The Long & bumpy road - Natlou's 'I will be debt free diary'

blueneleh

Hiya,

Welcome to the board. :hello:

Do you know if you have any hairdressing training schools around you? This is a good money saving option!
I'm not sure where you live, but here in London they print vouchers in the free 'Metro' paper for free haircuts and colours at the Vidal Sassoon training school. I've been a few times and you can be there for some time (sometimes up to 3 hours) but they do really good cuts and colours and always have a mentor with them guiding them through everything.
It's always good to get a last year student as they are about to qualify so are a lot quicker!
If you don't have a voucher it is still cheap at about £10 I think.
You could enquire around your way and see if any do something similar?
Just an idea!:D

Natlou_2

Thanks Blue - its worth enquiring about, although up here we aer a bit behind the times so I doubt there will be anything as sophisticated as Vidal Sassoon!

blueneleh

Sometimes local salons do it aswell with their trainees. Worth enquiring about, although if I was you I'd check this out with someone else who has had it done just in case it was a disaster! :rotfl:
There is some confidence in knowing it's Vidal Sassoon!

Natlou_2

Believe me, it can't look any worse than it does at present - now where's my hat? ....:rolleyes:

Natlou_2

Well another day under the belt, albeit a rotten one - freezing cold and chucking it down with rain too, but I refuse to put the heating on (oh all right then OH refuses to put the heating on for me!) So Im sat here writing this with thick woolly socks on and a fleece on, with the hood up. It doesn't help that we live in a 100 yr+ old house which has wooden floorboards, open chimneys and a crap heating system. The boiler is about 15 years old, and when we moved in last December, our first heating bill which was for the period 15 Dec - 13 Feb was over £350!!!:eek:
We have done some work to make the house a bit cosier, i.e laying a carpet and blocking up a chimney in one of the rooms which is now the boys bedroom
but we have just had some quotes for a new boiler and they are coming in at around £3700:eek:
Anyway - On the plus side, I have some nice chicken legs in the oven which I defrosted last night for me and OH (as there were only 2) and Ive told the kids its a freezer tea, as theres loads of stuff in there which wants eating, so they will probably have a combination of fish fingers/chicken dippers etc!
I am going to try and list some stuff on ebay tonight if I get a chance and Im just busting to update my sig, but I cant do it yet cause Im waiting for some money to come through from OH last job which needs to be paid back off.
I feel like my motivation has dropped a little this last week or so, I don't know what's to blame, does anyone else go through weeks like that? - Perhaps to motivate myself I should start a 'buy a boiler for winter' challenge!

Natlou_2

Feeling quite pleased with myself as Ive just managed to list 5 things on ebay and Ive got the kids old X-box on there which is currently up to £21 and due to end today. I sold a few bits during the week which came to about £50, so Ive transferred that to another account as I know our gas and electric meters were read last week, meaning a bill is sure to be on its way, and I don't have any money put aside for it. I need to do my Tesco online shop today as well, Ive found the 'discount code' thread invaluable over the past few weeks and have managed to save about £7 each week, just by entering a code. Its pretty hopeless though trying to do anything on the computer with my little one around, she keeps trying to climb up on me and bash the keyboard with her little fists! - maybe I'll wait until she has a nap until I attempt it, and I may just look at the old style board first to see if theres any inspiration for tasty and cheap meals. Whats everyone else up to today?

Natlou_2

Hi everyone!

Todays spends include:- £4.79 for a whole chicken for tea (cant do a tesco onlilne shop as I have no money till Thursday - so taking one day at a time) - we had the chicken with some gravy & stuffing both from the storecupboard, yorkshire puds and winter roasting veg from the freezer and courgettes (72p bought today) I also bought some shampoo for OH (£1.85) he moans about using my girly stuff, and £1 on some 'manly' shower gel for my 2 boys aged 7 & 9 - ditto moaning about using my stuff - must get it from OH!
On the plus side, banked 2 cheques - £95 received from the Halifax which was a refund for a mortgage exit fee paid in 2005 (thanks Martin) and a cheque for £250 from the local council which was payment from when we put up one of the flood victims in July for a week.
We had another quote in today for the new boiler which was the cheapest quote yet at £1770 - the others have been around £3700. Im in two minds whether we should go ahead and do it even though it will mean using the dreaded cards, if youve read my previous posts you will know that the current boiler is at least 15 years old and last winter (our first in this house) our gas bills were sky high.
I really enjoy reading others debt free diaries (particularly Hypno's and Ben bens) and I picked up a tip from BenBen to read my electric meter and compare a weeks normal usage with a week when I purposely try and cut down. So the meter was read at 9am yesterday and Im going to do the same next Monday.
Nothing else much to report - I was in hospital last Thursday/Friday for an operation - coincided with the AQA questions dropping in my in box so didn't get round to it - I think its too late now, as it did say 48 hours which is a shame - never mind!

Natlou_2

Really must try and have a push on ebay too, we have loads of stuff that I keep putting in the spare room, which we need to empty as it will be DD's new bedroom after christmas - we are going to decorate it and move her in when she's ready to go into a bed. I have read on here though that E bay is a bit quiet at the moment - anyone noticed that?

Natlou_2

Hi Tustastic - thanks for your reply - We have got 5 quotes for the new boiler and they are all corgi registered, wouldn't have it any other way - OH could technically do it as he trained as a plumber, but since he's not corgi registered he wont touch it - we're very sensible here!
The quotes do far have been:-
1. £2240
2. £3800
3. £3700
4. £1770
5. We are waiting for number 5 to get back to us.

I know number 4 seems cheap, or is it that the others are extortionate? - Number 4 is an older chap, nearing retirement and OH says he knows his stuff as OH knows what questions to ask.
But thanks for the link anyway, I will double check on the website that they are actually registered before we choose, as I suppose we only have their word for it!
Natlou x

tealady

Hi Tustastic and welcome. Just a few thoughts. Re the house thats up for sale, have you considered renting it out for a while? Als as your OH sounds good at building work could he hire himself out as a handyman (put a card in your own shop window perhaps). Make sure you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled to and check out cost of insulation for your house (the loft can be a DIY job). Also check your gas and electricity tarifs (via a cashback site of course!)
Keep plodding on, use babysteps as peeps on here will say. There are loads of moneysaving tips. Sorry if this post seems a bit random, its just that i let my mind wander and one day it's not going to come back so I have to keep an eye on it if you know what i mean.