Getting it together...one £ at a time!

Homegrown0 · 24 August 2018 at 5:35PM

Thanks for the vote of confidence DIA!

I am getting there with the fitness - I do enjoy it when I'm there but it's hard work trying to squeeze it in sometimes. Getting the motivation to leave the house isn't always easy! I feel better for it though! Now need to work on drinking more water.

I don't feel so organised but maybe I am doing not too bad.

Today was a good day - got plenty of work done and not spent any money apart from milk and bread. My cupboards are empty so I have a feeling tomorrow's food shop isn't going to come in cheap but needs must!

We have a fairly calm weekend ahead - the usual clubs with the kids in the morning then a kids party on Sunday. Other than that, hopefully some chilling and if it's nice weather getting out on the bikes.

Homegrown0 · 24 August 2018 at 7:38PM

Writing a meal plan and shopping list for the week ahead, with a frozen cocktail in hand that my mum left in my freezer a few weeks ago. Waste not, want not!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Homegrown0 · 28 August 2018 at 5:41PM

Well, this week is passing me by massively! It's been a busy couple of days all round - from work, to school stuff, to family birthdays etc. Chaos indeed!

Pay day is so close I can smell it and I'm trying to make sure that we have in our minds what our plan is for the month. I have a few things that we'll be spending on throughout the month (a special lunch with my grandparents for example) and our anniversary later in the month (it would REALLY be nice to get dinner out if we can, maybe on a voucher deal?). Other than that, I'm hoping more than anything for a quiet spending month! Really could be doing without another month like this.

Got my payslip so I know what I'm playing with this month (the backdated pay rise didn't amount to as much as I'd guessed) but still nice. It'll help to keep us on the straight and narrow.

We used some Curry's vouchers that we had to buy my MIL a fridge because we didn't need anything and she gave us the cash so we have £100 extra sitting in our pockets right now. I'd really like to put it by to buy my son's tablet (for Christmas) from Amazon because that's what the voucher was supposed to be for. In the end they didn't have it in stock, hence why we used them to buy the fridge. ANYWAY! Long-winded, but I'm not sure what to do with it. I fear if it goes into the bank it'll get sucked up by something else somehow, so i was tempted to add it to my Amazon account like you do with vouchers? Is that wise?

As predicted our shopping was a massive one this week because we needed to replenish EVERYTHING. Well, that's how it felt anyway...

Days until pay day: 2
Loan repayments left: 16

Homegrown0 · 29 August 2018 at 12:21PM

Today is bright where I am, but nice and crisp outside! Autumn is creeping closer and I'm delighted because I love getting wrapped up and feeling the cold on my face. I do not, however, like drizzle, rain and gale force winds so I'm a fair-weather autumn lover!

Anyway, today will be a NSD - mainly because there's no money left to spend but I really don't need anything either which helps.

Pay day is tomorrow so i'll be able to reshuffle everything, get my spending account replenished (and more importantly, planned out!) and get set for the month ahead.

I've done a little audit of my 'extra money' earners, so here's where I stand with them:

Topcashback: £36.56 with another £16.31 pending
Sainsbury's nectar card: £16.55 worth of points
Tesco points: 606 points which works out at £5.50 vouchers I think (not sure how this works)
Onepoll: £3.95
PA: £3.43
VO: £11.75 (aiming for £15.50 for an Amazon voucher)
Shoppix receipts: 2930 tokens / 3200 (for a £5 Amazon voucher/ Paypal)
Boots: 769 points worth £7.69

In terms of savings:

Emergency pot: £0 (cleared out after hideous month)
Credit union: £500
Christmas saver: £500
Additional Christmas funds: £100 (thinking of converting this into Amazon credit to keep by for Black Friday)

Mid-September,our savings account will be boosted by £300/pm which I'm hoping to save but, as always this is there for emergencies. Our flat is becoming vacant in 2 weeks time so if no one moves in then we'll be responsible for the mortgage until someone does...so this money may 100% be going to that in the near future! We'll see! If not, then we'll be building up a nice pot of savings for emergencies.

Days until pay day: 1
Loan repayments left: 16

Homegrown0 · 29 August 2018 at 4:07PM

Another £3 survey and just missed out on a £10 one

Gutted! Wasn't quick enough logging in on my phone and it was only for mobile phones. Never mind, will keep my eyes peeled!

NSD today! Yee ha!

Just logged onto my internet banking and I've been paid a day early, so I can spend some time later tonight transferring funds to where they need to be etc. and setting myself up for September. Hooray!

Yet again, my husband still hasn't been paid and he should've been paid yesterday so goodness knows when that will turn up. At least we can survive on my wages until his come in. I try to think of it as the longer in the week we wait for the wages to come in, the shorter the time until his next wages the following week (if they're on time...)

doingitanyway · 29 August 2018 at 6:40PM

i love a slight chill and a scarf too. I tend to walk more when it is cooler too.

Good job you have been paid early as hubby is being paid late.

Have a relaxing evening

Homegrown0 · 29 August 2018 at 8:16PM

Thanks DIA - my evening is just about to begin now the kids are in bed. I'm thinking of treating myself to an ice lolly from the freezer and watching something on Netflix before bed. Not feeling the best (think i've got a cold working on me or something) so some relaxation/ vegetating will work wonders.

I've been a bit of a muppet re: car insurance.

Our renewal came in and it was high so i did a comparison. Managed to get it £15p/m cheaper with £80 cash back on TCB but when I called our current provider to cancel they managed to match the monthly figure. Even though they couldn't match the £80 TCB incentive, they do offer a courtesy car, legal fees and European cover, all of which is included in the price, whereas you need to pay extra for with the new supplier.

Problem is, i've already signed up with the new supplier and paid the £96 deposit so i'll need to call them tomorrow and cancel, which I'm sure i can as a 14 day change of mind thing. Just a hassle and I'm annoyed that I'm missing out on the TCB, but can't have it all!

redofromstart · 29 August 2018 at 8:16PM

Is it worth checking to see if there are any of those top up X and get x free offers current on Amazon? I usually do those for the free credit

redofromstart · 29 August 2018 at 8:18PM

Cross posted - missing out on the chance of TCB cashback, my experience is that the car insurance ones rarely pay out and I have stopped even considering it in my decision. Hope the cancellation is straightforward.

Homegrown0 · 30 August 2018 at 11:18AM

Ooh, I hadn't thought of that redo. I assume I can just find out about that on the Amazon pages? Might hang off to see if they have an offer like that come up at some point because I'm not in a massive rush to put it in. It's sitting in cash in my house right now, i'm just all too aware that something will 'come up' and we'll use that cash if I don't put it away! Thanks for the tip!

Also wasn't aware of car insurance ones rarely paying out on TCB! What a pain! I, too, hope the cancellation is straightforward. I'll be doing it tomorrow while working from home because these things sometimes take time and I've a busy day in the office today. Fingers crossed!

Getting it together...one £ at a time!

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