On a Mission

Mummy_bear

Today has been mostly spent listing on 3bay.

I've listed loads. Already had and accepted an offer on an old Halloween Costume.

Really hoping everything else sells if only to declutter really. I literally have boxes and bags of clothes to get rid of. I use to donate them to the m&s shopping scheme but the local m&s has closed sadly.

The proceeds of any profits will go towards a few bits and pieces I need for the twins. Mainly some footmuffs for the prams as they're fast growing out of the carrycots. Also need another highchair. Will get this from 1kea.

MB

Mummy_bear

Can't wait for tomorrow when my targets start again. Always chomping at the bit to try and beat them and see our debt go down.

DH has brought his next Loan payment forward to the 6th or 8th of Oct I believe and then continue to have it come out around that time a month. His pay date in his new job is the last Friday of every month, rather than a specific date. All his outgoings used to come out between the 27th and 30th of each month. It meant that with the new pay dates being different each month there would be occasions where he'd have 2 lots of outgoings from the same pay. By shifting their dates over by a week or so and it avoids the issue.

Having more 3bay success. Got an offer through for one item and accepted as it's way more than I anticipated it to get to on auction. I'm really liking the option for bidders to make offers.

I've been thinking more about how I can save money and reduce waste to boot. With DH going back to work it got me thinking about his work lunches and the fact we used to always wrap our sandwich in tinfoil! Well from doing a bit of research I've found that making beeswax food wraps is super easy and cheap! So I'm ordering some beeswax from my 3bay earnings and I'm sure I have some cotton material lying and round the house to use. I'll keep you posted on how that goes and whether I resort to buying some already made beeswax wraps :rotfl:

Also found out that you can use N3ctar points at Arg0s. Never knew lol. I have £29 in there. So I did a Xmas shop using the 3 for 2 offer on at the moment. Reserved the items for payment and pickup today. Dare I say I'm almost done getting everything forthe kids.
I've also made the decision to not get the twins anything. They'll be 6 months old and will have use of the Tornado toddlers old toys anyway.

MB

Mummy_bear

Missing DH today. I've really enjoyed his company over the last 2 months. But alas, he's got a good job and today is his first day. He's sent a message on his break telling me all is going well. So happy for him.

Anyway, as today is the 1st of the month it's fresh targets.

Totals as of 1st October

Lloyds CC £5133.09
MBNA CC £3873.17
Barclaycard CC £462.5
Tesco Loan £7243.36
Santander Loan £4508
M&S Loan £5894.08


Total debt as of 1st October £27113.44
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monthly Challenge


Earn £30 payable from survey sites

£0/£30

VO is now up to £4.85
PA currently has £11.08 payable and £2.10 pending.
Onepoll currently has £22.80 in there.
Yougov currently has 2485 points in there.
E.Rewards currently has 4675 points in there.
Qmee has £00.09 in there

September was a particularly slow month with surveys. Hoping things pick up.

Reduce debt by £850 £0/ £850




MB

ChasingSunshine

Good to hear things are going well for OH today. Can imagine things are busy at home for you with the little ones and you are missing the extra pair of hands, hope it goes ok.

enthusiasticsaver

Mummy bear - I am so impressed that you have managed to reduce your debt by over £10k in a year where you have had twins, your DH was out of work and you were on maternity leave. Great that your DH likes his new job although I guess you may be busier than normal with just you looking after your brood. DH and I have spent the morning running around with our 3 year old DGD and we are all having quiet time now :rotfl::rotfl:. Goodness knows how we will cope with the six month old as well in a months time too but only two days a week.

Totally agree about not bothering with xmas presents for the twins too. They won't notice being so young. Will you do a small stocking for them so your older two don't twig that the babies don't have anything? You could wrap up old toys. I used to do that for my youngest for the first year or two after removing them from my eldest DDs toy box for a few months so she did not realise what I was doing.

Mummy_bear

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Mummy bear - I am so impressed that you have managed to reduce your debt by over £10k in a year where you have had twins, your DH was out of work and you were on maternity leave. Great that your DH likes his new job although I guess you may be busier than normal with just you looking after your brood. DH and I have spent the morning running around with our 3 year old DGD and we are all having quiet time now :rotfl::rotfl:. Goodness knows how we will cope with the six month old as well in a months time too but only two days a week.

Totally agree about not bothering with xmas presents for the twins too. They won't notice being so young. Will you do a small stocking for them so your older two don't twig that the babies don't have anything? You could wrap up old toys. I used to do that for my youngest for the first year or two after removing them from my eldest DDs toy box for a few months so she did not realise what I was doing.

From the moment I found out I was pregnant, even not knowing they were twins, I've been putting money away to cover outgoings including debt overpayments! I'm that desperate to be rid of it :rotfl:

DH being out of work for 2 months did put a dent in it but thank god the savings were there! It's certainly been even more of a wake up call for DH. I mean he obviously wants rid of the debt but I'm the driving force. For him he's fully understand the requirement for an emergency fund. Once his wage is established and we have an idea of his months incoming we're going to sit down and work through where it'll go. He's going to increase what comes to me to cover what was used in the mat savings. He'll have money left over for his own personal emergency fund. We do currently have a joint emergency fund. ...separate to my mat savings. Theres about £450 in there abouts the moment.

As for Christmas (hey :santa2: ) and the twins, I'd not thought about wrapping some old toys. The older two won't question why the twins haven't got anything.
The way we do Christmas is we tell the children we buy the presents and send them to father Christmas to bring on Christmas day. This explains why some kids in other families don't get as much as others etc. It also, hopefully, teaches our kids that we have to work hard for things we want etc. So they know that it's us getting them presents.
We do do Christmas eve treat boxes though so everyone gets new pj's etc.
My family will also most likely buy the twins presents. They can't understand my mentality

Also, first day in 2 months parenting alone went well. Long may that continue.

MB

Mummy_bear

More things sold on 3bay over the last 24hrs. Doing well there. Already spent the earnings on footmuffs for the pram and some beeswax. Looking at getting some second hand baby bouncers soon and I'll need another highchair come Christmas.
Have plenty to sell before then to make more money.


Totals as of 2nd October

Lloyds CC £5133.09
MBNA CC £3873.17
Barclaycard CC £459.5 £3 paid off
Tesco Loan £7243.36
Santander Loan £4508
M&S Loan £5894.08


Total debt as of 1st October £27113.44
Total debt as of 2nd October £27110.44
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monthly Challenge


Earn £30 payable from survey sites

£0/£30

VO is now up to £5.60
PA currently has £14.58 payable and £1.95 pending.
Onepoll currently has £22.80 in there.
Yougov currently has 2685 points in there.
E.Rewards currently has 4675 points in there.
Qmee has £00.09 in there

September was a particularly slow month with surveys. Hoping things pick up.

Reduce debt by £850 £3/ £850




MB

Mummy_bear

So DH has now completed 3 full days in his new job and finished late twice, getting overtime. It seems a really busy place and if a customer comes in 5 minutes before the end you deal with them until the end. DH is fine with this as it's helping him get used to the systems and policies etc. But also it's great for extra cash. We've had a chat and decided the earnings from overtime will go into savings.

DH currently has my old car..the money pit..The cause of my LBM. So in the long run DH will most likely need another vehicle or at least fix any future car problems.

DH has also told me his manager has had him in a meeting already and told him how impressed they've all been with him. DH is really struggling with accepting any compliments partly because of being let go in his last job with no sufficient explanation. I'm hoping he'll eventually learn to accept praise.

Onto debt busting. Just a small amount off the BC card to tidy up accounts

Totals as of 4th October

Lloyds CC £5133.09
MBNA CC £3873.17
Barclaycard CC £458 £1.50 paid off
Tesco Loan £7243.36
Santander Loan £4508
M&S Loan £5894.08


Total debt as of 1st October £27113.44
Total debt as of 2nd October £27110.44
Total debt as of 4th October £27108.94

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monthly Challenge


Earn £30 payable from survey sites

£0/£30

VO is now up to £5.60
PA currently has £18.63 payable and £2.49 pending.
Onepoll currently has £22.80 in there.
Yougov currently has 2685 points in there.
E.Rewards currently has 4675 points in there.
Qmee has £00.09 in there



Reduce debt by £850 £4.50/ £850




MB

abba1772

Hubby's new job sounds great glad it's going well for him xx

Mummy_bear

Today I've been to a diary reading catch up. I've subscribed to so many and tend to do catch up reads every couple of months or so. I absolutely love reading all the dfw diaries. It really does help my motivation and focus.

Went to the library yesterday and took out a couple of cook books. Looking at different recipes to try using up the freezer stash. Whilst looking through my freezer today I discovered where all the tupperware had gone :rotfl: there's frozen lasagne, chillis, stews think we're due a leftovers night lol

My SIL has given me a huge bag of boys clothes that her son has outgrown. So have also spent a portion of today going through DS current wardrobe of clothes and removing all that which no longer fits. it also dawned on me that 90% of his clothes I've never bought and have been handed down to me from both my SIL and sister :money: This will absolutely not last as the boys will all develop their own fashion style and DS may no longer be happy for the hand me downs. Waste not want not in the mean time.

My sister also has daughters, one being 18 months older than tornado toddler. Unfortunately tornado toddler is a beast child and despite not turning 3 until Jan is already full fitting into 3-4 clothes. So the hand me downs are not lasting!!

My beeswax has arrived and I can't wait to get making some beeswax food wraps this weekend. I'll update on how that goes.

Bye for now
MB