Final steps to debt freedom 9 December 2020 at 5:09PM in Debt free diaries 147 replies 6.6K views

badmemory

Don't worry too much about that as first babies are normally a little late.  If anything about having babies can be said to be normal!

gymgirl11

Afternoon all! I'm still plagued by IT issues but at least it's Friday! 

Shopping came to a solid £84.16 but this did include bits for my baby shower next Saturday and also includes stuff to take to our Air BnB when we go (Drinks, water, toilet roll, kitchen roll and crisp snacks)

For our 4 day mini break we plan to have: Dinner out one the Monday, breakfast out on the Wednesday and go to the Fish & Chip shop one night. 

For the rest of the time we're planning to pop into a superstore on the way to grab milk, butter, bread, breakfast supplies, snacks and 2 meals.

We are planning to go to M&S tonight as the biscuits and chocolates I want to get for my stocking fillers can only be brought in store. I also left 1 meal empty on the meal plan this week so we could pick up something 'fancier' for tea one night.

I also managed to do a survey on PA for 25p.. every little helps!

gymgirl11

Morning all We had a lovely Chinese's takeaway last night (£17.50 all budgeted for from our cash pot) followed by watching The Hit List and Strictly.

Not too much to report in the land of money really. We're going cinema today to see the new Bond Film. It cost £13.98 for two tickets - I paid for the better seats because it's a 3 hour film and my poor back can't take bad chairs at the moment due to my bump.

I paid for our cinema tickets and my OH has paid for our pick and mix sweets to take with us. We also have some chocolate, a drink and some popcorn to take with us so we don't need to buy anything when we get there.

gymgirl11

We had a good time at the cinema and we actually spent £0! Normally we get sucked into spending, however, we got there 10 minutes before the start time and the queues for everything was massive anyway.

I've been in the City Centre today as I've been at work getting my laptop fixed. My spends today are:

- £6 in Tesco
- £9 in paper chase for 3 individual Christmas cards for close family & a pack of 12 Christmas cards
- £3.55 in Costa
- £1 in Greggs

I'm back in town on Friday for work as well for my last day. I have £10 budgeted for this. It will allow for me to get a coffee. I have a £10 voucher for a few food places so I'll use the voucher to plan and buy lunch  

gymgirl11

Evening all I had a NSD today, which is nice. 

NSD for this week so far include Sunday & Tuesday. I’m also planning for NSDs on Wednesday & Thursday. 

I’m in the City Centre on Friday but instead of the £10 budget I have re-budgeted to £5, which I will now take in cash and leave my purse at home. 

We are going to begin decorating the ‘box’ room for the nursery tomorrow. We already have everything for the nursery paid for so I’m looking forward to it all coming together and being assembled. I’m hoping to get it all sorted before Friday night so I begin my maternity leave in peace. 

I keep updating my signature as well as the PA money hits that account. It’s nice to see it grow. I’ve managed a few surveys today but they’ve all have been for less than 0.25p. I am doing a 3-part survey over the course of three months, with the opportunity to earn a bonus payment. 

gymgirl11

Today was another NSD. The weather has been so unpredictable today so haven’t left the house. The baby room has now been decorated and we have 1 tin of unopened paint to send back. 

We also assembled the cot bed, moved across the chest of drawers we assembled earlier in the month and also put all her clothes and bits in the drawers. All we need to do now is put the shelves up, put the curtains back in, put the light up and then dress the shelves.

And on top of that, we also assembled the baby shower gift bags! 

I also managed to do a further 2 surveys on PA but I hardly had time to check today as work has been so busy. Only £5 to go until I hit my monthly target which I’m pleased with  

gymgirl11

Tomorrow is my final working day. I return back to work in November 2022. This will be my biggest career gap since I started my apprenticeship at 19. I’ve been in the workforce for 8 years and the longest period of annual leave I had off was 12 working days when I went on a trip to Indonesia.

The nursery is 95% complete. We only have the fabric lettering to go onto the wall and it’ll be all finished. I’ve also got the majority of my hospital bag ready, I just need to pack it. 

Struggling for surveys at the moment. I can’t seem to get any worth more than 25p. 

gymgirl11

Hi all! I've had a really good weekend. I think it's knowing maternity has now started! 

I had a lovely baby shower yesterday, ate far too much and got gifted some really nice stuff then we spent the evening at a friends house and had a takeaway, which was kindly paid for by them.

Today has been a chilled day as well. I did manage a 1 mile walk before it started to rain.

It's also birthday tomorrow, but as we're travelling to our Air bnb stay, we had left over afternoon tea cakes for bed & breakfast, followed by present opening, in which I got some really nice things.

I've also packed everything our suitcase for our trip, all I need to do now is finish our toiletries and put the additional electronics in a bag.

gymgirl11

Evening all. I haven’t updated much as it’s been baby shower, birthday and holiday all in one week so it’s been a busy one so far.

I’ve reached my £30 target in PA but will wait until the 1st Nov to cash out

gymgirl11

We made it back home in good time. We had to pop into my parents on the way back to grab some tickets. We also had to use the bathroom at the services, but it was a pee break and straight back to the car so no spend here. 

We have our food shopping come this evening. It was £80.16, however, this included £15 worth of toiletries and baby formula as we get ready for the big day.

Since we got home we have: done a load of washing and put in the dryer, had lunch, cleaned the pots, emptied and sorted the suitcases and additional shopping bags, took down the balloon arch and also had a quick hoover round. 

My PA account is now at £34.95 so will leave this and cash this out on Monday and start all over again for the month.