What small DFW things will you do this week - w/c 30th April?

determined_new_ms

When we start out on the DFW trail we do loads of "big stuff" that makes quite a difference to our situation. These include having our lightbulb moment, cutting up the credit cards and cancelling Sky and the gym.

But once we have done the bigger stuff, we often feel that we are not making the same amount of progress, when in fact the small steps are helping us form good financial habits and helping us get closer everyday to staying in control and becoming debt free, or staying debt free.

Examples could be hanging washing out instead of using the tumble dryer or leaving your purse/wallet at home to avoid the risk of spending.

So be proud of those small steps, they really are important :money::money:

determined_new_ms

Morning gang hope you're all chipper. My word it is raining cats and dogs here! It was so cold last night we put the heating on! :eek:

Am excited about my day off today! As it's raining so much there is no being torn being the allotment and other things today Madam has after school club so I don't pick her up till 4.15, that extra hour really makes a difference!

* sow all the seeds that are due now
* go into the greenhouse and do some tidying
* make my peplum blouse
* housework hopefully can do a super speedy session like I did last week and get it done in a couple of hours
* will listen to podcasts while doing this
[STRIKE]* cook gammon joint[/STRIKE]
* make a big batch of couscous, veg and gammon and a salad for lunches for the next few days
[STRIKE]* make a sponge cake for madam's desserts/ pack up[/STRIKE] scrap this as have just seen there are 6 fairy cakes lo from when dd visited at the wkend :money: will pop 4 in the freezer
[STRIKE]* get portion of leek & potato soup out of the freezer for my lunch[/STRIKE]
* update spending diary & straighten accounts
* call the woman about the life ins - must do this today!

Ok that will do. Trying to not over stretch myself so I do the things I need/want to. Hope you all have a bright day

1LL I totally get that. It's been a real struggle for me to stop eating carp since xmas I have managed to break the cycle and am now starting to lose the 10lbs I put on. On my frame, being so titchy, 4lbs is a big deal. 10lbs is a couple of dress sizes. I've been following sl1mming w0rld, but haven't been going to any groups. I borrowed some books from a friend and have just used info online. I've found it great because you can eat unlimted amounts of lot of healthy foods (so I haven't been hungry) but limit the amount of sugar & fat. I am happy to send you info if you want to know more

allydowd

Hi April Awesomees,

Feeling very good this morning after an horrendous night at work Sat/Sun.


Debt-Free-Nillionaire Continuity Plan Year Three:

* Work very hard on my own mental health issues. Do Holistrio App.

* Check online banking and broadband usage. Top up broadband before I run out of credit and it gets expensive.

* Turned off alarm clock until tonight, it resets itself automatically.

* Rubber pheasant from local castle estate.
=Roast pheasant.
=Legs with salad
=Coronation pheasant toastie
=Stock made with frozen mushroom, pak choi and carrot.

* Repay £14 to DW I borrowed in a hurry the other day.

* Check DW's accounts.

* Play Scrabble online free. (Link) You have to watch a short advert video before each game.

* Breakdown cover quote arrived from StartRescue. Must thank DNM for this recommendation a couple of years ago. £49.50/year, that's a good quote for covering a 2002 car.

* Read meters, quarterly bill is due.

* Defrost batch-cooked homemade soup made from YS parsnips and YS "Finest" red peppers.

* Free birdwatching today under the Erskine Bridge at some wetlands.

* Check all loyalty points.


To live without risk is to risk not living.

allydowd

MONEY MAKING AND SAVING SITES AS OFTEN MENTIONED IN THIS FORUM:

• Benefits check-up (Link)
• Coupon Shop Forum list of money-off coupons (Link)
• Cooking On A Bootstrap, cheap recipes. (Link)
  
• eBid (Link)
• Freecycle (Link)
• Freegle (Link)
  
• Free Postcode Lottery( Link )
• FreeStuff (Link)
• FreeUKStuff ( Link )
  
• Income Tax Calculator (Link)
• i-Say Surveys (Link)
• Jobseekers Railcard (Link)
  
• List of online newspapers. At bottom of the linked page. (Link)
  
• LuckyPhone free lottery with loyalty rewards (Link)
• Marriage Tax Allowance (Link)
• Martin Lewis' Weekly List of Deals and Tips (Link)
• MSE Bank Charges Comparison Tool (Link)
  
• MSE Boost Your Income page. Gateway to lots of money-making links. (Link)
• MSE Budget Planner (Link)
  
• MSE Abbreviations Explained (Link)
  
• MSE Deals and Vouchers (Link)
• MSE Demotivator Tool (Link)
• MSE Credit Card Minimum Repayment Calculator (Link)
• MSE Money Makover (Link)
• MSE Piggybank Budgeting (Link)
• MSE Stoozing Guide (Link)
  
• MSE Wow Offers (Link)
  
• NHS Minor Ailment Service article (Link)
• My Supermarket (Link)
  
• Number Plate Lotto (Link)
  
• OnePoll (Link)
  
• Quidco (Link)
  
• Reclaim PPI at no cost to yourself without using a claims company. (Link)
• Reclaim Packaged Bank Account fees at no cost to yourself without using a claims company.(Link)
• Reclaim phone credit (Link)
  
• Resolver tool. Helps you draft a letter, send it, monitor replies and then escalate it to an Ombudsman or key complaint body if it's not sorted. (Link)
• SayNoTo0870 cheap phone number finder (Link)
• Start Rescue Breakdown Cover (Link)
• Super Saver Amazon Delivery Tool (Link)
  
• Survey sites that pay for your opinions (Link)
  
• Swagbucks (Link)
  
• Swapit (Link)
  
• Tickety Split cheap train tickets (Link)
• Toluna (Link)
  
• TopCashBack (Link)
• Wombling Guide (Link)
• You Need A Budget site and App (Link)

If any of the links are broken, let me know.

foxgloves

Morning Monday Savers,
After a relaxing birthday weekend, I now need to kick some bottom on the domestic front:
*Cheap overnight laundry. Done.
*Rubber chicken. Mr f roasted Indian spiced chicken last night. Leftovers will be assigned to 2 more meals & at least 1 lunch.
*Triage of the fridge. Assign various veg to this week's meals & freeze any surplus.
*Write thank-you letters. Gifted notecards in stash, also stamps.
*Check ebay buyer has paid me.
*Photograph 2 more lots for listing on ebay.
*Knit.
*Make tomorrow's packed lunch.
*Write myself a note to check Onepoll twice a day as I am on the last £9 now before I can claim my £40, & then the cash out amount drops to much lower for future claims.
*Check Prolific as had a £5 study last week & these add up.
*Put my lovely birthday presents away & recycle all unripped giftwrap, ribbon, bags, etc.
*Do some admin.
*Ask mr f what he intends to do with spare Dyson as we could sell it if it's in good working order (not sure if it is, as it was given to us by Mum because she needed a lightweight vac).
*Check kitchen worktop. Damaged during recent leak problem (now fixed by plumber) as mr f reckons it's drying out quicker than we thought.
*Check very chilly greenhouse veggie babies.
*Discuss potential sock knitting commission
And on top of that, I can add having a damn good tidy-up.
Better get cracking - hope everyone gets off to a great start to the week,
F x

allydowd

foxgloves wrote: »

*Triage of the fridge. Assign various veg to this week's meals & freeze any surplus.

:rotfl: "Triage".

I just did the same. Froze limp spinach having first chopped up.

DawnW

Morning all
Triage of the fridge needed here too, especially as the bowls of carrots bought from the market seem to contain enough to feed an entire stables :eek: Lots of cooked food left from the weekend, plus a quiche shell ready to fill and rebake

Other things include:
Washed hair and allowed to dry naturally
Washing already out on line - rain is forecast later, but at the moment it seems to be contenting itself with being cold and windy :cool:
OH earthed up the potatoes while I was doing that - our garden is tiny and we only have enough room to plant 12 seed tubers, so this isn't a big job :rotfl:
Need to start a shopping list, though I won't be going today
RM surveys stuff
Prep stuff for sales unit and take it there
Check seedlings in greenhouse
Water recently repotted tomatoes and chillis in the conservatory
Do some housework
Check for surveys
Check banks
And as it is the last day of the month, reconcile spending diary, spreadsheet etc. Not pretty this month due to having to buy 2 lots of new tyres and and pay for an engine repair :eek: Two MOTs and services coming up in May, so that won't be pretty either :eek::eek:
Small things definitely help to keep other costs down during expensive times!

carrielovesfanta

Morning folks

Thanks to DNMS for starting us off!

Still feeling kinda grotty today. I wish this bug would either go, or hit me properly! Not ill enough to stay off work but I def would prefer to be on the sofa. Chucked a couple of paracetamol down me in the hopes of feeling more human.

Reconciled month end. Not quite as bad as I feared... plus due to TSB issues, lots of payments not coming out until today. Normally I would back date them but decided to move them to this month and be more frugal.
Today's mission:

• B/L/D from stores - done
• Month start money shuffle - done
• Walk at lunchtime - no gym for me as forgot PE kit but feel a bit rough anyway - done
• Knit last bit of sock. Just a few more toe rows then sew up. At the point where I need to knit onto DPNs instead of my mini circular. - done. Hooray! First pair down!
  
• Water plants in greenhouse. It needs to warm up as they have stalled again. - done
• got refund from Asda for mouldy item - done
• Ask OH to search for missing tuppaware box at his mum's - done
• Print off order confirmation at work - done
• Dry here so washing out on line - done
• No alcohol (v. easy as feeling grotty). Apart from the week I was away, I have been under 14 units every week for the past 9 weeks - done
• Charge phone in work - done

Have a good one all

clf x

Happy_Kitties

Morning everyone

Belated birthday wishes foxgloves

Currently battling with the cat while trying to type this, she has a mad 5 mins every morning.

Banking all checked, reading Ally's list it reminded me to check quidco

Continue with housework-want to get upstairs hoovered and bathroom cleaned today.

Annoying that I have a meeting slap bang in the middle of the day that I could really do without

Needed heating on last night, it was so cold but it is off again now.

RM survey needs to be posted today.
Will pop to Tesc@ to top up cat food as it is on the way back from the meeting and currently the cheapest place to get their food. Only bought one pack of cat food at Mr Ms yesterday as 25p more expensive.
Washing on a quick wash

Think that's about it from me
Have a great day everyone x

allydowd

News

* Tesco Clubcard vouchers should be generated this week.

PurpleFairy26

Morning all :hello:

Have I been hibernating and woken up in winter? Best warm up again soon, positively autumnal here today! Jobs for today:

Freeze portioned quiche I made yesterday with 4 bits of pastry I'd chcuked in a bag after each time I'd made something. Used some cheese I'd frozen too. Almost 'free' quiche it feels
Dd has a portion for lunch
Make something chicken related for tea and cook the other two and do something with them too
Cook chickpeas I froze yesterday
Go and pick up item I've already paid for, get some eggs whilst I'm out
Get some washing on the line, it's not raining but blowy so might as well see if it gets something's dry
Eat a frog at work
Triage our fridge, should be ok as it was almost bare before I shopped on Saturday but always worth checking
Triage fruit bowl too, suspect there are a few clementines at the bottom no one is going to eat now. Will be an excuse to make cake :rotfl:
Blanket for warmth whilst wfh.

Have a good day folks. Purps.