The Big Adventure

michelle09

They are incredible to see, I really hope you get the chance. We went in December which is a good time for activity, but also tends to have a lot of cloud cover.

Well done on the walking, sounds like a decent target!

Goldiegirl

Karmacat wrote: »

Interesting that you have so many monthly savers - Kent Reliance? Must go for them myself, otherwise cash rates are so pitiful.

Some of my fixed term lump sum accounts matured, and the interest rates for the current fixed term savers are so poor, so I decided to used the monthly savers instead. I've got a Tesco Instant Access account that I use for the money to 'sit' before its cycled into the monthly savers. The Tesco account currently pays 1.26% , even that is better than the rates offered on the fixed term accounts.

Kent Reliance monthly saver pays 3% and you can pay £500 per month, but it is a branch based account. That's fine for us as we have a local branch, but you can't open it online. I'm not sure if it can be done by post

Karmacat

Ah! Thanks Goldie - I checked on their website, and that monthly account is branch only, you were right - plus, annoyingly, their branches are in two clumps, and I'm smack in the middle, in the empty bit!

Got to pay attention to taxes now, but I'll sort this as soon as I can.

Goldiegirl

I've decided to do my updates with various headings. I've seen other people do this and it always looks very organised!

Health

Walks achieved to date in January 11/31. So only one day missed. Booked opticians appointment for a couple of weeks time

Mindful Spending

• Sainsbury's groceries £65.48. Stocked up on things we can't get at Aldi
• M&S Groceries £31.00. Would have been £43.55 but voucher, discounts and offers used. That's Sunday lunches sorted until we go on holiday in March
• A few LED lightbulbs purchased. We are gradually replacing all lightbulbs in the house

Making money

• Prolific Surveys £3.50
• You Gov 25pts
• eBay sale for my friend. My profit after fees 88p!
• Item listed on eBay for my friend, currently at £31.00 with 79 watchers! (its a fitness thingy!)
• Filled out forms for maturity of M&S ISA. Withdrawing all the money as the best they can offer is 0.85 for 3 years. No thanks!
• £10 voucher received from M&S for slippers or nightwear.

Enjoying life

• Tea with friends
• Binge watching London's Burning. The Drama Channel is repeating all the shows from the 90's. I really loved this show and it's withstood the test of time. We've just finished series 7.

Goldiegirl

I've just had an extremely frustrating 30 minutes on Prolific surveys. I had to fill in a figure in bold and there was no way I could work out how to do it. Alt-B didn't work and I tried all sorts of things to no avail. It was a £1 survey so eventually decided it wasn't worth the bother!

Karmacat

Great update, and brilliant shopping! But a shame about 30 minutes wasted. I use Ctrl B, not Alt?

michelle09

That's all looking good! March is getting ever closer.

Goldiegirl

Karmacat wrote: »

Great update, and brilliant shopping! But a shame about 30 minutes wasted. I use Ctrl B, not Alt?

I meant to say Ctrl B ...... but that didn't work! It was so frustrating! :rotfl:

Today I got a 70p Prolific Survey, with a possibility of a bonus payment. I had to transcribe strings of letters and numbers. Some of the things seem a bit pointless, but I suppose it helps someone, somewhere

misscousinitt

Hi Goldie

Just catching up. Love the new headings and the 2018 plans - I wish you all the best with your walking 1000 miles.

I have been so much more active on a daily basis since I left my desk job - I actually lost quite a lot of weight before Christmas, but that was because of working like crazy, looking after a friend and generally rushing about. My activity levels have been pretty awful over the Christmas period but are picking up again now it's all over. PS I find it hard to keep weight on at certain times - I am the complete opposite to most people - but being too thin can be just as frustrating believe me.

I love your idea of blowing up your photos onto canvas for room artwork. I have just mentioned it to DH and he likes the idea. We too are planning to decorate our lounge this year. We have been to some wonderful places over the years and it would be great to get some unique artwork that is special to us. Can I ask where you had them done? We're they expensive to get done ?

Looking forward to hearing about your 2018 adventures.

MCI x

ETA I can't believe it was 2014 that you retired - how time flies!

Goldiegirl

Hi, MCI. We had our photos done by Photobox. It was quite easy to do, just had to upload the photos as part of the order process. We had three medium sized canvases done, and I think it came to about £80, but there was an offer on at the time. It is very pleasing to see your own 'artwork' on the wall.

Here's my latest update

Health

• Walking for January 18/31 days. However, some of the walks were rather short due to the weather. I'm slipping behind on the distance target at the moment

Mindful Spending

• Grocery spending in Aldi £24.72. Should be quite low for the next couple of weeks too
• Spending on planned home improvements. As well as doing the living room and dining room, we've also decided to give the hall a 'lift'. We bought a small chest of drawers for a gap which we've never filled and a piece of wall art that looks as if you are looking through a window at a coastal view. Both from Wayfair, and both look good
  

Making Money

• £1.45 from Prolific Studies. Very nearly at my first £20 payout.
• 25pt You Gov Survey. My You Gov surveys are very few and far between now, and I rarely get a 50 point one , either.
• £13.78 profit on eBay sales
• Closed our old Kent Reliance regular savings accounts and opened new ones. £206.34 interest earned over the year
• Proceeds of maturing M&S ISAs received. I intend holding the money until after 6th Feb, when we have Halifax ISAs maturing. I'll then make a lump sum investment *somewhere*

Enjoying Life

• Home improvements are happening. Our new sofas arrived this week, and I totally love them! Also, our order for a flame effect electric fire arrived, so we now have a new focal point. Plus the two new items for the hall look good. Mr Goldie woodstained all the doors in the house before Christmas and added new handles, and he's now working on the staircase.
• Getting organised - The last of my major decluttering finished about 2/3 years ago. However, some areas need reorganising, and our improvements this year will help us get to grips with this. As a start, I've sorted out about 50 books to be given to my friend's mum.