What small DFW things will you do w/c 25th March?

allydowd

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:

allydowd

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

• Benefits check-up (Link)
• Birthday Freebies (Link)
  
• Coupon Shop Forum list of money-off coupons (Link)
• Cooking On A Bootstrap, cheap recipes. (Link)
  
• eBid (Link)
• Freecycle (Link)
• Freegle (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)
  
• 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)
  
• NHS Free Prescription Checker (Link)
• OnePoll (Link)
• Parcel2Go: compare postage prices (Link)
  
• Parkopedia: compare parking charges (Link)
  
• Pick My Postcode Lottery ( 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)
• Split Ticketing (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) Site closed
  
• 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.

allydowd

Hi March Money-Savers,

Morning!:coffee: I've been out in the real world this week. It's all been a bit busy and dramatic :eek: (won't bore you, I'm fine, no sympathy required) but, hey ho, another week arrives. I've not had time to glance at last week's thread, hope you've all had a good one.


My personal achievement has been surviving, and at times enjoying, a three-week assignment away in 'Timbuktu' working. This is going to bring me legally obtained ample travel expenses.

Clocks go forward 31st March.

Debt-Free-Nillionaire Continuity Plan Year Four:

* Check online banking. Wow. Better than I thought, although my MOT is due. _pale_

* Check DW's online banking. Done.

* Do budget for April. Done. Don't forget Council Tax restarts in April folks.


* Continue my Challenge 500 miles challenge to travel 500 miles for free before the end of 2019: walking, hiking, climbing, cycling, running and swimming. Walked. I'm up to 122/500.

* Read meters and analyse power usage. Done. We're doing just fine.

* Check loyalty points etc. Done. £11.50 paid out in cashback from TCB.

* Use old diary as a notebook. Done.


* Re-list stuff on eBay. Done.

* Clear emails. Done.


* Make chicken stock from yesterday's YS chicken. Done.

* Make batch of soup for freezer from freezer scraps. Done.

* Triage fridge and freezer. Done. Amalgamated lots of partially used packets of things. DW always opens multiple bags of the same stuff.

* Make cheese. Done.



“Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.”

Sanctioned_Parts_List

Good morning all, and greetings from the desert. Weather's a pleasant 24ºC and mostly sunny, although rainy season's lasted a little longer.

It's end of month, and end of financial year. As my accounts database was starting to get crufty and error-prone, I've scrubbed it and will start a new one from April. It'll take 3 months or so to train it before forecasting works properly again, but... meh. I have nothing else to do in the evenings while I'm here.

Task for the week is to update my travel tracker and count days spent in the UK, to see whether I can (finally) escape UK tax. Second task is to make sure the planned savings reach the right destinations. I should also find out when I get to go home next, which will be nice...

PurpleFairy26

Morning all :hello: thanks for the starter ally hope the mot isn’t too expensive.

Welcome sanctioned parts list 24 and sunny. Hope you get to enjoy some of it and it’s not all work.

My list for today:
Vacuum through
3 loads of washing, 1 done overnight, 1 in and 1 to go. All will be pegged out.
Freeze chicken stock made in sc overnight
Have meal 2 from rubber chicken
Collect a prescription FOC
Collect a click and collect parcel I bought with 2 discounts and on a points CC
Drop some things as the charity shop
2 of us to the dentist
Fit some work in between all that :rotfl:

Have a good day all. Purps.

Sanctioned_Parts_List

PurpleFairy26 wrote: »

Welcome sanctioned parts list 24 and sunny. Hope you get to enjoy some of it and it’s not all work.

Hehe, no it is all work. Now's actually a reasonable time of year - in another month, the temperatures should be in the 40s.

I've been lurking on this thread for years, but seldom post as I'm not usually in a position to focus on life's small things...

DawnW

Morning all
Thanks for the start Ally

Sunny and chilly here today, but should warm up a bit later
Work this morning, sales unit, ebay parcels etc
Small shop needed, only 3 items on list - may leave it till tomorrow...
Check banks (Done, no surprises)
Update spreadsheet
Food from home, leftover beef sandwiches for lunch, jacket potatoes, cheese and coleslaw for dinner
Some housework, not sure what yet, will look for a grotty bit and clean it. It won't be hard to find one :rotfl:
Water anything that needs it in the garden, sow some more microgreens, maybe pot on tomato plants
Nothing very exciting here I am afraid!:rotfl:

Frustrating afternoon waiting in for a parcel to be delivered. Had to wait in, as so many parcels are going astray round here atm. The couriers just seem to deliver them anywhere, local FB sites are full of people either trying to find their parcels or trying to find the owners of parcels that have been dumped on their doorsteps. Anyway, it turned up, long after the stated delivery window :mad: It was a packet of organic slug pellets that caused all the hassle :rotfl:

Baileys_Babe

Ally Thank you for starting this weeks thread :A

ziggy2407

Good Morning everyone

Ally - Thanks for starting us off today

Hi to all of the regulars and a BIG welcome to all the newbies, this is a really FAB thread with so many lovely, caring, considerate and supportive people.

The sun's shining and I have my positive pants on. Today's plans:

Walk - A fabulous 4.75 over the hills to Stanedge Pole
Check Bank & make PAD - Done
Post RM item - Done
Strip beds & remake - Done
Washing bedding & line dry - Done
Ironing - Done a bit (will finish tomorrow)
Enter a few comps - Done a few
Purge a few emails - Done a few
Swagbucks - Done
All meals from cupboards/fridge/freezer - Done
Check: Lucky Bob, PMP, WinaDinner - Done
Read Library Book - Shortly
Dig out the knitting needles & wool - tomorrow

Have a great day!

C x

trailingspouse

Hello All
Starting another week as 'Trailing'. The split is amicable, and he was here yesterday helping me with a couple of jobs. My car is poorly (should be fixed by Friday), so he suggested I took his and did a few things that I can't do without a car. Very good of him, particularly as my first job was to take a load of stuff to the tip!! That's not something you can do in an Uber.
So far today I've painted a bit more of the garage (and will carry on once I've had this coffee!!), washed the bedding and hung it on the line to dry and there's another load (woollens) in which will join the bedding shortly. Lovely drying day. What my mother would refer to as 'a good day for blankets' - sunny and windy so they dry really quick.
I then had to take the cat for her annual check up and injection, which was £30 - but it's only once a year, and cheaper than curing a poorly cat. She's a bit overweight, apparently, so I need to cut down her portions. I wonder if that will save me £30 over the next year??
I applied for a job a week past Friday, and interviews were supposed to be this last week. So it looks like I didn't even get an interview - very frustrating, as I ticked every single 'required' and 'desirable' with bells on. Hey ho - trouble is, the other jobs advertised at the moment aren't such a good fit (I'm either overqualified, or my qualifications/experience are out of date, or they're completely outside of my skill set).

The Sky saga continues - I spoke to them and we agreed that I would get the basic package for £13 + £10 admin. OH (who is actually the account holder) then got a confirmation email, stating that it would be £11 + £10. Not complaining, but very strange - they had me at £13!!
Rubber chicken day 2. Yesterday I roasted the bird (the smallest whole chicken I could find), and had a lovely chicken dinner with potatoes, swede, white cabbage, homemade stuffing, and gravy (made from the juices). Today will be chicken and chutney sandwiches for lunch (chutney is from stores - nearly finished the glorious coriander and gooseberry chutney that someone bought me for Christmas, then I'll be on to the Aldi own brand Branstons), and chicken and mushroom with pasta for dinner (did I mention I have A LOT of pasta?).
Right. The coffee's been drunk, and that garage wall won't paint itself. Seems a shame to be doing inside jobs on a day like today, but the garden will appreciate me all the more when I finally get out there!!

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Afternoon everyone; i have washing on the line and will be eating all meals from stores. The heating will remain off as DD2 - who feels the cold - is out this evening. I've done my first i-say survey too I will be spending as i'm going to pay my council tax bill. I pay at the local post office as the staff are lovely and i like to support them.
I've also just finished some self-employment work so need to submit my invoice for payment
Deni
x