Sat/Sun 20/21 December 2014 What small DFW will you do this weekend?

maria3104

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

maria3104

Morning everyone.

Having a great morning watching food netwk some very low calorie stuff there (NOT!) Absolutely loving the eccentric fun some of these ladies have with their food.

Machines on.
This weekend I need to:
top up bird feeders
clean sitting room
go to church event and resist shops
have chinese with extended family tonight
Clean sunday
check bank ac as I have bought glasses, check I have enough for groceries on 22nd.
clean windows, our farm dog sits on the window ledge as it thinks it is a cat, but sadly it is on their straight from cow sheds. Yuck.

Lets all enjoy our last few days of anticipation pre christmas.

maria3104

So excited, have just checked business bank account, am in credit for the first time in 2 years. I was short for groceries in private account after buying specs so I have moved £100 across.
Oh joy.

It will not last as I am going into 3 months of zero income, but what a lovely start to my weekend. I had hoped this would be the case, but in business Murphys law applies, if it can go wrong, it will!

twiggy86

Morning all!

I entered a fb competition to win a blow dry at local salon and I actually WON! Think it's the first thing I've ever won! Even better they can fit me in this morning so I'll have nice hair for my girlie Xmas get together!

So today I have/will:
* post on here DONE
* check banks DONE - doesn't look healthy but payday on Tuesday
* have free blow dry DONE
* eat breakfast (I'm naughty and normally don't!) DONE
* drop chairs round MIL DONE
* lunch at friends before going out DONE
* spend as little money as possible today when out with friends GOT THE BUS HOME SO ONLY SPENT £12.70 - EVEN THE FACT THAT I KNOW EXACTLY HOW MUCH I SPENT IS IMPRESSIVE FOR ME!

Won't do a lot else as I'm out much of the day!

Hope everyone has a good day!

DawnW

Hello :j

Already been to Lidls and done the majority of the Christmas grocery shopping, as DD2 wanted to borrow my car for the weekend. Just a few bits from Mr S left to get on Monday or Tuesday, the meat to pick up from the butchers, and if I don't have it then, we will do without

Also done:
Checked banks
Fed chickens
Breakfast from stores
Managed to find a space for all the shopping :eek:

Still to do:
Wrap presents (this has been on my list for ages ) Done :T
Christmas decorations - I have got as far as retrieving them from the loft Tomorrow I think
Cleaning ahem... and this
Bit of gardening if it stays fine - I have some raspberry canes to plant Planted raspberries and moved a perennial sweet pea that was in the wrong place
Lunch and dinner from what we have in Done we had a cheese and tomato roll for lunch, and pork steaks, roasted vegetables, buttered leeks, quince jelly and gravy for dinner

Maria you made me laugh about your dog. We moved from the farm three years ago when OH retired. Our mutt is not covered in cow muck any more and is now too old to jump on the windowsills. She has now settled for a beanbag in front of the wood burner :rotfl:

Hope everyone has a nice day

foxgloves

Hi Frugal Friends,
Despite there being a rather tempting festive market in town today, we've pretty much kept the frugal faith:
*Got this week's shopping entirely for free, as used our Co-op Dividend points.
*Yellow-stickered bread rolls bought for freezer.
*Mr f started getting the red mist at the meat counter, BUT (how things have changed!), he actually realised it & put some of it back, buying only what we needed.
*Was queuing at Boots with eye make-up remover when I remembered I'd got £3-40 left on a Boots gift card, so I only had to pay pence. Mr f used his Boots points to get what he needed for free.
*Free coffees on 'My Waitrose' card.
*Parked on outskirts of town & walked in to save car park fee.
*Ice Christmas cake. I haven't succumbed to buying anything new to go on top, so will be re-using a selection of decs from previous years. The only purchase was a tube of silver balls because the pretty proper silver ones are getting hard to find.....plenty of the dull grey shrapnel ones in the shops though!
*Will also be entering a competition.
*Paid £8 of bagged up small change into bank.
OK, that'll do.....just finishing my coffee, then off to the kitchen with some Christmas CDs to ice my cake.
Have a great Nearly Christmas Saturday all of you,
F x

maria3104

Hi all

Been to s bugs to get enough groceries as adult children home have disposed off my supplies. £57 gone, but should last until Tuesday!!!

Anyway, managed to resist any shopping, and was seriously tempted.

But home and ready for a small family get together tonight. xx Just need to keep it up. Resist, resist resist.

foxgloves

Cake successfully iced. Have baked shortbread reindeer & am using the leftover icing on those. Have been singing along to Christmas CDs all afternoon & am proper festive! I shudder when I think of the silly money I used to spend at this time of year pre-LBM. Used to be so worried every Jan & Feb that my cards would be declined in shops & at cash points. Prefer the reformed non-spendy me no contest!!
F x

Bobarella

Hi Everyone
Lovely to catch up on everyone's Saturdays.

Maria -how come you have 3 months of no income coming up? Being purely nosy. It's sweet to think of your dog on the window sill watching the world go by. And Dawn - your old dog sounds cute too.
Twiggy -enjoy your blow dry, what a great thing to win a wonderful experience instead of just junk you don't really want.

Dawn -did you happen to see any geese for sale in Lidl as I heard on the grapevine they have them.

Foxgloves -I can totally agree. I am not dreading January any more than I do any other month. Because we have been so boring and sensible. I am ok with that but it's easy to feel you should be going mad spending with all the peer pressure to do so.

Me today.
1. Worked 10 hours. Earned £3.60 in tips.
2. Went to Tesco on my way home & bought 500g of mince for £2 & a YS loaf for 35p, plus a tin of tomatoes & a pint of milk. Paid for it using the tips so NSD.
3. When I got in I split the mince in two. Froze half. Made the other half into spag bol, I used up half of the stew pack I got for 35p YS this week. Used an onion & a carrot. We all had it for dinner.
4. Collected Tesco points for my free shop & wombled a receipt at the same time with unclaimed tesco points.
5. Found 5p in the self service coin slot so nabbed that and used it.
6. Husband took my library book back to be renewed as it was on its return day. So saved 40p in late fees.
7. One of my invoices had been paid when I checked my account so that is good.
8. Took last pack of YS beef pieces out of the freezer tonight to use up in beef stew tommorow.
9. Son's bond money has been sent through via cheque. We decided not to reinvest it with national savings as it's only gone up £13 in 5 years. We will pay it into his savings account on Monday which has gained £12 in a year in interest. Better to keep it all in the same account.
10. I brought home 2 huge loaves from work that no one else wanted. They are circular sourdough & white. They came in Wednesday & aren't fresh enough to sell now. Plus we have more to sell. They retail at £4.50 each & I'd never treat myself to loaves like that these days so we are very glad of them. Plus I feel glad to keep good food from the bin.

Working a short day tommorow. My last before being off till early Jan. So see you late tommorow!

Bob

DawnW

There didn't seem to be any geese in our local Lidls Bob. I only noticed turkey crowns and chickens in the fresh poultry line, various other things in the freezers, but no geese.

Hope you enjoy your free bread. £4.50 for a loaf though :eek::eek:

Bobarella

Thank you. Oh well I will report back. I know. That's London for you. And that's not even that bad compared to some places.