Friday 14th November - what small DFW things will you do today?

carrielovesfanta

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 :money:

carrielovesfanta

Morning all and happy Friday from the incredibly blustery north west.

Maria - so sorry to hear about your feathered friends
Best wishes to everyone who's not been well - ziggy, dawnW and any others I missed
Twiggy - sorry to hear about your car

I've been awol but lurking quietly. I just want to thank everyone for their kind words and thoughts on Tuesday

solvencyseeker wrote: »

CLF - it can be so hard supporting your partner through the tough times (I managed to put on a brave face by doing my crying in the shower, round the fields when walking the dog and had a really big cry once in my office with the door shut. I knew he was feeling devastated and really didn't need to see me falling apart). Things have got much better for us in the last year, I hope they do for you too.

I know what you mean. OH gets all angry if I get upset.

Bobarella wrote: »

I thought your OH had only just graduated Carrie? Sorry to hear things are not good.

Bob - we are caught between a rock and a hard place. He's a self employed musician, but factors combine to make it very hard for him to look for work or pull on his contacts.

Happily the cogs of the universe have turned again and a couple of tentative calls have come his way and restored him to normal

In other bizarre news, the LL has had the bathroom ceiling repainted. It's only been peeling off for 3 years. This strikes me that either:

a: they are thinking of selling the house
b: the letting agent told them to buck their ideas up
c: ???

Back to dfw things:

• B/D from stores. Probably buy a cheap lunch as need to do some cooking. Lots of ingredients and no food if that makes sense?
• Check online banking (low but could be worse, an has been in the past. Lots of food in house at least! Savings looking a bit better after holiday and Christmas spends mostly paid back. Am approx £350 down.)
• Charge phone in work
• Research small worktop dehumidifier for kitchen
• OH doing housework. Ask him to use vinegar spray and microfibre cloth instead of wipes
• Try to go for a walk at lunch time
• Work on needlepoint rug later

Small list, but can only do so much at once


have a good one all


clf x

maria3104

Hi

Thank you for the sympathy over chickens. I know in the big scheme of things it is a small thing. But small things make such a difference to our lives. Anyway, hope everyone is feeling better.

Been up since 5. Done 2 loads washing and drying and had to deep clean kitchen. OH set fire to cooker yesterday when he forgot he was making a cake, on the hob, (upside down apple cake) and went out to do a spot of farming!. Thankfully a lovely passing rep called, saw the smoke and investigated, taking pan out and opening doors. No small feat as our farm dog tends to eat reps!

A very eventful couple of days. Maybe we can have a quiet weekend.

Hopefully a NSD again for me. I think I have only had 4 spend days in Nov so that would make 10 NSD. I suspect this is easier for me as I have little access to shops other than internet.

Off to work. Will charge my phone there, this is an excellent idea.

Maria

DawnW

Morning

Thanks for starting the thread Carrie. Glad things seem to be looking up a bit for your OH.

I got up to the smell of gas :eek: The switch on grill had been knocked on, and it must have been emitting gas all night :eek::eek: Not sure how that happened as I didn't use the grill at all yesterday.... something else to check each night before I go to bed. So anyway, it is a bit chilly in here as I have had to open the door and window to let some fresh air in and get rid of the smell. Luckily it didn't seem to affect the dog at all (she was in the conservatory which adjoins the kitchen). A waste of gas but could have been a lot worse :eek:

For me today:
Eggs for breakfast as they are piling up despite cake and quiche making yesterday (love my chickens :heart2:) What happened to yours Maria? I must have missed something. Not a fox?
Check banks
Need to do a shop today, so no chance of a NSD
Send older grandchildren some money in lieu of an advent calendar. (They are taller than me but still my babies )
Think of something for dinner from stores, as my meal planning seems to have gone all over the place
Clean some silver plated items for sales unit - not my favourite job
Plan how to arrange it for the Christmas period (much more fun )
I am sure there is more, but I haven't thought of it yet!

Hope everyone has a good day, despite the weather - wet and windy here in the SW too!

carrielovesfanta

Two lucky escapes! Thank goodness everyone is ok.

Bobarella

Good Morning
Maria - I would be devastated if it were me, I dread the day my cat doesn't come home or dies naturally. It must be slightly different as they were not pets but creatures with a use for you, & I don't know if you keep animals for slaughter anyway? But the fact remains it must have been a horrible shock & that's what will shake you too. I don't know if you can take it easy at all but try & find some quiet time in the coming weekend to adjust.

Carrie - oh I see. Musicians are often a sensitive bunch at the best of times from experience. It's a vocation really for some. Hope the calls lead to something meaningful. Also landlord would probably need to warn you if thinking of selling up??

Dawn- how scary!! I am so pleased it wasn't the disaster it could have been. Can you get a gas alarm? Do they even make them? Thinking of Carbon monoxide alarms etc.

Morning to everyone else joining in
It's a really blustery wet day here in London town. I have to meet the lady I'm helping later, need to go to my business premises, the insurance company were supposed to be sending someone out yesterday who didn't show up. A morning appointment that wasn't kept by 2pm so I said they'd have to rearrange as I had the school run to fit in. Then seeing the accountants. Have had a few horrible calls from the energy company supplying the shop for non payment. Keep explaining the business is not trading and all bills need to be paid by insurer but they don't seem to speak to one another.
Positives!
1. Am earning for the consulting I'm doing. Need to work up this week's invoice by end of the weekend. Should be around £100.
2. Had another bid on the gucci folder, that's up to £16, plus postage now. That should finish tommorow so hopefully £20 in the budget by end of weekend.
3. There is loads of food left from my son's party tea so I will be recycling some of that today.
4. Will be walking as much as humanly possible again today. 4 to 6 miles I'd guess.
5. Will be keeping my eye out for fallen change, coupons, & reciepts for nectar points. Oh & a new one, which you may find grosse, Mcdonalds puts it's loyalty points on peelable labels on the side of their cups. Mcdonalds coffee is not great but needs must. If I find cups that are not disgusting, people seem to leave them on walls, bus stop benches etc, I quickly peel off the labels and add them to my own loyalty card. Why not?

Right then onwards!

Bob

Lilmiss_2

I do that with Mcdonalds cups too every little helps eh! I must start wombling receips I used to do it!

Ive sold an unused item on ebay (£51 yay)

Staying in with my poorly young man again today, waiting for my approved foods order which should be here soon. It will be nice to have full cupboards and Ill eat something which is already in the freezer/fridge for tea/lunch from my leftovers- so hoping for a NSD

Crocheting a blanket for my friends new baby... not really frugal as such for me as the yarn isnt the cheapest but its a nice thing to do and it keeps me warm on my lap..

spending nothing today apart from the postage on the ebay item (which was slighly cheaper than the buyer paid so that should cover some of the fee)

Ratison

Hello all - thoroughly miserable day up here too! The sort of day where you just want to be under a blanket with a hot chocolate and the lamp on. But alas, I have to work!

CLF - hope the OH job stuff pans out, and that your LL is just being nice!

Maria and Dawn - glad you're both still with us!

Bob and Lilmiss - you're encouraging me to think of more creative ways to be debt free!
---
I was most annoyed with myself to discover a few out of date Sainsburys coupons in my purse - can you still get points etc applied after the time? Long shot I suppose.

Today should be a NSD - refuelled last night and bought a few food things from the shop. So I've got plenty in for tea tonight - nice leftover macaroni cheese from last night for me later!

Borrowing a carpet cleaner from my mam this weekend to try and deal with the scruffy downstars carpet. Eventually it needs replacing, but it can wait until the bathroom is done next year.

Erm what else have I done? Checked my bank, received my annual income tax statement and checked it over. Charging my phone at work too.

My lists are always dull, but they seem to be working!

twiggy86

Hi everyone

Today I have/will:-
1. Check banks
2. Take lunch to work and fill water bottle up at work - QUESTION - I quite often have cheese sandwiches at work but what uses less cheese - grated or sliced?
3. No heating on
4. Earn SBs
5. Earn more on OnePoll


Hmm, there must be more than that but my minds gone blank so I may be back later!


No further response from Amazon yet but fingers crossed!

maria3104

Hi Dawn W and Bob,

Thank you all once again. Poor chickens got eaten by a fox and in the daytime. It does happen. They were really pets. I start my day very early and looked forward to it being light enough to go and visit them, let them out, usually in nighty and wellies!, and we always had a lovely chat. Our farm dog always accompanied me and he will miss his trip to the dinasaurs each day.(I know, but he is a dog, if he thought they were chickens he would have eaten them, so he has always thought they were dinasaurs!)
Anyway, back to my real money savings life. I am trying. A full week of picnic lunches and no spends, I am well ahead. Also realised my Mr T order tomorrow in £30 so that will leave me xome slack for next week milk and bread.

I dare not get any more chickens as now a fox knows they are out in the day he will keep coming back. So i will wait until the spring and then be very careful making sure they are only out initially when there is no wind or murky weather. Foxes are so clever.

Yes we do have animal bred for slaughter, but we always treat them 100% as you would your pets. My sister has dairy cows and they cut their cows food up (genuinely) so they can eat it easier. Farmers get such an unfair press because of a few lunatics.

So have a good day everyone. Still got no heating on at home.

Maria x

solvencyseeker

Hello all,
Missed posting again yesterday but have now caught up with the threads - sorry to hear about the chickens Maria.
Didn't post yesterday as I was busy at lunchtime sorting out motorbike insurance. Was going to pay in instalments but when the advisor was going through the small print I caught the APR of 69% :eek: and said "no way am I paying that". Don't keep any credit cards with me so just paid out of our main bank account (just shy of £1100.00). Quite quickly thought "oh hell what have I done" - that's all of our emergency fund and Christmas/Birthday money gone!
Son will pay back gradually (not sure when he'll get paid yet) but the next few weeks are going to be quite a challenge. Not to mention the next few days....1 week to OH's payday.


Just to answer your question from the other day Bob - I am a Data Manager (admin) not a teacher but enjoy getting involved in the wider school life. I do a lunchtime duty and mentor some pupils.
And just in case anyone was wondering if the "ghost" chilli's had finished me off - they were actually birds eye chilli's and I have since made a big batch of mince, onions and tomatoes and added the chilli made by son1 and I think it's very tasty (but I am partial to the spicy things in life :rotfl:).


As for roadkill, my son used to have a job clearing up the town centre early on a Sunday morning - he regularly used to find fivers and whole pocket fulls of change that had fallen onto the pavement. So if you are really serious, set that alarm and get out there!


Best wishes x