Time to sort this mess out

Lu_thien

Ok, today is a new day. Nothing isn’t fixable.

Need to verify my ID with prolific then I have 3 surveys to take which I can hopefully do while bubba eats his breakfast.

I couldn’t sleep last night, my stomach keeps turning with nerves. But today will be a NSD and I shall go through the cupboards/ fridge/ freezer when baby naps and see how we’re doing food wise.

Lu_thien

Baby sleeping so have been doing surveys.

Signed up for a few (read: many) survey sites and I will do some every night. Today I have only done prolific academic, but it's way better than it used to be! I've made £18.15 so far today while baby had breakfast, we walked to the park and during this nap. Will also spend this evening doing them (wild!) 

Has anyone tried 20 cogs? I've signed up and have been going through, but I've just ended up spending £1.00 on the lottery which seems counterproductive. Worried it won't ever pay out! Have set a reminder to cancel before a recurring payment comes out. 

Spoke to OH about how nervous I was feeling about everything, as we have so little money this month. He has transferred me £150 and we will use this for groceries this month. If I have it, he can't spend it and I can plan what we spend it on a bit better. Still have my stomach turned in knots, but hopefully that feeling will pass.

Just no idea what to do about his bank account

Lu_thien

Oh, also - I bought baby H a ball pit for his birthday but he doesn't seem fussed (he used to love them when we had a cheap £10 one, and this was meant to be an upgrade for him.... and me as he can't knock the balls out of this one ) but the company have said they will accept a return for free which is fab. That would be around £60.00 coming back (which I will put into savings). 

Lu_thien

So, not sure if 20cogs is for me after all. Had an offer to sign up to lotto social yesterday - so completed that and paid £1.00 and set a reminder to cancel before the next payment should be taken. But woke up this morning and they've taken £5.00. 

Queue overwhelming sense of panic...

Am sure it's in the Ts and Cs somewhere but I just cannot afford £5.00 - I could only afford £1.00 because I should then have made more through 20cogs. 

Have spent 38 minutes faffing around on the website and speaking to the chat team to cancel my account and get a refund. All sorted now, so I guess this happens a lot. 

Also signed up to Lotto Go - they haven't done the same and I had a reminder set to cancel them too but have just done it now in case. I've lost 21p of winnings from yesterdays lottery but I would rather lose 21p than have them help themselves at a later date.

Think I may just stick with surveys at the moment - I don't quite have the head space to deal with signing up to loads of accounts right now. 

On that note, Prolific was good to me yesterday - £31.48. However I do need to do a 15 minute zoom call at 12 to earn £7.00 of that. No surveys today yet. 

Today I need to go to the shops for basics - potatoes, milk, eggs. But other than that need nothing for the next week. Have done us a meal plan and we can live off cupboard/ fridge/ freezer food. 

Will need to buy baby some fruit at some point though. Got a punnet of strawberries from Lidl 2 days ago and they're already mouldy  I've got raspberries, mango, banana and blueberries which are fine through - so he will still be getting his fruit in, it's just a shame because he loves strawberries!

Today:

• Basic food shopping
• 2 loads of laundry and drying
• Keep an eye on prolific for surveys
• Complete Zoom call
• OH to take rubbish to the dump
• Sign up for one more survey site - perhaps Swagbucks or Crowdology

Have a lovely day, will check back in later. 

Lu_thien

One load of laundry in the dryer and another now washing.

Baby H had a 1.5 hour nap which was nice, but I didn't have any surveys on Prolific to do.... Signed up to swag bucks and crowdology. Not sure about swag bucks though as I did a survey and then when I finished  nothing happened - no bucks.

Not sure if it was a website issue or my old crummy laptop acting up.

Trying hard to keep calm (as I feel constantly on edge) but I’ve stress eaten almost a whole block of manchego (it's been in the fridge a loooong time, so did need eating, but not quite at the pace I was going). Not great for someone who’s meant to be on a diet and I also now feel sick.

Lu_thien

Feel utterly rubbish tonight. Shop in Asda cost more than expected so things will be even tighter for the rest of the month. Am planning on NSD's all the way to Friday so hopefully that will make up for it. 

OH did not take the rubbish to the dump, but instead started trying to 'sort' the garage. This now means my kitchen is full off stuff and baby H had to have dinner in the living room. 

Having mess/ things everywhere makes me really nervous and on edge but I guess I am feeling like that most of the time now anyway. 

On the plus side, have dug out some baby items and I shall pop them on FB. The plan was to keep them for baby 2, but think selling is a better option right now. 

Will give everything a dust, take photos and add to FB tonight. 

CRANKY40

I've done my shop online this week. Going with a budget in mind hasn't worked for the last few weeks so I've taken myself in hand.....maybe that would work for you too? It's easier to shuffle things round and take things out or look for cheaper options if you shop online rather than getting to the till and thinking "oh c**p" at the total. 

I seem to remember my sister saying that Aldi nappies are ok too if there's an Aldi by you? I don't know if they are cheaper than Asda's own. Have you looked at Jack Monroe's books? A lot of the recipes are online and the penny pizza one works just as well for bigger pizzas for example (penny refers to the size not the cost). 

[Deleted User]

Hi @Lu_thien, bookmarking to cheer you on! 

Sounds like you're going great guns - but it's more than ok if you're feeling anxious about this. This hasn't taken a few days to make, so you can't fix it all in a few days. I found that thought really helpful when I was shifting my debt, without much spare cash to throw to it. It's a marathon and not a sprint...so take some time to relax too, and if there are fewer NSDs than anticipated, that's ok too. Progress over perfection wins every time.   Good luck, you're doing better than you think  

Lu_thien

Hello @CRANKY40 Thank you very much for popping by. That may very well be the best idea going forward  .... I went armed with a list and didn't deviate from the list, but it cost far more than I was expecting.

Perhaps this lack of concept of the cost of things has helped land me in this mess?

Anyway, think you are right and an online shop may be my best bet. 

I don't have an Aldi, but I do have a Lidl.... Will pop in and check prices to compare.

I fell for some marketing rubbish the other day and feel quite silly! Got pampers vouchers through the post. £2.00 off, which I thought was fab. Off I trot to purchase my Pampers nappies to find they're £5.99 for 23! I felt swindled. I should have just put them down and left, but I had committed at that point. 

To compare, we just got 78 for £5.00 in Asda... Will only be using the pampers on special occasions  

I hadn't heard of Jack Monroe! But am now interested... Website currently down, but will have a snoop tomorrow. 

Ooh, edited to add: £4.29 for 84 nappies in Lidl the internet tells me. Looks like we'll be doing a swap!

Lu_thien

Hi @[Deleted User], thank you for taking the time to comment (and I love your name...Feel like I could use some everyday at the moment!)

You are very right. I think it seems so overwhelming because it's just such a large number and as I don't have an income currently it feels totally out of my hands. When debt busing before I was the one employed, so could decide where the money went and I much preferred that position! I'm starting to think I may be a control freak.... 

It's a marathon, not a sprint. It's a marathon, not a sprint *repeats mantra over and over*

I really appreciate the words of encouragement. I've been yo-yoing between feeling overly positive or cripplingly negative, so will try and relax like you say. 

Will swing by and check out your diary when I have a free moment tomorrow