Re starting my journey to an eventual debt free and frugal life

themadvix

Can recommend the Kantar Royal Mail survey - worth signing up, but they might not have you straight away (took a couple of years for me!). You have to post stuff but get paid in lots of stamps and there are vouchers for posting parcels and add-on surveys. There’sa sign up link on the thread for it on the Freebies board. 

Also worth registering for Shop and scan at volunteer4panels.com. It’s invite only but definitely worth it if you match their demographics. We’ve had £100s in vouchers from them over the years. 

I’d focus on the higher rate debt and try to get it cleared as quick as possible as it’ll save you the most money, allowing you to chuck it at the mortgage. I’m sure you know this though!

South_coast

The presentation stamps from the Royal Mail surveys go down a treat on eBay too 😀 

themadvix

Do they SC? The only time I tried that I think I (stupidly) ended up selling for less than face value. Now I just use them!

yummymummy2012

themadvix said:

Can recommend the Kantar Royal Mail survey - worth signing up, but they might not have you straight away (took a couple of years for me!). You have to post stuff but get paid in lots of stamps and there are vouchers for posting parcels and add-on surveys. There’sa sign up link on the thread for it on the Freebies board. 

Also worth registering for Shop and scan at volunteer4panels.com. It’s invite only but definitely worth it if you match their demographics. We’ve had £100s in vouchers from them over the years. 

I’d focus on the higher rate debt and try to get it cleared as quick as possible as it’ll save you the most money, allowing you to chuck it at the mortgage. I’m sure you know this though!

Thanks , i have 2  CC's i am paying interest on that I am massively overpaying and the other which is 0% I am only paying minimum payment currently.  Obviously there is no longer any spending going on them, that all stopped in Jan, and the overdraft was the first priority as that was going to go up to 49% interest 

I will have a look at those survey sites too, I'm currently on Swagbuck, Shoppix, Toluna and i-say 

South_coast

themadvix said:

Do they SC? The only time I tried that I think I (stupidly) ended up selling for less than face value. Now I just use them!

When I did them a few years ago I ended up awash with more stamps than I could ever use, so put them all on eBay. The standard ones were going for about 30p a pack less than the face value (which seemed bonkers to me - why wait a week to get something you could get any time you like for only a nominal amount more? Unless they used a LOT of stamps?) The presentation ones they sent out every 6 months always sold on the first listing and seemed to do well, although I never actually worked out what the face value was! I was just glad to get money for nothing and post eBay parcels without the tedious wrapping!

South_coast

yummymummy2012 said:

I will have a look at those survey sites too, I'm currently on Swagbuck, Shoppix, Toluna and i-say 

If you're doing Shoppix already, then I'd recommend Receipt Hog and Huyu as well as they're exactly the same thing. They'll let you do ones from the same shop with the same date too (ie if you buy petrol and food at the same supermarket in the same trip, or if you *ahem* pick up other peoples' receipts that they've left on the self-checkout 😀)

themadvix

And prolific for surveys - much better value for time than swagbucks surveys or toluna.

yummymummy2012

Well cant believe ive not popped on all week, its been very busy at work, and i have managed another day on C25K.  I have signed up to Prolific and up to £4 already so thanks for the tip @madvixen
We haven't spent too much this week that wasn't budgeted for, and have pretty much stuck to the meal plan so much less trips to the local shop for dinner alternatives.
I am trying out some cheaper lunches with less meat, so I am on roasted aubergine and lentil salad which is delish and is using up all the lentils in the cupboard, and I have a butternut squash which will do soup for a few days next week.  Monday night we had home made S&S port, as we had pineapple left from pizzas on Sunday, then had leftovers for lunch on Tuesday.  Not alot else going on this week.
We have some friends coming for a socially distanced BBQ on sat afternoon but have most of the meat already in the freezer, chicken form the factory shop and home made burgers so think we just need to buy some buns, as I will have the expense of my hair cut, but will take my coffee with me and bought a magazine last week and have saved it to take with me.
Off to click through some more surveys and finish work for the day in time for school pick up

yummymummy2012

So not too much of a spendy weekend really, spent a bit on Sat on food but had some friends over for a BBQ and £60 on my hair which was budgeted for, then the weekly shop on Sunday £58 for 3 of us so that is slowly coming down.  Then on the way home, popped in at the chicken factory, and got 2 big trays of Bourbon drumsticks with that days date on for £1, and 5 packs of 2 chicken Kiev's for £4, So that is all now in the freezer and not bad for a fiver.  MOT day for DH car and i was a bit worried as we havent driven it for 4 mths and it had an advisory last time on the brakes, but as we dont use it much we haven't had any work done.  Well it passed , they recommend definitely getting the brakes done soon, but have given a price so I will see what is left before payday and see if we can get them done next month.  I put a tenner of fuel in as well as the light came on as I left the garage, but not as bad as we thought it might be.  My car is next in Aug or Sept i think, will have to check the date 

Waiting for 3 surveys on prolif to be approved then i have reached the cashout of £5 but am going to keep building that up for now, Shoppix i'm 740/3200 points for a £5 amazon voucher (saving these for xmas presents), also seen some tips about splitting shopping into 2 payments = 2 reciepts, Swagbucks 790/1300 points for a £10 amazon voucher, i-say 270/980 for a £10 amazon voucher.  Not bad for only really signing up just over a week ago.

Dinner tonight is chicken fried rice from leftover roast chicken and ingredients we have in , then I am going to make some butternut squash soup for my lunch for the next few days, and SW crustless quiche (bacon, mushroom & tomato) that i will have for breakfast, agian we have all ingredients in 

Payday a week on Friday so looking forwards to updating the signature again 

yummymummy2012

So dinner plans were slightly different but all from supplies we had in so no spending there, and today would have been a NSD but our friends have ordered the wrong size smiggle bag in the sale and I was getting one for DD for Sept as her current one has lasted 2.5yrs and is a bit battered, she likes this one so win win , they don't have to send it back and i get a sale price bag that we would have bought anyway.

I have charged up DD's old iphone 5 so will take some picks and post on fb site later, she has used her gohenry money to buy to keep Trolls World Tour on amazon, so i just transfer the amount back to my parent account so i don't have to top it up as frequently.  We are teaching her about saving for what she wants no so she doesn't end up with the debt we have.  it seems to be working for her as she has bought quite a few things she has wanted over the last yr, and it means we aren't buying her as many things she asks for between birthdays and xmas.  If anyone wants a referral for gohenry let me know 

Next thing to sell is DH old Iphone 7, just need to work out how to check what size memory it has  now i have reset it    That will go on fleabay next week.  We have some old wooden garden chairs we would normally tip, but cant work out the booking guidance, and other stuff we would take cant be taken on the same day on the same day, so may stick those on a fb site as free for collection, worth a try.  DH build a large seating area from pallets whilst he was off last yr after his heart attach so we don't need these and are trying to declutter.  They aren't good enough to sell i don't think, but could try it at all 5 for£10?? worth a shot.

Homemade soup for lunch and we have some loin steaks in for dinner tonight.   DD at school and DH out working, I am gearing up for a 2 hr call later  Need to check car insurance renewal as it will be mid Sept so coming into the time to start shopping around for a better deal.  Then tonight, helping DD to tidy her room, and see if there is anything she wants to get rid of to clear some space, if she can sell any, i will put the money in her gohenry towards her next savings goal.

Prolif is up to £5.81 with £3.50 pending, no real change on the others today, although may check my experian report and get 300 SB's then cancel after the free period.