My Mega Light Bulb Moment

try_harder

Hi lbm,definitely give the wine as presents i do it all the time with gifts i have been given ,i do not drink wine so have given many bottles as gifts, its a great way of recycling and money saving too. You are doing a great job sticking to all your goals so well too ,i am trying to keep up with you ,i have been listing again today on ebax and i am pleased to say after a terrible week last week things have now picked up.Keep up the great work.

LightBulbMoment

Hi Guys thank you so much for your replies.

Well I have been really money saving on these two birthdays. I am really quite happy with myself. I decided to wrap the wine up in tissue paper that I already had. I reused two birthday gift bags and wrote the birthday cards that I had in the emergency card box. Which is is a total cost from my purse of a big fat ) :j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j.

So I did not change my mind, my mum called and she is seeing the two family members over the weekend so she said she would take them for me. So they have both been taken out of the house so I really cannot change my mind now.

I have also got a 21st birthday next month. I was going to buy a pandora for about £30. Instead I have had a look in the pandora sale and ordered a charm for £18 that was reduced from £35. I have ordered a birthday card from that site that there is a code knocking about for a free fathers day card. I used it to order a birthday card and the code worked, so only paid £18 for a present and card for the 21st birthday next month. So really happy with that.

I really find it strange that since I started this diary I question every penny I spend, which is great.

Take care everybody

LBM

LightBulbMoment

Hi Everybody

I hope everybody has had a nice weekend. Well I have been so good over the weekend. Spoke to the other half about fathers day presents and he agreed a card and family time is better than a present that he does not need or wants. I also had a present that I had already purchased for my dad. I ordered cards using the free fathers day cards so they were sorted without spending anything at all.

We always go and have a meal out on Fathers Days but the local pub we go is closed for a refurb :j:j:j. So instead I spent £10 over on the shopping budget which I am not bothered about as I cooked lunch for everybody and it was really nice as well. Usually when we go out it is the four of us and my mum and dad so the bill is about £10 each for food and two round of drinks which is about £15 / 20 a round. So over spending £10 on the shopping was so much cheaper than what we normally do.

So we all had a nice cheap Fathers Day.

I have had a look on ebay and I have also sold 6 things over the weekend, which is great. I will soon have a decluttered house.

Any way time for bed.

Take care

LBM

LightBulbMoment

Hi Everybody

I hope everybody is ok and well.

I have had another two sales on ebay again yesterday so I am happy with that.

Still sticking to the goals:

Shopping is going well together with the meal planning. I can honestly say nobody in the house has realised I am spending about £30 a week less, which I am really surprised at. It just shows you the amount of money I used to waste on junk.

Petrol is going really well as well. I am only putting £20 a week in the car were as I used to put £25 a week. I have just watched the journeys I make and try and do all the things I need to do that is in one direction all at once.

I have a mountain of stuff to do a car boot sale with but each week I look at the weather and it has been awful on Sundays. I have had a look for this Sunday and it is rain again:(

I have been thinking about my goals for July and they are going to be:

1. Keep to the food budget.

2. Keep to the petrol budget.

3. When I have finished sorting out the garage, I want to sort and declutter my bedroom, my sons bedroom and my daughters bedroom. Any stuff that is ok is going to be put on ebay.

4. Do two car boot sales to try and get shot of any stuff that I am not going to list on ebay.

5. Keep meal planning.

6. Pay £1000 off my credit card bill.

Any way must go as I have so much to do.

LBM

try_harder

Well done lbm you are doing amazingly well ,i have several targets but normally fall short on one or two but you inspire me to keep trying.Ebax can be very useful ,i sell very steadily with a target of £10 a day or £70 a week and i am so happy if i achieve this ,it all adds up quickly .I am trying very hard to declutter and try to find one item from upstairs and one from down every day then decide cs bin or ebax,that is the plan anyway.Have a goo day and keep on doing what you are doing .

LightBulbMoment

Hi Try Harder

Thanks for stopping by. Ebay is great for getting shot off all the stuff you dont need. However, it really is very time consuming. I feel like I have a full time job working for ebay at the moment. But I should not complain. Keep going we will both have a reduced credit card bill and lovely decluttered houses. I cannot wait.

My only problem with it is what I am going to do when the house, shed, loft and garage are decluttered. Now that does panic me a little as I wont be able to make lots of over payments. I am trying to come up with some ideas to start when this time comes.

I have worked out I have paid 8.33% off since I started this diary, so it really is helping me along my way. I have not used my credit card now for two months and it is located safely in a draw at home and not in my purse, so I cannot use it when I am out and about.

Take care everybody. Try Harder I am going to pop and ready your diary to see how you are getting on and catch up on your activity.

Take care

LBM

LightBulbMoment

Hi Everybody,

I was sat thinking yesterday about different ways to save some extra money from our household budget. I have decided to look at everything we use when I am using it and see if:

a. I can buy to cheaper,
b. Can I make it last longer.

For example. I buy my dogs dried food and I purchase one bag each week costing £3.49. I have started adding the bits of chicken that nobody eats to there food and veggies and they both love it. Instead of walking into the kitchen at tea time and looking at their dishes they both run in because they love it. Adding this extra stuff does not cost anything but it reduces my shopping bill down as I buy one bag every two weeks instead of one a week. The way I am looking at it is the annual save not just the weekly one.

I hope this makes sense.

Has anybody got any good ideas along these lines as I think any ideas may help other people out as well.

Take care everybody

LBM

try_harder

Hi lbm ,what a great idea ,im afraid i have become very frugal i do exactly the same as you with my dog and cat ,i have always done this and my last dog was 17 when he died so was my cat ,they survived well on it .I also water down the ecover laudry liquid two thirds liquid one third water then shake and still only use two capfulls per wash ,washing still all comes out lovely and clean.I save all the stalks and left over vegs cut them all up in a pan cook then add a 35 pence tin of lentil soup my husband loves it we have it with a slice of brown bread for our dinner and its very good full of vegetables .Would be good to see what other things people do to make food etc go further.

System

Hi,
Love your diary!
Just wanted to comment on the 'life after ebay' - and acknowledge that it is really difficult - we've been clearing out for years and there's really not much left (or what is left to get rid of is such a nightmare to list i keep putting it off!)

Are you using Topcashback before you buy anything, or sign up for any new deal? I'd really recommend it. I've just changed our phone and broadband provider from BT to SSE - going to be paying £25 a month, rather than £45, and I got over £100 cashback - that's all going off the debts (when it comes in). if you have to shop, presents etc, I do all the searches to find out where to get it cheapest and then see if I can also get cashback.

It's definitely worth reviewing all your packages / services e.g electric etc as you may make get a better deal. I keep a track of all my contract end dates and then start the research about 1 month before so i can get the best deal (and cashback) when i make a switch.

I'm thinking about doing some current account opening to get switching deals - but I'm not sure it's worth the hassle!

There's a good post on the DFW challenges board about clearing debt 1% at the time - with 100 ways to do it - some ideas at least to mull over, but none of it seems particularly easy and is mostly time consuming http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4473043

Following your thread so be good to see what everyone else is doing!

Thanks Ramble

LightBulbMoment

Hi Everybody

Thank you Try Harder and Ramble for your comments.

Try Harder - I am going to try your idea of watering down the laundry liquid and fabric conditioner. I have started to look at everything I use and try and do this, as I am looking at it from an annual saving and not just a few pounds each week. We will come up with some other ideas as we go along!

Ramble - Thank you so much for your comments. I am a member of Quidco and do use it alot when I purchase anything on line. I have also been through everything we have gas, electricity, phones, broadband, tv, and when the insurances are due I have done so many comparisons it is crazy to make sure I have a good price.

I do still have a lot of stuff to list on ebay but do know that this avenue of revenue will come to an end at some point. I am going to have to really get my thinking cap on and try and come up with some ideas to start so that the extra cash that I am generating does not stop.

I think this is all about:

1. Being organised,
2. Looking after the money you earn and do not waste it,
3. Try to raise some additional cash to make extra payments on the C/C.
4. Try to have the money on 0% deals.

I have sold another two items on ebay yesterday, so I have posted them and paid of the remaining money of my credit card.

Take care everybody

LBM