Friday 25th September - What small DFW things will you do today?

lego_mum

Thanks all, I'm absolutely shattered but happier then earlier
Went to the school and the teacher was lovely and I feel much happier about the situation now.
I'm going to go for a hot shower now and then try and get my list finished.

Hope everyone's having a good day.

foxgloves

Morning all,
I was awake at 4.30 as well as the dentist nerves kicked in. I didn't get up though. I've done my Big Budget Day today - a bit early, but pay-day was early with normal day being a Sunday.
*Reconciled September's budget. Ended the month in the black, which was good, but we did need some of the buffer I left in our account, so more proof that not leaving too tiny a buffer is a good idea, if possible.
*Final shop today from September's grocery budget. Came in £14 under budget. Think I'll hang onto that in case we missed anything. If we don't need to spend it on food, it can be transferred into the Car Fund.
*Set October's budget & made a note of cash total to withdraw to cover our monthly Personal Spends plus our 6 savings piggies (Car, Clothes, Household, Presents, Holiday, Leisure/Entertainment).
*Top-sliced October's grocery budget by £50.................................and........
*PAD'd it into the Car Fund. Updated my signature. Funny how something as little as updating a signature re debt-repayment or a savings target can be so motivating, but it is.
*Read energy meters & uploaded readings online. Made a note to investigate this as we appear to be over £777 in credit. That's huge! We are due a bill imminently. l'll wait till that lands, look back at last year to see how much credit we took into the winter months (it was about right), add a little because of the things I'm starting to hear about it being a cold winter this year, then ask for a refund. To be fair, it's quite possible that they will offer me this automatically as they seem a pretty decent company....unlike the last company I was with who wouldn't have offered you the steam off their ****, & that's putting it mildly!
*Paid both credit cards in full.
*Postman brought a mailshot from 'Monsoon' which I almost tossed aside to read if I had time. Then discovered it contained notification of my £10 reward voucher from their loyalty card. I'd forgotten about the card & had no idea I was that close to a voucher as I don't buy nearly as many clothes as I did in the Spendy Decades.
This afternoon definitely NOT money saving, as we have dentist appointments. mr f only a titchy filling (his teeth are made from tungsten steel). Mine however are made from chalk & I am due to have the 2nd half of my big treatment - a crown fitted, & another tooth to be drilled out & mended with a metal screw. You can see why I woke up at 4.30am.
Must dash - got to get lunch early & get into city centre for dentist. 30 mile round trip, but it meant keeping an NHS dentist, so worth doing.
Have a good day all.
f x

allydowd

Hi DFW-Ninjas,

Thanks for the starter LegoMum.

I seem to have caught the Small Things cold that's been going around this forum.

Again, I'm adding to this list as I do it as it's easier for me.


Debt-Free Nillionaire Month 4:

* Letter saying we're getting Discretionary Housing Payment for the couple of week's we were on the dole arrived.

* OH has been a "house-wife" for a while but had a meeting today with a view to resuming as a self-employed physiotherapist/holistic therapist/stress management counsellor. She was interviewed this morning and they've said she has the contract but it's now at that tricky paperwork stage where dreams are either made or broken. :j

* Doing one week of GfK Media surveys to earn £5 voucher.

* Spent free £1.50 Holland and Barrett loyalty coupon on pearl barley and lentils.

* Cleaned upstairs and sitting room with Stardrops and washable cloths.

* Do own pedicure.

* File away all paperwork.

* Lemon, ginger and honey in hot water to cut down the bill on fake-Lemsip.

* Planned takeaway from entertainment budget tonight.

* Stay on sofa all afternoon and will myself well. Three films about magic from the cupboard for company: The Prestige, The Illusionist and Now You See Me.

* Got a £2 voucher from surveys.



Catch you later folks.

MinnieMousesMummy

Good afternoon everyone, Well it is a nice sunny day here today.

So far today I have went to ds1’s school to see about his missing school shoes, they went missing during the second week of term whilst he was doing PE, which I am fuming about (I know it only a pair of shoes but it’s the principal of the matter). I spoke to his PE teacher and to say that I was not impressed with his attitude is an understatement, he could not care less. There was also something about him, which made me feel uneasy being in the same room as him. Another thing that is annoying me about the school is that since Mid-August they have asked for about £80 to cover various class materials and books is this normal practice in a secondary school? Sorry about my rant but I’m furious with them. (I was tempted to take the shoe situation to the police but DH said not to bother as its not a police matter).

My plan of action for today:
Check banking *DONE*
Pay the childminder *DONE*
Pay for the heating oil *DONE*
Do ironing for the holiday let that I have on tomorrow *DONE*
Do paperwork for client
Do some studying
Put flea treatment on the cat *DONE*
Sort through one pile of paperwork
Check FPL *DONE*
Check luckyphone *DONE*
Get rid of 50 emails *DONE*
Look for part time work *DONE*
All meals from stores *DONE*
Revive inbox £’s account (Thanks Lego Mum for reminding me about this site)
Swagbucks
Sort out a budget for October
Check over meal plans and make shopping list for next week *DONE*

I think that is everything that I need to try and achieve today, I guess I best get a move on. Hope everyone has a good Friday x

allydowd

Foxgloves: Good luck with the dentist. At least it's NHS. And £777(?) in credit, that's a lotta wonga.

Dawn: I find that i-Say screen me out of about five and then all of a sudden offer me five long ones which result in rapid voucher issuing. This has happened three or four times.

LegoMum: I recommend this guy's free relaxation App: 'Relax With Andrew Johnson Lite'. He is a hynotist but it doesn't feel 'weird', it's just him telling you to relax different parts of your body. No mumbo-jumbo. Only takes 15 mins. (Link)

allydowd

MinnieMousesMummy wrote: »

Another thing that is annoying me about the school is that since Mid-August they have asked for about £80 to cover various class materials and books is this normal practice in a secondary school?

MMM: I'm assuming that your child is not at a fee-paying school but, rather, is at a state school.

Schools can ask parents for voluntary contributions towards school funds, provided this is not part of the admissions process. However, voluntary contributions are just that, voluntary, and no parent should feel compelled to pay.

Parents must be assured that they are under no obligation to contribute, and if they choose not to, or are unable to contribute, that this will in no way disadvantage their child. Schools are required to make this clear when requesting contributions, as set out in the Education Act 1996.

You can see this advice for yourself on the government's website on pages 5 and 6 under the heading Voluntary Contributions. (Link)

YORKSHIRELASS

Foxgloves hope the dentist went OK.

And good luck to Allys OH, I hope it works out well.

MMM DS came to me this morning with 2 letters from school asking for a total of £43. £22 of it was for English books. He can borrow books from school but they "encourage" parents to buy a set for home studies, the child can then make notes in them etc. What do you say? Who wants their child at 15 being the only one in class who has to borrow books?

The other £21 was towards a course which DS wants to do which is not part of the curriculum. Seeing his anxious face this morning telling me he wouldnt do the course if we couldnt afford it made me throw my arms around him and tell him I would live on bread and jam rather than him miss out. It wont come to that of course but some budgeting adjustments are needed.

So the next job this afternoon is working out figures for October.

bsclp118

It seems quite a few people have had early starts for not very nice reasons - hope the day has got better!! Hopefully you will be able to catch up on sleep and have a nice lie-in tommorow!

OK my list for today:

- carrying on with my saliva samples. (Lovelyyyyyyyy, but all in the name of paid scientific research )
- I have done a few surveys.
- Brought my own lunch to work.
- I have got my first xmas presents!! :T:T:T This is an absolute first for me. I found a £30 off £60 spend voucher code for new customers and so I got 2 candle sets (the xmas presents) that were in the sale and also two bedding sets (which we desperately need - we currently only have one and no tumble dryer, which makes washing a little difficult!). So the bedding sets were essentially for free. I know the stuff on the website I used can be a bit overpriced, but I have checked and £30 for the two candle sets was pretty cheap, and I've budgeted £50 to go towards Christmas out of this month pay cheque, so the extra bedding sets were a much needed bonus. :A.

Still to do:
- enter some competitions
- have dinner from stores/freezer
- print off 2 x vouchers for a free glass of wine at a new bar later. I'm going with a friend who is also on a strict budget. We have s said we shall have the free glass of wine after work and then head on home. And I have left my bank card at home so no fear of one drink turning into a bottle ;-)

So that's me for today .

determined_new_ms

arrggghhhhh so fricking annoyed! Lost the receipt for one of the ms assignments I did today rendering it unpayable So I paid the cm to have dgd spent 3 hours travelling and doing the assignments to come away with only one of them £30. Which means I have made about a tenner after cm and petrol. So not worth it.

Just have to keep telling myself it's not the end of the world :(:(

Wish I had said no now and just spent the day with dgd

determined_new_ms

Rejoice! I called oh when I realised I had lost the receipt and he went to the CM's house and found it in the street