My brand new debt fighting diary

datlex

Well today I discovered it is not just car insurance people and the like that try to charge a higher price to existing customers than new customers. I had been quoted nearly £55 to renew my Norton 360 ( yes I know some people will be screaming about free virus software, but I've had free ones in the past- AVG and Avast and quite frankly with both got hit with viruses. So far with Norton I've been virus free so I think it is worth paying). I looked on google at how much the program cost new, thinking I would get it from some where else. I found it listed on Norton's own website for £35!! Cheeky !!!!!!s were happy to charge customers that renew just under £20 more than new customers for the same product. I was not impressed to say the least. I contacted customer support for an explanation and to get the price I wanted. The guy came out with some blurb which was obviously the company line- it was like he'd cut and pasted it into the online chat support. I was having none of it. Kept my resolve and the result was the person's supervisor put through the renew at the new customer price.
Moral of this is don't auto renew any software you pay for. It does warn you when it is close to needing renewal- they don't want to lose you as a customer so there is little risk the software will expire without you knowing.

In other debt free wanabee finances. Am very close to having the money I need in my account to get a new to me sofa.

Didn't get any OT in last week, all the extra time last week covered time for an appointment. Planning on doing more next week and the week after.

Haven't need to do a full grocery shop for a few weeks, due to having pasta, rice, couscous and noodles in the cupboard and fish, turkey mince and chicken in the freezer. Only had to buy fruit, veg, dairy items and soft drinks! I think it will be the same next week too. Which is keeping expenses down. Still trying to have some money left at the end of each week which gets transferred across to the savings bank.

Previously made enquiries with Barclaycard about why I couldn't apply for other cards with them (transfer existing card rather than get a new one). They wouldn't say why- which concerned me a bit but I figured wait a while then look at moving my card. Today I got a letter from them, I guess a customer not responding to them trying to say sorry scares them as they can't close the case...... The letter reckons i'm now eligible for the cashback card if I ring them on their 0844 number. Will they never learn, I don't ring India if I can help it (hard to understand them!) and I don't ring 0844 (cost!) numbers.

Am thinking of hiring a maid for here though with the cashback...... Well I would if it was actually cashback, apparently it is actually a credit back to your account......

datlex

Been looking at the Aldi website. Thinking of getting a couple of the electric cooking devices. Just have to work out if they will be worth getting. I have solar panels so in the summer time or basically so long as it is light when I get home from work, I get more or less free electricity. Thinking whether they would save me enough (by not cooking on gas for these) to make it worth while getting them. Talking of which it has just occurred to me I need to make better use of my electric hot rings at this time of year. It is just so automatic to use the gas cooker all the time. I should really try making the effort to use these instead. Might start to see savings on my gas bill then!! Not quite sure why I have only just thought of this. Amazing how these little potential money saving ideas occur to us all.

I've been looking at the Flylady threads. Might have a go at doing one. Not sure if I will do it in the way suggested on those however. I have a one bed flat. So I'm thinking of splitting it into one room for each day of the week. Rooms are: Hall, Bathroom, Bedroom, Living Room and Kitchen. Really do need to get motivated to get this place looking better.

Still thinking about buying a new dri buddi. Amazon have got a few alternatives but I'm not sure how good they are. Basically they look the same but they are from different manufacturers. At the mo theoretically I could dry things outside. However, given that I don't have a washing line and go out to work, I am loathe to leave things outside. I'm in a ground floor flat too, so unless I am in I can't have the windows open. The other problem I have is this place is well insulated, meaning it is actually cool even when it is really warm outside. In fact yesterday when it was 24C here yesterday it was cool enough indoors to get goosebumps!! This all means it can be a game getting things dry. At the mo, I have a load sat on an airer in my bedroom with the window wide open. Be interesting to see how far it manages to dry before I go out later this afternoon. So all in all I basically need to get something to get my clothes dry. There is a space in my kitchen for another appliance which could include a tumble dryer - however I currently use that space for my recycling box though if the recycling changes here I may not need to keep it there any more. The dri buddi is supposed to be cheaper to run than a tumble dryer but I'm not quite sure what they base that on. It would certainly be cheaper to buy. All in all I think I will have to get one in the next couple of weeks. It came to a head yesterday when I had to finish off the last load of washing with a hair dryer as it was not yet dry after a couple of days. So another expense to pay out for- just need to find where the cheapest place to buy one is.

datlex

Got a new curry cooking book this week. Going to try making a couple of the dishes out of it. Should be cheaper than having a take-away and healthier. This week's grocery shop was at budget- I needed to get all the spices in. Now I think I have all the ones I will need. So next week's shop won't be as bad.

datlex

Today, I finally picked up my new dri buddi. I managed to pay £39 for it after using vouchers and discount codes. It is sat in its box at the mo. I will have to get it out at the weekend. Be good to be able to get washing dry quickly again.

This week is not a big shop week, so hopefully will have money left at the end of the week. Have a few hours overtime coming too. More to divert to the sofa fund. Nice to see them building up.

datlex

Well I have started my flat tidy program. I'm doing one room at a time. Getting on top of that so it runs well, then moving on to the next room. So far I have the bathroom running how it should, I'm now working on the kitchen. Idea is that the room gets tidied and then as things get used they get dealt with either washed, binned or put away. In the end ideally the flat will be low maintenance as far as keeping it under control.
To that end, I am going to get more of the lock n lock containers. I've decided that I am going to store all my fruit and veg in them in the fridge. Once a week I am going to prepare my veg so it is chopped, diced or grated ready to use. It seems to keep longer in the longer term. It will also mean less mess when I am preparing dinners and lunches.

datlex

Well got two new lock and lock containers. Be interesting to see how much fits in each of them from peeled and chopped veg. Yes I know they are not as cheap as other containers, but I find them a lot better and they don't seem to leak everywhere. Not planning on spending on a new bag at the moment, I've had to recover an old one from my bag drawer after a non locked container leaked over my last bag. To me using these at £3.50each is better than having to buy a new bag - what bag can you get for that these days?

Have started looking at sofas in the charity shops. So far not seen one I like, but am going to keep looking. A sure that one will come up sooner or later. There is not a huge hurry and in the meantime, my fund is increasing.

Hoping soon to get someone to take a quick look at my car, I think it might be the head gasket gone but someone else said it wouldn't drive at all if it had gone. I'm supposed to be getting the details off someone from another person I know when I see her.

If it isn't one thing it is another spend wise.

I've decided I'm going to have a look in the local Warren James store tomorrow, they have jewellery reduced substantially. Thinking could get some for my nieces to keep for Christmas, assuming there is something they would like. Might get something to keep for the MIL too. (my OH buys her main present but I like to give her a little something from me too).

datlex

today was quite expensive as had my hair done. Was slightly more than expected by about a £5. The girl did an extra treatment on my hair, but didn't mention it would cost extra. Not an issue, I'll just stretch out my hair by a few extra weeks so I gain the money back. Rather than one session in October and one in December like I was (every 8 weeks), instead I'll just do one in November (12 weeks). Her loss! Am happy other than that with how she does my hair.

On the plus side, before I went into the salon I went into the local hardware shop to browse. I found a whole selection of the lock and lock containers at lower prices than in other stores. It highly amused an old lady to see me carry a pile of them to the till. I now have most of my fruit and veg peeled, chopped and otherwise prepared stored in air tight containers. Should mean a lot less effort making dinners this week. I still don't have enough for all my fruit and veg!! Will have to buy more in the future. Am going to spend a day each week sorting all my fruit and veg. Should then save time and effort in cleaning up after. (I think should actually mean less washing up too.)

datlex

I've started getting together bits and bobs for the OH's birthday and Christmas. So far got him some toiletries as a stocking filler. Just seen a top he would like, so am going to be ordering that soon. Don't know what his main Christmas present will be he is hopeless at saying what he wants, so the past few years I have had to guess. Don't go over board on the presents.
Also need to plan what I'll be getting other family members for their birthdays and Christmas.
I always try to give presents equivalent value to anything I ask for if the person hasn't made a request. I also only ask for things that I would have saved up to buy any way. That way I'm not spending any more than I had planned to. (with the exception of gifts for the kids as they obviously don't buy back).

datlex

Realised I hadn't posted on this for some time now. I've got my new to me sofa. It was substantially cheaper than I thought it would be due to a sale at the heart foundation shop.

Car is back off the road. Luckily I have it garaged so it is on a SORN at the mo. I've been waiting for a mechanic to have a look at it and give me a quote for the work. Unfortunately, the two recommended so far have not bothered arranging to give me a quote. I think there is a £300 or £400 pounds worth of work to be done. Would have rather given the money to a bloke working for himself but unfortunately it seems I will have to get a garage to give me a quote instead. I knew there was a reason I had always used main dealers/ national companies- you get booked in and you get a price.

I've been using other parts of the site. I have to say this is the friendliest most supportive part. There are some absolute numpties of other parts. In particular in the Utilities and Tech sections. Give something up as an idea to ponder and some of the responses are down right nasty.

Anouchka

Hi. Just read through your diary. Well done you, you are so determined and doing really well. I bought a new to me pair of sofas from the Heart Foundation and am pleased to report, nine years later they are still going strong, brilliant bargain.