Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

newgirly

Well a couple of things ticked off the list, i did a bit of exercise yesterday, not much but lifting some very light hand weights and I’m feeling it today 😆

Bought the travel insurance for £41.80 and I’m pleased as it was £76 when I got the quote but it was for £3k max cancellation each so I’ve gone lower at £1500 each which is plenty as our two cruises in the next year are less than that each (I’d not realised it was based per person!) 

I’ve booked the fizzy drinks package for £9.85 per day each which will be worthwhile for us, dh will add alcoholic drinks and maybe we will have a nice coffee or two a day too. The bad news is I logged onto next years cruise and saw the trips available, this is a new thing for us as we have only done a couple, before last year. So I ended up booking a trip in Mallorca to some caves with a short concert while there for £104.50, i did look it up and it’s almost an hour away and sold out at the moment plus unable to book too far ahead, so worth it I think, however perhaps not that sensible as I’ve taken it from the Norway pot which is more imminent 🙄 the trouble is trips do book sell out so it’s not ideal to wait if you defiantly want to go. It’s going to be a surprise Xmas present for dh, I suggested we only buy a small token thing this year and use the money for holidays so although I’m spending more it’s for the same reason 🙂

Went to the cinema last night, cineworld are doing horror classics this month - for £5 for those without a pass, so five of us went to see Hellraiser, very enjoyable and packed out which is unusual nowadays.

newgirly

Well I’ve had to order more ski trousers, the £4 ones arrived and are HUGE, I mean two foot too long and could fit us both in 😂  another pair ordered for £7 to try again 😩 can’t find any new cheap ones to try on so will persevere second hand for a bit longer, will donate to charity or give to DIL to sell. 

Bake off went well last night, home made in the BM chilli bread was amazing! Good news as Tesco stopped selling it and I probably would never have tried it otherwise. Not sure I can replicate it easily as I just tossed everything in without measuring 😆

killerpeaty

I was wondering why you were so unsure of paying it off... But then I remembered that you were this close once before. I have full faith that you'll clear it soon.

Glad bake off went well!

newgirly

Indeed KP, thanks for the belief that we will though 😁

Busy few days again, went to the German Xmas market half an hour away today with all the kids and partners except ds1 and girlfriend who are in Hamburg for the weekend. Dh bought some waffles and spiced apple juice - my favourite 🙂 I bought step DGD a Tony’s cholonely massive advent calendar for £14.99 (cheaper on Amazon I must admit) but it was nice buying it there and I like to support it if I can! I bought myself some sticky toffee popcorn too 🥰 

The second lot of ski pants arrived today, the last (massive) pair were an Xl this pair were an XXL and are way too small 😂 I think I have to buy some in person so I can try them on, it is going to be dearer but I can’t go on like this.

Went to see Friday the 13th - on Friday the 13th, which was great, wasn’t going to go as it was a late showing at 10.30pm but ended up hopping out of bed last minute and third wheeling with ds2 and dil as usual 😆 dh was delivering work in central London so actual arrived home after us at 1am 😱 tomorrow night it’s “Christine” which I’ve not seen for years. I wish cinemas always showed old films, I’m loving it and they are so popular! 

Most things ticked off the to do list from last week, except hanging the pictures in the spare room. 

So this weeks list is : 
   

• Hang the pictures in the spare room
• Buy ski trousers 
• Buy all first aid and toiletries we are missing for trip    
• Try work out how to keep under the food budget which is at a worrying £267.30 so far this month, I’ve got a budget of £450 but was hoping to make it £400 food and £50 petrol, will have to see 😱
• See if I can seek some bits! 
• Photo electric meter and chase again 
• Get new driving licence 

Norway savings pot is now at £225.03 after I had a bit more in another pot I had misplaced, no idea how 😆

    

newgirly

Busy week again, and about to be a busier weekend as it seems dh and I are taking MIL to York for the weekend tomorrow 😱 my first ever trip anywhere with her and we have been married since 1996! It was going to be in December but Dh’s brother can’t stay with FIL as he’s busy, so it’s this weekend or next year as we are a bit busy or the flat has the kids staying there. 

I’ve spent way too much on various odds and ends I wanted to stock up on, medicines, toiletries to take away next month, and I’ve tried to get together a more stuff to make going away easier, things like tweezers, mini scissors etc. so I don’t have to find and pack stuff every time. I’ve also bought ski trousers that for £40 😩 plus ordered ski glove liners. 

The Norway spending pot is now at £86.26, this is turning into a game of snakes and ladders now 😆 it’s up and down so often. However the pressure is off a little as dh said he might draw a bit out of the business to spend on drinks while away if we really could do with it. If he does and I get some together I shall flip it over towards next years trip. 

South_coast

May I ask a rude question please, NG? Feel free to tell me to naff off, or delete it, but I'm just curious why you seem so resistant to earning some more money? Don't get me wrong, you're doing fine and the mortgage is coming down nicely, but it does come across as being a right old struggle sometimes, as though having some more cash could be a game-changer. I know it's been mentioned in the past, but then you just seem to come back a few days later with the next plan to get through frugally. Frugalling is all well and good, but you can only cut costs so far. You've mentioned before about a business idea, if that's a non-starter now then you could easily earn £50/month by doing surveys around your other commitments, or just a good old-fashioned part-time job at minimum wage for 10 hours a week would bring you in £450/month. 

As I said, it's none of my business, so tell me to back off if you want to, but it's just something I've been wondering. 

newgirly

Morning SC, I don’t mind you asking that at all, what’s the point of keeping a diary otherwise if you don’t want people’s input 😊 

The answer is I don’t know really, since not losing my job in Covid I’ve kind of lost confidence I guess 🙄it’s easier to just do work at home for dh really, I think I may have gone back to what I used to do years ago when I had three young children and couldn’t afford the childcare so didn’t work and used to cut back instead. 

I think also it’s been a bit up in the air as dh is still waiting to see if he will have a job or do something else entirely or work for himself in which case I’ll need to work with him. That being said I could have got a job in the meantime and have looked many times (shop work)  but am a bit resistant to anything more than part time and usually a short hour contract ends up being full time. DiL started two weeks ago on a four hour contract and has done about 40 hours this week. 

The surveys I do take on board totally, I tried valued opinions about a year ago again but couldn’t face the long slog on one poll to £40 😆 are there any others I could try? I think all in all truth be told I’ve filled my time seeing friends and family and meeting up with people/ taking people out and am quite enjoying it 😬

York is going ok, I can’t lie it’s quite stressful, hence why I’m taking my time getting up this morning when I’d usually be up walking around first thing while it’s quiet in the city 😁  MIL has been ok, so far only one insult about by hair 😆 I’m taking her to the minster today, we walked around outside of  it yesterday but she was’nt that interested, dh says I should take her anyway! I do love it there and currently don’t have a ticket (pay once go for 12 months) so we are going. Nightmare nearly 6 hour journey to get here, and it’s insanely busy, probably the busiest I’ve ever seen it here when not Xmas market time. Still absolutely love it here though and the more I come the more I don’t want to leave (except this is time with MIL of course 😂). 

slm6002

If you are looking for other survey sites I would recommend prolific.  You don't get kicked out half way through like on others and I can make quite a bit each month.  I hope you still get to enjoy your weekend away even if with MIL.  

killerpeaty

It's so wrong for part time positions to sneak into full time (without both parties consenting). It just isn't fair to anyone.

What about doing short stints of work? You could approach temp agencies and say you're available for4 weeks as an example. Then see if they have anything. Not saying it would work, just an idea that I have never tried so...

I applied to get into prolific ages ago and never got in! Personally I like y live but others do not. 

South_coast

If it works for you and you're happy, then keep doing it (the earnings thing, not the holidays with MIL one)! It just could be an opportunity to not have to make cutbacks or compromises. 

Survey-wise, everyone seems to do differently with different sites, but Prolific does tend to be the one most people do well on (sorry KP 🤣). My next best two after that would be One Poll (only £25 needed to cash out these days) and Panelbase (cash out at £10). I also love Vypr, which is an app that asks you really quick questions you can do in seconds, and I can also recommend receipt scanning. I do Shoppix, Storewards and ZipZero. Storewards will let you do as many as want, multiples from the same store on the same day if you've got them (so I always keep my eyes peeled for abandoned receipts on self-checkouts and in baskets/trolleys etc - I figure I'm doing my bit by at least making sure that they're disposed of properly afterwards!), Shoppix is one receipt per store per day, with a bonus if you upload on the day of purchase, and you can also forward them online order confirmations for the same reward. ZipZero also do online order confirmations, and you can shop via them for extra offers, both in-store and online. 

I also do NewVista, Y-Live and YouGov, but they're more of a slow burn, as you need to earn £50 before you get any return, and you need to wait for them to send the surveys to you, so you can sometimes go weeks in between. As with all things, the more you put in, the more you get out. None of these will make you feel any richer on their own, but do enough and you'll soon be getting little bits of cash trickling in on a regular basis 👍