Future Proofing my life: Deposit saving then MFW journey in under 13 years

South_coast

LadyWithAPlan said:

I never travel only with a small bag - never ever done it 

Try it, you might like it. How much do you genuinely need 🤷‍♀️? I only ever take a small bag, my crowning glory being a 3-night trip taking a 4-kilo container of ashes with me and only a 7-kilo hand luggage allowance 😀

LadyWithAPlan

South_coast said:

LadyWithAPlan said:

I never travel only with a small bag - never ever done it 

Try it, you might like it. How much do you genuinely need 🤷‍♀️? I only ever take a small bag, my crowning glory being a 3-night trip taking a 4-kilo container of ashes with me and only a 7-kilo hand luggage allowance 😀

You are an inspiration!! However I like to travel with lots of fun fabulous fashion and this is a bday trip  plus I do like bringing lotions and potions …. 
plan is I will pack the free luggage - see how many layers /dresses I can wear at the same time - it is a beach trip so bikinis - maybe I can buy the suntan lotion … and if not enough stuff I will just buy hold luggage ! 

I noticed I refused at £52 each flight for either  carry on or hold .. then at final payment thru offered me £40 each flight for hold - lets see if I get increasingly good offers  .  

Iceland has sent me an offer - via email. normally £1 free top up per  £20 added to the bonus card - but they doing add £70 to bonus card and they will give me £13 extra ! So worth checking if you have an Iceland bonus card 

LadyWithAPlan

So at parents and had a lovely sit outside in their garden in the summer heat yesterday - such a joy - I have had 2 flats with balconies over the years and a brief spell with a garden .. all central london ..  And my desire to buy a small outdoor space is costing about £100k more plus me moving further out but knowing me I don’t like the upheaval of moving loads so plan is to buy and stay 

Parents just bought a new parasol but as there are lots of old fruit trees and bushes it is a cool place plus the side is in shade in the afternoon even though it’s not a huge garden. Lots of herbs, tomatoes in the greenhouse, salad leaves all growing - they gave up their allotment but its space enough - I certainly am thinking a smaller garden 
After waiting so long to buy a place with a garden I know how much I will appreciate when it finally happens - including some small veg growing and hopefully a fruit tree or 2 
I was saying I also will want a bbq but then mysteriously I  won one two hours later .. ! 

I checked my mb emails to find I had won a gift from one of the companies ! It was a prize draw - I had missed the email and the claim deadline so  wasn’t sure if I could still get it but had a large choice of options from tv, fridge freezers and washing machine, 2 different bbqs(!) to mobile and audio tech - even handbag prizes all £150-£280 approx cost) 

I did think about storing the bbq at my parents but decided to be sensible - so I have ordered a Samsung phone and looks like it will definitely be arriving 

plan is to sell the phone when it arrives for £200 + approx as I have an Apple Watch so need an iPhone to make it work - then trade in current iPhone 12 Pro so get a further £238 according to music magpie and then upgrade .. I was looking to save £200 pm for 3-4 months but now hopefully I can save the extra and get the iPhone 14 Plus (about £589 on MM) where I also get 10% student discount or the 14 pro
I always get the pro for the cameras but the Plus is bigger so has a longer life battery 


Android phones do have much better batteries but the newer iPhones are catching up - maybe when my current Apple Watch dies I could look to replace it with an android watch but I am in the Apple world with laptops etc all of which talk to each other and I no longer understand PCs but it’s not a frugal place to be ! Hence buying second hand - though it seems some of the new contracts are cheaper than buying outright so .. 

My 12 pro battery went from 80% to 76 and now I am carrying a battery pack with me - with my travel having a dead phone is annoying and could be dangerous - thinking of that poor teenager lost in Tenerife - with only 1% battery as he walked across a place he did not know - it’s awful for him and his family and friends 

When I had a battery replaced before phone died a month after so - not sure if I go to Apple they do a guarantee on that .. ? they charge £85 so not too bad I suppose to extend phone life for a year but these 14s & 15s have much better battery lives especially using Bluetooth (for watch and iPods) so thinking of just upgrading now 

We do need to sort out these built in battery short life and the  environment - capitalism needs to start focusing more -or made to focus more on helping not harming the planet - think that can only come with rules - I saw the EU have fined Apple for anti competitive practises on apps 

Watty1

I love the BBQ win after saying you want one. How wonderful is that!

PennysIntoPounds

Congrats! Think you made the wise choice, BBQs can be got another time but you need a functioning phone now, and that's money not coming out of your deposit, hooray! Very decent of them to honour the win past the deadline

TallGirl

Nice win you need to get a bit better with checking emails for wins. I assume you use a different email address to avoid all the signups it usually comes with glad you did get the prize though. Should be easy to sell. The Iphone max is really handy if your eyesight is not great nice a big. 

LadyWithAPlan

TallGirl said:

Nice win you need to get a bit better with checking emails for wins. I assume you use a different email address to avoid all the signups it usually comes with glad you did get the prize though. Should be easy to sell. The Iphone max is really handy if your eyesight is not great nice a big. 

Yes I have a specific email for competitions  - which I check for 'congratulations' and 'winner' each week unfortunately the festival tix I missed last month  had a 7 day deadline - it was whilst I was travelling and holidaying and saw it day 8!
This win was via my MB email - so rare to have a 'win' on that I am not clear on as its just bookies emails and offers which I also get into their own message portal etc... however this one bookie had a prize draw and an email I thus missed.
I always check via 'congratulations' on all email addresses via my phone but  somehow this one got missed.
The only other thing I have won apart from money and free spins/bets on bookies was a prize draw on another bookie where again I got taken to a page and got to pick my prize - they were all up to £100 worth - which is why I picked my 6 in 1 pressure cooker /saute/slow/sousvide/steam/bake  and stopped hankering after an air fryer (i already have a 10+ yr brilliant halogen oven) 

I do like my competition wins and nice they coming in again. I also won my nutribullet

So yes a 3 day max check emails has to start happening.
My eye sight is fine but 14 plus battery is long lasting which is what I do care about - or I will look at contracts . However will wait til the won phone arrives..  i am not travelling so much in the next few months.

PennysIntoPounds said:

Congrats! Think you made the wise choice, BBQs can be got another time but you need a functioning phone now, and that's money not coming out of your deposit, hooray! Very decent of them to honour the win past the deadline

It was an auto set up link which copied the code they also had sent me in the email - so I just pressed on the 'choose here' and then had a quick 10 min thought on 'if I can claim which is best'... I didnt want to delay further.. however some great useful household goods prizes as well.

I am proud of myself for choosing a new easy to sell Samsung phone A34 256gb - vs the bbq that I still want but no room for -  - will be easy to get cash - i need to get into habit of selling unwanted prizes if I am not using them or gifting them  - also helps with the decluttering.. I have 2 giant bottles of expensive self tan as well I won in a box that needs to get sold.. might pop them on my local whats app group as well

Watty1 said:

I love the BBQ win after saying you want one. How wonderful is that!

yes but then I said no and picked a phone as easy to sell - argh -.. it was a huge fabulous looking Cosmo Pro  gas bbq  5 in 1  - so what I always wanted (except no garden..)

I now am stating I want to win a Central London house with an established garden with a studio in it, freehold, 2 plus bedrooms, Light filled, short walking distance to a main tube line and period features, high ceilings, 

beanielou

I would love to win a new kitchen. 

PennysIntoPounds

I also want to win a central London house please. There'll be me and LaPlan on the neighbourhood whatsapp group surrounded by billionaires while we go 'that fourth lambo's not very mse, have you thought about topping up your state pension just in case' 😂

skint_spice

Good luck to you all with your cosmic ordering if that’s what you call it. I would like a kitchen too Beanie and a garden makeover!