Fri 6th Sept - What Small DFW Things Will You Be Doing Today??!

allydowd

When we start out on the Debt-Free Wannabe 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 :money:

allydowd

Morning all, :wave:

Just to reply to a couple of Private Messages I got yesterday...

Who can post on this thread?
Everyone can join in! All contributions large or small are welcome. Just click Post Reply at the bottom of this page and type away.

So, we've all made it to Friday.:T

I have another busy day ahead so I'm up with the lark (well, up with the bin men*, if I'm truthful) and raring to go. I really need to tie up a few wee things that've been hanging over me for a while today.

The List:

:staradmin Check my online banking.

:staradmin Dry washing outside for as long as the fair weather lasts.

:staradmin Job-seeking. (I do this every day I just often forget to write it down!)

:staradmin Make sure I've not been charged for something I cancelled.

:staradmin Check my two £0 balance credit cards are still sitting at £0 as an anti-Fraud monitoring measure. (One of these cards will be destroyed when I get a new job. I will not use either of these cards unless there's a huge emergency.) Feeling proud that I haven't touched them.

:staradmin Check Noddle account for missing correction.

:staradmin Follow up on missing Nectar Points.

:staradmin Flush crushed eggshells down kitchen sink to scour pipe.

:staradmin Keep an eye out for £30 refund from utility company.

:staradmin Play free postcode lottery and birthday bingo.

:staradmin File away paperwork for safe-keeping.

:staradmin Steam-clean stain on carpet inherited from last tenant using wee hand-held steam cleaner.I've no idea what the stain is. When you clean it the stain disappears for a month or so, then magically re-appears. Odd.

:staradmin OH to steam the hob top while the machine is out and 'charged'.

:staradmin Put in diary to steam clean stairs carpet. Will need to cover up overly sensitive smoke alarm which goes off if you so much as breathe on it. (Great to be safe but still a pain in the neck.)

:staradmin Entertainment: Listen to plays on Radio 4 Extra.

:staradmin Ordered a Screwfix catalogue for OH. OH will read catalogues for entertainment for hours on end. (Recycled old one from 2010.)

:staradmin Go through receipts box and recycle any for things I no longer own. Dig out laptop receipt and see if it's still under warranty. Got a problem I can't fix myself.

Offers:

:staradmin Triple Nectar Points this weekend on eBay purchases. (Link) To link your eBay account to your Nectar card follow this link. (Link)

:staradmin Summary of today's offers in the newspapers. (Link)

:staradmin Tesco glitch on Walkers crisps? (Link)

Freebies:

:staradmin Free Caravan magazine. (Link)

:staradmin Free Organix Paste Pot (Link)

* I know I should include bin ladies, but all our refuse collectors are men.

determined_new_ms

Morning alley thanks for starting us off! Oh hurrah for Friday's :beer:

Things for the day:

* checked banking
* did vsp & updated sig
* B/D from stores
* lunch is free as is provided by work today as I am running a residents forum
* going for a run tonight after work
* leaving work at 5 today :j
* having dgd tonight
* NSD? Very possibly
* take note of mileage
* have a pimms (well Austins!) after work from stores instead of buying a bottle of wine

ok gotta go! Have a great day everyone xxx

ShootForTheMoon

Woohoo!! Happy Friday lovely people!! :dance:

Thanks for starting us off Ally!

Haven't got a great deal planned today - just to do as much housework stuff as possible so we can enjoy the weekend... OH used to have Friday pm's off work during the last academic year - yay to more money... but now muggins here has to do the housework!!

So, my plan goes:

Check online banking & skim accounts into savings

Nectar Adpoints & Swagbucks

Hoover (plugged in corridor) & dust the house, clean kitchen & bathroom with minimal products, change bedding, etc...
Any MSE tips on cleaning would be much appreciated ladies!!

Washing on economy and line dry

B / L / D from stores and another NSD today - haven't spent anything this week!! Yay!

Run / cycle up to allotment to weed and make sure it's all ok before we go away this weekend!

30-day shred... Can't remember who asked now, but I'm enjoying it as exercise DVD's go - and of course its free rather than paying £6 for a class at the gym... I don't find it too difficult as I train a lot anyway, but its fun and will be easier to motivate myself to do when the weather takes a turn for the worse!!

Make some "Energy Flapjacks" from stores - great for breakfast on the go and will take them surfing tomorrow as I'm always starving when I get out!!!! :rotfl:

Meal plan for next week & check budgets are looking healthy

New craze at work is the 5/2 "fast" diet - there are claims it improves shift worker's health - plus 2 days per week of minimal food would reduce spends hopefully!! Will look into this today online!

Read news online & enter some travel competitions

Help DBIL apply for jobs. Have already done his CV with him - hoping to find a few more suitable vacancies today! Also planted a few seeds at work to see if I can get him a cubby job as pay and conditions are much better than other similar jobs outside the Police.
(Not really MSE for us, but he is a top kid and deserves better money/treatment than he gets at his current job)

OH is working today, hoping to find out how much overtime she can work with reading clubs / after school club etc.

Pack surf stuff, cameras, walking boots and a picnic ready for an action-packed weekend at the Gower with Mum and Dad, starting tomorrow!!


Think that's about it for now... Hope everyone has a fab day!! Lots of MSE love xxx

ziggy2407

Good Morning My Lovelies

ally - Thanks for starting us off :A

Hi to all the regulars and lurkers and a BIG welcome to all the newbies, this is a really FAB thread with so many lovely, caring, considerate and supportive people.

Today's little listy :

Check Banks - Done
Check swapits - Done
Packed lunch for OH & DS - Done
Check www.freepostcodelottery.com -
Docs @ 10.40 - Done
Return DS's Library Books & collect mine - Done
Work (??) - No
Fingers crossed SO form arrives in post -
General Tidy up - Done
Ironing - all done
Declutter - Bit more gone
Contemplate another job - Still thinking
Meals from stores - Done
Track all food - In progress
Catch up on emails - In progress
Surveys -
Nectar Adpoints -
Enter a few comps - Done a few
Read Book (from stash) - in progress

Have a great Friday, love to you all.

C xx

ziggy2407

ziggy2407 wrote: »

Good Morning My Lovelies

ally - Thanks for starting us off :A

Hi to all the regulars and lurkers and a BIG welcome to all the newbies, this is a really FAB thread with so many lovely, caring, considerate and supportive people.

Today's little listy :

Check Banks - Done
Check swapits - Done
Packed lunch for OH & DS - Done
Check www.freepostcodelottery.com -
Docs @ 10.40 -
Work (??) -
Fingers crossed SO form arrives in post -
General Tidy up -
Ironing -
Declutter - Bit more gone
Contemplate another job - Still thinking
Meals from stores -
Track all food - In progress
Catch up on emails - In progress
Surveys -
Nectar Adpoints -
Enter a few comps - Done a few
Read Book (from stash) - in progress

Have a great Friday, love to you all.

C xx

Oops, forgot the biggie - visit Mum for weekend

SiberianHusky

Happy Friday everyone! I'm going to jump in on this one too!

Here we go, in no particular order:

• NSD - I did it yesterday, so can definitely do it again today
• Get hubby to cook dinner tonight, using food from the cupboard only as I forgot to take chicken out the freezer this morning - my betting is that we're going to have pasta in tomato sauce!
• Hope that post arrives - waiting for some mite spray for one of my dogs who is Elizabethan collar bound until it arrives
• Walk the dogs in the rain (again!) this evening
• Online banking – make sure £30 earned from surveys via PayPal has gone in
• Really seriously thinking about buying some indoor clothes airers instead of using the tumble dryer this winter – is it worth it?!
• Write out chore list for this weekend

Having typed the above, I have realised that today is going to be a boring day lol!

SiberianHusky

Sorry all, I just want to have a little gloat. Just did my online banking and had a fantastic surprise...
First Direct have paid in my £100 joining incentive this morning!!
This could mean that it's the first month in a while that I won't be ending up in my overdraft

allydowd

SiberianHusky wrote: »

• Really seriously thinking about buying some indoor clothes airers instead of using the tumble dryer this winter – is it worth it?!

Rough calculation assuming the following:

*You spend £20 buying a big airer which can hold two loads from your washing machine.
*Each time you use the tumble dryer it costs you £1.
*You dry two loads per week for 16 weeks.

Cost of using the tumble dryer:

No extra cost + (£1 x 2 x 16) = £32

Cost of using the airer:

£20 purchase cost + no extra cost = £20

At this rate you would break even and start to turn a 'profit' after just 10 weeks of owning an airer.

But why buy an airer? Why not ask for one on Freecycle (Link) or Freegle (Link)?

foxgloves

Morning Friday People,
Small positive money saving things on today's list:
*Clean house using minimal products (Done) - Did not get up early enough to hoover on Economy 7 tariff.....intended to, but some pixies had clearly got in, in the night & welded me to the bed.
*Do quick feedback surveys for prize draw entries (Done)
*Do Onepoll, Toluna, Ugov surveys - (Done)
*Submit claim for next £30 Debenhams voucher from Toluna (Done)
*Update September's budget.
*Formalise my new budgeting/piggbanking system, by setting the formula out properly in my Money Book.
*See if I can free up some 'spends' for our camping trip......mr f just emailed me from work to say we're not £243-35 down on the petrol money he's owed, we're actually £455-10 down, as it's always paid a month in arrears & due to some piece of BH slackery we're now TWO months in arrears.
*Finish shopping list. Add a few store cupboard items, as we have a voucher for 10 times Co-op points & that can be the equivalent of £8 to £10 cash (into the Festival tickets fund!)
*Prepare pork & sauce/marinade ready to get pulled pork into the slow cooker first thing tomorrow morning.
*Meals as per September meal plans - WW Spanish eggs & jacket wedges using homegrown potatoes, garlic, chillies, tomatoes, peppers & courgettes.
*Go & find cardigan!!! Am sitting in conservatory & considering how hot it was yesterday (I was sitting out with factor 30 on!), it's dropped chilly today & wet (& it's heading up to SCOTLAND tomorrow ;-) Nice little electric stove in here which looks so cosy when it's on, but I refuse to have heating on when it's only 6th Sept!
@siberianhusky - I know nothing about tumble dryers, I've never owned one. I line dry my laundry outside whenever possible. It often still dries in Autumn if it's a nice windy day. In winter, I used to dry on airers in spare bedroom with radiator on. It did the job fine, but even with a dehumidifier in the house & window cracked open, we started getting black mould up the walls & have had to redecorate. Have just bought a heated airer from Lakeland. Haven't used it yet, so can't recommend it until I know how it performs/affects the electricity bill, but it is supposed to use no more than 5p an hour. I intend to run it no more than 2 nights a week on Economy 7 tariff, which should halve that cost. When I've had a chance to assess it, I'll put a post on. I'm thinking that a tumble dryer would cost a good bit more than that to run?
OK, that's me for today, must crack on with my trusty calculator,
foxgloves x

craftyali

Was going to join in, but realised that then it would be another THING I feel I need to do each day, and better to get away from the computer! However, re. drying clothes, I bought one of those heated airers from Lakeland last year and it is brilliant. No idea how much it costs to run, but it dries everything well and quickly - and saves using airers on radiators, which is meant to be far worse for energy usage (and make rooms damp).