Paying the car tax via EBay, and other shenanigans.

mfmaybe

Right freezer all nice and frost free and tidy, I can see what's in it and can close the top door. Need to use the turkey escalopes that have been in there for ages, they can be on next week's menus. Cookies made and in there freezing on their tray, crumble topping also in there. Soup made and cooling ready to go in the fridge. Tonight's tea was already done thank goodness as I'm all cooked out. Also managed to get another load of laundry done and a few more things beside, didn't get to the weeding but that's ok, I've done loads of other things.

And in exciting fleabay news my £6 BIN has been sold already :T. And I've had a bid on another of my 99p items. Just need to see if I can persuade Mr Maybe up to the loft to get some stuff I know I need to sell from there. So close to my car tax target now.

2 NSDs in a row, I nearly bought something online yesterday but resisted.

Phew, back to work tomorrow for a rest :rotfl:

in_need_of_direction

I got the freezer sorted yesterday. We're planning a BBQ for OH's birthday next weekend. Really don't think we need to buy any meat. The amount of food in there is ridiculous.

mfmaybe

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

I got the freezer sorted yesterday. We're planning a BBQ for OH's birthday next weekend. Really don't think we need to buy any meat. The amount of food in there is ridiculous.

Well done on getting it sorted. I really hate that chore! The BBQ was a good incentive. Sadly mine is actually looking a bit empty now that I've removed the ice, but it's all relatively healthy [STRIKE]if you ignore the cookies[/STRIKE], useable and accessible at least.

Just remembered I have a little bit of money left in my PO online account so hoping I can send yesterday's fleabay out of that, meaning more can go to the car tax fund. I am really having to resist spending though. I keep seeing really good bargains (eg, a horse rug I am definitely going to need next winter, £60 brand new instead of the £180 it normally is) and I have to remind myself unless I need it immediately it isn't getting bought. It's hard though! Which reminds me, the cat's prescription food falls very much into that category.

Also I need to figure out paying for our summer holiday. This is one of our "things". Mr Maybe and I have busy lives, time consuming active hobbies, and work at opposite ends of a motorway. Our holidays are a huge part of our time together and we always go somewhere nice. We've booked the flights now, but the rest needs to get saved for, along with the car tax. Yikes that is going to be a lot of fleabaying. In a "paying off debt" scenario it makes no sense, but I know the debt could get paid off if needed via assets, and it's critically important to our relationship - which to me is more important, especially with all the IVF stress we've been through over the last few years.

in_need_of_direction

I know what you mean about the holidays. For me they're a need not just a want.

mfmaybe

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

I know what you mean about the holidays. For me they're a need not just a want.

In the past I'd just have booked and given no thought to paying, so at least I know exactly where it puts me financially

Sold 2 of the fleabay items, about £4.50 plus postage so takes me within about a fiver of the car tax I need to pay off the card next Friday. I've a £20 dividend payment due just after that - now it can be the first 5% of the humongous one due in August! :T I am finding these mini targets helpful. And I can relist the unsold items so might make a few pounds more yet.

Splurged on a coffee today but had lunch with me, so not too bad. Not much else going on. Hoping to have £50 left by payday, which can go towards paying back the boiler. And if that all goes to plan, my overdraft will be officially paid off _party_

mfmaybe

Oops. Having been so good, I spent money on fleabay last night, which used up all my Paypal balance and a bit more besides . Well it's done now. It was something I'd been swithering about buying for months, they've changed the style and this was old stock, so if I didn't buy it soon I'd not be able to get it <excuses excuses>. On the plus side, I found a DVD player upstairs that I'd forgotten about, just need to check it still works then will get that advertised. We only use netflix these days, and have an xbox if we need to play DVDs so it's of no use to us.

Posted my 2 sold items from yesterday, one of which was paid for out of my remaining PO account balance.

£257 left in my bank with a week till payday. £181 of DDs. £30 in cash I know I have to pay out. If I manage to spend no other money (fuel and food goes on the monthly credit card) then I could put the first £50 back in our savings account towards the boiler. So now that my OD is almost paid off, priorities are:

KEEP IT PAID OFF!!!
Pay back the joint savings for the boiler
Car tax fund
0% credit card.

In that order. I will continue to pay my family debt back at £250 a month but that's factored in to "keeping out of overdraft". I decided today that I have until 18th October to actually have to pay the next road tax, (by clever use of credit card payment dates) so I'll put all fleabay/Dividends/cashback payments etc into joint account first.

There, writing it down in the diary always makes it true

mfmaybe

I am sitting at work during a very long boring Friday afternoon (I have work to do, I just can't be bothered doing it). Usually this would be the point I say "f-it" and go and get a coffee. However I am desperately trying to make sure I have some money left over to pay against the boiler before payday . I took some lunch in with me, knew it wouldn't fill me up but managed to eek out enough change from my purse to buy soup to pad it out. That, a couple of bananas, and some biscuits someone brought in today are just about seeing me through!

Another DD out – the 0% card minimum payment. At the moment the balance on this card goes up a little bit each month rather than down, but that's all part of the plan – maximise the 0% until other debts/obligations sorted. Other than the tax payment, things I've added to this card have been small and necessary – mainly horse feed. And I've recorded every penny in an "owed" category so I know what I've spent. Still feels a bit odd though, to spend on a card and not just pay it straight off.

£207 left in account (no longer an OVERDRAFT, hurrah! :j) £130 in DD's, plus £30 cash. Should leave me £47 (3%!) towards the boiler, although not sure it's realistic to spend NO cash in the next 6 days. I'll have to get busy this weekend with cooking so I make sure I have lots of filling lunches. Then my only need for cash would be if I buy a coffee, and surely I can go just 2 days in the office without?

Looking ahead (haha!! We all know how that works out), I should have about £600 towards the boiler next month. Ideally I'd like to have 50% of it paid back out of my next pay cheque, which needs another £100; the next month will be much harder as I will have the credit card balance with the flights on it. That will require fleabay and cashback money etc to make any dent at all. The 99p items are all very well and help me clear the house but are a bit demoralising in terms of the debt mountain. I have a netbook I can sell, but need to figure out how to properly clear it all first.

So forecast is rubbish for the weekend and my horse has lost a shoe. That means no riding and no outside chores being achieved. I will have to get busy inside – clearing out, listing things, and maybe some DIY. That list needs a bit of thought – I've certainly found committing my plans to my diary to be quite motivating.

Right it's nearly 5 so I can post this and hopefully leave soon. Hooray for the weekend. Hope everyone has something nice planned. :beer:

mfmaybe

So far today is not a good day. I've done very little except the bare essentials with the horses. Both have lost a shoe. It's hosing it down and my field is a mud bath again and they are fed up. As am I, clearly!

So today I need to get some things done

[STRIKE]Menu plan and food shop[/STRIKE] DONE
[STRIKE]Bag up stuff for charity shop, and go![/STRIKE] IN CAR.
[STRIKE]Bottles to recycling[/STRIKE] DONE
[STRIKE]Batteries for recycling into car to drop at work next week[/STRIKE] DONE AND RECYCLED
List 10 things on fleabay. Gulp.
[STRIKE]Do a load of washing.[/STRIKE] DONE
General house tidy.

Oh dear that's all very dull. Better get on with it though

mfmaybe

I got most of my things done yesterday but nothing in terms of paying off the debt! On the plus side, shopping came in at £50 (I was expecting £60) even though I bought a £4 ladle and emergency catfood £2. Plenty of veg in there too.

Today so far weather looks better but due to get worse later on. Ended up spending a large part of yesterday in front of BBC sport Live watching Badminton Horse Trials. Fun but not very productive! Today I need to

[STRIKE]Make soup[/STRIKE] DONE
[STRIKE]Make cereal bars[/STRIKE] DONE
[STRIKE]Clear shelf at back door[/STRIKE] DONE
[STRIKE]Put washing away[/STRIKE]
Ironing
[STRIKE]Order new knitting needles or see if I can repair current ones![/STRIKE] DONE
List some stuff on fleabay - must do this before the 100 free listings end.

And of course, spend no money :rotfl:

mfmaybe

On a Monday morning I get a text from my bank with my balance. It's payday on Friday, and today was still a positive number. I honestly think it must be 5 years or more since that happened!!

In other news, lunch in and milk with me for tea. Hopefully a NSD. And that's as exciting as it gets :cool: