Thursday 28th 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,

Greetings from what feels like the middle of a hurricane.

I'm in a state of flux. My contract has ended and I have two weeks holiday before starting a new one. Came home from nightshift and cried with relief. Can't believe I managed to get through that contract. The most challenging of my life.

Anyway now I'm in a bit of a guddle. I've done nothing MSE except the necessities since I started the job in September and I've let a lot of life things 'slide'. So what I need is a jumbo plan to get everything back on track and also to ensure I get some rest and we have a teeny weeny holiday away. So for today the plan is simple:

* Get some sleep.

* 10p noodles now and then a comforting home cooked breakfast when OH awakes. I never add the sachet of vile powder that comes with the noodles. I splash on soy sauce and sometimes top with peanuts. OH buys soy sauce in litre bottles and uses that to refill the wee bottle for the table. Much cheaper that way. For example, she bought 1000ml for £1.99, but 150ml of Kikkoman is £2.

* Heating off til OH awakes.

* Make a huge Get Back On Track plan.

* Do not console self with a takeaway.

What have you folks got lined up for today?

Sanctioned_Parts_List

Afternoon, Ally - thanks for the start, and congrats on surviving your contract. Rest well deserved.

Today:
Expenses paid
Payday tomorrow
For the next few days I shall be mostly manufacturing millions of common cold viruses

Never mind, one week 'til holiday.

Bobarella

Well done on surviving your contract Ally I hope the break will do you good and you can come out fighting again.

YORKSHIRELASS

Morning

Ally I agree with the above, plenty of rest.

And manufacturing cold viruses? Makes my paid stuff seem very dull. Well actually I shall be in the cemetery this morning checking on a headstone so a little unusual perhaps.

After paid stuff this morning I will get caught up with some housework. Its supposed to be dry and breezy this afternoon so I might get some washing dry. Roast dinner tonight, dont need any food shopping as we have everything in but I will need a shop tomorrow. Need to make a plan and a list.

Have a good day everyone x

crazy_cat_lady

Good morning everyone
Congrats on surviving the contract Ally. You need to make sure that you enjoy some well deserved rest now before you do too much else.
I have almost survived until payday - it's tomorrow! Feeling not-that-great this morning - everything is aching, including my head and neck. I'm secretly pleased dh is off work and soaking up some of the stuff I normally do because at the moment all I can manage is work and sleep...
Today's list
Check banking and PAD
get dd to cheerleading
finalise the big monthly online shop
nsd
all meals from stores
finish marking tests
mark a set of books
plan next week lessons
get an early night
try not to stress out
crochet
Have a good day everyone. :j

ziggy2407

Good Morning All

Ally - Thanks for starting us off today, well done :T now rest up and enjoy the break

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.

Today I will

Stop worrying -
Packed lunch for DH & DS - Done
Check Banks - Done
Bump all sale listings/freecycle/facebook -
Ironing -
Read -
Create my annoying list -
Continue purge on Emails -
Enter a few comps -
All meals from cupboards/fridge/freezer -
Check https://www.freepostcodelottery.com - Remember there are now 5 chances to win -
Check Lucky Phone -

Have a good day! Love to you all!

C x

DawnW

Morning all
Thanks for starting the thread Ally. Congratulations on completing the contract - I have had some truly horrendous ones over the years too, so I do sympathise. Looking back though, they paid enough to help me achieve some of the things I wanted to do, such as paying off debts and buying a house, so although it didn't seem like it at the time, it was actually worth it. Anyway, hope your next one is better

I am feeling much better today, I get migraine type sicky headaches sometimes, though these are not nearly so bad as they used to be. I think it was just one of those. Just as well, as I have loads to do today (and only me here to do it):

Clear up debris from little GD yesterday
Dog walks x 2 (dog and hens - and me - fed already)
Heating off downstairs, but I will light the wood burner later
Need to buy some bits for the weekend, plus a new washing up bowl, as mine is truly horrible A turn in the dishwasher, scrubbing with Barkeepers Friend, I have tried everything but the surface of the (cheap) plastic is damaged and it needs to go! I will keep it though, for little GD to play with water or sand in the garden in summer
Make a proper list so I don't buy things I don't need
2 loads of washing and hopefully dry on the line It isn't supposed to rain today, and I can finish off on the airer tonight. One load already in
HM meals from stores - I have bits to use up
Go through fridge and freeze anything that might go off over the weekend while I am away
Retrieve overnight bag from loft
Dig up some more chard plants for the chickens
Put to one side some of the things I want to take to DD (I have promised her some posh ceramic cookware that I don't use any more )
Find and write a birthday card and wrap DD's present (I bought her a lovely silver and amber necklace from one of the other dealers at the shop where I rent my unit )
Continue with tidying / minimising of larder. I am seeing a few more spaces in there now. Before we moved here, we lived in quite isolated places, and shopping for anything was a car journey of several miles, so I think I have a bit of a siege mentality Although I wouldn't ever be someone with nothing in the cupboards (and wouldn't pass up a real bargain if see one), I don't need to keep big stocks of food etc in now, and am determined to stop overbuying!

Hmm I am sure there is more than this, but I had better get on with some of it instead of sitting here thinking about it! Will pop back later to update

Hope everyone has a good day, we have almost survived January :T

princess_pea

Thanks for starting Ally - enjoy spending some much needed focus on you/ OH/ the future over the next two weeks

Today is pay day so I've updated my signature, checked banking and transferred money into various pots. I now officially only have £38.76 of debt to pay! This will come out with my last loan payment on 7th March - my DFD :j
Wedding pot is on track. We had another RSVP back yesterday so I've updated the list
It probably won't be a NSD as I think we're going to ALDI tonight. We have a strict food budget this month so I'll need to do a list before we go
I might fill the car up with petrol or leave this until Saturday. She needs cleaning inside and out too!
FPL and surveys to do
I got up early enough to have breakfast this morning :beer:
2 hours overtime at work
Post my cousin's wedding anniversary card
STILL haven't done any ironing


Think that's it for now

determined_new_ms

Hi guys :wave: thanks for the start ally hope you have a fabulous couple of weeks off. Well done you deserve it!

Cat know how you feel about waking up with a sore throat and banging head! Luckily it goes once the pain relief gets a chance to kick in and won't return until this evening...

legomum saw there was congratulations about weight loss :j well done!

Off to work at 10.30 so not much time to get a lot done. But small things for the day:

* panicked when I saw jonno's tax return post from yesterday's thread :eek: This must be for the last financial year jonno? Checked my paperwork and it says they will write to me after April 5th about the return...
* checked banking and shifted money put in yesterday to cc/correct pots
* updated frugal living ss
* aim for NSD
* hung up washing & will put in another load
* put away yesterday's clean washing
* lo's for lunch at work today
* oh dropping dgd at parentals so he can go to football tonight and I will collect her after work :A
* change bedsheets
* listen to music oh gave me for xmas while getting ready :A His gift to me was the best. I had said I missed having music in the house since the advent of smart phones/ipods we no longer have a stereo and I had forgotten all of the music I used to love. So he got me a bluetooth speaker and downloaded a number of albums he knows I've loved throughout the years :A
* bath & early night

Ok better get a move on x