What small DFW things will you do w/c 1st July?

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:

determined_new_ms

Morning glorious day here, wish I had some washing left for the line!

Working for the next 3 days so limited small things going on!

* make some rice & chop up some veg to go with it. Boil 3 eggs (one for each day) and grab fruit for snacks
* taking trousers to work. Will finish hem by hand and drop to customer after work
* pay cc in full
* water greenhouse plants - would like to have energy to repot but it's unlikely today...
* go for a run? Would be good if I had the energy tonight...
* think about next sewing project

Ok that's all. Happy Monday y'all x

natlie

Hi

Thanks Determined

Weather not so great in S wales, grey and windy - looks like rain

Today:
Cycle to work
Take posh bread for toast lunchtime
Wash towels and hoe it doesn't rain
updated snowball, doing ver well with it - why didn't I stick to it years ago
Chase 1 unpaid invoice and prepare 2 more
will water over the allotment tonight, pick raspberries and redcurrant and make tea using chard as have plenty
got a buffet to make for 12 people for tomorrow

Have a great day
Nat

Baileys_Babe

DNMS thank you for starting this weeks thread :A

Todays list:
PAD
Pmp etc
Go shopping and stick to the list
Put all the shopping away when I get home
Pack drinks and snacks for children's training
B/L/D from stores
Stick to meal plan
Bake my friend a thank you gift
Home educate children
Note all spends in diary

Keep up with my emails

La_escocesa

Hi everyone :wave:

A shiny new week and a shiny new month. :T

Thanks for the starting the thread DNMS.
Natlie - love the sound of your allotment.
BB - I got so bored trying to sort emails so I just highlighted them all and set to Mark as Read - still made it feel manageable for me even though it's a blatant cheat :rotfl:

Weather looks pretty dubious here today and it's just started raining... That may well be enough incentive to stay indoors.

Here's me:
Cheapo supermarket own brand cornflakes for brekkie.
Made bread - best recipe I've done so far
Do a meal plan - Slow cooked mexican chicken stew tonight
Need to think of something to do with leftover chicken ^ for tomorrow
Started a whatsapp group with some pals to share slow cooker recipes because we are that geeky :rotfl:
Check banking/budgets etc
Sort niece's bday pressie
Get excited about wimbledon
Tidy round - moved my cleaner from 2 weekly to 4 weekly (may cancel altogether but I have a £10 credit on my account because they broke something so I'll at least need to invite them back once more to use that )

Catch up soon!

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.

PurpleFairy26

Morning all. Thanks for the starter determined wow. It was hard to get out of bed this morning. I can't do much as I'm working from home and my car is having a service (company car so no cost to me). But will aim for some wins:

One load pegged out another in
Rustle up some fruit and yogurt for breakfast
Check banking, update sheet
Someone paid me pack some money, will move to right pot
Write a shopping list
Collect free prescription (I can walk to get that)
Run later when cooler. - I bet it was really sticky at 11 yesterday determined. I went at 8 and I still can home looking like a tomato
Get some thing out of freezer for tomorrow that I can put in SC
Put netting back over blueberries

Have a good day all Purps.

carrielovesfanta

Hi everyone

I just wanted to do a quick check in - for those of you who were unaware, my father in law was rushed into hospital last week. He is stable at the moment and much brighter but I'm not sure what the longer term prognosis is.

I have some exciting news to share though, I have made the last payment on my student loan today

Love you all lots

clf x

foxgloves

Hi Monday Money Savers,
*3 loads of laundry pegged out for free drying - managed one load at night time tariff rates.
*Free fitness weeding & sweeping front courtyard while Mr F tackled the hedge cutting. Took all morning but looks much better.
*Sort out infuriating DVLA problem as they clearly didn't act on the letter we sent. Doubly infuriating in that there appears to be no way of contacting them by phone to talk to an actual person.
*Water & feed veg garden & greenhouse.
*Picked another cucumber.
*Updated grocery budget, paid some money across to our 'just for points' credit card, moved some funds around to keep different budget pots straight & paid Mr F the £4 I owed him.
*Plan an outing for tomorrow. Thinking Yorkshire coast which is quite a long run for us, so I reckon a flask of coffee, spare rhubarb & cinnamon muffins, proper road atlas in case of silly satnavitis, & all the other paraphernalia I like to put in the boot..... a little bag in case there are razor shells to collect (they make fab biodegradable plant labels), a towel in case I decide to go in the sea, etc.
*Knit heel flap, turn heel & pick up stitches on foot on the socks I'm knitting (still on my stash busting challenge)
*Checked for surveys.... Nope! They both required smokers & that is one vice I never acquired, I'm pleased to say.
*Start researching an item my sis would like for her birthday.
*Bake a sourdough loaf. It's rising quite nicely now we no longer have arctic kitchen temperatures.
*Mr F doing Madhur Jaffrey Curry Bible whole spiced Indian chicken later..... that means really tasty leftovers for tomorrow & Wednesday, plus probably some sandwiches.
Right.... must go & check bread dough & not spend any more of my afternoon on the Internet.
Love to all,
F x

1LuckyLady

Afternoon all,

Thanks DNMS for this weeks thread.
Clf, sorry to hear about your FIL but good news about the student loan payment

Todays list from me
# usual :money: breakfasts free breakfast club/ys bread for toast etc
# refilled water bottle at the gym twice
# called into MR t on the way home from the gym and just got the kids squash I wanted from there, did look at the ys corner but it was 10p off things (and mainly ready meals that I wouldn't plan to buy anyway) so left them all.
# called into aldee for main shop, took my list and stuck to it. I like going there now, so much easier to shop in a small shop rather then the big hypermarket which sell just about everything and too many things to tempt you away from your list, you know the thing, go in to buy milk and come away with lego, a cushion, clothes for the kids and pens (I wasted a fortune in there when the kids were little!) oh and it also saves a fortune going shopping without the kids! (and DH to be fair!)

Still to do
# cancel amzn music, we've been on a free trial but I don't want to pay to continue done
# check banking/update spreadsheet and set up July's (I'm a bit late doing this!) not properly done, did a mini money shuffle but not updated as I'm swapping over from using my windows laptop which is dying to dh's Mac but ready to sort on Tuesday after a bit of help from dh
# continuing to declutter, (and message a friend about some more stationary she might like to have from me! done, she does want them so will bag them up to pass along)
# record cars mileage not done but have details will update tomorrow as its on my banking spreadsheet anyway
# make families lunches for tomorrow done
# cook two chickens together, plenty of meat for lunches and meals and I'll send some to my parents too. If the oven is on it may as well be full! done
# sort out under sink cupboard, its a mess after removing lots of cleaning products our former tenants left behind, I didn't want to needlessly bin things that might be useful but its got left in the cupboard for a couple of months now and I can't remember what there was! so I'll tidy it and remind myself of what items I want to use up! done, once it was straightened up it wasn't bad at all!
# prep salad for tonights meal done
# go for a walk round the block with dh after work for a bit of free exercise and chance to have a chat. done and it helped with my daily step count, I'm now managing about 12000 steps most days, this walk got me to just over 14000 today
Also done 3 onep0ll surveys, at £20 now so need to keep an eye out! A swag$s survey which meant I had enough points to claim a £5 amzon voucher and activated my swagup birthday thing which gave me 55 extra points.
I remembered to add an extra bottle of squash into my shopping today to put into the food bank collection point, I'm trying to add something each time we go.
Thats about it, take care all. I've just realised the time so I'd better crack on!

DawnW

Evening all
A few things today:
Got OH to drive me to my sales unit and carry my boxes :rotfl:I shouldn't moan, but am already fed up with not being able to drive - it will be several more weeks yet I travelled all round the world, usually on my own, for work, and hate not being able to even drive myself into town! I can't walk far yet, either I am sure OH is equally fed up with having to be at my beck and call :rotfl:

Neighbour gave OH some slightly past their best strawberries, so I have converted them into slightly runny (but very yummy) jam I will give some to the neighbour

Load of washing, dried on line outside
Got an ebay parcel ready to post tomorrow

Checked banks and updated spreadsheet - totalling up June spends, the grocery budget has been totally blown :eek: Must get back on track in July!
Ooh, I do sound grumpy but I am not really!
Still to do:
Mash and freeze a couple of blackening bananas, cba to make a cake tonight, but they work perfectly well when thawed out.
Try and locate more items for my sales unit, as most of the stuff I took down this morning went straight away! Might mean getting into the eaves cupboard - I reckon I can do this if I take my time about it!



CLF, great news on the student loan :T
Hope you get equally good news about your poorly family member soon.