Monday 14th December - What small dfw things will you do today?

carrielovesfanta

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!:money:

carrielovesfanta

Morning folks!

I couldn't see a thread so I thought I'd start us off.

I'm waiting in for the boiler service this morning so partially working from home, partially hanging around.

Today's list:

• B/L/D from stores - must think of something for dinner
• Try to minimise fuel usage (really don't like to let the house get cold though as it's a devil to heat up) - didn't put heating on - decided to go with thick Christmas jumper instead
• Hoover at least the living room while waiting for boiler man (however, need to hear knock on door) - did the hall/living room
• Sew in some blanky ends if he doesn't turn up early - almost done!
• Try to tidy round/sort some stuff out. I have another small decluttering pile accumulating on the chair - took some stuff into work
  • Declutter list:
  • Garish Christmas mug not in keeping with my rustic aesthetic. Decided to use at work
  • Dead 9 volt battery for recycle bin at work
  • George Foreman grill. Use it very occasionally but can do without for twice yearly use!
  • Plate belonging to colleague
  • Book about depression. Have left it in the kitchen at work so that it may help someone else
• Wrap presents/write cards (month is slipping away at an alarming rate) - made a good start

Small list from me


Have a good one all


clf x

determined_new_ms

Morning :wave: thanks for starting us off CLF :A

Hurrah to the beginning of another week and a bit closer to when oh is on holiday for 2 weeks :j Today will be a low spend day as am at home with dgd so will be doing lots of Christmasy/free things but will need to get some milk.

Plans for today:

* [STRIKE]do an email for work with client contacts over the weekend[/STRIKE]
* [STRIKE]follow up at work about possible training 2 days next week. It will mean I will get £170 :T[/STRIKE]
*[STRIKE] check banking[/STRIKE]
* order Moonpig card for dd as it's her birthday on Sunday. Figured doing that will cost less than driving into town and going to a shop where invariably I'll spend money on other stuff as well!
* [STRIKE]check banking & update ss of spends out of savings over the last month[/STRIKE]
* more chocolate spoons - 5 to do today
* oh to text his parentals about going there on Wednesday for Christmas get together as they are going away for xmas
* write Christmas cards
* [STRIKE]load of washing and put on the line to hopefully reduce dryer time [/STRIKE]
* all meals from stores - checked meal plan to see what to make
* [STRIKE]cake out of freezer for dgd at lunchtime[/STRIKE]
* go for a walk with dgd and pick some holly to decorate the house with
* return library books and pick up some more
* slice and freeze mushrooms

Ok that's all I can think of at the moment. Hope you all have a lovely day x

foxgloves

Morning Festive Campers,
Am out again tonight so not an NSD, but event is at pub which does big sharing pizzas so it won't be more than £20 for the 2 of us, I don't think, inc drinks.
Lots of jobs to do before then. Money saving bits are:
*Laundry done overnight on cheap tariff. All on heated airer which will be on today & overnight as 3 pairs jeans to get dry.
*Leftovers for lunch.
*Bagged up home made fudge. Enough for 4 raffle prizes (cheap ingredients so much more affordable than buying bottles of wine, tins of chocs, etc) plus plenty to serve with coffee at family get-together this week.
*Wash hair. I always let it dry naturally now before minimal straightners.
*Cast off mr f's hiking socks, sew in ends & wrap.
*Sew in ends on Dad's jumper. Join shoulders & pick up sts to start neckband if time.
*Defrost soup for tomorrow's packed lunch.
*Phoned Mum to wish her a happy birthday. She liked her presents which included the pretty fairisle socks I knitted last month & a re-gifted item.
*No downstairs heating on until at least 5pm today.
*Check if I have all the necessary ingredients to bake biscotti. I'm only making them if I don't have to buy anything extra.
Really enjoyed opening all the cards which came in the post this morning. Such a simple pleasure which confirmed that I will never join the ranks of people who opt for e-cards. A rather fetching donkey in a sparkling santa hat made me laugh out loud......you know who you are!
OK, time to start work on turning my hair into something worthy of a night out later. Have a good day all,
F x

skea56

Morning all
Had a bit of a girly shopping day on Saturday - made such a nice change to be buying stuff just for me, and not rushing around finding gifts for everyone...thank god for Secret Santa!!!

This morning I have paid £100 off 2 cards (more than cancelled out Saturday's spending)
We cleared out a change jar at the weekend, so will go to bank later on deposit this, half into savings, half off a CC.
Brought in a lovely pasta salad for lunch, and have already prepared this evening's dinner - just needs to be popped in the oven when I get home.

Will take a look at my spreadsheets this evening to see if I can move anything else about this week and knock another few pennies off the cards - between me and OH, we have 4, although 1 of mine is on long term 0%.

sk56

La_escocesa

[FONT=&quot]Hi everyone :santa2: [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Shhh, I’m ‘working’ [FONT=&quot]:rotfl:[/FONT] [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]CCL – I’ve still got your planner to post btw – haven’t forgotten about it [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Big hellos to everyone else :wave: [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Here’s me: [/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]OH gave me a lift to work – saved £2 on car parking :T [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Packed lunch :cool: [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Made a grand total of £12 from last night’s class – not quite worth the 3h work but hey ho... [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Added extra ^^ to grocery spends and going to buy some posh coffee :cool: [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Out for dinner tonight – friend is working away so £25 is thanks to her employer and I have 20% off :j [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Voluntary work on lunch!! This is a must do so I can get it off my list for xmas – going to quit after this case – it brings me down and weighs on my mind!! [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Going to buy balloons for xmas pressies :j :T :j :T [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I told my colleagues about the typical family Christmas spends and none seemed shocked!! One young guy replied ‘well I’ve spend around £700 so far and I don’t even have kids’. :eek: [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]So, YNAB has actually changed my life! Totally brought our overspending to the forefront. I’m actually so embarrassed about where we are right now. Just seemed to have frittered away so much over the past few years. I know it’s not good to live with regrets and I need to get over it and start looking forward but wow it’s hard right now. Think it’s also this time of year that’s got me reminiscing. Plus, I’ve been clearing out and unpacking boxes that have been packed since 2011!! I might be looking back with rose-tinted glasses but life seemed simpler then. The last few years have just been filled with so much stress. LBM for me! [/FONT]

Candy0107

Thanks for starting the thread CLF
Enjoy your walk Determined
LaE – at least you have learned a lesson – it is what it is, move on

Yay, Monday !! (trying and failing to be energetic) I woke up at 6am thinking I will shower and get into work nice and early....but I didn’t actually motivate myself until 7:50 which was too late to shower and sort out my face (the joy’s of PCOS – I guess I saved the cost of shaving foam). I cannot wait for the Christmas break – 4 days off work !

Today’s efforts:
• Dinner from stores
• Checked banking
• Checked investment and re-invested
• Keeping an eye on my SIM delivery – it is with Yodel and travelling round North Hampshire as I type !
• I may pop into town and buy a case for my new phone – Hubster will kill me if I drop/damage the phone
• If I am in town, I may buy a gift for a local (kids) hospice – will use Boots points/look for a cheapy gift
• Text hubster to see if he can get cheap breakdown cover as the AA want £300 for a renewal this year (no way)

Think that is about it for me.......time is running away with me !


Candy xxx

foxgloves

Candy- That's outrageous for breakdown cover. Ours is about £68 from Co-op Breakdown ( roadside assistance & recovery, homestart, etc....basically everything we had from our previous expensive AA policy).

La E. This is sounding like a real LBM & a half! Regrets are natural but achieve nothing. My overspending, failure to budget & live within my means started when I was 19. I paid off the last bit of our debt aged 46! I always had the old-style skills as I left home at 18 knowing how to cook, mend, alter clothes, make gifts, grow stuff & was always interested in upcycling, repurposing, etc. But I didn't apply any of these skills to money saving. I loved spending money & if I stopped to think about how many thousands & thousands of pounds I frittered away during that 25 years or so before the LBM struck, I think I would just cry! We can't get the money back. We can only learn from it & move on. It sounds as though YNAB has been a revelation for you. New year coming up, so a new start for applying it all in 2016. If frittering money isn't even making you happy, then there's even LESS reason to do it. Good luck!!

determined_new_ms

Candy look into autoaid. I think it's £39 for the year. I've had them several years and always been excellent service when I've needed help. You do have to pay for the cost of recovery yourself and then claim back. I had to use them a few times and I got a cheque for the refund within a week of sending. I put it on my credit card and then paid it off as soon as I got the cheque

lego_mum

:santa2: :santa2: :santa2: Helllllloooooo Not read todays thread as I'm just back from our weekend away, so much fun, kids loved it and feeling all festive now It was a lovely pressie from my parents, this is the 2nd year they've done it and whilst we were there they've booked again for next Xmas too Very lucky little lot we are Kids have lovely memories & shared experience with the grandparents and I don't need to find room for more toys coming into the house on Xmas day, its a win-win!

My turn tonight though as we're all going to the panto at the local theatre, this is ouir xmas present to the family (and a friend gets me the tickets at a reduced cost as she is booking for a very large group )

MSe wise though - We didn't have breakfast out, we just used up whatever was left rather then pack food to bring home with us.
Made a coffee in the room for the drive home
Will check banking shortly
Checked Lucky phone and won some points
Check fpl
Make families lunches for tomorrow
Rather then go out for a meal first with the rest of the family tonight, me and the kids are going to have pizzas that I know are in the back of the freezer.
Tonight will take some chocolates/drinks rather then buy anything at the theatre

That's it for now, I will try and catch up with Friday, Saturday & Sunday's thread tonight!

DawnW

Afternoon all
Another dreary, wet day unfortunately Still it could definitely be worse!

So far today I have:
Dog walk x 1
Used up leftovers for breakfast and lunch
Heating on only in bathroom and airing cupboard, on thermostat / timer
Done some Onepoll surveys, and one for Ipsos I say Found a few more on onepoll
Checked FPL
Been to sales unit to tidy up. No restocking needed unfortunately though a few small bits had sold.
Bought Xmas TV magazine while out, but nothing else
Posted a couple of Christmas cards and GD1's birthday card using free stamps
Almost finished Christmas shopping / supermarket list (ie, not presents - I have all those, but food, cleaning stuff etc, I tend to stock up a bit at this time of the year and avoid the shops after the holiday for as long as possible).

Still to do:
Ask OH to bring the Christmas tree in to dry off prior to decorating it Did it myself
Another dog walk OH did this
Write last of Christmas cards (phew!) Done - I think :eek:
Get OH to write some cards - why should I get all the fun? :rotfl: Well, he managed 2, plus a birthday card for his sister, cue much moaning :rotfl:
More leftovers for dinner Done
Peel, chop up and freeze half a huge parsnip that is lurking in the fridge Oops must do this, good thing I popped back
See if anything else in there needs using up / freezing And this!
Quick hoover round and tidy lounge Done
Put wrapped Christmas presents upstairs out of baby GD's way, as she was after them yesterday :rotfl: Done, hidden in drawers, trunk and wardrobe, must remember where they all are :eek:
Light wood burner and put washing on airer once it is alight Done
Cancel dental appointments as I have moved to a different practice Too late to do this, must put on tomorrow's list
Text friend as she enquired about the make of the mattress she slept on when she stayed a couple of weeks ago - she needs to replace hers and found this one comfortable Must do this

Right, better get on with some of it! Hope everyone is having a good day