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

craftingmad

Morning all,


A lovely sunny day here but the kids just want to play outside rather than actually going somewhere so that's a saving of about £20 already


Anyway "little things" for today are:-


1/ Swagbucks -
2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none in my area
3/ Check for any surveys - DONE One Poll 10p, I-Say 85, Nectar 60 and YouGov 75
4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner
5/ Enter 20 competitions - 5 entered so far
6/ Check for new coupons -
7/ GiftHulk -
8/ Plan meal for today -
9/ Turn mobile off while at home - DONE
10/ Superpoints - DONE 11
11/ Try on all school uniform to see if anything else needs buying
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 -
15/ Download more photos bought on photo passes whilst on holiday -
16/ NSD (other than the truprint voucher just purchased on Wowcher)
17/ Read book in bed instead of play on tablet this evening -

craftingmad

Morning all,


Well I'm not sure what the plan is for today. I have one child who wants a lazy day and the other wants to go out so we will see where the day takes us


My "little things" today will hopefully include:-


1/ Swagbucks -
2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none in my area
3/ Check for any surveys - DONE none
4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner
5/ Enter 20 competitions -
6/ Check for new coupons - DONE -none
7/ GiftHulk -
8/ Plan meal for today - DONE Pie (which needs using and no room in freezer) and mash with veg
9/ Turn mobile off while at home - DONE
10/ Superpoints -
11/ Try on all school uniform to see if anything else needs buying
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 12 downloaded
15/ Download more photos bought on photo passes whilst on holiday -
16/ NSD - DONE
17/ Wash sheets on spare beds and dry outside ready for parents and auntie visiting from Wednesday - DONE All washed and blowing in the sunshine on the line outside
18/ Read book in bed instead of play on tablet this evening - DONE

norfolkdream

Just looked at Big Picture, looks really good, is it a month free trial and you can just download the classes and cancel?

craftingmad

norfolkdream wrote: »

Just looked at Big Picture, looks really good, is it a month free trial and you can just download the classes and cancel?

Hi norfolkdream,


The free trial is for 14 days. I signed up via paypal and then plan to cancel the membership before any money is taken.


It also says that you can sign up and then cancel whenever you like so in theory you could pay for a months access and then do a load of classes you wanted and then stop your membership I think I'm loving the classes I've looked at so far


Hope this helps

craftingmad

Morning all,


Well I don't feel like I achieved much yesterday but it was a NSD and the kids and I spent some lovely time together on a walk around our little village so that's the main thing


Today's list looks pretty much like yesterday's:-


1/ Swagbucks -
2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none in my area
3/ Check for any surveys - DONE none
4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner
5/ Enter 20 competitions - DONE 20 entered:)
6/ Check for new coupons - DONE requested 50p of Baker Boys bars
7/ GiftHulk -
8/ Plan meals for week (have company coming Weds - Sat who are fussy eaters) - DONE
9/ Go through cupboards and fridges/freezer to make a list of food we already have (and tidy fridges at it makes it easier to see what I have and stops food waste - hopefully!) - DONE
9/ Shop for food trying to stay under £80 - DONE spent £81.01 but have also uploaded receipt to Shopitize for 75p and Checkoutsmart 5p so only 21p over budget and I got quite a few extras to last longer than this week Also used three coupons totalling £1.80 and a 25 extra clubcard points voucher
10/ Turn mobile off while at home - DONE
11/ Superpoints - DONE 2
12/ Try on all school uniform to see if anything else needs buying - DONE found 2 new trousers for daughter and son and shirts for both plus 3 2 school skirts and blazer still ok for daughter and school jumpers ok for son. ONLY needed to buy 4 more trousers for son, leggings for daughter, pe shorts for both and job bottoms for son - TOTAL cost £37 (plus used quidco £6.50 tracked)
13/ Reload tesco receipt (again) to checkoutsmart as not recognised -
14/ Write a complaint email to BA
15/ Download some craft classes from free trial on Big Picture Classes
16/ Download more photos bought on photo passes whilst on holiday -
17/ Load of washing dry on line before rain comes - DONE washing washed but rained before finished so drying on airers inside rather than tumbling
18/ Read book in bed instead of play on tablet this evening -

norfolkdream

craftingmad wrote: »

Hi norfolkdream,


The free trial is for 14 days. I signed up via paypal and then plan to cancel the membership before any money is taken.


It also says that you can sign up and then cancel whenever you like so in theory you could pay for a months access and then do a load of classes you wanted and then stop your membership I think I'm loving the classes I've looked at so far


Hope this helps

Oh fab thanks, will look more into it, I am looking at the watercolour, doodling, lettering and photos so should get at leasts a months worth out of it and if its any good I might keep it up thanks

craftingmad

Morning all,


I really have to clean and tidy the house today ready for my visitors arriving. I have however got distracted with my "little things" already so my list for today is much the same as for the last week:-


1/ Swagbucks - DONE 52/50 bonus 5swagbucks
2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none in my area
3/ Check for any surveys - DONE 50 You Gov, 35 I-Say and 40 Nectar
4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner
5/ Enter 20 competitions - DONE 110 entered
6/ Check for new coupons - DONE no new ones found
7/ GiftHulk -
8/ Plan meals for today - DONE Ham, Egg, Chips and Salad
9/ Turn mobile off while at home - DONE
10/ Superpoints - DONE 114
11/ Collect uniform from Tesco's and get kids to try it all on to check it all fits/ nothing needs returning - DONE £16 of uniform to be returned
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
15/ Download more photos bought on photo passes whilst on holiday -
16/ Washing dry on line before rain comes - pegged on line and blowing well in the sunshine at the moment
17/ Read book in bed instead of play on tablet this evening - DONE

craftingmad

Hi,


I'm back after having a few lovely days with my family who came to stay. They left about lunchtime and the house seems so quiet without them


Anyway whilst they were here I managed a couple of NSD's and also was given/foraged £8 of food (blackberries, courgettes and green beans)


Today I am back for my "little things" though with one last push for my August totals:-


1/ Swagbucks -
2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area -
3/ Check for any surveys - DONE 50 You Gov and 10p One Poll
4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner
5/ Enter 20 competitions -
6/ Check for new coupons - DONE no new ones found
7/ GiftHulk -
8/ Plan meals for today - DONE Pasta for tea as had big brunch at lunchtime before relatives left
9/ Turn mobile off while at home - DONE
10/ Superpoints - DONE 3
11/ Sell some craft items to Auntie (at a reduced price obviously ) - DONE £5 sold
12/ NSD - DONE

craftingmad

Well I cannot believe it is 1st September already. Time really does fly by.
It means that its time for my August totals. I was on holiday for two weeks of it and then also had family visiting for a week so I'm not expecting great things this month - but hey - every little helps.


AUGUST SUMMARY

Loyalty Points earned

Nectar - 180 (£0.90)
Tesco Clubcard - 269 (£8.07)

Savings

Checkoutsmart app - £0.05
Coupons Used - £10.05
Shopitize - £1.00
Forraged Food - £12.00
Other Savings (own snacks at cinema etc) £36.00

Survey Sites etc

Gift Hulk - 2867 (£1.72)
I-Say - 305
Pinecone - 600 (£6.00)
Swagbucks - 387 (£2.32)
You Gov - 225 (£2.25)
Superpoints - 259
OnePoll - £5.40

Earnings

Mystery Shopping - £55.00
Facepainting - £110.00
Craft Sales - £5.00
Quidco £6.65

Misc

Competitions entered - 384
Competitions won - 1 (prizes totalling £160)
NSD - 8


Actually Saved /Earned / Cashed Out In June 15

£ 10.05 using coupons
£ 55.00 mystery shopping
£ 5.00 craft earnings
£ 22.50 facepainting (the rest is in our business bank account)
£ 6.65 quidco
£ 36.00 other savings
£ 12.00 forreged food
_______
£147.20

craftingmad

So now it's time to kick off September with a good long list of "little things" for the day:-


1/ Swagbucks - DONE 50/50 bonus 5 swagbucks
2/ Check mystery shopping jobs in my area - DONE none in my area
3/ Check for any surveys - DONE 15p One Poll
4/ Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner
5/ Enter 20 competitions - DONE 50 entered
6/ Check for new coupons - DONE no new ones found
7/ GiftHulk - DONE 1383/950 including bonus 90
8/ Plan meal for today - DONE - Ham, chips and salad
9/ Turn mobile off while at home - DONE
10/ Superpoints - DONE 102
11/ Find more items to sell - currently up to 85/300 -
12/ List items to sell on Facebook
13/ Write a complaint email to BA
14/ Download some craft classes from free trial on Big Picture Classes - 4 downloaded so far
15/ Download more photos bought on photo passes whilst on holiday - currently downloading
16/ NSD - DONE
17/ Return clothes to Tesco
18/ Use Boots points to purchase make up brushes on special offer - DONE saved £12
19/ Meal plan for rest of week
20/ Transfer interest from savings back to savings - DONE £4.22 transferred
21/ Read book in bed instead of play on tablet this evening -