Thursday 30th May - What small DFW things will you do today?

carrielovesfanta

When we start out on the DFW trail we do loads of "big stuff" that makes quite a difference to our situation. These include having our lightbulb moment, cutting up the credit cards and cancelling Sky and the gym.

But once we have done the bigger stuff, we often feel that we are not making the same amount of progress, when in fact the small steps are helping us form good financial habits and helping us get closer everyday to staying in control and becoming debt free, or staying debt free.

Examples could be hanging washing out instead of using the tumble dryer or leaving your purse/wallet at home to avoid the risk of spending.

So be proud of those small steps, they really are important. :money:

carrielovesfanta

Good morning guys!

Early bird start from me before work. Hope everyone is ok. Ally, fingers crossed on the job front for you.

Narrowly avoided OH getting a takeaway last night by producing bolognese out of the freezer *phew* actually felt quite proud of myself!

So today:

B/L/D from stores (I'm starting to run low on some things but I've avoided a big shop all month! Just shows how much food I'm hoarding :eek:). Today's lunch will be noodles and stir fry veg (nom nom nom) and dinner will be meatloaf and veg.

Charge phone in work - done

Check online banking (done). Payday is tomorrow!

Email pensions guy about upping my contributions. Am very confused because everyone keeps saying we pay 5% and my contributions on my payslip are DEF 4% of my gross salary for the month. Is tax calculated AFTER the pension deduction, instead of on the gross salary, hence 5%? (I think Stitchy is the payroll guru yes? Help please! ) - HR on the case!

Tend to seedlings

Buy a cheap bucket from £oundstretcher to catch all the water that is going down the plug hole while I wait for the shower to heat up. It will do nicely for the garden. will do tomorrow

Think that's me today. I'm off to get a coffee and my proper person shoes! :rotfl:

Have a good one all xx

katy_ann

Morning Carrie Thanks for starting us off! I had an accident at the weekend, trapped my foot under a door and have ripped off a toe nail, worst pain Ive ever been in! Got the doctors this morning for a check up on it and then work! So my list for today;

• Doctors 9.40
• Check online banking - Done, my Primark refund has come in!
• Swagbucks (get to yesterdays goal!) - Done, all before 7.30am!
• B/L/D from stores
• Get £10 petrol on way back from the doctors

Think thats me for today Have a lovely day everyone x

determined_new_ms

Morning everyone. Thanks for starting us off carrie, kudos on the the non-takeaway! I did that last Friday it is satisfying and makes you think what an utter waste of money!

Katy_ann ouch! Hope it gets better soon x

bleary eyed here today!

This is me:

* make note of mileage to put on expenses
* checked banking
* absolutely must transfer balance today
* close down old halifax account while I'm at it
* emailed santander to find out why they didn't give me my cashback on our council tax
* all meals from stores
* do some painting after work - really are almost there now!
* climb into bed with my book and have an early night!

Hurrah for Thursday guys x

stitching_witch

carrielovesfanta wrote: »

Email pensions guy about upping my contributions. Am very confused because everyone keeps saying we pay 5% and my contributions on my payslip are DEF 4% of my gross salary for the month. Is tax calculated AFTER the pension deduction, instead of on the gross salary, hence 5%? (I think Stitchy is the payroll guru yes? Help please! )

Thanks for starting us off today carrie.

Your tax should be calculated after the pension deducted but, usually, you would still pay the full percentage otherwise you'd be getting the tax relief twice. For example, I pay £40 into a private pension (DD through bank, not taken out of my wages) and I get £10 tax relief added so £50 goes into the pension scheme. As you pay no tax on your contribution in the first place it shouldn't attract extra relief.

I know what I mean but can't explain it very well . I suggest you chat to your HR/Payroll dept to check they've set it up properly.

My quick list so far:

• Breakfast from stores
• Made packed lunch for work
• Fed and watered the chickens
• Checked banking - £40 from 0ne p0ll credited this morning and I'm going to treat myself to a book which has been sat in my Amaz0n basket for six months. :j

Also to do:

• Get a lift with a colleague in exchange for eggs
• Charge mobile away from home
• Do the payroll and set up bank transfers so we get paid tomorrow
• Drink free coffee/water at work
• Stay in at lunchtime to avoid the bakery
• Dinner from freezer but not sure what though
• Not an NSD as I'm treating myself to above book and possibly a CD too but it was 'free money'

Semi-exciting news - the girl I am teaching to sew, and doing loads of historical costume alterations for, has been interviewed by The Telegraph about her obsession with historical clothing. They've been to her home and taken loads of photos etc and she should be in a feature in a couple of weeks. I'm really pleased for her as she has many health problems but we have lots of animated conversations about the subject, especially the Victorian Era which is my great love. Can't wait to read it!

Have a good day folks,
Stitchy x

stacey2193

Morning everyone, been missing again for a few days due to work and sorting out things for my new lodger who moved in yesterday.

Today so far I have

Breakfast - salmon and scrambled eggs and coffee with coconut oil.

Spinning class - spend of £4.85 but I LOVE it and it really sets me up for the day ahead.

Purchased more salmon on half price offer from supermarket

Checked banking - dire but pay day tomorrow and need to get rent from lodger.

No plans as such for the rest of the day, pottering around the house doing jobs I imagine and possibly going on a bike ride with friend and our kids tonight if the weather is fine.

Have a good day all

Much love and hugs

S x

allydowd

Morning all,

I've managed to get on the Forum this morning...progress! Started the morning with an unpleasant phone call, which made my heart race and gave me an awful fright..but I'm climbing down off the ceiling now, LOL. :eek:

On the positive side I'm expecting the Temping Agency to have an assignment for me soon.

Foxgloves: the red onions are coming on a treat. The only 'dodgy' crop we have is the first lot of beetroot whose leaves have been eaten by something. The second lot had a PoundShop cloche over it and are fine.

-Find out where my Council Tax Benefit is so I can find out how much I need to pay them. Called council. They said my claim has been decided but they can't tell me by phone how much I'm getting and can't tell me how much I have to pay before the 7th June bill deadline. I have to wait for a letter to come through the post with that information on. Not very helpful. I will just have to estimate how much I will owe them.

-Get a briefcase ready in case the Agency calls with immediate work. The last thing I want is a last minute assignment and to be running around in a panic looking for a biro.

-Do some gardening if it doesn't pour hard.

-Check for incoming Quidco payment. None yet.

-Do Nectar AdPoints.

-Read paper online.

-Help OH sort out a banking nightmare. Applied for current account > was given a credit card instead > called bank > put through to credit card department > credit cards couldn't help as the account was opened in a branch > visited branch > branch took credit card and said they'd cancel credit card > branch called to say they can't cancel credit card OH has to phone credit card department > credit card department can't help as OH doesn't have details of credit card and said she should go to branch

Found a large piece of discarded bubble-wrap in a hedge up the lane. Brought it home for OH to use in the shed.

Received money off/free coupons for Yum products through BzzAgent. Hurrah!

Looked at electricity and gas consumption. So far this period we've paid NPower £400. By my calculation we have used £399.72 gas and electricity. Spot on!

little_pink_purse

Afternoon ish

well iam sure when i switch the washing machine on that it send a signal for the rain to start grr

thanks for starting ud carrie
hope your jobs going well dnms
ally fingers crossed for the start date

so my todo list
washing on
washing out i live in hope
meals room stores
check banking
get bag ready for work yuck xxxx

foxgloves

Hi Thursday Penny-savers,
Had a good start, then got held up as got embroiled in very long Ugov survey which involved watching a whole 45 min TV prog.....can't believe I sat it out for the princely sum of 50p!! :-/
So far, I've:
*Done surveys
*Made a poppy seed loaf
*Checked veggies & gave outside tomatoes some air (as they spent yesterday in their old curtain/string shelter)
*Did freezer inventory. Ditto fridge & pantry.
*Did meal plans for rest of June including picnic food for festival weekend & wrote shopping list.
*Investigated how to claim lost parcel costs from Post Office. One of my ebay parcels apparently never arrived......I can't help but be a bit suspicious (seems to be a growing scam that people keep the goods, say they didn't arrive & get to keep the money as well) but buyer has v positive feedback so I will have to refund her & try to claim my money back. I have proof of posting, but did not pay extra for signed delivery/tracking. Grrrrr!
Still to do:
*Pick a few salad leaves from garden to go with leftover lettuce to make salad to go with tonight's spicy lentil burgers in buns. The watercress looks ready for a modest pick.
*Set up sewing work station & make a start on making my curtain, chair seat cover, etc...
@katy-ann- Oh that toenail....I can imagine the seering pain.....poor you!
@ally - Good news about the red onions! I have the same issue with beetroot. It's either pigeons or sparrows here, as the eaten leaves have triangular bites out of them & that's from beaks! If it's slugs or snails, they tend to eat out less angular holes. I'm going to stick in a few extra bird scarers (made from wooden rocket sticks which land in our garden on Bonfire Night & strips of brightly coloured plastic carrier bag tied to the tops!)
That's me for today....must crack on,
foxgloves x

carrielovesfanta

Katy_ann - ouch! Keep it clean and dressed. I lost a nail once and it's so painful!

Stitchy - thanks for the info. Appaarently our HR don't really understand either so we're going to try and figure it out

Ally - sorry to hear you had a bad start to the day. Hope it gets better

Pernicious

Hi everyone,

Thanks for starting us off Carrie, nice work with the bolognese win! I wish there were more things I could freeze like that as a HM ready meal as we'd probably avoid a takeaway more often then. Great idea about the shower, I hadn't thought of that!
Katy_ann - Ouch!! Hope it heals up quickly.
Stitchy - That's great news, I hope your student drops your business name into the article which will hopefully drum up a few more customers for you.
Foxgloves - That is partly why I stopped doing YouGov! That & it must have taken at least 3 years to hit the £50 payout mark.

Today I have/will:-

• Making use of free water at work
• Food from stores & leftovers for lunch
• Dinner from meal plan - Grilled chicken salad as we didn't do this yesterday! We swapped it with today's planned meal, thai green curry
• Log calories & exercise on free apps
• Checked postcode lottery & birthday bingo
• Charging phone at work
• Heating off
• Check online banking & move funds around, must go through budget again & double check all is as it should be - didn't do this yesterday
• Check for new mystery shopping opportunities
• Enter some comps
• Do some surveys
• Declutter & flylady
• Free exercise again today
• Get some home insurance quotes as that is due in a couple of weeks - didn't do this yesterday either
• Pop to Mr T's on my lunch break to get some veg, stick to list
• Reminded DH about pension, no doubt he will "forget" again though
• Try to finish my appraisal for work in the hope of a nice payrise...unlikely though as it is an exercise forced upon us that then gets ignored until next year when we repeat the process

Hope everyone is ok & has a great, MSE day x