Diary of a "Frugal Saver"

Frugal_Saver

Last night I signed up to MSE credit club and was surprised to find that although my credit rating was really good at 991 out of 999 (I know this is a made up number) my affordability score is really low. I guess this explains why I didn’t get the 0% balance transfer I was looking for the other week. I think there are a number of factors at play here but this shows how I really need to reduce the debt before the current 0% deal ends or I may struggle to find a decent balance transfer.

Anyway, need to continue with life and stop dwelling on debts.

Today I received a refund on shopping delivery as it wasn’t packed very well and a number of items were damaged/soiled. The driver told me to keep everything but would process a refund. My delivery pass expires next month so I’m going to try another supermarket and see how they compare.

This afternoon we visited a local museum which had an event on. Didn’t spend a single penny and walked there so a very MSE day. Went to the same event last year but wasn’t so organised, didn’t take lunch and paid for parking (to be fair we didn’t live so close last year).

Just a few days left until pay day and a week until the end of the month. Budget spreadsheet has been updated, looking forward to seeing how much money is left over at the end of the month, this is a new concept to me!

Frugal_Saver

NSD 7/10 today. Not much else to report. Counting down to pay day now

Frugal_Saver

NSD 8/10. Another boring day, doing my best to stay on track. Pay day on Thursday. Will try for another NSD tomorrow but I think we might need milk

Frugal_Saver

NSD 9/10. Payday tomorrow.

Looking forward to that money hitting my account and spending some time at the weekend sorting my budgets for next month. Currently on target for £150 over payment on credit card.

Cupboards, fridge and freezer have never looked so empty yet there is still enough for plenty of meals maybe not snacks but that's not a bad thing.

Frugal_Saver

NSD 10/10 and payday!

Already updated budget for next month. Started a meal plan for next week and shopping ordered for the weekend.

Really want to find the motivation to find ways to earn more money to pay off debts. I’m struggling with surveys at the moment as I loose interest very quickly.

Frugal_Saver

First spend of the week today but it was only £4.00 for a charity cake sale at work so I can live with that. Shopping arriving in the morning then I think I will head out to pick up the bits I can’t get delivered. Will also try and open an account with TSB if I can find a bill anywhere, forgot to print one off at work today as I was so busy (in between scoffing my face with cakes!)

Colleagues are asking how studying is going (to encourage me) but I’ve been waiting until I got my credit card statement before booking my next exam and I don’t feel motivated without having the exam booked so I’m hoping to book it next week and get back into a routine with studying.

Frugal_Saver

Only one day left of the month and it's looking like I'll be able to make an extra payment on my credit card. I had initially thought of not paying more than the minimum amount until the 0% deal is nearly finished but the 4.3% interest is still interest so I will make all overpayments to this balance to keep interest as low as possible.

Finally got enough points on one of the survey sites to get a £50 voucher, its only taken me a few years! Not sure when I will receive it but will be putting it straight to the credit card when it comes. Have made a decision on another site which has limited choice of vouchers. I used to get amazon vouchers but don't use them any more and then I thought of getting Tesco vouchers but you can only spend them im store whereas I would want to use it for online food shopping so I think I will get txmaxx vouchers as this gives me options to buy xmas presents or something for the house.

Still need to put my Fitbit on eBay and take clothes to a clothes for cash place. Think I will add both items to my October to do list, hopefully this will motivate me to do it. Not going to get much money for either but something's better than nothing.

merida88

Frugal_Saver wrote: »

Only one day left of the month and it's looking like I'll be able to make an extra payment on my credit card. I had initially thought of not paying more than the minimum amount until the 0% deal is nearly finished but the 4.3% interest is still interest so I will make all overpayments to this balance to keep interest as low as possible.

Finally got enough points on one of the survey sites to get a £50 voucher, its only taken me a few years! Not sure when I will receive it but will be putting it straight to the credit card when it comes. Have made a decision on another site which has limited choice of vouchers. I used to get amazon vouchers but don't use them any more and then I thought of getting Tesco vouchers but you can only spend them im store whereas I would want to use it for online food shopping so I think I will get txmaxx vouchers as this gives me options to buy xmas presents or something for the house.

Well done on both of these! :T

I've been reading a bit of your diary, I think you've done so well and I take my hat off to you! Good luck with studying (in a similar boat there, got 3 exams in November :eek:) and ebaying

enthusiasticsaver

Frugal_Saver wrote: »

Yes it was center parcs. Not very MSE but did my best to keep costs down. Spent less than £20 on activities for LO. Hoping to go again before she starts school next year so we can go during term time when it's cheapest. Will just have to see how I get on clearing this debt and saving money

There is a big difference in the prices between term time and school holidays. We love centre parcs and as our DGDs are preschool we can go out of school term time which keeps the cost down. If you stick mainly to walks, playgrounds, swimming and biking if you take your own bikes the cost is ok. We did the Go Ape experience and Segway and which are expensive but as a one off we were happy to pay. The water activities were not as bad.

Frugal_Saver wrote: »

Cupboards, fridge and freezer have never looked so empty yet there is still enough for plenty of meals maybe not snacks but that's not a bad thing.

I think it is good to run cupboards down every so often as it gives you a chance to make sure everything is in date and have a clear out.

Frugal_Saver wrote: »

Only one day left of the month and it's looking like I'll be able to make an extra payment on my credit card. I had initially thought of not paying more than the minimum amount until the 0% deal is nearly finished but the 4.3% interest is still interest so I will make all overpayments to this balance to keep interest as low as possible.

That sounds sensible.

Frugal_Saver

I wish we had done center parcs before now. It is so much cheaper outside school holidays.

So last day of the month and I'm going to pay an extra £200 off my credit card.

Will set my October targets tomorrow. Finally got round to booking my next exam and started studying today so that's taken up some time.