Monday 18th April - What small DFW things will you do today?

crazy_cat_lady

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:

crazy_cat_lady

Morning all :hello:
Just a quick start from me as I have a very long day ahead indeed... I've not slept well either so that's not really a very good combination. Must make a real effort not to lose my temper or get stressed. :rotfl:
Here's today:
check banking and PAD
leave dh a couple of jobs to do before he goes to work
nsd (should be no problem)
all meals from stores
get 7000 steps for Bounts points
full day of teaching
training after work
keep my time diary
no heating at home
definitely no housework today
make some time for myself
Have a good day all :beer:

yasmin2

Well, desperately need to get back on track after being away for a few days and spending money - bad thing is I spent money on stuff that I shouldn't have but the good thing is that I have spent within my remaining budget. All I have is the money which is left in my purse which I haven't had the courage to go and count. There is just enough in my current account to cover all my D/D until my next payday which is ages away.

Things to do today:
-post amazon book - came back to find another one sold (that's about £32 in my pot which will go straight towards debt)
-have a hunt for further books to list
-food from home and then packed lunch for work
-today has to be a NSD as I don't really have any money to spend

Hope everyone has a great day.

La_escocesa

Well hello there CCL :wave: Thanks for starting us off - I do hope you find time for yourself in amongst all that!! Sounds like a busy day you've got there for yourself.

Big hellos to everyone else :wave:

I'm not doing very many DFW things so far today. Have no breakfast in and no packed lunch ready...Boo... Am having a coffee at home rather than stopping at Costafortune like the good ol' days

I've booked time off at the end-of-May bank holiday. OH and I are going to go away somewhere. Not booked anything but I'm going to keep a beady eye out for a dinner, bed and breakfast type deal. Quite excited even if it is just an overnight - I've not had a non-teaching Sunday evening in a year!

I'm quite proud of the fact that the flat has been empty for 2 and a half months and we managed not to do a 'cash to bank account' balance transfer! Think that is the first time ever - usually I'm trying to get another £1000 just to help us through but I didn't give in this time and we've made it out the other end alive and with less debt. Have paid off another £800 this month. :T

Other things:
Teaching tonight
Supermarket trip - have £58.22 left in the grocery budget for the month...
Putting cash in the bank
Sorting out YNAB
Bit of knitting later

xxxxx

La_escocesa

yasmin2 wrote: »

-today has to be a NSD as I don't really have any money to spend

Hope everyone has a great day.

It's amazing what you can do when you just don't have another option. Turn it into a bit of a challenge for yourself and I bet you'll get there. If I was you I'd definitely count what is in my purse and then work out a set amount each day - even if it's something crazy ('I have 25p per day until next pay day') then you'll know where you are. When I was trying to get over my compulsive spending - I gave myself £1 per lunch hour and made it a challenge to spend it - I soon found that it was just buying things that I liked and it didn't matter what it was!! Also gave me something to do and kept me out of more spending trouble

OrangeFairy

Morning MSE'rs

I am trying to be bright and cheerful but I'm none too pleased that it's Monday!

We have a new girl joining the office today and because we are a small team it's quite a shake up! I always get a bit nervous with new people starting!

My list for today

Package and label fleabay sales
Wipe DDs iPod to send to buyer
Pay Cubs termly fee
Check banking
Reconcile spends
Lunch from stores - soup
Dinner at mums house
Check surveys
Check FPL
Sort money with in laws

I hope everyone has a great day


OF x

PurpleFairy26

Morning frugal pals :hello: happy Monday

Well done la E on your debt busting whilst the flat was empty. That's amazing.

My today will mainly be looking like:

Meals from stores including freezer lucky dip for lunch think it may be the left overs of a casserole (probably lacking in I much meat of substance but the pearl barley will fill me up )
Check banking, surveys FPL, move money from pots for things bought
Some of my April/annoying things tonight
Try to get everything done at work today so I can have a couple of shorter days when I have visitors this week
Washing on airer form being on overnight
Relegated a t shirt that has a small but wrongly placed stain I can't remove from daywear to night wear

I'll check back later with other stuff, PF

JHiggins91

Morning all
CCL thanks for starting us off - hope you can find some time to yourself!
La escocesca that's a fantastic amount you've paid off this month!

Today will be a quiet day for me, day off work.
NSD - definitely as I don't plan on leaving the house apart from a run later on
Yesterdays homemade soup for lunch
PAD and check banking
Figure out budget for rest of the month
Phone BG about energy bill - they're saying £60 odd for 3 months gas? Sounds too little to me. I do hope they're right but I don't want to be caught somewhere down the line owing more because of any mistake!
Search the house to find some stuff to sell
There's about 3 or 4 places I dump coins (car, drawer, underwear drawer etc) so I'm going to collect them all, count them and made that PAD from my bank account to Capital One CC.
Find a suitable place to house all the coins in the future

Hope you all have a lovely Monday and it's not too long!
J

DawnW

Morning all
Thanks for the start CCL
Cold and grey here this morning, which is typical as I have 3 loads of washing to do and get dry :mad:

Apart from that:
Housework - must do some, as it looks a bit of a pit after the weekend
Sales unit - this will also need a tidy. Hopefully something will have sold!
Dog walk later - DH did the early one
HM meals from stores - we will need to do a proper shop (rather than just buying nice bits to feed weekend visitors, which is what I did on Friday) but I am determined to hold off doing so for as long as possible!
Pick and cook some more rhubarb from the garden - should be enough there for a crumble this time
Find something to line the metal trough thing hanging on the wall in the front garden, with a view to transplanting some strawberry plants into it. I have some of the hanging basket liner stuff, but the jackdaws pinch that to line the nests they make in people's chimneys round here :mad:
Any surveys, FPL etc

SiL will be here shortly to borrow OH's truck, so better put the kettle on!

Hope everyone has a good day

lambda

Morning All!

Having huge frustrations with our cars at the moment. Last night I went into major panic mode.
We are paying off about £1200 a month off our credit cards. Basically, because I want them paid off as soon as I can. This is not leaving us much money left over for things like car repairs. I put away about £50 a month for car repairs - building a little pot of about £200. The problem is that our cars need quite a bit of work, and it's really, really getting me down.

OH's car:
- wheel bearing
- blower fan is making a huge racket and burning smell. The OEM part is £360 + VAT!! I have managed to hopefully sort a second hand one on ebay that should be arriving soon for about £36. Just need to get someone to fit it. I'm hoping my mechanic can. I've just sent him a text to get it booked in for the blower fan and wheel bearing.
- dint/scratch in the front bumper
- paint has peeled off on the driver side wheel arch. It's going to rust, so we must attend to it soonish.
- FM radio doesn't work. After lots of poking around, it turns out the wire to the antenna was broken in the boot. Someone who owned the car before us obviously tried to really bodge the repair. Spent about 3 hours yesterday with my boss with a soldering iron on it. Not quite fixed the problem, but we have some ideas on what to do next with it.

My car:
- front wheel arches are rusting

I can't afford to get rid of them. We need to keep both cars on the road for another 2-3 years. They are sound mechanically, just things like the above that are really annoying and ruin the cars. I think the only cause of action is a little bit at a time. Once the cards are paid off, we will have a bit more cash to spend to get the jobs done. Just need to keep a systematic mind about it.

make_the_change

Hi All,

I too am on a tight budget for the rest of the month

I have done some surveys and will now cash in for vouchers as I desperately need a new pair of trousers/jeans. DS1 had an early drop to school for a trip, one of the witches was their with her little gang but I just stood away and ignored them. Spend day at my mums as usual hiding away. Job hunt and house hunt. Anxiety seems to creep back when Mondays come around but trying to keep a positive mind.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend x