The march to financial freedom

Ali-OK

Welcome to the weekend :j:j

I've shortened my week off to 4 days as didn't want to turn down the opportunity to add another billable day into this month - so am working next Friday now. There's a slight possibility of work on Wednesday as well. Every bit helps as I strive to get an average month's income out of 3 weeks of work - Friday will get me very close to it.

Financials:
-bank account checked
-freepostcodelottery checked
-Nectar adpoints - no advance on 53
-Nectar search - on 90, will complete to 100 tonight
-Nectar card value - up to £35.88

Exciting news as I have requested my first payout from Inbox Pounds for £20.24 :j That's taken since 12th Jan - I'll aim to keep getting £20 a month going forward from there, a nice little extra towards the debt, whereas Nectar is towards next Christmas and clothes.

Had a NSD today too :j

The weekend will be a bit spendy as I hit town to hopefully finish off the March cards and presents. Think that will be Sunday as the weather is dire here and expected to be the same tomorrow.

I've started on the usual domestic tasks - washing done, bins, towels etc and will use tomorrow to complete housework and also check if I need any decorating bits as I usually find them cheapest in Wilkos. A bit of a chill out time too.

Meal Plan for next week:

Sat - Chilli, rice and garlic bread
Sun - Lamb and roast trimmings
Mon- Somerset pork casserole and veg
Tue - Chicken drumsticks and savoury rice
Wed - Cheese & Onion potato cakes and veg
Thur - Chicken lattice, new pots and beans or veg
Fri - Scampi, chips, peas/sweetcorn

Hope everyone has had a good day and stays safe and dry.

Ali-OK

It's been quite a money saving focussed day here!

After a very blustery night where we lost power briefly and the dogs barked every time there was a noise, we stayed indoors today and had a NSD. :j

I got most of the housework done and then moved onto earning pennies or saving some more So the financials:

- bank account checked
- freepostcodelottery checked - due to it's popularity on hotukdeals they are now paying £30 increments rather than £20.
- Nectar ads - still 53
- Nectar search - 100 reached last night, roll on March!
- Nectar card - moved on up to £36.40
- Inbox Pounds - up to £1.88

New earning site added to my list now - Qmee with 44p in my piggybank Can cash this out via Paypal for any amount.

Also did the energy meter readings to update website and my spreadsheet and we're keeping both the gas and electricity usage down, so all good there.

I've instigated switching energy suppliers this afternoon too - just the gas for now to a 12 month fix away from the Big 6 suppliers - that is going to see a saving of approx £18 per month and £17 cashback too. There's nothing to save on the electricity at the moment and certainly dual fuel deals will cost more, so it's back to separate suppliers a la olde days

Having to keep a running list of all these things as so many on the go! But it's money coming in and being held on to, rather than going out so all good.

Should be going to town tomorrow, armed with a list that I will stick to!

Hope everyone has had a good day.

ragstoricheswannabe

Your meal plan looks yummy.
You have reminded me I need to do my meter readings!

Ali-OK

Hi Rags :wave:

Get those meter readings done!

I'm stuck on what to put with the chicken drumsticks and savoury rice in the meal plan - need something 'wet', only thing I've come up with is a glass of water :rotfl::rotfl:

Enjoyed the lamb steaks tonight with the roast trimmings, finding it's probably cheaper for us to do that than having a joint (unless it's gammon).

Quite a spendy day as we went into town and got all the March cards totalling £8.59 for 21 (10 for £1 so some spare). I ended up paying £2 towards DS's book and then spent £17.90 in Wilk0s, combination of bits for school for DS and bits for decorating.

Didn't do well on the remaining presents at all, so I'm going to have to look online or go with gift cards. Flowers for Mothers Day is non-negotiable but I usually go halves with my DB and we use a nursery nearby so get good value in quality and quantity.

£1 for parking and no coffees/treats in town, so saved on that.

Financials:
- bank account checked - monthly use CC payment goes out tomoz
- freepostcodelottery checked
- Nothing on nectar to report, though value is up to £36.42
- Inbox Pounds up to £2.24, so my theory of 50p a day is well on track
- Qmee - 30p there today, have transferred that out and am adding it to my budget spreadsheet. It'll get paid off CC2 when it gets a bit bigger!

Little else done to be honest. Neck/shoulders/head very painful today, so trying to rest more. Osteo tomorrow - shall be £40 lighter after that but worth it if it helps.

ragstoricheswannabe

Gravy???????? Lol!

Rollercoaster_Rach

Ahhh Ali...watch all that housework! You may damage neck etc more :eek:

Absolutely worth spending to give you a better quality of life otherwise what's the point!

I'm going to the dentist (hygienist) £40 :eek: but absolutely essential.

Need to start the big declutter this pm. Gonna start tackling the basement which is stuffed with 10yrs worth of rubbish :eek: Will try and do it casually so that I don't really notice I've started!!:rotfl: that's the plan! I have refused to put away my fake xmas tree until the basement is cleared so under pressure as this looks silly folded up still in my living room!!!! Anyway whilst I'm busy not spending money!!! xxxx

RR x

Ali-OK

Agree Rach - it's giving me all sorts of problems and I haven't been to the Osteo since November. Just hope she doesn't want me back weekly :eek:

I hate going to the hygienist (fear of choking) and ours is £48 a visit now :eek: Good luck with your appointment. I'm booked in for Tues 25th after I finish work but before DS gets back from school.

Good luck with the basement clearing. Do it in bitesize chunks and have tea breaks is my way I tend to earn a few pence in those breaks as well now so I don't feel so bad about sitting on my backside :rotfl:

Decorating is having to wait, will see how I get on at the Osteo. 10.30am appt, so not long to go. I can't actually wait! :rotfl:

Have been doing some admin stuff this morning, but can't seem to print. I think it's down to DS and I having different Windows versions...I've emailed it to him and we'll print from his...when he wakes up LOL

mizmir

Morning Ali - sorry I seem to have missed your diary for a few days - but just wanted to drop by before I head out to say hi - and hope the osteo helps - if it does it is £40 well spent! Will be back later to see how you got on.

Ali-OK

Good to see you Miz - hope you managed to stay safe through the nasty storm on Friday night.

Well, Osteo doesn't think there's a link between my neck/shoulder/head/back pain and my other symptoms - just tension and inflammation that she's worked on and pulled apart.

I had one of my 'hot and feeling feint/wobbly' turns whilst there, so she took my blood pressure. It was high for me :eek: at 125/77 - I've always had low pressure naturally - slight build and a size 8 - normal for me is 90/60.

Sooo...it's back to GP, get those blood test results and push them to keep investigating. Just phoned them and my results are in - which is very quick. Receptionist says she's not qualified to tell me anything, but has given me an emergency appointment for 4.30pm this afternoon :eek: Hanging onto the hope they've shown something up.

As an aside, it took 1.5 hrs to sort printing, scanning and emailing off the acceptance for the gas switch since I got back from the Osteo :mad: . DS admits he has 'fiddled' with his laptop. Hmm, coincidence I wonder? He's also lost his email account through his 'fiddling' so we couldn't print what I needed from his either. Never mind, uninstalled and re-installed and goodness knows what later, it's done anyway. He's gone for a bath to keep out of my way as I wasn't a happy bunny :rotfl:

I'm definitely Ms Grrrr this afternoon...menopausal mood swing is a bit of an understatement And I just want to sleep now that I've done lunch.

mizmir

Hope the results give you something you can do something about so you start to feel a bit better. Good to get them so quickly.