I don't need another skinny Latte

Skinnylatte

What a contrast...on Saturday after we got back I did nothing but watch TV and sleep. Was very naughty and spent £22 on takeaways, not the best start to Frugal Feburary was it?

Today however was a triumph

1. [STRIKE]Washing/dry/putaway[/STRIKE]
2. [STRIKE]Scrub living room carpet[/STRIKE]
3. [STRIKE]Clean shoes[/STRIKE]
4. [STRIKE]Tidy junk cupboard in kitchen[/STRIKE]
5. [STRIKE]Swish & swipe bathroom[/STRIKE]
6. [STRIKE]Bargain hunt at car boot if the weathers fair[/STRIKE]
7. [STRIKE]Meal plan/topup shop[/STRIKE]
8. [STRIKE]Chilax[/STRIKE]

Plus: Cleaned out the pan cupboard, made a banoffee pie and banana loaf from some dubious looking bananas, walked DD's dog, biked to Aldi for top up shop, had coffee with friend, made packup for tomorrow, cooked Sunday roast, played scrabble with kid...phew...need a sleepy smiley now.

Madchickenlady

Hi, Ive just read your diary and I am now feeling inspired so I am subscribing, you did make me laugh out loud several times and I think my daughter thinks I have lost the plot, reading about others ups and downs definitely helps when you are feeling like the only person around who is in debt
Hope you have a good week

Skinnylatte

Madchickenlady wrote: »

Hi, Ive just read your diary and I am now feeling inspired so I am subscribing, you did make me laugh out loud several times and I think my daughter thinks I have lost the plot, reading about others ups and downs definitely helps when you are feeling like the only person around who is in debt
Hope you have a good week

Thanks for stopping by Madchickenlady, what a fab name!!

Working from home today, fuel saved, although I'm not sure how much extra I spend on heating, may be I'll measure it next time!
Tea was yellow sticker lamb steaks reduced to £1.18 from £4.98 from the freezer, and they were delish.

Lots of direct debits leaving around now, so I've updated my signature and have paid off nearly 10% of this years target, I am so looking forward to getting below £10k. :T

Taking DD to hospital tomorrow to get her brace fitted and then straight to college for a maths exam, should be an interesting day, deep breaths !!

Does any-one else's son wander round the house making loud noises that sound like a constipated hippo for no apparent reason? He used to be such a sweet loving thing too.

Rollercoaster_Rach

Yes! I'm always saying to him 'why are you making that sound for no reason?!! He absolutely can't help himself! He makes a sound in his throat like a gibbon! Hahaha! Thought it was just this family.

RR x

Madchickenlady

LOL my daughter used to do that too, she has stopped now but then she is 26...lol

Skinnylatte

Excited to have £33 from topcashback and £10 from MySurvey hit my account today, so paid straight off my lowest credit card. I want to clear this so I can then use for fuel spending, as it's a 1% cash back, which will of course get paid off in full each month :A

Did a bit of WFH (work from home, love that anacronym) took DD to hospital for her brace fitting, although they only put the bottom one on, we've go to go back next month for the top, then raced across town and got her to her maths exam with 2 minutes to spare, which seemed to go well. Back home and spent the rest of the day preparing for my appraisal tomorrow. :eek: Under personal development needs I'm going to suggest attending a conference in Melbourne, Australia :rotfl:one can but try!!

I've posted a couple of youtube videos this week, one's got lots of views already.
Enquiries for the hard goods business has picked up a bit now, it's always dead in January.

Tea was chicken pies, 3 for £1 from The Company Shop, and mash from my never ending £4 bag of spuds that I bought the week before Xmas, and I made sandwiches to take with us for lunch rather than eat out. I even managed to keep the heating off until 3.30pm, how frugal am I becoming!!

I did have to spend £1.50 for the carpark and a tank of fuel at over £50. DD saw the total and couldn't believe how much I'd just parted with for something I can't see. I am so delighted to her attitude with money since she's started earning her own, with £300 in the bank she's better off than me, although I wish she'd stop spending it on fags :mad:

Rollercoaster Rach Madchickenlady I'm delighted to hear that DS's vocal expressions seem to be normal, although he has spent this evening screaming chicken parmesan at his Xbox, I'm going to assume that is a normal teenage 'thing' too.

Rollercoaster_Rach

Hahaha! so funny!

RR x

EmilyTee

your doing so well! and how great that is rubbing off on your daughter xx

Skinnylatte

Thanks for the encouragement EmilyTee, every little helps!

Quite a bit to report in...

A deposit of £198 turned up in my bank account, it spent a day processing and I was dying to find out what it was. Only child tax credit !!!!!!:eek: I haven't made a claim for tax credits. I did in 2012, and then when I started this job in Jan 2013 I wrote and told them and then ended up having to pay them back £2400 as I'd been over paid. I'm still paying them back and now they put money in my account. I need to ring and find out what it about, I'm secretly hoping they made a mistake last year and I am really owed it, but I can't see it.

I sold my piano on eBay, the chap is coming to collect it tomorrow. I got £400, which means as I paid £50 for the other off FB, I've made a cool £350 :j

Now I'm torn what to do with the money, I really want to pay off the over draft which would bring it down to £600, but my car is due a service, has a head light out, and probably needs new tyres and I really should spend it on the car instead. What do you think?

Thursday was a no spend day, but yesterday was not. A friend invited me out on a charity race night (one of those things where you pay £1 bets and then watch horse racing on a big screen to see if your number wins). I offered to drive so I'd spend less. But still managed to spend £20. However it was a laugh and I have no hangover.

This afternoon me and said friend are getting the bus into town and having a bit of a pub sesh! We've never done this before, so I think will be a laugh. I haven't really had anything to drink since Christmas, so I don't think it'll take much to get merry. I'll stick to cider it's cheap. To be honest I should have said no when she asked me, what with going out last night, but I am looking forward to it, and I really don't go out much at all.

DD is out having her first driving lesson right now, can't wait til she gets back at 11, my tummy's been in knots all morning for her!

So on to this weekends tasks

• Tidy - I think I'll take a look on the Flylady thread for some inspiration
• Meal plan
• Top up shop
• Tidy out car
• Finish adpoints videos for the week - this is so boring!
• Catch up on emails
• List a few bits on facebook

I hope you all have a fab and frugal weekend XX

Skinnylatte

I just discovered a really cool Ebay tip, which probably isn't allowed but it worked for me any way (by accident rather than design I add!).
When selling my piano on Ebay I had a pretty high reserve of £450. Bidding only reached £370 so it didn't sell. However a couple of people got in touch afterwards to see how much I wanted. I agreed £400 and they came this morning and paid cash, saving me £40 ebay fees.
So if you have a high value collect only item to sell, stick on a huge reserve and then sell to highest bidder after the auction closes :j