What small DFW things will you do this week? w/c 09/01

FatVonD

I'm always amazed at what people will buy LuckyPenny, like posh carrier bags, really?? Which reminds me, I need to list my 'limited edition' Oyster card :rotfl:

I'm still in bed, DS went out last night and didn't get back until the early hours whereupon he and GF decided to cook. I can sleep through pretty much anything apart from DH's tutting and huffing and puffing though to be fair he was the only one that had work today.

I need to do a shop today, I will maybe get some nice curries to stop us getting a takeaway later which seems to be our only vice. I said to DH the other day that we need to cut back and he said 'on what, we don't DO anything anyway' which is true but we do need to cut back on takeaways.

It seems to always be so hard to make money and so easy to spend it. I seem to have to graft to make a small profit on eBay and then, if I buy something it's all gone in one fell swoop. It's so much more sensible (and easier) to just hang onto the money you had in the first place than to try to make some more (that's the theory done, sadly I fall down on the putting it into practice.)

I will keep an eye out for any good boxes today, I will need one for sending books off plus DSS and his GF and baby are moving house next weekend and we're going over tomorrow to help with packing. I think we still have a couple of proper big ones in our garden store from when we moved. DH is going to move them in the cab next week, I'm loathe to offer to bring my car too (it's a Doblo, so a van derived car) as I don't want the inside getting scratched or scuffed as it's my baby at the moment :rotfl:

Have a good day everyone

Bagpuss741

Today I have/will:

1. Checked online banking
2. NSD
3. Phoned QVC to see how many easy payments are left on my 2 orders (Have finished one and have one payment on the other which is due next week)
4. Phoned Tesco credit card as was locked out of my online banking and hate not being able to check my account.
5. Set up direct debit for Tesco credit card
6. Meals from stores
7. Listen to Casefile podcast
8. Read free book
9. Set budget for next week
10. Give myself a manicure as I'm growing my nails.
11. Update laptop and scan with free antivirus
12. Updated signature
13. Update spreadsheet

1LuckyLady

Sorry not read all the posts but short on time, DNMS, my parents and sis are all with autoaid after Martins recommendation. My sis has called them out 2 or 3 times and got the money back very quickly so they would definitely recommend.

1LuckyLady

Afternoon all,
Well we've had another plumber from the same firm come out to look at the radiator, had a fiddle and left with it still not working :mad: I now need to ring them on Monday and find out what they are going to do next.
Todays list
* YS bread for toast for this mornings breakfast
* Had to take my niece home whilst hubby stayed in the plumber so whilst out I called in at co0p and got a nice little ys haul!
2 xmas gingerbread biscuits on a stick £1.25 down to 1p
10 Malteaser reindeers 65p down to 1p
A panettone £5 down to 5p
2 packs of frozen vegetable spring rolls £2+ down to 2p
1 pack of frozen custard slices £2+ down to 2p
4 bags of frozen cocktail sausage for 2p
:)
* Candles lit for a bit of warm, extra layers and blankets at the ready
* Edited online shop for tomorrow and got it to £40.01
* Reading and supervising homeworks with kids

To do
* Check spreadsheets/banking
* Check fpl/lukcyphone/numberplate
* Board games with kiddo 1
* Wordsearch with kiddo 2
* Films & nibbles with the kids later on

Not a lot mse wise but might think of more in a bit

Lottebear

So this week I have in the interest of reducing spending and saving;

Spoken to the garage about my car, I think I maybe be exchanging it to a new car and handing back my current one, the deal is good only minimal deposit from me and would allow me to budget for another 3.5 years. My current deal has run out so I need either buy the car or exchange it. I am seeing them next week to confirm the deal.

- Taken lunch to work 3 out 4 days
- Cooked at home each day - not sure what is for dinner tonight so I need to sort something - Personally food outside of the home is my biggest unbudgeted expense.
- I have been tempted to book a short break but until the car is sorted I will wait as this is very much a nice to have.
- Pennies in the jar.
- Booked my daughters birthday party - again although not until July, I have booked what she wanted and it has allowed my to fix the cost and numbers.
- Along the same theme, she has asked for a bike for her birthday so I have found one locally for £25 instead of £60 new, so I messaged the seller to arrange payment/collection.

carrielovesfanta

Lottebear wrote: »

- Cooked at home each day - not sure what is for dinner tonight so I need to sort something - Personally food outside of the home is my biggest unbudgeted expense.

This is the thing that me and my OH have found the hardest. It's a shame because we are both good cooks! We often find it hard to make time to meal plan and shop. Since the end of December we have been following a meal plan that we downloaded. This seems to be working really well for us so far, because all we have to do is shop each week. Also the recipes are a bit different for us so I think we're looking forward to them more.

We haven't been out for dinner since we started it

Going forward, we are going to keep several week-long plans and just pick one each week. We can also keep a shopping list attached to the plan so that we don't have to write it out (OH quite bad at this).

HTH

ziggy2407

Good Afternoon all

Today's list

Check Bank - Done
Return to shopping centre to get refund as over charged - No joy, so have sent email to head office
Sweep front yard and steps - Done
Washing -
Re-arrange DS's room - Done
Remove banister rail and fill wall - Done
Enter a few comps -
Continue purge on emails -
Check: Ashleigh, FPL, Numberplatelotto and Lucky Phone -
All meals from cupboards/fridge/freezer -
Read -

Have a great weekend all.

C x

LuckyPenny

determined_new_ms wrote: »

argh don't know what to do! Looking at breakdown cover I could get autoaid full cover for £43 or rac basic cover for £22. What do you guys have?

I was with the AA for years, but last year I switched to Autoaid. When I googled it Autoaid came up with some good reviews. I bought it using Quidco cashback. I get really annoyed by AA and RAC the way they auto renew and don't reward loyalty. The only good think was that you could get discounts with your AA card at Moto service stations.

foxgloves

Hello Saturday Savers,
Today I've been out for the 1st time since getting flu on 28th Dec. And where did I go on this great occasion? Sainsbury's!! Really enjoyed just getting back to normal after wasting all of New Year & half of January on that bloody lergy! A bit of money saving today:
*Treated ourselves to a bacon roll & coffee while we were out. Inexpensive & we used our 'Personal Spends' so no impact on the budget.
*mf found a lovely big white linen shirt on the sale rail for £7. Had taken Clothes Piggy cash with me just in case, so used that. Just shows how you have to properly pick over a sale rail, as the rest of it was dross. I don't know how this fab shirt got missed.
*Did grocery shopping - we came in at £7.50 over budget, but I am not disappointed with that, because it included a big box of cat meat which will last the beasticle for 3 weeks and a kilo of stewing steak from the local butcher, 3/4 of which has gone in the freezer for future meals.
*Bought M-i-L's birthday gifts.....Sainsbury's Home dept had some really nice things & we found something we think she will really like. I had brought Presents Piggy cash with us, but ended up adding it to our trolley & doing a funds swap later, as we realised that if we paid altogether, we'd be elligible to use the 5 x nectar points coupon which we were given when we paid for mr f's shirt.
*As I haven't been out all month, I have plenty of 'Personal Spends' left for January, so I treated myself to a magazine. I love monthly Personal Spends. It means I can have little treats completely guilt-free or can save some of it towards something bigger another time. This helps both the overall budget, but also helps us personally, as both mr f & I have been big silly spenders in the past. Back in the Spendy Decades, I used to buy magazines 4 at a time, all glossy monthly ones, & several times a month. I can't imagine what I must have spent on them! I now have this one new one by my side & when I've signed out of here, I'm so looking forward to sitting by the fire with a cup of tea & naughty puss to read it.
*Updated grocery budget.....one more grocery shop to do & £50 left, so that should be fine, though must remember my nephews are coming to stay next weekend.
*Paid this morning's grocery spend straight off our CC, which we use solely for accruing points for vouchers.
*Did quite lot of surveys. Hoping to cash-out on Toluna next week.
*mr f is cooking a new recipe tonight.....a Bengali fish curry. Sounds really nice, & quite low calorie too. If we like it, it could well be another of those useful tasty recipes which make good 'fake-aways'.
*Did not get suckered into buying YS items which weren't really money-saving. So much YS stuff seems to be things like coleslaw & other ready-made salad, pies, cream cakes, ready-made party-type nibbles, which are just not the sort of stuff we buy. Checked the bread YS offerings as well, but items were either all too processed or not enough money knocked off. I think 10p loaves (local Co-op after 9pm), almost out of date Co-op bread flour (30p) & Waitrose bagged up butcher counter items have been the best value for us. Does anyone really buy those shonky old dented random tins with the labels hanging off when they are only reduced by about 15p? (Just adding me two pennorth to the YS debate there)
*Knit more sock. I am up to foot shaping on the 1st sock of the 3rd pair. It dawned on me last night that next weekend, I will see a friend of the people they are for. If she can deliver them, that will save me postage costs (thus maximising profit). Will need to knit like crazy to get the order finished, but I'm going to give it my damnedest.
*Filled up car with diesel while we were in next town. Fuel is always cheaper than in our own town.
OK, that's me. Lovely to read everyone's posts. Take care all,
F xx

FatVonD

I've just added some more books to my WBB order which has brought it up to £42.10 :T I think some of them may eventually have gone for more on eBay but no guarantee that they'll sell even so I'm going with the 'bird in hand' approach.

I did my supermarket shop, it was around £70 which I know is a lot more than many of you spend but this included a big box of cat food and lunches for myself and the teens for next week.

DH and I may go through his CDs tonight though he gave a lot to eldest DSS when we moved (and he sold them, he is the most sensible of the lot of us, something I would never have foreseen myself saying 10 years ago!) I don't think I have any worth selling.

I've just checked our loyalty points and by the end of Feb we will have enough to swap for £200 worth of restaurant tokens. DSD's mum is arranging a big meal out for DSD's 18th birthday with us and all the kids and their partners. Location is up for discussion at the moment and I'm trying to persuade DH to suggest somewhere we can use the tokens. I don't mind putting them towards the whole bill so we all save a little but not sure the usual Zlzzi/Cafe Red chains are what DH and ex Mrs DH have in mind.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday!