Friday 22nd July - what small DFW things will you do today?

PurpleFairy26

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 28 June 2016.

PurpleFairy26

Morning all :hello:

It's Friday and payday :j:j but it does mean it's the last day of my hols will try not to waste it

Legomum well done on sorting your nieces room, I just about have the energy for my own house. Hats off to you.

Hope those naughty pets of CCL and foxglove are behaving. My moggy has *suddenly* decided he doesn't like the 'red' pouch in the box we buy. Been quite happy for the last 2 years. Well no one else will eat it so it's going down

For you gardeners out there some help please. I've a mint plant that I bought for 10p it's going great guns on the window sill and I use it and want to start using it more for mint tea but the leaves are only coming right at the end of the shoots meaning it's really tall with not much round it's bottom. Do I just strip a whole shoot and then cut it back to short? What the best way? Any help appreciated. Tia.

Anyway today's list:
Big banking shuffle and spreadsheet update - done
Paid balance of cc for items that I'd bought for protection only before any interest accrues
Text mum to say I've found a swimming costume for DD so she doesn't need to buy one
Hang washing out that dried overnight, another load on tonight
Make cake for DH birthday, just need to pop for a couple of bits but handily bought some ys treacle on Wednesday and have some stem ginger in my use up box
Meals from stores
Try and sort a drawer inside or shelf outsider garage
Couple of things off annoying thing list

I'm sure there will be more, I'll be back later. Enjoy your day.

allydowd

Hi July Joculants,

Thanks for the starter PF.

Day Five of Operation Get My Mind In Order. That's my priority today. The plan is to keep calm and carry on. A cliche, but true. There is nothing that can't be conquered with a huge plan.

Tiny DFW-style list.

Debt Free-Nillionaire Continuity Plan Year Two:

* Do RM Surveys.

* Go to work for 12 hours. Got work coming out my ears, nose and....pores at the moment.

* Take packed lunch. Leftovers.

Live long, live well and prosper.

allydowd

PurpleFairy26 wrote: »

Hope those naughty pets of CCL and foxglove are behaving. My moggy has *suddenly* decided he doesn't like the 'red' pouch in the box we buy. Been quite happy for the last 2 years. Well no one else will eat it so it's going down

Mix it 50-50 with something else? Feeding by stealth! Would cat be fooled?

determined_new_ms

Hi everyone and thanks for the kick off PF. Hope you squeeze every bit of fun/relaxation and bonvivonting out of your last days off!

Feeling very virtuous as got up at 5.40 so I could go to allotment before oh went to work. Finished 2.5 x 1m bed and planted 2 courgette plants and 15 french bean plants. picked 200gms red currents and have found a relish recipe to use them

Small things for the day:

* load of washing in machine. Will peg out when finished
* got rubber chicken out of freezer for courgette, broad bean & chicken pilaf for dinner tonight
* harvested runner beans, french beans and mangetout - going to chop and freeze these as won't be eaten today
* cut back foliage on a rogue bush that has sprouted between my greenhouse and brick walled bed in the garden...
* cut back some shrubs in the garden
* all meals from stores
* go through fridge/larder and make sure nothing goes ood!
* not sure if we'll have a day at home i(at the moment this is dgd's favoured option!), go to the zoo (and use membership cards) or go to the beach this afternoon as there are lots of "schools out" gatherings and a friend has invited us along....
* do pre-weekend house cleaning....
* photo some things to put on fleabay
* water greenhouse plants

Ok that's all I can think of for now! Happy Friday y'all x

ziggy2407

Good Morning All

PF - Thanks for starting us off today and enjoy every second of your last few days
Legomum - Well Done you, here's hoping your good example will rub off on your niece, she is very lucky to have you

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.

Another relaxing day planned:

Packed lunch for DH - Done
Check Bank - Done
RM Survey - Done
Take DS for haircut - Done
Return parcel to Next -
Go for a walk later with DH -
Tidy/Sort shelves in garage -
Pamper time @ home -
Read -
Continue purge on Emails -
Complete a few surveys -
Enter a few comps -
All meals from cupboards/fridge/freezer -
Check https://www.freepostcodelottery.com -
Check Lucky Phone/Ashleigh/Numberplatelotto -

Have a great day. Love to you all!

C x

crazy_cat_lady

Good morning all
Day 2 in the summer holiday house and I'm working through my busy list. Naughty tortie is still at the vet - not expecting her home until this evening with her eye watering vet bills. Everyone is having a lie in this morning so I've been enjoying a bit of time to myself with a cuppa and some leftovers for breakfast. Thankfully its still dry and a bit cooler today, and unsurprisingly the kids are keen to go pokemon hunting again so I think we'll be off for a walk in a while.
Other than that - here are today's plans:
:cool2: check banking and PAD
:cool2: finish latest crochet project
:cool2: walk out pokemon hunting
:cool2: our version of mins game (16 items today)
:cool2: load of washing out and dry
:cool2: nap if I need to
:cool2: get dd to cheer
:cool2: collect naughty tortie £££
:cool2: sort house insurance
:cool2: tax car
:cool2: car insurance quotes
:cool2: minimise spends
That will do - have a good one all!

foxgloves

Hello Friday Frugalistas,
Have enjoyed catching up on yesterday's & today's threads.
DawnW - Your puppy is the limit. I love the narrow range of climatic conditions under which he is prepared to walk anywhere!
PF - Mints always get leggy this time of year. Is there any growth at all around the base? If so, give it a haircut down to the new leaves & water it well. If it has sat in the same pot of soil for longer than 2 or 3 months, it would probably enjoy a bit of plant food too. Re fussy cats - my previous cat wouldn't have fallen for this trick in a month of Fridays but our current moggy can be ripped off by the carefully placing of 3 'Dreamies' vertically in his meat, so that only the top 1/3 of them is showing. He goes to the first one to sort of piggle it out, then discovers the meat isn't all that bad, really, & starts eating that too. They can just be damn fussy though. We had one who wouldn't eat any food in 'rabbit' flavour, despite the fact that's there is likely only to be about a microgram of actual rabbit in each portion. Yet he'd tuck into a lamb passanda. Crazy!
DNMS - Loving hearing about all the food you're growing. Gardening is so good for the soul....I find it really sorts my head out.......& that's much needed at times!
CCL - Your saga about 'Crisp-gate' did make me laugh. Surely he can't have eaten 14 bags to himself in a day, lol? If so, send him down here & he can go head to head with mr f in a crisp-eating challenge. mr f is a Crisp Monster but I reckon he'd struggle with 14 bags!
Enough chat, better get my list on.
f x

foxgloves

And here is today's list:
*Collected new loyalty swipe card from favourite indie coffee shop. It's going to work better than the old 'free coffee' when you've filled it with stamps thing, because the points have a cash value which can be used at any time towards anything the cafe sells, so could use on a lunch, drinks or anything.
*Local farming family had a stall on today's market - fab stuff, only 8 food miles, 1 bag for life brimful of stuff for £4.20.
*Moved some funds around to keep accounts straight - stuff like withdrawing cash to repay the Car Piggy (because I used it to pay the locksmith cash), etc.
*Updated grocery budget after doing final shop of July's budget. We have overspent the grocery budget by £24 this month (not unexpected as bought 3 bottles of wine ready for guests coming to stay & stocked up with stuff for my preserving season). My overall budget was 'out' by about £50 even taking into account having to pay the locksmith. I can see where this has occurred......the overspend on groceries, a small bill I forgot to include & a subscription I cancelled, but I didn't allow the minimum of 1 month's notice, so I have been charged a further month. Not too unhappy about this, as I shall make use of it. There is now an embargo on using our current account until after pay-day so that I don'f find we've slipped overdrawn. I spent 25 years permanently living out of my overdraft, so this shows how different my attitude is to money these days.
*Cleaned whole house using minimal products & recycled 'chuckable' rags for cloths. (To be fair, mr f vacuumed upstairs plus lounge, hall & bathroom as the Dyson is heavy on my dodgy arm).
*Soda crystals down bathroom basin. It's running v slowly again. Expect it's a build-up of all my facial unguents! Got to work on preserving my skin now I'm at a funny age..........
*Entered a competition.
*Did a few surveys.
*Did a Body Shop order. There's a 40% discount code at the moment & it also applies to some of their sale items. I'd intended only buying my skin cream plus a product mr f likes but also bought a couple of the large size shower gels for the present box. 750ml should be £12 each. They were £8 in the sale, but the discount code further reduced them to £4.20. I'm just flagging this up in case useful for anyone else's present-buying. Nothing is brilliant value if we can't afford it, I know, but these are the biggest size & nice quality for gifts (& I have a relative who is always in the shower, lol!)
*Water veggie garden, greenhouse & pick some parsley needed in tonight's meal.
*Knit some more of Mum's present.
*Did a bit more of the financial project I was recruited for via Ugov.
*Treating my SIX horrible mozzy bites with cheapo anti-histamine tablets from Aldi......they seem to work just as well as branded. I can't believe how much I used to pay for these! I seem to react badly to insect bites so I always have these tablets in during summer.
*Make tomorrow's packed lunch.
*2 odd finds today - one was a 5p which was in one of our big shopping bags. Neither of us had dropped one or handled coins over those bags so can only assume a random stranger had been unwittingly shedding money as s/he went around the shop. Then found a bar of chocolate in my handbag which I can vaguely remember buying but had forgotten to eat!!!!!!!!! Just imagine!! I have defo had too much sun!!
Have a nice Friday night, all.
F xx

determined_new_ms

foxgloves wrote: »

CCL - Your saga about 'Crisp-gate' did make me laugh. Surely he can't have eaten 14 bags to himself in a day, lol? If so, send him down here & he can go head to head with mr f in a crisp-eating challenge. mr f is a Crisp Monster but I reckon he'd struggle with 14 bags!
f x

No judging mrs f but I could EASILY eat 14 bags of crisps in one go!