Mortgage Free for a better life for me (and the family)

craftingmad

Here it is finally. My July totals


JULY SUMMARY

Loyalty Points earned

Nectar - 110 (£0.55)
Tesco Clubcard - 204 (£6.12)
Boots Advantage - £7.46

Savings

Checkoutsmart app - £2.31
Coupons Used - £1.00
Shopitize - £0.25


Survey Sites etc

Gift Hulk - 2737 (£1.64)
I-Say - 220
Pinecone - 300 (£3.00)
Swagbucks - 2366 (£14.20)
You Gov - 700 (£7.00)
Superpoints - 31
OnePoll - £4.50

Earnings

Mystery Shopping - £46.00
Free Bingo Play - £9.98

Misc

Competitions entered - 35
Competitions won - 1 (prizes totalling £35)
NSD - 1


Actually Saved /Earned / Cashed Out In June 15

£ 1.00 using coupons
£ 46.00 mystery shopping
£ 9.98 matched betting
£ 36.00 ice cream (competition win)
£ 25.00 amazon voucher (using Swagbucks points)
_______
£117.98 not bad considering I was on holiday for half of it

craftingmad

OK back to August




I have been doing a few little bits over the last few days so will post them here now so as to get back up to date:-


14/8/15


OnePoll Surveys £2.45
Comps entered 10
Superpoints 3


15/8/15


Face Painting - £22
Pinecone survey 300 (£3.00)




16/8/15
ISay 10
OnePoll 40p
Transferred interest to savings account (£8.50)
Superpoints 18
You Gov survey 50
Took own snacks to cinema and used vouchers - saving £36

craftingmad

Back to normality again today with a list of things for me to do:-


17/8/15

1/ Swagbucks - DONE 50/40 bonus 4 swagbucks
2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE applied for £16 job - awaiting to see if successful as also requested reimbursement for special delivery return costs
3/ Check for any surveys - DONE 80 Nectar:)
4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner
5/ Enter 20 competitions - DONE 25 entered
6/ Check for new coupons - DONE £1 off covent garden soup, £.50 of zest drink & £1 off persil printed
7/ GiftHulk - DONE 630
8/ Plan meal for today - DONE Spag Bol and Garlic Bread
9/ Check on plants after holiday and see if any can be saved with water
10/ Turn mobile off while at home - DONE
11/ Superpoints - DONE 1:)
12/ Find more items to sell - currently up to 64/300 -
13/ Use coupon at Macro for free case of drinks - DONE 24 cans of Diet Pepsi for free - saving £6.00 Also used £2.25 of coupons on small shop at Tesco
14/ Renew library books online to save fines - DONE
15/ Check when next face painting job is - DONE Its 10am-3pm job at a local museum on Wednesday
16/Check been paid for mystery shopping carried out in July - DONE £55 paid 1/8/15
17/ Upload Asda receipt to checkoutsmart - DONE 25p added and also price guarantee 61p coupon printed
18/ Write a complaint email to BA
19/ Update Disney with contact details regarding a bad bruise I received whilst in their park
20/ Download photos bought on photo passes whilst on holiday - Started Universal photos downloading hopefully in one go
21/ Read book in bed instead of play on tablet this evening -

Ali-OK

Great posts Crafting - I do a few of those, P!necone has been particularly fruitful of late, have done 6 in last 3 months @ £3 a pop.

Certainly does add up

craftingmad

Morning all,


Well I have just waved off my hubby back to Aberdeen to work for the next three weeks so I'm feeling a bit sad but determined to throw myself back into my small things. So here's my list for today:-


1/ Swagbucks - DONE 40/40 bonus 4 swagbucks
2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE enquired about a telephone enquiry for £7
3/ Check for any surveys - DONE 20p One Poll and 175 point I-Say
4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner
5/ Enter 20 competitions - DONE 92 entered:)
6/ Check for new coupons - DONE requested to be sent £2 yogurt coupons, added sainsburys coupons to card, Toys R Us vouchers through post
7/ GiftHulk -
8/ Plan meal for today - DONE - Chicken & Bacon Pie with mash and veg
9/ Turn mobile off while at home - DONE
10/ Superpoints - DONE 2
11/ Find more items to sell - currently up to 64/300 -
12/ Reload Asda receipt to checkoutsmart as not recognised yesterday - DONE
13/ Write a complaint email to BA
14/ Update Disney with contact details regarding a bad bruise I received whilst in their park - DONE
15/ Download more photos bought on photo passes whilst on holiday - DONE - all Universal photos downloading at moment
16/ Complete Tesco survey on receipt for 25 points - DONE also uploaded to shopitize for 30p
17/ NSD
18/ Read book in bed instead of play on tablet this evening -

niftythrifty33

Hi Craftingmad.

I signed up to your diary back in February but haven't been using the site much recently. I've just re-read some posts and you've inspired me to start again. I have a diary but I'm not very good at doing it!

We would also like to buy BTL properties for our retirement but we're both a bit nervous. I also see you manage to make quite a bit from online sources, I'll have a look at these, I've done some surveys in the past but haven't made much. I also love crafting and have drawers full of stuff but haven't touched it for ages so I'm determined now to have a sort out and get the spare room tidied for me to do some crafting.

I'm sorry that your hubby has had to go away to work, it must be hard going?

I'll keep reading your diary and hopefully keep getting inspired to do more!

craftingmad

niftythrifty33 wrote: »

Hi Craftingmad.

I signed up to your diary back in February but haven't been using the site much recently. I've just re-read some posts and you've inspired me to start again. I have a diary but I'm not very good at doing it!

We would also like to buy BTL properties for our retirement but we're both a bit nervous. I also see you manage to make quite a bit from online sources, I'll have a look at these, I've done some surveys in the past but haven't made much. I also love crafting and have drawers full of stuff but haven't touched it for ages so I'm determined now to have a sort out and get the spare room tidied for me to do some crafting.

I'm sorry that your hubby has had to go away to work, it must be hard going?

I'll keep reading your diary and hopefully keep getting inspired to do more!

Hi nifty,


Thanks for joining me on my quest and good luck with yours


I absolutely love crafting and also have a thread on stash busting on here if you would like to join. The plan is to use all of our existing crafting stash before you buy anymore I can't say I always stick to it but since being part of the thread it has certainly helped me to seriously cut back on my craft related spends. It's also a great thread for motivation It can be found here:-


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5143985



With regard to the BTL's I too was nervous at first but having bitten the bullet and bought our first one about 4 years ago (and then going on and buying two more) I really wish we would have started earlier. They are obviously some risks involved but so far we have been lucky and we still have our original tenants in all three properties in all three we own. However that said you both have to be comfortable and sure before proceeding so you need to take it at your own pace. If you have any questions then just feel free to ask -I will try my best to answer them


I do spend quite a bit of time online but it still amazes me how the little things (such as surveys and swagbucks etc) do add up. Since keeping this thread it's really made me realise that all the little things I do, do make a difference


With regard to hubby having to work away it is hard but the kids and I just seem to get on with it and the times he is home are extra special for all of us. Plus I use the times he's away to have a really push with all my "little things" which make the time pass quicker


Good luck on your journey and I'm so glad my thread is motivating others

craftingmad

Hi all,


I've been face painting all day today for a commercial client so haven't really had time for many "little things".




However my list today is:-


1/ Facepainting - DONE earnt £87.50:)
2/ NSD - DONE

craftingmad

Morning all,


Well the kids and I have friends coming round today so I will not have too much chance to do my "little things" but I'm hoping to get a few bits done so I'll post my list and see how far I can get:-


1/ Swagbucks - DONE 40/40 bonus 4 swagbucks
2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none in my area
3/ Check for any surveys - One Poll 55p
4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner
5/ Enter 20 competitions - DONE 40 entered:)
6/ Check for new coupons - DONE no new ones found
7/ GiftHulk - DONE 119
8/ Plan meal for today - DONE - Quice with jacket potatoes and salad
9/ Turn mobile off while at home - DONE
10/ Superpoints - DONE 103
11/ Find more items to sell - currently up to 64/300 -
12/ Reload tesco receipt to checkoutsmart as not recognised -DONE
13/ Write a complaint email to BA
14/ Download some craft classes from free trial on Big Picture Classes - 6 Downloaded so far
15/ Download more photos bought on photo passes whilst on holiday -
16/ NSD - DONE
17/ Read book in bed instead of play on tablet this evening - DONE

craftingmad

Morning all,




I've just had to transfer £500 from our savings account into our joint account as we were nearly overdrawn. Therefore I am making it my mission that (hopefully) by the end of September I would have earnt enough with all my "little things" to replace all of that money - I love a bit of a challenge



So today's "little things" will be:-

1/ Swagbucks - DONE 96/92 bonus 9 swagbucks
2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none in my area
3/ Check for any surveys - One Poll 30p
4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner
5/ Enter 20 competitions - DONE 30 entered:)
6/ Check for new coupons - DONE 50p off Flora Proactive
7/ GiftHulk - DONE 1401/850 including bonus 85
8/ Plan meal for today - DONE Pizza for son (needs using today) and cous cous for me (daughter around a friends for tea)
9/ Turn mobile off while at home - DONE
10/ Superpoints - DONE 2
11/ Find more items to sell - currently up to 64/300 - DONE another 21 bits found (9 Brand New Avon Items and 12 craft CD's and cutting dies (unwanted prize) Newtotals now 85/300
12/ Reload tesco receipt (again) to checkoutsmart as not recognised -
13/ Write a complaint email to BA
14/ Download some craft classes from free trial on Big Picture Classes - DONE 8 Downloaded today
15/ Download more photos bought on photo passes whilst on holiday -
16/ NSD - DONE and foraged for blackberries with son to keep him amused (we got 400g so have saved £4 on supermarket prices)
17/ Look for school bag I bought son last year and he never used to save buying a new one - Looked but cannot find it - will have to have a good look tomorrow
18/ Read book in bed instead of play on tablet this evening - DONE