Tuesday 5th May - What small DFW things will you do today?

andrewbro

I have brought my own lunch today and will do all week. The money that I save will go towards paying off one of my cc's

Tidy_Up_Tash

]Good Afternoon Everyone!

Just popping in to post, will catch up on the last few days threads later. For now, here's my Tuesday...

• Dinner from the Store Cupboard
• Keep MFP up to date, even if I do accidentally snack (I HAVE to shift that weight)
• Stop procrastinating over the meal plan and commit it to the calendar
• Start on Friday's shopping list. I can do an Al Dee Shop as well as a Mr T this week, so I need to plan carefully
• Clear some of the bedroom mess
• Sort laundry

That's it. I'll be back at work this time next week, depending on what the Surgeon says on Monday, so I need to get back on the ball with the house. Not going to over do it, though.

Have a good day, all. I'll see you later

foxgloves

Purpleposting - Well, my mantra helps us too! In the days before common sense finally struck regarding all things financial, we probably owed around 30K, excluding mortgage. I worked part time since I was 15, & saved a weekly portion of my wages, but as soon as I moved away to a big city as a student, my common sense deserted me! By the end of the 2nd term, aged 19, I was overdrawn & although never out of work, & earning an above average salary, I remained in debt until my mid-40s! Along the way, I picked up the very lovely but even more indebted mr f. We had exactly the same attitude to money. If we had space on our overdraft, or loan or on a card, then that was 'our money'. We overspent our income every month & never budgeted. With 2 professional salaries & an excellent credit record, there is seemingly no limit to what one can borrow. We had a few flickers of the old lightbulb over the years, consolidated our debts to try & get them paid off, but we didn't change our behaviour so they built up again, which led to a 2nd & 3rd consolidation, each time borrowing a little more. So what changed? Well, I had been thinking about how come with a pretty decent joint income, we never seemed to have the money to do any of the bigger things we wanted. I sat & added up the total amount of our income that went on paying off debts each month & it became very clear why we'd never have a camper van or cottage by the sea or umpteen other dreams.....can't remember the total now but it was silly money......& all because we had to have stuff now instead of waiting until we could pay for it outright. That was my LBM. Mr f was a bit reluctant to change for the first 2 or 3 months but when he saw how pleased I was when first my overdraft was paid off, allowing me to move on to paying off a longstanding loan, he wanted in on the action & we've never looked back. Our income has halved because we both worked in a sector severely hit by the Coalition government's austerity cuts, but I can honestly say that we have not been overdrawn or used credit since then. We owe about £55K on our mortgage but the consumer debt, which we took on whenever we felt like it to buy stuff we often didn't need......well, we don't do that any more. So the mantra was something which worked for us because it is that reminder that if we use someone else's money to pay for something instead of our own, then that someone is soon going to need paying back, so we will have gained precisely nothing, as we have to pay someone for the privilege of borrowing their money too.......so we were paying more than the item was worth just so we could have it a bit earlier than if we'd actually saved our own cash for it. We are very different now, as I'm sure you can tell from my posts on this thread. I grow loads of fruit & veg, cook everything from scratch, make gifts, make do & mend, we dropped down to one car & our whole lifestyle is a lot greener. We are both happier because we feel in control after the Spendy Decades & I can honestly say I wouldn't ever want to go back to how I was.
I know that there are really tight times when people do have to borrow, & there's no shame in that if it is necessary, but you know, it's amazing what you can save by just thinking a little differently, so welcome to the DFW thread - you'll fit right in - I've picked up loads of ideas for saving money. Even though we are no longer in debt, I stick with this thread as it helps keep me on track x

[Deleted User]

Thank you so much foxgloves, for sharing your story and for everyone giving me such a warm welcome, I really appreciate it. :-)

1HANNAH

1HANNAH wrote: »

* Switched mobile off over night :j
* Heating off :j
* Kids breakfast free at Schools breakfast club :j
* Fill water bottle at gym :j
* Gym - shower (using up mini shampoos samples etc) & dry hair :j
* All meals from stores - plan & prep - all veggies/salad prepped for tonight :j
* Check email survey oppurtunities - non available at the minute
* Unsubscribe from junk emails :j
* Drink warm water rather then tea/coffee save the cost of tea/coffee/milk and less calories too :j
* Try to use something out of the use up food box - going to use some dates for cake and make some protein ball using whey protein & some other dates :jAlso used a herb pack thing to cover some chicken for our tea, with enough left for tomorrow night too.
* Read a few pages of a book - bought more then a year ago, about time I read some of it Read 3 pages but better then nothing.
* Do some Swagbucks : running sbtv app will also look for surveys tonight
* Check checkoutsmart :j yay first payment of £8.47 received :j
* Check shopitize :j
* Check Sun perks :j and rung to cancel subscription, they didn't try to keep me this time with any offers though (like the last twice I've rung to cancel!)
* Check FPL :j
* Check TCB :j
* Check Quidco/clicksnap :j
* Use nectar search (aiming for 10 a day on comp & 7 a day on app)
* Use up pamper box contains (used up 1/17 nail polish 1/4 handcream 0/1 footcream 0/3 perfumes so far) :j so far used some perfume
* Use up household box contains (used up 2/5 shower spray & 1/1 spray cleaner that I didn't like so far) :j shower spray used
* Check Banking/update spreadsheets :j
* Hang washing on line not much chance of that today! Did manage to get 1 load nearly dry after all.
* Make families lunches for school/work & one for me too :j
* Wash a load at 30 degrees 1st load in :j 2nd load in and done
* Strip & remake all the beds This will have to go on tomorrows list.
* Make date cake (used up 1 1/2 out of 23 packs of OOD dates which will make 46 cakes!) :j cooking as I type
* Make butternut squash soup :j on the hob as I type, hope it hurries up though cos I want it for lunch and its already 13.50! I really enjoyed it when I got it at 2pm!
* Add items to charity bag Nothing added today, but nearly been through everything now.
* Clean & tidy fridge :j
* Update freezer list :j
* NSD :j
* Clean & tidy freezer :j
* Order online shop from sainsbob (don't use them normally but had a £18 off first shop so may as well! :j booked for tomorrow afternoon

Got on well today, just need to look for some surveys now and then that's me done for today xxx

allydowd

Bobarella wrote: »

Morning All
Well today has been spectacularly anti climatic so far. The big cheque I paid in last Thursday From the insurance was supposed to clear today according to the bank. Anyway I called to clear a debt today and my card was declined.

I used to be a banker. <Hides head in shame.>

UK banks clear cheques using a 2-4-6 pattern as required by banking law. So, if you paid in the cheque last Thursday before 3.30pm...

The cheque will show as paid in your account that same day.
The cheque will earn interest from the second working day after you paid it in. i.e. "Sat-Sun-Mon" which is all the same day in crazy banking terms! Assuming the account pays interest.
You can take the funds out from the fourth working day after you pay in the cheque ie. Wednesday (tomorrow).
The cheque's fate is sealed on the sixth working day after you paid it in. So, it can no be bounced without your permission on Friday.

Should your bank chose not to include bank holidays in their cycle then your cheque won't clear until Thursday.

allydowd

MONEY MAKING AND SAVING SITES AS OFTEN MENTIONED IN THIS FORUM:

• A Girl Called Jack, cheap recipes ( Link
  
• Benefits check-up ( Link )
• Birthday Bingo, daily free game ( Link )
  
• Coupon Shop Forum list of money-off coupons (Link)
  
• eBid ( Link )
  
• Freecycle ( Link )
• FreeStuff ( Link )
  
• FreeUKStuff ( Link )
• i-Say Surveys (Link)
• List of online newspapers. At bottom of the linked page. ( Link )
• MSE Boost Your Income page. Gateway to lots of money-making links. ( Link )
• MSE Abbreviations Explained ( Link )
• MSE Deals and Vouchers ( Link )
• MSE Wow Offers ( Link )
• My Supermarket ( Link )
• OnePoll ( Link )
• Quidco ( Link )
• Reclaim PPI at no cost to yourself ( Link )
• SayNoTo0870 cheap phone number finder ( Link )
  
• Survey sites that pay for your opinions ( Link )
• Swagbucks ( Link )
• Swapit ( Link )
• Tesco Orchard product testing (Link)
  
• Toluna ( Link )
  
• TopCashBack ( Link )

allydowd

Afternoon DFW-Ninjas,

Hi everyone. Tiny list today:


The List:

:starmod: Meals from stores.

:starmod: Kettle died yesterday. OH bought a new one for £16.

:starmod: Washing out on line.

:starmod: Went to work even though I was given the chance to take a day's holiday.


That's all for now. Good luck on your quests, Ninjas.

YORKSHIRELASS

Wow foxglove I could have written so much of that post. Moving from a tiny rural village to a big city in my late teens, climbing the career ladder, needing the right suit, the right car, the right lifestyle.

Then I met my husband, we bought a house, had kids - the debt just spiralling all the time. The more credit we were offered the more we bought. The idea that having the right "stuff" made me a better person was firmly engraved by then. I am ashamed to say I couldnt have told you how much a pint of milk cost - or what our monthly income or outgoings were.

Like you flickers of lightbulb moments but for us things hit the fan big time in 2009 when our son was diagnosed with serious health problems and we found out that he wasnt going to get better. I had to give up my job to care for him. Sounds corny but it also made me reassess what matters in life.

Now with a massive re-jig of our finances and a small inheritance we have paid off most of the debt but we rely on benefits and this is very shaky ground.

So here I am!

Off sick, hoping to go back Thursday, thankfully I will still get paid. Posted a couple of things on ebay this afternoon. However the halogen oven died yesterday. My main oven is electric so its worth spending £25 on a new one.

Quite excited because I have just found a shiny £1 coin in the bottom of my bag! Is this a good omen I wonder?

ziggy2407

ziggy2407 wrote: »

Good Morning All

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.

Wet and miserable today so am I am glad we got lots of outside jobs done, the rest was abandoned when unexpected visitors arrived so up and at it today while motivation is high. Today's little list:

Packed lunch for DH & DS - Done
Stew in SC - Done, was lovely
Order prescription - Done
Eye Test @ 2pm - Done, gave me a banging headache (and I need glasses)
Ironing -
Continue purge on Emails - Done
Continue purge on FB & Twitter - Done
Surveys - Done
Check Banks - Done
Check swapits - Done
Enter a few comps - Done
All meals from cupboards/fridge/freezer - Done
Pamper feet this evening & nails - did earlier when had headache
Check https://www.freepostcodelottery.com - Remember there are now 5 chances to win - Done
Read - not much today

Have a great day, love to you all

C x

Managed quite a bit today, few jobs hanging about that I WILL get done tomorrow - no more messing about and getting distracted - will pop on some music and crack as soon as DS has gone to school. I did manage to

get washing done & dried
asked OH to take a look at wobbly handle on saucepan
printed off a couple more coupons for next shopping trip
Listed few bits on freegle
decluttered a large bag of used bubble wrap

Today's wins include a Holland & Barrett Cookbook, a swingball set and a book
Night all, off to bed now as shattered and have a really sore throat