Wednesday 22nd October - What small DFW things will you do today?

ziggy2407

When we start out on the DFW 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.

So be proud of those small steps, they really are important

ziggy2407

Good Morning All

Dawn - Hope you're starting to feel better

Well done to everyone yesterday on some great moneysaving :T I made a discovery the other day in M's whilst shopping - Lemon Juice 250ml in the baking aisle 60p but same size bottle in the "Foreign" aisle only 50p, so while I had to meet my friend yesterday I popped in and compared a few more prices and was shocked

Chick Peas
Normal aisle - 2 for £1
Foreign aisle - 4 for £1

Tinned Tomatoes
Normal aisle range from 39p a tin
Foreign aisle - 4 for £1

I will definitely be checking out this aisle more often now


Hi to all of the regulars and a BIG welcome to all the newbies, this is a really FAB thread with so many lovely, caring, considerate and supportive people. Dont forget we also have a small things on Facebook, if anyone wishes to join

Today I will:

Bake -
Ironing -
Check Banks -
Check swapits -
Packed lunch for DH & DS - Done
Craft -
Enter a few comps -
Sort emails (& unsubscribe where possible) -
All meals from cupboards/fridge/freezer -
Read book (from stash) - need to pick a new book or maybe just re-read some of my craft mags
Check https://www.freepostcodelottery.com -

Right, off to sieze the day

Have a great day, love to you all

C x

DawnW

Thanks for an early start Ziggy

Yes, feeling a bit better today. I was very interested in the point about the same goods being cheaper in the 'foreign' aisle. Is this the section where they stock 'exotic' type foods such as sushi wraps, Italian 'things' in olive oil etc like they have in Sainsburys, or E. European type brands for the Polish etc community as they have in Lidls? I don't shop in M's much, as we don't have one in this town, but will be sure to look when I next visit one. I wonder if other stores do the same?

For me today:
Check banks (Done)
Babysitting, helps DD out
HM meals from stores
Make apple pie from leftover pastry and apples from the fruit bowl
Cook and freeze some beetroot from the garden, which we seem to have quite a lot of
Should be a NSD

Hope everyone has a good day :wave:

foxgloves

Sainsbury's do this too. Chickpeas the other week in tinned veg aisle between 65p & 85p a tin, but then found in ethnic foods aisle at 4 cans for £1. In Sainso's, it's the aisle which contains Polish, Asian, etc, food brands. I get little Indian yellow split peas from there as they cook much more quickly than the big ones usually used in UK. Good for spices too, as bigger packets than those tiny jars & boxes. Hadn't thought of looking for tinned tomatoes, so thanks for that, Ziggy. Defo going to check out this aisle for buying big bags of rice, lentils, etc.Will do my post later.....all I've done so far is eat my breakfast & moan about David Cameron!
F x

Bobarella

Morning All
I have been reviewing every line in our household fixed cost budget & found that I can make a saving in another 2 areas. Contents insurance & pet insurance. Both expire next month. In the case of the pet insurance it's only a £1.50 per month saving but I will get £10 in cash back as well. The contents insurance is paid up for the year this month so will free up £12.56 for December & then I will renew 1st of Jan for only £6.50 a month. Added to the £18 saved by getting the gas & electric DD reduced, & moving from BT to Supernet (a further £20 minimum) that's a grand total of £45.56 per month or £546.72 in a year. Which is incredible I think for not much work.
I have a financial advisor looking at moving life insurance which we set up through her years ago. I am interested to see if we can save there or not. It is a pretty important one to get right.
I feel torn about where to push the additional money to first. I looked through our spending this month & almost £300 are not recurring costs.
I think what has been happening with us is that the creeping overdraft has been making it seem like we need more money to function each month than we really do. But because the overdraft gets paid first each month I hadn't really noticed. Which is a shocking thing to say really.

Biggest issue for us this coming month is whether the insurance will pay out in a timely fashion as that's my only income until they finish sorting my premises out. If not I'm back in the same boat again. We have a payment break from something coming up in December which means we could use the OD in november & clear it in December but it's the psychological thing more.

Well that's my things for the day!
Bob

twiggy86

After a very productive day yesterday, I'm feeling a bit deflated today. Probably because I got up and the boiler wasn't working AND I stupidly hadn't called to register it so presumably I've lost the free year's warranty/guarantee? It was only installed earlier this year but OH is looking at it later and hopefully he can fix it, if not I'll have to call in my No.1 guy (my dad!) and then have to resort to a plumber.


So my small things today will be:-
1. Not using any hot water or heating
2. Check banks
3. NSD
4. Review my spending and see if there's anything else I can try and reduce
5. Earn more SBs
6. Use up veg which is getting a bit past it for dinner

Bobarella

What a blow Twiggy. Sorry to hear it. It's worth contacting your boiler company anyway to check on the warrantee situation. Also and I may be wrong here but if you paid on a credit card you may have some sort of additional protection?

Jond

Afternoon everyone! Sorry to hear that bit of bad news Twiggy


Today I am aiming for a NSD. I have:

• checked my bank
• updated YNAB
• cancelled Spotify (I'm feeling sad about this as I absolutely love music, but I can't spend £10 a month on it at the moment!)
• checked free postcode lottery
• eating a free main meal at work, meaning we'll only have a sandwich for tea

The heating went on for an hour last night, which I'd been trying to avoid. But I had the thermostat set on 14 degrees and it still clicked on, so it must have been chilly!

twiggy86

Yay - whatever the problem with my boiler was, my amazing Daddy fixed it!
And I didn't even tell them about the problem was - my amazing mummy was dropping something into my house for me and went to do the washing up that was on the side and realised there wasn't any hot water! I really am blessed with great parents!

solvencyseeker

Hello all,
A quick post from me today as have been on duty at lunch (earn a little extra for this).
Today, other than the usual things (lift to work, all meals from plan/stores) I am still attempting to sort out the gas meter readings issue. We have actually used less energy than last year but new company insist we are £600+ in debit. There is no initial gas statement from them (all online and I can't open them on home laptop) and the readings are incorrect (4 instead of 5 digits). So far they have completely ignored my e-mails so I am going to get all my evidence together and phone them later. Wish me luck.
I am also going to phone credit card companies and ask if they will reduce interest rates (top tip from twiggy yesterday).
Have had NSD's all week so far and am not planning on any spending today.
OH insisted on not turning the heating on last night so I got into bed at 8 dressed in more clothes than I'd been wearing all day with a hot water bottle. He relented this morning - the temperature has definitely really dropped and our housed is very old and draughty.
Hope you are all keeping warm (good news about the boiler twiggy)
x

foxgloves

Hello Frugal Friends,
And here are today's thrifty contributions:
*No heating on. Chilly last night. Very draughty older house, but stuck furry rug round my knees & invited cat to come & do Person-Warming duties.
*Posted an ebay parcel.
*Paid in a cheque, which is destined for the Bathroom Fund once it appears in my current account.
*Went to get my hair cut. I used to go to 'branded' salons & pay such a lot. Haven't done that in over a decade. Lovely cut at village salon, a nice chat, looks great, £15. Will do the colour myself later this week (another saving).
*Finished sorting huge mass of threads & craft stuff started yesterday. Have made up loads of pretty labels (free as all the stuff was given to me) for every occasion for about the next few years, I should think! In amongst the threads, I found 6 unused vintage skeins still with the original labels, from the 1950s, I reckon, so have listed those on ebay as there are collectors of sewing paraphernalia. Decluttering is so addictive!
*Made tomorrow's packed breakfast, lunch & work snacks.
*Worked on my recipe (am entering a cookery competition this week......it's based on using up leftovers, one of my very favourite topics, lol....hope it's nice as we are going to be eating it for tonight's meal as soon as I've taken a photo!)
*Updated budgets.
*Ordered 2 Christmas presents.....got £10 off using the 2 Amazon vouchers I won recently on an online community I'm on at the moment.
*Investigated my blackberry & apple gin, currently looking very lush & purple in its kilner jar.....somehow managed to resist a quick swig....all the more for Christmas.
*Washed hair using the free bottles of shampoo & conditioner I was sent to test via Toluna surveys.
*Did a few Onepoll surveys. Am over the half-way mark again, so trying to step it up.
Think that's it for today,
f x
Bob - re pet insurance, I've recently taken out a new provider to cover our new cat. We went with Sainsbury's. Works out just a faction under £9 a month & as a new customer, we got a big wodge of nectar points for taking out a policy. Think it was £25 worth, if I'm remembering correctly. Just mentioning in case helpful.