Sat/Sun 4th/5th June - What Small DFW-Style Things Will You Be Doing This Weekend?

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)
  
• Cooking On A Bootstrap, cheap recipes ( Link)
• eBid ( Link )
  
• Freecycle ( Link )
• Free Postcode Lottery ( Link )
• FreeStuff ( Link )
  
• FreeUKStuff ( Link )
• Income Tax Calculator (Link)
  
• i-Say Surveys (Link)
• List of online newspapers. At bottom of the linked page. ( Link )
• LuckyPhone free lottery with loyalty rewards (Link)
  
• Marriage Tax Allowance (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 )
• Wombling Guide (Link)
  
• You Need A Budget site and App (Link)

Checked 7 April 2016.

allydowd

Hi June Jubilatants,

Welcome everyone: established guru or newbie alike.

Having a day at home today doing zillions of Annoying Jobs. (Thanks for that inspiration Foxgloves.) I also can't bear to come back to a dirty/chaotic house after we've been away.


Debt Free-Nillionaire Continuity Plan Year Two:

* Home cooked breakfast.

* Did RM Surveys.

* Did the SIM card shuffle. Got loads of data left so will download free BBC Radio podcasts onto Kindle for holiday.

*Another free Spanish lesson from DW. Also recommend the Duolingo Android App. It's a language learning App and it's really fab, and free. There's lots of languages on offer. (Link) I find that it's more fruitful to barter in markets in the host language. :rotfl: Not quite sure what I'm going to do with the phrase "The bear does not fit through the door", though...answers on a postcard.

* Changed my mobile settings to prevent it continually updating Apps over our WiFi connection.

* Worked out why the BBC Radio App wasn't working on Kindle. Downloaded newer version of the App for free.

* Clear all emails.

* Enabled free Text-to-Speech function on DW's Kindle so it will read aloud her books.

* Withdraw some shrapnel from my PayPal account.

* Check all Loyalty card balances.

* Reconcile Finances Spreadsheet.

* Homemade security device to make it look as though we are home when we are not: Sitting room curtains are left two-thirds closed. A solar-powered garden light is taken from the garden and stood upright in a vase in the sitting room. It turns itself on automatically as darkness falls. The vase is placed in a position whereby the sun shines on the solar panel during the day and the light section is angled so that it illuminates the room. Cost: £0.

* Tightened a lamp with a screwdriver.

* Do own manicure.

* Devour/freeze all leftovers from fridge.

* DW made a double batch of chilli. Some for tonight; some to freeze and eat on the day we return. We'd run out of kidney beans so we used butter beans instead.

* Tied a couple of cable ties from Stores onto luggage so it's easier to identify at Baggage Reclaim.

* Upstairs cleaned with Stardrops and washable cloths.

* DW washed car at home; cheaper than taking it to the Petrol Station.

* Make a plant feeder for feeding my beloved fuchsia in our absence. (Link)

* Finish red wine. It would be criminal not to!

* Chill some water in much re-used plastic bottles to take to the airport tomorrow evening. They can then be recycled. Also assembled small packed snack for the airport.

This list will grow as I think of things.

How about you folks?

princess_pea

Thanks for starting Ally

6 hours overtime this weekend - going to spread them over 2 days
Only spends on milk and veg, no spending on anything else
Banking/ spending diary to check
SURVEYS!
Hoover and clean bathroom
Do some coursework
2 trips to the cinema this weekend with our unlimited cards
Walk to work and back both days for exercise and to save petrol

I'm considering selling my car so will need to try to get the dent out of the wing where someone must have bumped me :mad: I'm going to try the boiling water/ plunger trick - worth a shot!

allydowd

princess_pea wrote: »

I'm considering selling my car so will need to try to get the dent out of the wing where someone must have bumped me :mad: I'm going to try the boiling water/ plunger trick - worth a shot!

I used one of these kits years ago and it worked. The car was pretty much derelict so any improvement was worth it. (Link)

crazy_cat_lady

Morning everyone :hello: (just about). Thanks for the start Ally.
I survived 3 and a bit days away from home - without wifi as well, although dd didn't cope very well with it. :rotfl: Got back yesterday afternoon and within the hour it felt as though I hadn't been away. But I had missed dh and the cats, and the familiarity of home etc. Lots of catching up to do for the weekend though - so perhaps not too much frugal stuff but more of a 'to-do' list.
check banking and catch up with my money box PADs
go through my purse and sort out all paperwork and receipts
get the big online monthly shop done for delivery beginning of next week while dh is still off work
get the mountain of washing done
get kids to help with some housework
get at least 1 bag of rubbish collected and out
mark y10 books I had to bring home
exam marking
bit of crochet time
get ds to gymnastics
aim for nsd
start some meal planning
That will do for now. I must remember that these things take longer than I think they will.

Bobarella

Hi All

Small things so far:
1. Everyone had different things for lunch in the spirit of using things up. Mine was a portion of chilli and rice I'd defrosted the other day.
2. Walked to the supermarket. Shopped from list. Used coupons and loyalty card. Took advantage of the tinned tomatoes being on special at 25p per can again. Bought 2. Bought all basics brands and was able to get pasta, rice and spagetti for less than £2 in total. Buying these so cheap helps keep our weekly shopping budget low.
3. Started cleaning out the fridge this morning but got interrupted. Need to go back to that. Keeping the fridge clean and tidy means I dont waste food. I'd say ever but there is the very odd thing that still slips through (like the 1 segment of tinned fruit left to go mouldy) another good reminder to literally freeze every scrap!
4. Cycled an errand which saved £4 on the bus
5. Carry on with declutter an area every time I'm doing something else. Kettle on? Wipe down a cupboard. Or give the cutlery draw a quick going over.

Think thats it for me so far.

Bob

P.S welcome back CCL & Ally maybe that bear saying has some strange colloquial spanish meaning

ziggy2407

Good Afternoon All

Ally - Thanks for starting us off today, have a great holiday

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.

Well we've had a great start to our weekend, we went out for breakfast (a real treat), DS went out to meet friends so DH and I went to "Ladybower" and had a lovely 3 mile walk in the sunshine - was fantastic and we've promised ourselves (and each other) to get out more. Today I/we will:

Check Bank - Done
Read -
Pamper time -
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/Ashleigh/Numberplatelotto - Done

Have a great day and weekend, love to you all!

C x

Grandad's_Offspring

Rather than going to the carwashing place thingy I did it myself. One hour of thoroughly washing the car ))
I saved £12.
And I actually walked into Tesco for a baguette, bought one baguette and walked out without adding anything. I did do a little dance.

foxgloves

Sat/Sun 4th/5th FEB???? I think someone is de-mob happy, lol!!

Ally - I think that Spanish phrase could actually be potentially very useful. Your wife is a keen photographer, is she not? I am presuming at least a modest percentage of her camera kit has been packed ready for the holiday? Imagine this scenario. You spot a seductive little bar & decide to pop in for a glass of nicely chilled vino & a bit of tapas. You spot a large stuffed bear in the corner & immediately want your photograph taken alongside him. Your wife points out that the intetior light levels are poor, but this animal is such a superb example of taxidermy, you insist, as it will make such an awesome 'share' on Facebook. You approach the specimin, hoist him over your shoulder & head for the exit. Unfortunately, in your excitement, you failed to notice that this is considerably narrower than a full-grown adult male of the Ursus genus. You find yourself well & truly wedged as an increasingly bewildered crowd of locals look on. You start to wish you had requested a nice sedate photo by the hotel pool instead, but unable to move either backwards or forwards, all you can do is turn to the bartender & say "I'm sorry. THE BEAR WON'T FIT THROUGH THE DOOR"!!.......which just goes to prove that there is no such thing ss useless knowledge!!
F

allydowd

foxgloves wrote: »

Sat/Sun 4th/5th FEB???? I think someone is de-mob happy, lol!!

Ally - I think that Spanish phrase could actually be potentially very useful. Your wife is a keen photographer, is she not? I am presuming at least a modest percentage of her camera kit has been packed ready for the holiday? Imagine this scenario. You spot a seductive little bar & decide to pop in for a glass of nicely chilled vino & a bit of tapas. You spot a large stuffed bear in the corner & immediately want your photograph taken alongside him. Your wife points out that the intetior light levels are poor, but this animal is such a superb example of taxidermy, you insist, as it will make such an awesome 'share' on Facebook. You approach the specimin, hoist him over your shoulder & head for the exit. Unfortunately, in your excitement, you failed to notice that this is considerably narrower than a full-grown adult male of the Ursus genus. You find yourself well & truly wedged as an increasingly bewildered crowd of locals look on. You start to wish you had requested a nice sedate photo by the hotel pool instead, but unable to move either backwards or forwards, all you can do is turn to the bartender & say "I'm sorry. THE BEAR WON'T FIT THROUGH THE DOOR"!!.......which just goes to prove that there is no such thing ss useless knowledge!!
F

LOL. I have corrected it to June.

And as for the bear....I'm nearly crying with laughter...and so is the other Mrs Dowd. :rotfl: There's actually a famous pub not that far from here over at Loch Lomond with a stuffed bear...