The march to financial freedom

Ali-OK

Meter readings submitted to try and get accurate bills for the now increased elec and gas rates.

Had a sort through of our breakfast items - DS has food fads so trying to use up cereals he has gone off. Found some porridge left over from last winter, so had that this morning with a dollop of strawberry jam. May make some cornflake cakes with his friend coming this afternoon.

P!necone Luncheon Vouchers arrived this morning, so another £3 towards something

Had a double nectar adpoint email yesterday and did that, but it only gave me the single amount, still 64 points isn't to be sniffed at.

Nectar search bar is now up to 83, I shall get to 100!

I will pay the eBay £50 off CC1 en route to the hairdressers later and can then update sig again :j

An afternoon of jobs to do - not very exciting, but shall be moving around and keeping warm rather than the heating being on. Unless the boys get cold.

Ali-OK

£50 duly paid off CC1 - now down to £1050 :j

£14 + £1 tip for a dry trim :eek: Blimey, over 50% increase in prices since I was last there. Will have to re-evaluate this - maybe a mobile one would be cheaper? Nice to be able to see again though :rotfl:

Emmala

Ali-OK wrote: »

£50 duly paid off CC1 - now down to £1050 :j

£14 + £1 tip for a dry trim :eek: Blimey, over 50% increase in prices since I was last there. Will have to re-evaluate this - maybe a mobile one would be cheaper? Nice to be able to see again though :rotfl:

I use a mobile hairdresser (one of DS1s friend's mum) and she is a lot cheaper than going to a hairdresser (and cuts my wavy, mind of it's own hair brilliantly!) Ask around, see if someone can recommend one.

I did the double nectar this weekend too.....my iron has been slowly dying so I got the one I had my eye on for the grand total of £2.99! Bargain!

Hope you're having a good weekend xxx

Ali-OK

Mobile hairdresser is the way to go then - another little saving I can make. Will be another 3-4 months to the next trim so plenty of time to ask around too.

I got all the jobs done I wanted to yesterday:

- 2014 calendar is written up with birthdays - 4 special ones of close family - an 18th, 21st, 50th and a Silver Wedding anniversary. :eek: Forgot we are going to see Russell Howard in March too and I need to organise travel with my brother.

- 2014 budget spreadsheets all done. December is two Child Benefit payments as well (2nd and 30th next month).

- Made choc cornflakes cakes, they were obviously better than my choc chip cookies as the boys ate the lot, except the one I tested of course

- Wrapped DS's Xmas stocking presents and I have a clear dining table once again :j

- Had one of the YS smoked haddock pieces for lunch, baked with a knob of butter and new pots and veg. Absolutely yum.

My kettle has started leaking at the bottom and there's a bit of a buzzing noise when it's switched on. Debating with myself whether to go and do another double nectar point exchange but would need to do it today. and I'm not feeling great.

I suffer a fair bit with sinusitis/rhinitis and think the candles might be partly to blame. I've got a prescription nasal spray so am using that, plus Olbas oil in hot water and doing the towel and steam treatment. Ooh my head hurts! I've made myself sneeze but it's not really helped. I think this is from the cold that never really came out, it's got stuck somewhere :rotfl: Taken Aldi cold relief tabs as they have the same decongestant ingredient in as Sudafed and cost 59p vs about £6.

Need to sort Meal Plan for this week, but tonight is roasted lamb pieces with all the trimmings.

Ooh and news on my Nan's recipe for Cheese Biscuits - my mum has found it :j

A quiet day here planned, local free newspaper to read and some research into a cheap new kettle, that'll get my Nectar search bar points up a bit more

Ali-OK

62 categories now adorn a new spreadsheet that I set up this afternoon - everything from the usual gas and electric through to 'Outdoor maintenance' - rock salt for winter will go in that, but have enough left over for this year so hopefully it'll stay blank for the foreseeable. Will be interesting to watch it over the course of a week, month and year to get an even better picture of my spending. Candles has its own category

Just as I'd finished, DS announces they are starting rugby and football in PE tomorrow and he needs studded type boots. A trip to the retail park and we found him a pair for £19.99. His last ones were only used for a matter of weeks for school PE, so I've put them aside to eBay as they're like new still, but his feet have grown from size 7.5 to 9.5 in 12 months :eek: He had new Clarks adult shoes for September, fortunately he found a pair in the sale as full price was shocking.

Whilst we were there, we spotted some trousers (soft denim like material with even softer elasticated waist and ankle cuff) - he likes the look of them and picks both a grey/black and blue denim look pair. £25.98 later he's now got some winter casual trousers. They're a little long, so am hoping he'll get 2 years wear out of them with the elasticated waist.

An interesting chat with the cashier too as they no longer give refunds, but exchanges and credit notes only. Apparently alot more shops are doing this to "hang onto the money" (as she put it). Does this not affect statutory rights? They say not. I also spoke to the Manager to clarify who then put a note on my receipt that I could be refunded if need be. DS did try them on so I'm hoping he'll actually wear them and not change his mind. I'm now taking this shop off my 'preferred shops' for DS's stuff as it's too much of a risk.

Dinner to do now and then a new work and school week to prep for.

Ali-OK

Meal plan for this week, so I don't forget

Mon - Baked potatoes, cheese and beans (finally :rotfl:)
Tue - Chicken chasseur, mash and veg
Wed - Hamburgers and chips (quick meal due to home late and out again soon after)
Thur - Sausage casserole, mash and veg
Fri - Home-made pizza - cheese and tomato
Sat - Chilli, rice and garlic bread - need to make the new batch
Sun - Pork loin steaks with roast trimmings

Ali-OK

Not the best start to the week, as DS woke up with a sore throat and felt grotty, but he went off to school with enough lozenges for the day. If I'd have given him the whole box, he'd no doubt have had them all :rotfl:

We finally had our jacket spuds with beans and cheese and the cooking finished at roughly the same time as the washing machine with DS's muddy sports kit in so I hung that on the airer infront of the open oven door. The chicken is out of the freezer in readiness for tomorrow night.

Bank account checked
Nectar adpoints checked - 59 available and done
freepostcodelottery checked

Grabbed the Amaz0n £5 for £10 deal and loaded that - got 10 years to spend it in, so shall take my time and probably use it for a birthday present. Thanks to those who flagged that

On Wilkos tonight and have ordered a pair of curtain tie backs. I shrunk the old curtains in the wash by accident in the summer :mad: Bought a 90 x 90 pair in Wilkos for £30 in the sale - very heavy twill and fully lined. Didn't get round to turning up, but since found they are brilliant for keeping the cold out at the bottom of the french doors, so just need them swept back up off the floor during the day. Tie back hooks are still in the wall from last pair, but old tiebacks don't match. So £4 spent (£1 off) and I'll collect from store - parking now free in town at weekends so will save on that too.

The kettle is not well at all and leaking more water, so have ordered one from Arg0s - double nectar points. Thought I could use the P!inecone vouchers, but seems not so £11.96 for a new kettle to pay, fingers crossed it's not so cheap it doesn't last long. Ooh I can spend nectar points in here, in that case £10 in points and £1.96 to pay! That's better!

So a bit of an unintentional spendy day.

P!necone have offered to pay via Paypal rather than vouchers, though with SB, Costa etc taking the LVs, it's a close call which is best for me. Will sleep on it.

Ali-OK

Tuesday evening already and I'm really tired tonight. Combination of a very busy work day and the sinus problem.

A few spends today, but all done in a way that minimises costs and maximise benefits.

- New kettle is fab and for £1.96 (& £10 nectar points) I'm a happy tea drinker once again. Picked it up en route to home so no additional mileage
- Petrol - needed personal use petrol so filled up today and used the 8p a litre off voucher and double nectar points - £31.93.
- Farm Foods - A strategically planned visit this evening and tomorrow eve too, as having to pick DS up from school due to rehearsals and this is the closest car park. He can walk to here and it's free to park and I got to stock up on 2 bags of sugar at £1.50 (cheaper than Aldi) plus the pigs in blankets for the big Xmas lunch (3 for £5). Tomorrow I will get 2 x Nicky 9 packs of toilet roll for £4. Saving £2 in parking and items we need.

- Bank account checked
- freepostcodelottery checked
- Nectar search bar - reached the 100 max for this month :j
- Nectar adpoints - currently up to 70 with 6 pts waiting, but the ad isn't playing. I've found that if I leave the page open and come on here, it starts playing by itself and I can quickly swap tabs back. It's worked twice, so hoping I can bag these 6 shortly

Think I'll change P!necone to Paypal payments going forward as more retailers offer that option and no expiry date (the LVs have 12 months but we'll use those Xmas Eve for the annual hot choc fest).

Ooh, got the extra 6 adpoints through now. Closing on 76 tonight. Better than last week already.

My stash of SB vouchers has grown again, with an added £4.50 off £30 spend gained today. So I now have:

400 points if I buy £10 of toys
£2 off a £20 shop
£4.50 off a £30 shop
Triple nectar points in store x 2
Double nectar points in store x 2
Double nectar points on fuel

Never going to use all those within their use by dates!

Ali-OK

It's days like today when I'm glad I wrote my meal plan up here - had to check it to see what we are having for dinner tomorrow night :rotfl: Sausages now duly out of the freezer in readiness.

A really busy but good day and have received emails that there are free insertion fees for 4 days on eBay, plus an extra 5% on Envirofone - I have probably 3 old phones but they are broken in some shape or form so am not sure what I can get for them, but worth trying anyway and another bit of clutter can be offloaded.

I am going to push on with eBay with avengeance as come January I am going to start paying £650 capital off the mortgage to get it back on track and the budget looks tighter than a ducks wotsit

So after a productive work day, had to drive to pick up DS from school following his rehearsal (last one thankfully) and into FF I went for the 2 toilet roll packs - £4. I did treat us to a jam roly-poly - it is a winter fave so an extra 95p spent and custard already in the store cupboard.

Home for the hamburgers and chips and out again soon after with our thermal mugs full of hot chocolate to take to watch the Christmas lights being switched on. A warm evening - 14C according to the car - and a wonderful music and firework display to watch. Free parking and no money spent.

DS's cold has come out and he's polished off all the throat lozenges, so I'll look for some in Aldi when I do the weekly shop. If not, Wilko own will do and I'll be going into town Saturday to pick up the curtain tie backs anyway. I'll hold off replenishing the stock of multi-pack tissues as my mum usually puts a couple of packs in my Xmas stocking She's very practical like that and I prefer useful things rather than luxury random items.

Bank account checked - all quiet there until the 1st
Nectar adpoints - up to 81 today
Nectar canvass - nothing, don't think they want me anymore :rotfl:
freepostcodelottery checked

Work is busy which is great, but I can't wait for the weekend - I am so tired and off colour with this sinus problem. Am trying to avoid going to the GP, mind you it's about a weeks wait for an appointment.

Tomorrow night I will probably do the weekly shop, so another day of spends. I think I can make Friday a NSD though. About time too!

Ali-OK

Weekly food shop done in Aldi, total spend £30.80 of which:

£13.19 is food
£1.10 is toiletries
£8.53 dog food and chews/dental sticks
£7.98 Xmas food (whole duck and marshmallows for hot choc topping)

The sinus issue has worsened and I now have a temperature and horrible body weakness, so can see a prescription charge coming on for antibiotics - either emergency GP appointment tomorrow or standard one in about a weeks time. I need to work or don't earn so fingers crossed I can get seen late tomorrow.

Nectar adpoints - double pointer email in but had already watched the single value, so only 4 extra for me - total for week 85 so far
Nectar canvass - checked my nectar points statement and I got given the 40 points from last week. Woo hoo! Plus a 50 pointer today done.
freepostcodelottery checked
Bank account checked

Niece was here earlier too - her mum (SIL) wants a particular top for Christmas, but the store doesn't have it in her size, so niece ordered it online from mine - we found a free delivery code but it didn't work, so emailed the company and they are sorting that out. Result - £3.99 should be refunded. This is Oas!s if anyone else is having the same problem.

Weekend plans are taking shape, hope I'm feeling better than today though.