Thursday 21st January - What small DFW things will you do today?

allydowd

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:

allydowd

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

• Benefits check-up ( Link )
• Coupon Shop Forum list of money-off coupons (Link)
  
• eBid ( Link )
  
• Freecycle ( Link )
• Free Postcode Lottery ( Link )
• FreeStuff ( Link )
  
• FreeUKStuff ( Link )
• i-Say Surveys (Link)
• Jack-At-A-Pinch, cheap recipes ( Link )
• List of online newspapers. At bottom of the linked page. ( Link )
• LuckyPhone free lottery with loyalty rewards (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 )
• NHS Minor Ailment Service article (Link)
  
• My Supermarket ( Link )
• OnePoll ( Link )
• Quidco ( Link )
• Reclaim PPI at no cost to yourself ( Link )
• Resolver tool. Helps you draft a letter, send it, monitor replies and then escalate it to an Ombudsman or key complaint body if it's not sorted. (Link)
  
• SayNoTo0870 cheap phone number finder ( Link )
  
• Survey sites that pay for your opinions ( Link )
• Swagbucks ( Link )
• Swapit ( Link )
• Tesco Orchard product testing (Link)
  
• Tickety Split cheap train tickets (Link)
  
• Toluna ( Link )
  
• TopCashBack ( Link )
• You Need A Budget site and App (Link)

Revised 31 Oct 2015.

allydowd

Morning all, :hello:

Greetings from Dowd Towers. Came home from work to an immaculate house this morning. My OH must've felt guilty after re-enacting the Battle of the Somme in there yesterday.

A few reasons to be cheerful today:

* I got a £212 income tax refund.

* My tax code is finally correct.

* It's my 'Friday'. No more work til Sunday.

Just a wee list:

* Charged phone at work.

* Sitting in my dressing gown and hat to avoid putting the heating on. The pipes are noisy and I don't want to wake OH.

* Updated Finances Spreadsheet.

* Emailed my boss as my wages are 6 hours short this week. As I got a tax refund I actually have more than I was expecting but that's not the point. And they took £2.50 off for a pension that I've opted out of.

* Downloaded my bank's new mobile banking App.

* Free chocolate muffin from a colleague.

* Leftovers for breakfast.

* Checked OH's online banking. Statement reconciliation is not her strong point.

* Checked loyalty points.

How about you lovely people?

maria3104

Morning all and Ally!

Been up since 4.45, starting the day shift. All quiet in the lambing shed. DS has fed, watered and admired and is now at work milking. 2 old girls in the death ward have done the decent thing and died together so they can go today on the dead wagon and i no longer have to worry about them. They have died with extraordinary expense, vets visits, drug bills that the NHS would have been proud of. Final invoice will be carcass removal. So, back to domestic life:
2 dishwashers on
2 washing machines on
Both houses kitchens tidy but filthy. Rest of houses clean but untidy.
Off to watch the news, consider the falling global stock markets and try to calculate the effect on my pension just to finish my mornings joy!

Infact, it has not been too bad, the frost has gone, the morning is dry and I still have the after glo of a day well spent at Hereford market yesterday enjoying the rural delights of sheep retail therapy.

Onwards and upwards and nothing spent. Lambs sold used to fund replacement ewes. Simples!

Have a good day all.

Maria

Bobarella

Ally - for some reason I have an image of you sitting in a dressing gown with a trilby on. I'm guessing it's a wooly hat though isn't it

Maria - sorry about your animals dying. It must be sad. Hope you are ok being awake so early.

I have a fussy baby. Who woke me at 1, 3, 4 & is now lying here smiling at me. Send all the coffee.

Month end is sneaking up in the background. Have 1 final bill to go out which is the gas and electric before OH gets paid. He gets paid on the last day of the month but because of how the weekend falls this month that's next Friday. So just a week to last roughly.

Will be focusing on carrying on with the meal plan, it has made this week so much easier knowing what we are going to eat each day.

Must try and get the beds changed today as well.

Good luck with your efforts everyone

Bob

crazy_cat_lady

Good morning everyone - thanks for the start Ally
Up in plenty of time this morning although I am still quite tired. It's absolutely freezing today, and I'm going to have to scrape the car. Boo. But it is Thursday, which means I get my free today :j
Here's today's list
Check banking and PAD
nsd (mainly out of necessity )
mark a set of books
use my free time wisely
plan for next week
get dh to buy milk and bread
get dd to cheerleading later
make time for exercise
crochet - hoping to finish my tiny unicorn tonight
stay calm and don't stress
continue to run down the freezer
acquire some strong acid to clean our toilet again.
Think that will do for now - have a good day everyone :T

determined_new_ms

Morning guys :wave: thanks for starting the thread ally :A

maria it sounds full on in your household and I'm still drinking my first cup of coffee!

So Friday marks the start of a full working weekend for both of my jobs working 11-6 at the pub today, 11-5 at the pub tomorrow and then 6-10 at the crisis cafe on Friday and Saturday. Just better steel myself for it.

So small plans for today:

* [STRIKE]checked banking & cc statement. CC statement has been issued for the month[/STRIKE]
*[STRIKE] make dgd's packed lunch and get her ready for cm's[/STRIKE]
* get ready for work and take lunch
* do meditations
* [STRIKE]grab batch cooked stew out freezer for dgd & me for tea[/STRIKE]
* take some shopping bags out with me and shopping list and nip to aldi's on my way home to get a small top up shop. Hopefully will be less than £30 for the rest of the month
* submit meter readings
* hang up washing
* have stewed plums in cheap porridge for breakfast
* might photo a couple of bits to put on fleabay tonight

Ok think that's all I'll get done today. Better get myself in gear as db is coming round for coffee this morning before work. Have a great day everyone x

DawnW

Morning all
Thanks for starting us off Ally
I had porridge with stewed plums too DNMS, with a tablespoon of Greek yogurt on top. I love it, it is like a lovely pudding, but healthy and you can have it for breakfast

List for today:

Already fed dog and hens

Dog walks x 2 I did one, OH the other - I hoovered round quickly while they were out as it is easier when pup isn't here (he is scared of the hoover and has to be shut out)

Clear up devastation wrought by naughty baby and puppy combo yesterday (they were funny though, her latest favourite is blowing bubbles - she blows them and puppy dashes round popping them- 50p from the supermarket for hours of fun, and when she spills it I top up with washing up liquid solution :rotfl:) Done

Read meters and input readings to Ovo's web site Done

Iron the dress that has been lurking around for days Done, at last :T

HM meals from stores - make a pie for supper with left over pheasant meat and other bits lurking in the fridge Done, used up a bit of LO ham, some mushrooms that were on offer and some of the gifted HM chorizo. Very yum, and there is plenty left for another day

Start a shopping list as I am running short of a few bits Done, ordered a delivery on Saturday

Planning another NSD Failed, as I bought a couple of jigsaws for GD at the charity shop. Something different for her to play with, as she is developing so fast at the moment - she can do the 2 and 3 piece baby ones on her own in no time now, so got some with more pieces, we can do them together on Saturday

Might pop to sales unit and see if anything needed Moved stuff around a bit, took in a few small items of jewellery. Not sure if anything has sold, maybe a couple of small bits, nothing major!

Right, better get ready for dog walk #1 - at least it isn't so cold today!

Hope everyone has a good day

FinallyGettingFree

Morning all!

I have brought my lunch in and this evening I am doing some freelance work to bring in a few extra quid.

Hope everyone has a great day!

ziggy2407

Good Morning

Ally - Thanks for starting us off today

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.

Heavy frost here today and verrryyyy cold, was going to pop to shop and pick up a few bits but we have all we need so I'll just hang on and do a full shop tomorrow. Today I will

Packed lunch for DH & DS - Done
Read meters & chart - Done
Bake - Done- sponge buns & oat biscuits
Bump all sale listings/freecycle/facebook - Done
Check Banks - Done
Read -
Continue purge on Emails - In progress
Continue decluttering - few bits gone, few bits pending
Enter a few comps - Done a few
All meals from cupboards/fridge/freezer - Done
Check https://www.freepostcodelottery.com - Remember there are now 5 chances to win - Done
Check Lucky Phone - Done

Have a good day! Love to you all!

C x

PurpleFairy26

Morning all, quick post from me as running late, but 1 minute on here won't make any difference to that :rotfl:

My list:
Check banking, should see DH wages for tomorrow, hopefully they will have missing ot in
Check surveys
Check £co
Meals from stores/planner
Out with friend tonight, we go to cheap place and buy one drink for both of us. Mine is normally the hot drink round at about 9.30. You can see how rock and roll that is :rotfl: and about 4 times a year is not an extravagance in the big scheme of things
Hope commute is kind
Ring energy co, no hot water again this morning :eek:Had to do the heating on/off jiggle and reset boiler to get it back on. Finally time to call them and pay the call out fee (we have a plan for parts and labour but it's a reduced price as have a call out fee)
Think that's about all, will try and check back later

Jonno X