig the budget and see what I can do to claw this back. I'll try and do an update tomorrow but I know its going to be late on before we are all home and I need an early night, at least I only have two days left in work till my hols.

For now RK2012 x

redkez2012

Hello,

I'm in bits. My car broke down today, I have no idea how much it's going to cost to fix. All my money is accounted for so I really don't know how I am going to pay for it! I'll update again when I have a better idea cos I know that I am going to have to look at the budget planner/spreadsheet to figure it allout!

For now,RK 2012x

redkez2012

Hi. It's not good news on the car front. It is the starter motor that has gone and because of the shape of the car and engine, it is very difficult to get at - so even though the part is only £200 (which in itself is cringe worthy) the labour is going to be in excess of £1500 (oh yeah, both are plus VAT too) which as you can probably guess is not something at the moment that I have.

The things I can't do:
Ask family for a loan (No one in the family has that sort of money)
Gain new credit (no main stream will lend to me)
Pay day loan (no way, uh ha, not a chance)

The things I can do:
Get push bike fixed up and ride to work (10 mins in the car about 4 miles away)
Cry (not a viable option - it's a waste of tears)
Sell stuff (not sure I even have £2k worth of stuff to sell!
Work the spreadsheet budget planner (it will be this time next year when I can afford to have it fixed at this rate).

Stuff I have done:
Paid Cap 1 cc
Paid OH car loan monthly DD

Also had a letter back from GE about the PPI claim I put in. They are basically saying it wasn't them who sold it to me and to go back to the people who did. They did give me an address to write to so will be doing that a little later today.

For now RK 2012x

redkez2012

Dear Diary,

I'm so sorry I've not updated you in a while. Things at home have been a bit 'tough.

This morning, my dog, my friend, was put to sleep. She became unwell earlier this week and went downhill rapidly. The vet told me that she had an infection in her womb which was so severe that the only reasonable thing to do was to let her go to sleep for good. It was heartbreaking, she was a rescue dog and really was a member of the family, we will miss her terribly.

The last couple of weeks have been a hive of activity. We have decorated our youngests DS bedroom and finally after 10 years put some shelves up in his cupboard. It has not been cheap to do said decorating but we have been as frugal with it as possible, all told, its cost about £150.

We also made good use of the MSE advert for B&Q from a couple of weeks ago, and managed to purchase a new shower for our bathroom for around £23 (original price £65.00) we had a 20% off code after we had registered with B&Q online an we bought the decorating stuff for our sons room so it took us over the spend limit to qualify for the discount.

The new shower is fabulous.

As you can see the last few weeks have not been very MSE at all. I think I need to look at my planning budget spreadsheet again and work hard to find a way to earn some extra cash.

I have joined three survey sites, Valued Opions, Toluna and My Survey. I am almost at my first £10 from VO. I have two surveys on there waiting to be paid out which should take me over the £10, I also have a £5 TV diary to keep in September so once that is done that will take me well on my way then as well. My intention is to try and make £40 between August and November towards Christmas gifts on Amazon using the Amazon vouchers they pay out in.

Toluna are faster at sending me surveys to complete but they take longer to pay out the points (about 6 weeks). Again I would like to use the vouchers/points towards Amazon vouchers for Christmas gifts.

I've only had one survey sent through from My Surveys and I didn't qualify for it, I've had nothing further from them. I don't think that they are that good TBH.

I've also tried to join Clix Research, I've registered online and completed my profile and now I cannot log back in! I have sent them an email asking for log in help but they have not reponded. I quite liked the idea of trying products out and giving my feedback about them.

I am now off to try and find a good banana bread recipe as I have three bananas going too ripe to eat to use up. Wish me luck!

For now RK 2012 x

Piquant_2

I'm so sorry about your dog. I know how you feel. It's heart-breaking to lose such a friend. I am missing my cat so much, but I know he's at peace now.

If you've read my diary over the last month you'll know there's a lot of discussion about bananas, not all polite, it has to be said! There is my banana bread recipe there somewhere. I'll see if I can find it for you.

Piq

redkez2012

Dearest Piq,

I've read all 103 pages of your diary over the last week - I felt I knew the Bear very well through your wonderful stories and tales of his escapades, he was a beautiful cat and reminded me of my long lost Toby cat. I know and feel your pain. Losing my doglet today was horrible and heartbreaking but I know, deep in my heart, that she is in no more pain and is happy and healthy and chaing rabbits.

I did find a Banana Bread recipe today, although I am sure it is no where as good as yours, for one, I had no Marsala Wine (BTW where do you buy Marsala Wine???) to soak my raisins (although I have no raisins in at home at the moment either) - it is because of your '21 bananas' payment and all of your inspirational dinners/baking/cooking that has motivated me on not to 'waste' any more food. I am sure I can do much better with my cupboard contents than I have done - I am even getting my DS2 in to help me mash the narna's up, incidentally, the top of the finished article was slightly burned (gas mark 4) and after the first hour the middle was still damp so I cooked it for a further 20 mins - nice and moist but not 'wet' IYKWIM?

Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words. I'll be catching up on your diary shortly.

For now RK2012 x

Itsadogslife_2

So sorry for the loss of your dog. I have lost a couple of oldies in the last two years (both rescues), so know how upsetting it is. My old girlie is 10 and I have had her since she was a baby and she is now 10 - I have had her longer than my daughter, when she goes I will be inconsolable

Sorry to hear about the car, looking on the bright side, just think how healthy you will be with the cycling