Dreaming of financial freedom!

ch4rly2002

Yesterday we made it past our £10k savings target! I am so happy with that as I never thought we'd manage it, never mind in only 8 months. Although I am really excited that we made it to our target, I still have £3500 on a 0% credit card that will need to be paid off next year before they start charging interest, so I'm going to increase the target to £13,500 so that when that bill needs to be paid off we can remain at £10k emergency savings. It'll be a tough stretch, but goals are there to help challenge us to achieve greater, so why not?!

I am doing quite well on the eBay front at the moment. I've managed to keep motivated to list, and a lot of items have been selling. Long may it continue!

I was offered a new position at work yesterday. Sadly, it doesn't include the promotion that I've been promised for over a year, and therefore no pay rise (boo!), but it sounds like an interesting role that I will learn a lot from and I'll be working with my mentor whom I really respect and get on well with so it's got its positives. I've been doing this role for the last 4 years and it has changed from a role where I had a lot of responsibility and was always busy to being a quiet role with less responsibility, so I have felt like I was starting to stagnate a bit, hence why my manager has been trying to get me a promotion. When he heard I was offered the position without a promotion he wasn't happy and said he would speak to his manager about it. I'm not sure if anything will come of it but if he can convince them to include the promotion then I will be a very happy bunny

I have been so busy in the evenings recently that this diary has been neglected, and I haven't had chance to keep up with the diaries I subscribe to, so I'm going to rectify that now! Have a good day, and expect more posts in future

Jessy103

Good to hear from you ch4rly! Congratulations on the job news and fingers crossed you get the pay rise you deserve! Any news on the move? x

ch4rly2002

Thanks Jessy. Still getting the house ready for sale. Hoping to get valuations next week. The roof on the front extension (above the porch, toilet and study extension) has been replaced and looks marvellous. Bad news is that it ended up at £140 more than we were originally quoted - apparently the tiles went up in price between being ordered and delivered. I would have argued it if I were the roofers, but hey ho, it's still a lot cheaper than the first quote and I'm sure it's a better job. We got rid of the creaky laminate in the hallway and porch, replaced by a lovely soft carpet in the hallway and an entrance matting in the porch, so I am a lot happier with that. We now have a few cracks to fill in and paint over, three doors need to be sanded and varnished, and a touch up of paint in the ensuite needed on the DIY front. The house is almost decluttered too so I am sure if we put some time in over the weekend we can have this done and ready for valuations/market.

I forgot to mention, I opened the Nectar app a few weeks ago expecting to see my £136 balance, and it was at £1! :eek: Turns out someone had somehow got hold of my account details and spent them online at Argos. Luckily Nectar said they would set up a new account and refund the points, plus 2000 points for the inconvenience. Today the new card arrived and I have changed the number on my ebay and Amex accounts so it's all good to go now. Just waiting for the key fob to be delivered. I haven't shopped at Sainsbury's since my old account got shut down as I don't want to miss out on points so it will be good to use the last of my vouchers there

I need to do my summary for July, so expect another update imminently!

ch4rly2002

Jul-17

Prolific Surveys £51.93
Crowdology Surveys £4.23
Pinecone Surveys £6.00
Survey Total! £62.16

TopCashBack £34.24
Husband's shares vested and sold £756.55
Freebie Total £790.79

eBay Sales (After fees) £14.20
Sales Total £14.20

Milestone: £10k paid off BTL mortgage since we started renting

Kittenkirst

Well
Done on all that work and for the fab job news. Fingers crossed they sweeten the deal with that promotion too

Also fab figures for Prolific and survey sites- you are doing really well!

themadvix

Great figures - I don't know how you have the patience for so much surveying (I think I'm having an off time with them at the moment though!).

ch4rly2002

Thanks guys. I was lucky with the surveys, I had a couple of higher value surveys last month that bumped it up a bit. I must admit, I am struggling with enthusiasm at the moment as well!

We crossed another job off our list on Friday. The shower in the new ensuite has been leaking into the study (a wet patch appears where the ceiling meets the wall and a bit further down the wall), and the bath had some marks where the shower head drips onto the sealant and it won't bleach off. There were also a couple of minor issues that probably wouldn't be noticed on a house viewing but you do notice when living here, such as the sealant coming away from the sink and hob in the kitchen and the cat flap having a big gap between it and the door. I rang a man that the in-laws recommended who does re-grouting and sealing. His website has a price list stating £35 per item so with 7 jobs for him to do I was expecting it to cost a fair bit but I've seen his work at the in-laws' house and it looks fabulous so I thought it would be worth the money. He came on Friday morning, did a cracking job (the shower no longer leaks, which was the main one for me) and instead of charging £245, he only charged £100 as his petrol and materials were covered with the initial £35 and it didn't take him much time to do them all. I couldn't believe it, what a great man and a great saving!

I've got another eBay parcel to post today. I've sold quite a few items recently, but I must admit, I haven't found the time to list anything else. Must try harder! Tonight I'm going to make an effort to list at least 5 new items

Jessy103

Great news about the sealing man!! x

ch4rly2002

Looks like it's going to be another sunny day here in Yorkshire. I was sat looking enviously out of my study window all day yesterday while stuck inside working.I did take Grandma shopping last night though so I got to go out and drive in the sunshine. We had a good trip... she's having a new kitchen soon and spotted a new slow cooker and hot water dispenser (you fill with water and press a button to get a cup of hot water, looks just the job for her) that she liked while we wandered past the clearance section. We did a big shop then we went home and I put the shopping away and then we had the usual cup of tea, cream bun and chat I must say, the cup of tea was very welcomed. It had been a looong trip, but I really enjoyed it. Afterwards she gave me £40, which was very kind of her but way too much. I was talking to mum about it and she said my Grandma is a very proud woman and doesn't like to feel she owes anybody anything, and she would have paid someone to assist her with shopping if she didn't have someone and she would much rather give the money to family. I see the logic, but it's just frustrating when it's so much and she won't let me only take part of it because then I feel bad for accepting it. Families, eh?!

Really must pull my finger out and finish these last few jobs to get the house ready for sale. I just can't seem to find the time or motivation. We're going to see the in-laws tonight then we're over in North Yorkshire tomorrow evening so I have a feeling it won't get done until the weekend, and if that's the case I'll ring the estate agents on Monday.

OnePoll and Prolific seem to be very quiet at the moment. I guess Prolific is academic research so maybe very quiet due to the summer holidays. I'm hoping it picks up again when term starts. I've given up on YouGov, it just takes too long to get anywhere with it, so I've bunged all the points into the prize draw. Fingers crossed, but I won't be too sad if I lose them all. OnePoll is currently at £17.35, so slowly making some good progress there.

That's pretty much it on the money front at the moment. Dad seems to be sleeping more and more nowadays and is only awake a few hours a day. It's harder to get across to see him as he used to be up until 2:30pm, but now he goes to bed about an hour earlier than that. It looks like he's coming to the final stage, where he will be bedridden and sleep most of the time. It is a dreadful thought, but it might be kinder for him if he sleeps through it. He can't have his tinned fruit anymore as he chokes on it (he chokes on almost everything now) so mum had a great idea and bought some baby food fruit pots and he absolutely loves them. We haven't told him they're baby food and have just labelled them "fruit pots" so the carers don't accidentally let on to him as we don't think he'd eat them if he knew they are baby food. Mum also (hopefully) has had a win. The continence service have agreed to provide dad with pull up pants. They provided what looks like a nappy that you assemble and seal round the person but they came off dad very easily (and he had a habbit of pulling them off) so mum took to buying him Tena pants (they're £12 a pack, or £79 if she buys a few packs in bulk). I dread to think how much mum has spent on them in the last couple of years. She won't get as many pull ups provided for him as they're more expensive than the nappy type, but if it saves her buying one pack a week that will still be a help to her. She does so well providing for Dad and putting him first when she only has a tiny work pension and his pension. I know it was very difficult for her when she had to pay for his nursing home, the rent and all her bills, her food, his clothes, pull ups, bits to help with his illness and food when he didn't like or wasn't able to eat their food etc. and I think she's still paying it off now. She's my hero

Anywho, on a brighter note, as the sun is shining I'm going to make a cup of coffee now and enjoy it the garden before while I have a few quiet moments. Have a good day!

Jessy103

Sorry to hear about your dad ch4rly. Your mum is an inspiration!! x