Muriel's Diary - almost debt free

Muriel_Heslop

• WFH again so an NSD
• £1 PopulusL1ve survey
• YNAB updated, most DD's have gone out now

Nothing else to report really. I've made plans with a friend for a couple of weeks time, the first time I'll have seen anyone (other than colleagues and random food shoppers) since well before lockdown. My favourite cafe is opening for takeaways so we're going to get some food, take our own cutlery, find a long bench and catch up  

Tahlullah.H

Hi Muriel.  I was so inspired by CHEPS that I joined PA.  I just wanted to know how long it took you to get to the figure you did?  I guess it would be great to know if I am committing myself to the next 10 years of surveys, or is PA quite well paid?  Thanks.

Muriel_Heslop

Tahlullah.H said:

Hi Muriel.  I was so inspired by CHEPS that I joined PA.  I just wanted to know how long it took you to get to the figure you did?  I guess it would be great to know if I am committing myself to the next 10 years of surveys, or is PA quite well paid?  Thanks.

Hiya. I know I would have joined around July 2015 but at first all my survey income went to debt and I can't remember when I switched to the holiday challenge. What I do know is that in total, I've earned £935 from them, however, I've hardly done any in the last year or two. They're interesting studies rather than surveys and there's the odd really good paying one but the smaller ones are quite fair in what they pay. I did one once where I had to do some sort of brain training 3 times a week for 3 or 4 weeks and I got £50 so that was brilliant. I hope that helps

Muriel_Heslop

• Another NSD - it won't be tomorrow as I need milk and bread and then I'll do a bigger shop on Friday afternoon as I finish early and hopefully the queues won't be as bad
• 30p worth of surveys from Onep0ll, only £5.60 until I can cash out
• ETA - PA survey just as I was about to log out - £2.50

I'm loving working part of the week at home cause I can crack on with little chores at lunchtime. This week I've put the washer on, washed up, put the vac round and changed the bed sheets. I seem to focus better when I'm time limited   I'm not sure I'll want to return to my workplace full time when this is all over

doingitanyway

I found the sweet spot was working 2 days WFH then going to the office a 2 days too. Once I tried WFH I also didn't want to go back to working in the office all the time. Perhaps you won't need to anyway?

Glad the cruise challenge is back on

Muriel_Heslop

2 days in, 2 days out would be perfect I think. We're doing 3 in, 3 out generally unless someone is on leave. Unfortunately it won't be a permanent thing. We can do part of our job from home but we need to access confidential information which is only on site. But who know what job opportunities will be available in the future

It's been great saving money on petrol and spending more time with my lovely cats, definitely been the best benefits.

Oh the cruise challenge is definitely on, I'm feeling very motivated! 

Muriel_Heslop

• £24.75 spent at the butchers and the Co-0p
• Onep0ll - 30p

I really should do a bigger shop but I can't be bothered! I used to go 2-3 times a week to pick up goceries and then during lockdown it's been weekly, but now weekly feels like too much trouble Maybe I'm subconsciously trying not to spend money

Muriel_Heslop

• £30 for fuel
• £18.19 on groceries - despite wanting to not go shopping I've been twice in 2 days 
• Onep0ll - 40p
• PA - £1

It's the weekend! Hurrah   I'm really enjoying having my weekends free to do crafting, a bit of decorating and decluttering, whatever I fancy really. My current job is Monday to Friday but I had been doing some weekend shifts at my old job which started the month after I left.. I know, I know, I moaned incessantly about working weekends when I was there, but it was different choosing to go and work. But the money was worth it. I never treated it like extra income, my money saving ways hadn't completely gone out of the window, so I squirreled it away. I did have to dip in a couple of times but at least I had it to dip in to. 

I haven't been since February due to the pandemic but I'm not sure I want to go back. I can't risk going at the moment anyway (it's a medical laboratory) and by the time I can, it'll have been months and I'll have forgotten everything! So I think that income stream has come to an end which means now more than ever I need to get and keep a grip of my finances and earn what I can from surveys. Roll on a few months and I might be begging them to take me back

Tahlullah.H

Muriel_Heslop said:

Tahlullah.H said:

Hi Muriel.  I was so inspired by CHEPS that I joined PA.  I just wanted to know how long it took you to get to the figure you did?  I guess it would be great to know if I am committing myself to the next 10 years of surveys, or is PA quite well paid?  Thanks.

Hiya. I know I would have joined around July 2015 but at first all my survey income went to debt and I can't remember when I switched to the holiday challenge. What I do know is that in total, I've earned £935 from them, however, I've hardly done any in the last year or two. They're interesting studies rather than surveys and there's the odd really good paying one but the smaller ones are quite fair in what they pay. I did one once where I had to do some sort of brain training 3 times a week for 3 or 4 weeks and I got £50 so that was brilliant. I hope that helps

Thank you for this.

Muriel_Heslop

• NSD
• 50 pts (£2.50) earned and cashed out of Opini0n Outp0st, the first time I've logged in for over 2 years.

When I was planning my savings pots I was going to put away £35 for car costs, bit of a guess really but I thought it was something at least. I've drastically underestimated this   I added up just the insurance / tax / MOT / breakdown and that alone came to £660, but then there's a service and potential repairs. So from next month I'll be saving £75 and hoping that's enough.

I did a little more decorating of my bedroom today. I can't get it all done in one go as I've only got the one bedroom so I keep moving things round to free up a bit of space to strip the wallpaper and paint it. I've painted it white for now and it looks so much better but there's a lot I need doing from trades people before I can properly decorate it with some lovely wallpaper I've been eyeing up. If I can get it done by the end of the year I'll be chuffed - but 3 years to get one room completed is not good going

It makes me laugh when I see group posts on FB saying "look at my whole house freshly decorated, we only moved in last week." Not jealous at all!!