The impossible dream

Tahlullah.H

Today was money shuffle day.  Done and everything that needs to be in place is in place.  Have to travel to work next week, so that will be a bit of expense on fuel, but as I have just been paid, all is good.

I managed to get to exactly £10.00 on Prolific, so transferred that into my paypal account, with a further £9 to be approved.  One poll is inching ever closer to the hallowed £30 in the sky.  Now at £19.05, so just under £11 to go.

I was re-reading Tilly's diary and she highlighted that I should be buying everything with my visa card in order to make the most of the points.  As you can get cheap deals on Eurotunnel with them, I will endeavour to do this going forward.  But so many things are already set up to avoid spending in other ways.  She recommends paying your Council Tax with the CC, but I am not going to cancel the DD just so I can do that.  I prefer the ease.  I will just have to make a conscious effort to buy other things with it, rather than just fuel, which is what I have been doing this year.

I decided to bag my £2 coins and still need to make an effort and get to the bank.  Again, I have £100 to pay in after removing all the collectable ones.  I am not getting any positive use from them sat in my tin, when they could be making a bigger impression on reducing the mortgage.

A couple more NSD's so going in the right direction.  I am finding it increasingly difficult to be a MFW when I don't have the spare money to pay into the mortgage.  Yes, money is being spent, but it is considered and replaced when possible. I really want to find a genuine way of increasing my income so that I can contribute to the mortgage, but in todays' economic climate, with so many people out of work following the ending of furlough, it seems impossible to do this.  Oh well, at some point, something is going to give, and it will probably be me.

Tahlullah.H

There is something about making plans...  So many good things happening in August.  Plus, I have actively signed up for the NSD challenge - I am aiming at 20 days.  It will be interesting to see what I can achieve.  I used to do this regularly, but not actively count. Maintaining it was always difficult as I purchased small things on ebay for the campervan all the time.  But I was using money made from the decluttering of the house.  It was a win win situation in my mind.

Then to add chaos to relative peace, my laptop has started playing up and I really can't afford the time to be struggling with under-performing IT equipment.  This is a relatively new laptop, but to be fair, it was never in the same league as my previous Think-pad.  So, I have sourced a nice shiny Lenovo with double the everything capacity to make it faster and more usable.  This one is ok, but feels very much like a tablet, a toy - and I need a work horse.

I bough it using Top Cashback and on PayPal's 2 years interest free credit.  My plan is to pay this off using the spoils from my surveys, as the money goes into PayPal anyway.  So my newest cunning plan is to sell this one and put the money back into the debt, plus making on average £10 per month on surveys, I should be able to pay this off within the 2 years.  I have another £10 coming from Prolific when they are ready to pay out, plus I am at £19.80 with One Poll, reaching for the magical £30 in the sky.  By my reckoning, I figure by the end of August I will pay in £40 from surveys, plus whatever I get from the sale of the HP, I should be well on the way.

Whatever happened to the plan of paying down the Visa card debt?  The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry...

savingholmes

Great news on the savings. The rest will work out over time. The 50p sales have been in the news - there's been another today

Tahlullah.H

My earnings on surveys today was £12.60.  I managed to get a £10 prolific survey!  It will take a while to pay out, but going the right way towards this debt for the laptop.  I will update my footer.  Unfortunately, it was not a NSD, so hopefully, I will show more control of my spending tomorrow.

Tahlullah.H

Today is Day 4 of the NSD challenge, so feeling as positive as I can about it.  So far to date, I have managed to earn the grand total of 0.70p on One Poll and £12.50 on Prolific in August.  Still no-where that magical £30 in the sky to cash out on One Poll, but the surveys are really slow at the moment.  I have, however, managed to send £21 to my new laptop fund, so happy about that.  I really do need to get round to wiping the old laptops memory ready for selling.  The sooner it is sold, the sooner I can pay off the money owed.  Anyway, with the £21 payment, that was the equivalent of 2 months payments, so ahead already as I have 24 months to pay it off.

As part of my overspending this birthday month - knowingly done - I have left myself a bit short.  But, if you know you are doing it, it makes life a bit easier.  Need to go shopping on Monday for milk and cat litter - really glamorous, but it keeps the neighbours happy in that the cat is in their garden but they never have to deal with cat poo in their flower beds!

Finally got to the end of the ongoing saga with my old electricity company, and was given a nice bonus for not having to take them to the Ombudsman.  Very positive.  Also received an email from Octopus Energy, saying that at some point in the past, they were my supplier and they overcharged me by £10.50 so this will be put into your bank acct that it came out of.  Considering I can't even remember them as my supplier, it will be interesting to see where this money comes in to.  Also given a refund of £124 for my overpaid gas for the year.  Not good.  I would have preferred them to hold on to it, but they say they are not allowed to do so.  So, now I am going to have to increase my DD so I can begin to get ahead for winter.  Plus the use through having to work at home all this time, the refund was definitely not wanted.  Anyway, I will just leave all these small payments in the bills account for when there is a spike in the bills and ore money is needed for the direct debits, the impact won't be as harsh.

Mortgage payment made and up to date and  the debt is going in the right direction.  Still have £100 in £2 coins to pay in, but can't get into town easily to do it.  Locals are being warned against going into town because of the high number of tourists and the risk of Covid coming into the area.  So I haven't been very far since the official summer holidays began.  A lack of face masks and social distancing due to sheer numbers is making the area unsafe, so shopping is something that needs to be considered carefully.  

Tahlullah.H

Another NSD, so 5 to date.  Think today will be another, but will wait until tomorrow to confirm.
Surveys have slowed down significantly, hardly moving.  At this rate, I won't get to the £30 on One Poll for another month.
Made another payment against the mortgage, so feeling positive.  Money in the account so able to transfer it across.  Still haven't managed to get to the bank to pay in my coins - this will happen at some point in the future.  I am budgeting for it in my calculations, so will look to see when I can get there safely.  
Birth of a baby so need to send a present and a card.  Will do this tomorrow so will have to go into town to post them.  Also an anniversary towards the end of the month, so will need to send flowers. Luckily, no need to go into town for that.  Have enough money in the savings account to cover so should be ok.

savingholmes

Sounds like you are doing well. Frustrating if others are not careful

Moneyfordreams

We live in a seaside area. Loads of people milling about. Thankfully I have always avoided the beaches due to sand.. The main precinct is bad enough. I'm grateful as a local I am aware of the quiet times. Glad things are positive 

Tahlullah.H

Thanks Moneyfordreams and savingholmes.  Yes, tourist areas are definitely unsafe especially when visitors don't take the risks seriously, but it will get back to normal in winter!

Today as the first day of  the new regime.  Mortgage payment made and looking to see if I should Airbnb a room in my house.  Maybe next year - just overnight bed and breakfast arrangements for the summer months?  May give this more thought.  Have struggled with finding positive ways of increasing my income and this may be it.  Don't want anyone in the house on a long term basis although that would offer regular income, but holiday let for the weekend may just do it.

Determined to pay this stupid mortgage down before my 60th birthday.  I have 5 years!

Tahlullah.H

Just got notification that Receipt Hog are selling out to Neilsen and we can't transfer the points.  Really annoying, so I have just cashed in to collect my £3 Amazon gift card as I didn't have enough points for anything else and I am unlikely to get enough to move to the next level by the end of September.  It was good whilst it lasted.   Will delete the app once my gift card arrives.  Have signed up to the new app.  You never know, it may just pay out the occasional £3 now and then.

Not a NSD as I had to get the MOT on the camper, ready for my next holiday - it passed, and then I have to buy tyres for my car - silly money!  I will get them changed and the MOT on that next month.  I will add my £3 earnings from Receipt Hog to my survey earnings log.  Very pleased with the amount earned on surveys in a month.  Shame I am not getting the opportunity to cash in as yet to pay towards the new laptop.  One Poll is at £24.30, so a bit more to go to the magical £30.00  But it will happen.

One step at a time.