Sat/Sun 5th/6th Oct What Small DFW Things Will You Be Doing This Weekend?

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:

Welcome new people and regulars. Everyone is welcome to post, we don't bite! Waiting for the sun to hopefully come out so we can go for a free local-ish hike.

Really proud of myself, checked online banking since Jan 2013 and I've not had a single bank charge just by checking my accounts every day to make sure there's always enough to pay all direct debits and card transactions. (This used to be a big problem for me.) I've also only been to the cashpoint with my debit card ten times this year. (This has stopped me taking out £10 for a £1 purchase and then spending the remaining £9 on rubbish. Everything gets bought with the debit card.)

The List:

:staradmin Check online accounts. Done

:staradmin Electric alarm clock turned off during the day. Done

:staradmin Entertainment: local hike, take a flask and packed lunch. Done

:staradmin Chat with friends via Facebook. Done

:staradmin NSD (No spend day) Done

:staradmin OH dug out sports bag from storage and found two brand new deodorants and a shower gel inside. Neither of us can remember when they were bought.

:staradmin OH bought toothpaste in Tesco yesterday with a 75p off coupon and then got a voucher at the till for £1.77 off the next shop as the toothpaste was cheaper elsewhere. Bargain!

Freebies:*

:staradmin Free and really easy £2 Amazon MP3 code. No minimum spend. (Link) It works, I've tested it! You can actually get 50 tracks for £1.99 if this floats your boat. (Link)

Offers:

:staradmin Buy today's Daily Express - 80p, Page 16 Coupon for Free 160g Daneo yoghurt pot coupon. Valid at Tesco this weekend only.

:staradmin Get £15 off your first online shop at Ocado. Valid til 31/10/13 with code VOU3497318 (Link)

:staradmin Get £2.50-worth of Nectar Points for a £1.01 purchase of Sainsbury's e-books. I have not tested this yet. (Link)



*All freebies and offers are posted in good faith. Please look after yourselves by reading the Terms and Conditions!

Fran2584

Hi All I've been lurking on this thread thought I'd join in. Sounds like you're all doing well!:)
Mine today are:
Check my bank - done
Paid bit off CC to get it under £1100 - done
B/L/D out of stores
Made sweet treats for OH using unused things cluttering up the kitchen - done
Cancel subscriptions x 2- done

Have a lovely day:)

MrDebtWarrior

Good Morning Everyone

So glad it's the weekend!!

Today I will:

★ Check Bank - Done - No Surprises
★ Do a free activity with my OH (hoping rain stays off so we can go a walk somewhere)
★ B/L from the cupboards but need to go and buy some potatoes and salad to go with dinner.
★ Keep an eye on my eBay sales (put 10 things on last night)
★ Look for other things to sell
★ Glue drawer in kitchen that's came loose

Hope everyone had a great day!!

Tiggy10

Morning all!

Thanks Ally and well done on no bank charges and reducing your cash withdrawals.
I am also trying to reduce using cash as its such a temptation!!

Todays list:
-Breakfast & dinner from meal plan.
- lunch with a friend I havent seen in months but I did get to suggest we go to harvester for their earlybird deal. Should only spend £5 and i didnt end up going out last night so the cash i withdrew will go towards it!

- stay in tonight with bf. watch a free movie maybe.
- make a meal plan for next week.
- return trousers to ASOS (apparently they were ladies?? :rotfl: )

- washing outside with whats left of the ok weather.

Check bank. Yay TV licence price has halved! and i have overestimated my bills so have £20 spare!

Thats about all!
Have a good one!

[Deleted User]

Hi everyone :hello:

I've been inspired by this thread as a lurker, so thought I'd join you. I'm currently in the middle of a big DFW task (making sense of my finances and creating the SOA) which is a little depressing, so its nice to celebrate the little things here (and only part of this is an avoidance of the task in hand )

Today:

• Hanging all washing out - beds stripped, making the most of the sunshine (feels like I've had damp stuff hanging around the house permanently over the last few weeks)
• B/L from stores, Dinner at a friends as I'm helping host her DD birthday party :beer:
• Lots of gifted apples and runner beans to prep for the freezer (any suggestions or ideas v welcome)
• Take stock of the freezer to enable the above goodies to fit in..I've made a start and found a couple of frozen HM scones that are defrosting for a treat once I get to a certain point in the big DFW task!
• Re-arrange furniture - been gifted some useful pieces that might just make a couple of rooms come together a little better. Exciting!!

Really inspired by everything you've done already today Fran, and Ali - great news about the absence of charges! This has been a big problem for me too. I'm inspired to diary daily checks too now, thank you. And am just off around the house to turn electric things off! Have a great day all.

determined_new_ms

Morning guys :wave: thanks for starting us off ally

Hurrah to the weekend :j

My dfw/things for today are:

* checked banking
* pay off cc & store card (opened to get 15% off of purchase & paying off in full & have been given a £5 voucher )
* get pork out of freezer for dinner tomorrow
* going to visit ex-mil with dgd - walking rather than driving
* low spends - Might take dgd swimming for the first time £4.40 but she is being quite grizzly so not sure
* massive clean up tonight when db has finished the bathroom - phase 1. Operational toilet & bath but still a shell
* do car checks while in town if we go swimming
* all meals from stores - last of the lo pulled pork
* film in tonight with oh & a bottle of wine
* wash blanket rather than dry cleaning - we'll see how it turns out!

Have a great day everyone x

determined_new_ms

Afternoon guys :wave: thanks for starting us off ally

Hurrah to the weekend :j

My dfw/things for today are:

* checked banking
* pay off cc & store card (opened to get 15% off of purchase & paying off in full & have been given a £5 voucher )
* get pork out of freezer for dinner tomorrow
* going to visit ex-mil with dgd - walking rather than driving
* low spends - Might take dgd swimming for the first time £4.40 but she is being quite grizzly so not sure
* massive clean up tonight when db has finished the bathroom - phase 1. Operational toilet & bath but still a shell
* do car checks while in town if we go swimming
* all meals from stores - last of the lo pulled pork
* film in tonight with oh & a bottle of wine
* wash blanket rather than dry cleaning - we'll see how it turns out!
* oh putting up the blinds & vent in the spare room
* paint the blinking skirting board in the kitchen at some point this weekend! Must do this!

Have a great day everyone x

allydowd

DNM,

Is there an echo in here, or have you upgraded to stereo?

sparklychar

• Adpoints DONE
• Competitions DONE
• Leftover soup for lunches
• Out for dinner with friends tonight – plan on having a drink and a good time, all budgeted for, but still going for one of the cheapest options on the menu. DONEonly £21 all night plus found a pound in bag when getting ready.
• Free Postcode Lottery DONE
• Keep the heating off!DONE
• Switch off mobile phone charger during the day when not in use DONE
• Do some washing and hang on airer instead of dryer - tirying a wash at 30 deg as well. DONE
• TAKE MY CREDIT CARD OUT OF MY PURSE SO I CAN’T USE IT! DONE
• Water down fabric conditionerDONE

• Needed two birthday cards for friends tonight - got a pack of 8 for £1 in Asda DONE

• Writing a meal plan for the week, using up stores DONE! No shopping req'd!
• Use mum’s car to go to church – save petrol/mileage (company car so she doesn’t pay either) can't do.... Oh well!
• 1 teabag for 2 cuppas DONE

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend xx

foxgloves

Afternoon all,
Well, I'm all behind like a cow's tail today. Am having a nice day though.
Today's small money saving things:
*Found bargainmongous brown sugar in reduced section of Co-op. Stocked up for Christmas cake & pud.
*Fab veg on the market today.....big carrier bagful for £6. Always cheaper than in the supermarket.
*Had a trek around looking for the best price on my hair colour. No reductions in the usual shops, but found it on offer at Wilko's.
*Had a coffee out for a treat, but shared a scone so saved a small amount of cash. Loyalty card now full, so a freebie next time :-)
*Entered a competition.
*Did a few surveys.
*Picked up a parcel from local Waitrose on Click & Collect, which saved p&p (excellent service, gift ordered yesterday from John Lewis & was ready to collect before lunchtime today).
*Used 2 50p off vouchers to buy 2 bars of Divine chocolate for some Christmas gift bags I'm putting together.
*mr f found insoles for his DMs on the market 2 pairs for £1 instead of the £5 he almost paid in Boots.
*Picked all the titchy & nibbled pears that I could reach to make pear chutney. Cauldron currently bubbling away on the hob, smells lovely. Wish I'd started it earlier.....underestimated how long it'd take me to peel, core & chop 6lbs pears. Think we'll be eating late tonight, but that's ok, as can have the fairy lights on over the dining table & it'll be a nice autumnal FREE evening.
*mr f successfully downloaded the free MP3 voucher from Amazon, flagged up by Ally, for which, thanks.
*Managed to resist spending £7.99 on a new knitting magazine.....it was a close shave, though......
*Bought medium-sized nephew's birthday present as since we last looked, it had been re-priced with a 25% discount.
*Update budgets to reflect all this morning's shopping. (Haven't done this yet, but will do next, as I have selective amnesia with how much I've spent when out shopping......a throwback to my naughty spending days, I think)
*Still resisting new hair straighteners. Day 4 of Rubbish Hair.....but if I can wait till Christmas, I can have them for a present. I must be strong.....it isn't rubbish hair, it is tousled & interesting.......
Not such an MSE thing:
*Overspent this week's grocery budget by about £14, because we decided to buy a big piece of meat. Made mental note to freeze some beef slices & gravy for an extra roast dinner instead of buying a chicken later in the month.
Well, must stop now & stir the cauldron, hope everyone's having a good weekend. Keep you hands on your pennies,
foxgloves x