Monday 15 June 2015 What small dfw stuff will you do today

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

Hi

Been up most of the night with back pain. So boring. Been out for a walk and had a stretch and hope tablets will work.
Today should be a NSD.
Although milk is looking low, may need a few 4 pinters to take me to next Me T delivery.
Washer and dishwasher need to go on, but I am going to leave it incase the bending makes back worse.
Am going to refresh office budget today and make sure DS and DH do a few paperwork jobs that have been left whilst good weather work was on.No more excuses!
Roll on 23rd and payday.
Have a good one all.
Maria

xJOJOx_2

Sorry to hear about your lack of sleep and back pain Maria. Hopefully it won't effect your day too much. Nothing worst than not been able to sleep x

Bobarella

Poor you Maria really sorry to hear that. I hope today doesn't seem to long. I noticed that 4 pinters are on shoptize again think worth 25p cash back? Just check before you buy.

I saw a funny this morning on twitter that shows a woman clutching her head with the slogan 'don't worry the first 5 days after the weekend are the worst' no need to say anymore really :T

My efforts this week will be in the same direction as the rest of the month. Buying only what's absolutely necessary with no treats or space to slack off. Yesterday evening we used up a lot of bits for dinner. Son and I had eggs, husband (who is allergic to eggs) had home made soup made earlier in the week. We also ate up a YS apple pie between us.

I am agonising over going along to the school social this week. I am usually exhausted by 9pm these days & it doesn't start till 7.30 plus a cost of almost £20 but it is the result of others effort that it's been organised and I don't want to lunch them out. Will have to dig deep and see if I can do it.
The other issue I have on this and other upcoming social occasions is I simply don't have clothes for going out anymore. I have 1 pair of trainers that I wear day in and out. And 1 pair of long winter boots. No tops that aren't either holey somewhere or obviously not evening wear. Not even a pair of jeans. It's a sorry state of affairs but as my daily life requires zero glamour I don't bother. I also have a christening to go to in July which means new shoes and something passable for church/after party. Bah. I don't want to spend money on these things either!

I'm very worried about another person who is posting on this forum about a very dire situation. She was saying she felt like ending it all last night and I haven't seen any other posts since. I do hope she has not done anything stupid.

Have a good day all

Bob

Ratison

Morning Maria, JoJo and Bob, and hugs to all who come along later.

Maria, hope your tablets kick in and sort the pain out.

Bob, I feel you on the reluctance to spend! I've recently declined to attend a colleague's wedding, because the cost of going, buying something to wear, and staying over / paying for taxis is just so expensive.

My plans today are:

Post on the Debt Free roll of honour - done (I want my badge!)

NSD - must get myself involved in a challenge for July too

I-say surveys if there are any

Check my bank after the weekend

Start to price up wood flooring to get an idea of how much I need to save up

Update on the savings for Christmas spreadsheet - not long to go now really!

DawnW

Morning all
Sorry to hear that you had such a bad night Maria. Hope you feel better soon.

Bob, is it worth trying ebay or charity shops for clothes to wear out? You will need maternity things so no point spending loads (even if you had it) on things that will only fit you for a few more weeks anyway. Any friends you could borrow from? People do understand that clothes are difficult when your size is so different from usual!

List for today:

Check banks Done, no surprises

Housework - all of it I have however enlisted OH to help! Done

Go to sales unit to see if anything needed - walk to save fuel / free exercise Done, took in a couple of new items, a few small bits had sold. Took some waste paper and old clothes to the recycling bins on the way, so managed a bit of decluttering as well

Post paperwork back to accountant to get tax stuff finalised and sorted - and pay her fee. Done

Buy some fruit, as we have only one over-ripe nectarine (which I will use up today)and 1 sour orange which can be frozen towards the next batch of marmalade. Done, bought only some oranges and bananas, nothing else

Food waste today (I am going to start recording this, though I am quite good in this respect) - 1 piece of stale bread left over from some that OH was given when he did a stall / demo at a country fair last week. The bakery stall had some left over, and distributed it among the other stall holders. I could convert it into breadcrumbs etc, but suspect I will just give it to the chickens as a treat! Chickens had it They did lay 3 eggs in exchange though :rotfl:

HM meals from stores, rest of chicken pie I made yesterday will do for supper, with salad made from our lettuce mountain. Done

Neighbour gave me some strawberries, which is nice, as I only get a few each day from my hanging baskets and pots

Right, coffee finished, so I had better get on. Hope everyone has a good day

xJOJOx_2

Today's listy

- walk doctors for blood test
- check rota - no childminder for few days this week so can't do as many hours, however lest to pay in childcare
- get daughters things ready for ballet lesson after school
- few bits whilst in town, only what I need though
- iron clothes and put away, another load of washing
- quick tidy up downstairs to keep on top of things, maybe a little upstairs too
- onepoll
- check banking/emails
- snacks/drinks for whilst at town
- walk to ballet but possibly taxi back to get tea cooked at a decent hour. Will look at bus times though as cheaper option
- bag for charity shop

Setting myself a mini challenge to earn £100 to pay of c/c. Need to get back into selling a few bits and Decluttering in process

- music magpie some more dvds
- use 20 ebays listings
- few bits on facebook selling pages

parsniphead

I've not posted here before but feel I'm now at the point where the small things are going to sort out the last bit of debt. I hope it's ok to join in.

Today I'm going to

Make dinner from the leftovers of yesterday's chicken.
Chase up DH about the money he owes me. This will go towards another debt repayment.
Have a sort out and see what I can find to ebay.
Chase friend for owed money. She rents my garage and has more money than I do so I think it's fair.
Put another load of washing out on the line to dry. DONE
Make up sandwiches for tomorrow's lunches.
Look at food stocks and see what I can meal plan with until the end of the month.
Make mash with potatoes on the turn and freeze. I will waste nothing.

FatVonD

Welcome, Parsniphead and hello to all the regulars

It's my first day off today and I'm sitting waiting for my shopping delivery. It's quite a big one as we were low on so many things but hopefully I won't have to spend quite so much for the rest of the month.

My salary has gone in and I'm already overdrawn (but £200 has gone to my emergency fund, if that hadn't happened I would be £150 in the black) with all of my direct debits still to go out. I have transferred some to my number 2 account (same bank) so that is now just £30 overdrawn and when DH pays in the £30 I've paid for DSD's end of exams party that will be a big fat healthy zero. You know things are really bad when you consider a zero to be healthy!

I think my new plan of attack now is to try to get rid of my overdraft over the next three months. I rediscovered cheese and beans on toast this last week (I loved it when I was young, skint and vegetarian!) so we're going to be having a few cheap meals like that this month, we don't need to be eating meat every meal.

Today I'm going to look into putting DS on my car insurance and taking him out occasionally rather than paying for a second lesson each week for him. I also need to look into changing energy supplier today if I can find a better deal.

I will give the publisher looking for someone to work from home a call just to find out if it would be viable. I have also arranged to meet an old friend/colleague on Wednesday who has something she wants to speak to me about workwise, she is a writer who still has good contacts in the interiors world so it could be exciting.

I do need to go out with DS to buy him a new hoodie as he lost his camping out one night last week, he also needs a haircut which is an expense I could do without but might stand him in better stead for getting a job. He has applied for one at Pret and is waiting to see if he will be called to an interview.

Anyway, I'd better get on with it all, have a great day

1HANNAH

Morning all,


Lovely sunny day here in Wales today


Everyone sounds really focused this morning


Bob, how about freecycle for clothes maybe or gumtree? (no experience of this though)


Maria, I hope your back feels better soon and that the meds kick in.
Welcome aboard Parsniphead.


Morning to everyone else too :wave:


Today I will
Drink water (save tbags/coffee as running a bit low) doing
Boys to Breakfast club at school = free breakfast done
At least 1/2hr in gym done
Wash two loads at 30 degrees 1 done & on the line
My b/fast - ys bread for toast done
My Lunch - leftover hm soup & ys bread
Dinner - Sunday lunch leftovers
Check bank/update spreadsheet done & check off Tesco CC statement done
Hoover everywhere
Dust everywhere
Ironing (switch off iron with a couple of bits to go)
Get bikes in the car ready to go for a ride with the kids after school
Swagbucks running apps now
Check cashback sites
Use up handcream done, need to dig out next one to finish off
Try to use something from food use up box


Right better get off as I need to clean the kitchen before I do anything else.done


Have a good day all

Bobarella

Well a good mornings work. Have made 2 cakes, a batch of scones, a frittata, sausage and vegetarian rolls a tray of shortbread & lots of salads. Trade slow but have noticed Mondays going that way for the last few weeks. Still sun's out & I'm ready to 'do' lunchtime so several pluses

Thanks for the suggestions on cheap clothes guys, I also thought to myself I may be able to womble something from sains using my points shoes are more of a thing. ...But I think again sains might be an option. I have just had no time to do the charities & won't now before Thursday night...

Ratison - yes can't wait to see the badge of honor!

Bob