“Debt is normal. Be weird.”

browneyed_girl

Thank you @rachmac3 and @flamingo22 - appreciate the kind words!  The only survey site I've used recently is Prolific which pays really well.  I've had the account with them for about 10 years but am only really making use of it now.  I've heard that not everyone can sign on with them as they have more users than they need and have started limiting access to only certain people that fit demographics that are less common in their current users.  I think the amount I managed to amass from surveys last month is probably more a reflection of how many hours I've been awake in the night due to DD4 - lots of surveys pop up at the oddest times!  Plus I'm in the habit of leaving my laptop on throughout the day on the Prolific page so that I'll see the minute a survey pops up so I can jump on it (most studies have very limited number and fill up quickly). 

I do also use Swagbucks, but this is for other activities aside from surveys (which always seem to screen me out after considerable effort).  I always have some game on my phone from there that pays out for progress, but I've found that you need to cherry-pick these as a lot take waaaaaay too much time and effort to be worth the rewards.  As it is, I've just cashed out £50 with them and am waiting for it to hit my account so I can add it to the Barclaycard  

rachmac3

That's a good idea to have the survey site up. Maybe when I'm doing housework or cooking tea I can do that.

browneyed_girl

So I'm resetting my survey money progress as we're at the start of a new month.  So far in September, I've cashed out £83.57 and have another £77 pending.  Considering I had hoped to make £150 a month and I've now made more than this in four days, I'm walking around the house with the biggest grin on my face!  Particularly since my Barclaycard balance is now less than £1000!!

I have found it helpful that the kids were back to school today, which gave me more time during the day to sit uninterrupted and get surveys done.  It also meant that I could be more productive around the house - I cleaned the kitchen; put on a nappy wash and hung this out; took inventory of what I have in the cupboards and freezer; used this to make a meal plan for next week and complete an online shop; popped to the shops to get a few top up items (spending £13 in L!dl) and somehow still managed to breastfeed every hour!  I'm aware this may sound excessive, but DD4 is seriously greedy and has gone from just over the 50th centile at birth (though she was a week early) to now being at the 91st at 8 weeks old!!  I'm starting to think that all those biscuit calories are going straight into the breastmilk... 

It's DD1's birthday tomorrow, so I took out £60 today to put in a card which she knows she's getting to take shopping on Saturday.  She's also asked to take £20 out of her pocket money savings, but doesn't want to spend more than this.  Considering she has over £200 saved up, I'm quite proud that she's being so conservative with her money   I have wondered if I'm being really stingy with how much we give the kids for their birthdays and Christmas after talking to my sister.  She is a single parent on UC and is usually pretty frugal, but talked to me the other day about spending well over £100 on each of her twins for their birthday recently.  Considering that our mum is having to help her out by buying their school uniform for secondary school, it seems excessive to me but maybe this is just what is expected these days..?  We definitely didn't get this amount spent on us when we were younger - our parents couldn't have afforded it for all six children!  And the £60 we're giving isn't because of the reduced budget on maternity leave - this is the standard spend for us, maybe even a bit higher than usual!  I really want my children to understand the value of money, and though I'm willing to invest in them learning new skills and spending what feels like a small fortune on music lessons etc, I don't want them to just be given whatever they want without earning it.  I am, however, willing to be proven wrong (possibly for the first time ever!) if enough people tell me I'm being too mean and Scrooge-like on this point!