ATB'S Frugal Foray to Freedom

shangaijimmy

Hmmmm.... I'll just say that it sounds intriguing :cool:

themadvix

Great news about the non-payer! Hope you get the other thing resolved today.

atypicalblonde

themadvix wrote: »

Great news about the non-payer! Hope you get the other thing resolved today.

Thank you, me too. It has rumbled on for months now and quite frankly I could do without the hassle!

DH has no work today and is at home. He is grumpy as it means no money coming in; I try to remind him that he works sooooo hard he is allowed the rest! That said, I have given him a list of household jobs to do so he has trundled off to Screwfix!

Lunch and dinner will be from the stores, and we will light the fire soon I think as the wind is really whipping round the house.

Best crack on, have brilliant MFW days all xx

atypicalblonde

Well I am delighted to report that the remaining life niggle has finally been sorted today :):) I honestly can't describe the relief I feel! As such have been a bit giddy this afternoon, and am now worn out and in bed.

In MFW news, today was a very low spend day (cereal and milk), and I plan on taking the cash out tomorrow that we need for our Friday night jaunt away. That way, when I log onto online banking tomorrow night, everything should be up straight and my actual balance will correlate with my available balance (it does niggle me that FD don't list what debit card transactions are pending out of your account, Lloyds can manage it in hubby's business account so why can't FD, who are so good in all other areas?)

Busy day head tomorrow, as well as work I am going volunteering, to collect some more freebie kindling wood from local chap and need to fit in a swim and walking the dog at least once. Steps are only at 12k today and as I aim for at least 15k a day am cross with self.

Right, my new (library ) book is calling, goodnight all x

atypicalblonde

Morning All,

Just a quick check in from me before I go volunteering. Had a lovely swim this morning, only managed 15 lengths but I am trying to build my fitness up each time. Only at 5k steps so far though :eek:

Need to head out for an hour now then will be home for lunch and to crack on with work. Will sort an OP too

greent

atypicalblonde wrote: »

greent - please don't think me a complete weirdo but I am actually in the process of reading your diary from the beginning! It has been motivating me these past few days

C4C bags netted us £18 which I am mightily :j about. Need to pay that and some other cash into the bank tomorrow, then will shuffle it into the pot. Also sold one of DS baby items to a friend, so that is £10 to shuffle.

If we keep up the savings and selling as are doing, we will be at 5 figures by our diary anniversary at the start of February

Currently waiting to live chat with Sky - our contract has come to an end and I want to re-negotiate....

ETA - our Sky package was due to go up to £55 at the end of the month. We do use it a lot, especially for Movies and kids shows, so was keen to renegotiate and stay with them. Negotiated a reduction down to £35 per month

Glad someone has found my witterings motivating! :rotfl:

Great recent results on ebay/ facebook sales - I have a massive box of Oct0nauts (some with boxes) I need to get listed next week so they hopefully sell before Xmas!

atypicalblonde wrote: »

Struck gold in a charity shop today - got some Disney Store disney princess dresses for £1 - result!

I do feel a bit flat about our journey though. The mountain still seems so high to climb - will we ever get there? The need to get into 5 figures to make it psychologically easier is huge x

Fab dressing up finds! They'll re-sell nicely on ebay/ facebook (and at a profit!) when you've finished with them too

Look at what you've achieved in such a short space of time already - sometimes we're in such a hurry to get to the next hurdle that we don't appreciate just how far we've already come

atypicalblonde wrote: »

The postman today brought us a tax refund cheque for £280, thanks HMRC :j (it's very very rare I say that!). The most exciting bit, though, was when I told DH and his response was 'well why don't you make that lump sum OP you've been wittering about, and the taxman is basically paying the penalty amount' :money:

Well I nearly fell off my chair that DH has a) actually been listening to all of my wittering :rotfl: and b) that he didn't just say 'ooooh, free money, lets go out for a meal / go shopping /'. How his mindset has changed! He's always been on board but in a kind of 'you sort it all out dear and I'll just nod my head and go along with it' way.

As I said up thread, the psychological need to be under £100k is huge for me. Don't ask why, it just is. Something to ponder on tomorrow that's for sure x

Yeay for tax rebates - and for OH's getting on board!

The move from 6 figures to 5 is more than just the couple of £ to take you there - I totally get the psychological need for that one x

Glad to hear all life niggles are now sorted
x

atypicalblonde

As is often the case as Christmas draws closer, the time just seems to be zipping by and I haven't had as much chance to post.

November was very much a money-leaking month; so much to pay out for, but December is looking much calmer. All presents are done and wrapped, we don't send Christmas cards and in-laws have bought Christmas jumpers for the kids so we didn't have to!

OP made of £820 this morning. By my estimation, when we take on a new 2 year fix next year (which will be our final mortgage product if all goes to plan!) our LTV will be such that we will be able to get the best rate on offer. Happy days.

Will make another OP tomorrow, best shake a leg now and get myself to school Christmas fair!

atypicalblonde

Today will be a NSD, and I am just about to make another OP. It is blowing a gale here and verrry cold, but I must head off shortly to go volunteering.

Nothing too exciting to report from ATB towers, just keeping on keeping on! x

atypicalblonde

Made an OP of £1k, then a friend transferred £50 to me which they owed so that has been OPd too. Although I'm fully aware I'll incur a small penalty for OPing between now & January, I just don't care
- the psychological benefit of OPing is far greater for me.

Will squeeze in another dog walk before school run time (the school day seems so short sometimes!) to get daily steps almost to 15k :T

shangaijimmy

Good step count! After our morning walk (the pooch is now exhausted and keeps sighing as he is only little) i'm at 10,500. So am gonna head out early to school run and push pram around the village a few times!

Such a renegade approach to OPing - love it!!