Diary of a "Frugal Saver"

Frugal_Saver

I've not got any money left until payday so OH is paying for everything at the moment, he even gave me money to go out last night, it was for a fundraising event through work. I'm so glad I went, it's been ages since I had a proper night out. Suffering a bit today (didn't drink that much, I'm just a lightweight!) Today is going to be a lazy day, tomorrow I will do housework etc. I've got two 6 day weeks coming so I need a rest before starting that!

Once OH has finished with the laptop I will spend some time doing surveys, very close to cashing out £30 paypal which would mean a total of £50 extra overpaid this month on top of the £50 I already overpay each month.

Haven't heard anything from the jobs I applied for last week, will spend time again applying for things this weekend, I have just over a week booked off work the middle of November and I would really like to use that time wisely attending interviews.

Free listing on eBay this weekend so I will be putting my iPod touch up for a minimum of £15, if it doesn't sell I'll reduce the price at the next free listing but I honestly didn't think it would be worth anything.

Heating is still off, OH has perfected the woodburner this week, it got to a point where I was tempted to open a window! OH is also staying up late some evenings which means it's still warm in the morning when I get up.

While composing this post OH has just joked about me spending his money (which he usually offers me anyway) he was just doing it to wind me up and when I reminded him he earns more money than me and I don't waste my money he agreed that I'm doing the right thing if we want to have kids. His attitude has changed recently, I'm so glad we're now working together to tackle this debt.

Frugal_Saver

Things to do today;

• [STRIKE]Surveys - OH was on the laptop all day yesterday so was only able to do a few on
  my kindle and phone[/STRIKE] Done :j
• [STRIKE]Tidy up house, not looking too bad so shouldn't take long[/STRIKE] Done :j
• [STRIKE]Sort out iPod touch, I've reset the settings before I sell it on eBay and it's
  not working anymore[/STRIKE] Done, see post below so annoyed at myself for not spotting that I'd listed it as Buy It Now
• [STRIKE]Put up items on eBay, when I put my suitcase away yesterday I was very ruthless
  with some clothes which haven't fit me for about 3 or 4 years but couldn't bare
  to part with, I'm beginning to accept it's very unlikely I will ever be a size
  10 again[/STRIKE] Done :j the rest of the items are on auction but I'm not expecting much, if anything from them
• [STRIKE]Take clothes that aren't suitable for eBay to shop in exchange for money, if I
  get £5 for it I'll be happy with that[/STRIKE] Done :jonly got £3.50 but it's better than nothing
• [STRIKE]Go food shopping for dinner tonight, OH has taken control of cooking at the
  moment but doesn't meal plan, he's paying so I'm not complaining[/STRIKE] Done :j
• Get axe for OH to chop up all the free wood we have, he's been cutting it with a miniature saw which is taking forever (it's wood which has been used a shelves, fortunately it was never treated so all he has to do is remove screws and nails) Not done, in Homebase it was abut £25 or a really pathetic small one for £12. Have now left this with OH
• Apply for jobs OH spent all afternoon and evening on the laptop again so didn't have a chance to have a good look, had a look at a couple of apps which list jobs and couldn't see anything interested
• [STRIKE]Do a couple of loads of washing[/STRIKE] Done :j
• Maybe do some baking Not done any baking but I did make a banoffe pie, not very well though as the biscuit base just fell apart when I dished it up!

I will probably add to this list as the day goes on, hopefully today will be as productive as last Sunday when I did nearly everything on my list!

Frugal_Saver

Argh! I'm so annoyed at myself, I somehow managed to list my iPod as buy it now and someone bought it within seconds of me listing it. They also paid straight away. I don't know how I managed that I've never done buy it now before and if someone was so quick to snap it up at £15 I bet it would have gone for a lot more on the auction. Oh well, it's money I wasn't expecting and unlike the last two items I sold the money is available in my paypal account immediately.

Frugal_Saver

Yet another productive Sunday, nearly everything ticked off my list. Had difficulty sleeping last night for some reason which is why I'm on here so early.

Already ordered a new Nectar card this morning, my one is really worn out so I've needed a new one for ages but I also thought if they post 2 of the key cards I'll give one to OH as he's started doing some of the shopping now.

Today I need to post the ipod touch begrudgingly. Fortunately the post office is two doors down from my work so I don't have to venture too far in this horrible weather. Would also like to go to the bank and overpay £30.00 in my loan, but this will depend on how bad it is later.

Dinner will be leftovers from last night and lunch will be soup or beans on toast. Only spending should be on postage unless OH asks me to pick up anything on the way home, and even then it will be using money he's given me.

Frugal_Saver

So we've made it to November without turning the heating on :j We've not even been close to turning it on, the woodburner is working really well, in the mornings I get ready downstairs as it's still nice and warm even though the fire has been out for a number of hours.

I'm not able to make my usual overpayment on my loan this month as the car is due a service and MOT so I need to save my money for that. However last month I was able to over pay by an extra £30 on top of what I usually do so I'm not too worried.

This week has been a good week with surveys etc, I have finally received £15.00 amazon voucher from Toluna, I've also cashed out the following(but still awaiting payment);

• £5.00 paypal from mysurvey
• £5.00 paypal from swagbucks
• £10.00 Next voucher from Consumer Pulse

I've got back into Swagbucks seriously again after loosing interest for a couple of months, I very rarely get points for surveys but there's been lots of videos on the homepage so I have been able to meet the daily target every day for the last week. With the new target system I'm aiming to hit the first target during the week and at the weekend I will try and hit the second target. This will also depend on how high the targets are. I've been close to cashing out £30.00 on Global test market for a while now but I'm struggling to get the final few points I need to get there, hopefully I'll get there this week.

Now to get on with my usual Sunday routine, in no particular order, this is what I plan to do today:

• Tidy kitchen (doubly messy today as OH and I had different meals last night, I really fancied macaroni cheese but he doesn't like it)
• Tidy up living room
• Couple of loads of washing
• Make shopping list
• Go to the shops and stick to shopping list
• Hit 2nd target on Swagbucks
• Ad points
• Toluna
• Pay money off Next account
• Pay money off Littlewoods account and order George Foreman Grill (very MSE, already discounted, I will use a £20 off voucher and commission)

I will update this later, I know there's more I need to add to this but I can't think what it is!!!

Frugal_Saver

I've done everything on my list except order the George foreman. I thought the additional commission would be added as soon as I paid some money off but it wasn't so I'm going to wait and see if it gets added in the next couple of days, it will only be a pound or two but it all adds up!

I received a couple of mini catalogues from Next the other day and today I put them straight in the recycling without even looking at them (they didn't cost me anything, they're just trying to convince me to buy things I don't need!).

I've also spent a good hour or so applying for jobs and made a note of some jobs which will require time and effort rather than just slightly amending a cover letter which I will focus on next Thursday when I start my 11 days off.

Tomorrow I will take my last library book back which I originally took out to read in holiday but only started reading it when we got back!

Another 6 day week this week but then only 3 days next week which can't come soon enough

Frugal_Saver

This won't be my usual Sunday post today. We have family over so can't spend much time on here.

Having a stressful time again, OH has been out of a job for over a month now and I'm getting really worried about how we're going to pay the bills next month.

Only a 3 day week for me this week as I had to use up annual leave so I'm sure I will be posting more from Thursday which can't come soon enough.

WantToBeSE

Hi FS,
Sorry to hear things are stressful. It's never easy when you are worried about finances.

Have fun with your family though, take care.
WTBSE.

Frugal_Saver

Today is the start of my 10 days off yet I am awake earlier than if I had been going to work!

I don't have much planned for my time off but I do have a very long list of things I want to achieve.

OH is still not in work, he's been to a few interviews but nothing has materialised yet. I'm trying to put this to the back of my mind at the moment as it only leads to arguments if I try and discuss how we're going to cope on just my wages.

It was really good to see family at the weekend, had a good chat with my mum and realised I'm not the only one struggling with debt but she made me see that it's not the end of the world if we have debt, it's how we learn to live with it.

Doing really well with surveys at the moment, finally managed to cash out £30 paypal from Global Test Market, I'm awaiting £5.00 paypal from Swagbucks and will be able to claim another £5.00 today. All this money should be going towards overpaying debts but it's going to end up paying to keep us going until (my) payday . It just feels like as soon as we are getting somewhere something ends up happening to throw us off course again.

I'm trying to remain positive by spending my time off applying for jobs with better pay (and hopefully less hours) and I have already got off to a good start, I have an interview for today. I can't even remember the details of the job, it was one I applied for a few weeks ago, they called me up on Tuesday to arrange an interview, the timing couldn't have been any better. At the moment I'm feeling very excited about it, I would really like a new challenge and this would be ideal. I only have to get through the interview which is my worst nightmare! I really struggle at interviews, all my confidence just disappears and I find it difficult to answer even the simplest questions. I have tried all sorts of things to help, the most recent being taking a notebook into an interview on which I had jotted down some prompts for questions which are likely to be asked. I will be doing this today.

My challenge while I'm off is also to use up food in the freezer, we have got to that point again where it is full of random things that got thrown in there because they were on offer or reduced to stupid prices. If I was at home by myself this would be a really easy task as I'm not too fussy, but I don't think OH will like it.

On a positive note, I've updated my signature. Next month my debt will be below £8,000 :j

WantToBeSE

Good luck for your interview!