Diary of a "Frugal Saver"

Frugal_Saver

Food shopping has been postponed another day, OH took it upon himself to get the satchet to make the chilli and proceeded to make it, I stopped off on the way home for Aldi tortilla crisps and sour cream and onion dip.

OH also used MSE to change energy suppliers today and save us some money. I never even asked him to do this, I'm so pleased he's doing something to help save money.

Posted an eBay item on my lunch break, it cost 25p more than i charged for p&p and I only got £1.04 for the item so I didn't really make a profit over all. To be fair last week I sold something I bought in the pound shop for £2.50 so it's not all bad (I would like to clarify I didn't buy it with the intention of selling it on eBay I just changed my mind). I'm also good at re-using packaging although there's not much left as its been a while since I ordered anything online.

I'm going to look at my iPod at the weekend, can't be bothered to do much when I get home from work st the moment, it's dark and depressing when I get home, winter will be here soon.
Had to put the heating on for an hour this morning. There's no way I'm having a shower and not having the heating on!

Had to pop into the bank earlier and asked them about direct debit payments, they said we would have received a letter if the money wasn't there when they requested the payment so it sounds like the bed payment has ended. That's £25 to go towards Littlewoods and Next account each month.

Frugal_Saver

Another successful MSE day here today. OH went food shopping without me even asking him, this will keep us going another few days.

This also meant I could pay off a little bit more on my Next account than I had planned.

I have also been able to cash out money on 2 survey sites, even better both were to PayPal. Got my first payment from crowdology (£4.70) and it appeared in my account straight away. Also cashed out £5.00 from mysurvey, that usually takes a couple of days to clear. Once it shows in my account I will make a £10 overpayment on my loan.

Heating is still off but I finally changed to the winter duvet last year, it was so cosy!!!

WantToBeSE

Hi FS
I have to buy a winter duvet, what tog is yours? I saw that tesco have some on offer for £15, but dont really know much about tog.
Well done on making that £10 to overpay your loan with

i am trying my best to keep the heating off until at least November 1st this year..we'll see!

Frugal_Saver

Our duvet is 13.5, it's from primark. We've had it a few years now but it is just right.

I may join you in the mission to keep the heating off until November although I may struggle on Sunday when I'm at home all day.

Not much to report today except I'm continuing to resist the temptation to spend money needlessly which is a major achievement everyday!

WantToBeSE

Thanks FS, i'll check out primark this year I really hope that i can manage without heating until at least Nov 1st. I am going to my sisters this weekend, so no heating here
If you get tempted to put the heating on on Sunday, put some warm socks and slippers on, an extra layer, and possibly your dressing gown. I often bring my duvet down and snuggle up under that with a nice cup of hot choc.

pinkladyof66

i have managed so well without heating as due to getting on in years and feeling hot all the time i still have to have windows opened and air and breeze coming in this is the first year of suffering with hot flushes the later the heating comes on the better

Frugal_Saver

I love my dressing gown so much I practically live in it all winter when I'm at home! House is feeling quite warm today as OH has had the fire going, I don't think it will be too difficult to keep the heating off tomorrow.

Looking forward to a day off tomorrow just having a think about what I need to achieve and then I'll post a list tomorrow. Think I might set aside sometime to apply for jobs, fed up of working alternate Saturdays. I've applied for two jobs in as many weeks, one I didn't even get an interview and the other one they've decided they won't be recruiting for that position any more.

I've not seen anything exciting on TV tonight so I think I'll make my list for tomorrow before finding a book to read, OH is busy watching football right now.

Frugal_Saver

Lots of things to get on with today, not worried if I don't get everything done but would be good tick a few items off the list, in no particular order:

• [STRIKE]Clean glass on wood burner[/STRIKE] Done :j
• [STRIKE]Tidy up bedroom[/STRIKE] Done :j
• Couple of loads of washing 1st load just finished, about to put second load on
• Sort out clothes to take to recycling place where they pay for it Still to do
• Look for a new job Still to do
• Meal plan for the week Still to do
• [STRIKE]Tidy up lounge[/STRIKE] Done :j
• [STRIKE]Surveys[/STRIKE] Done :j
• [STRIKE]Dig out finance paperwork for bed - if we have paid this off I will use the
  money to pay off another debt[/STRIKE] Done :j Bed is all paid off, we have £30 a month to throw at other debts! Once Littlewoods & Next have been paid we will look at getting a sofa on interest free credit
• Have some 'me' time - bath, sort out hideous eyebrows! Done eyebrows, they need shaping again so need to sort this out when I get paid at the end of the month (only costs £6). Will have a bath later.
• Phone Mum & Sister Leaving this until later as Mum is at work today
• [STRIKE]Claim free bowl from McCains wedges[/STRIKE] Done, and added Andrex Puppy points, we may struggle to down grade on brands but I make sure we get something out of it!

Not feeling cold this morning so I think it's going to be easy to keep the heating off for another week.

Frugal_Saver

Another successful DFW day! As well as achieving the above items on my list I have dug out my Ipod, I want to wait for a free listings weekend though as I don't want it to go for 99p.

Getting bored with surveys at the moment. I'm going to set myself a target of earning £30 a month (PayPal or vouchers) to help motivate me. I'm not looking to cash out £30 a month, I have a spread sheet which records my balances on all survey and cash back sites.

Frugal_Saver

Just spent the last couple of hours looking for a new job, applied for 4 jobs which I liked the sound of. I love the idea of a new challenge, I just hope I get somewhere with these applications.