Batten down the hatches.....

Orange_Ena · 17 March 2017 at 12:21AM

doingitanyway wrote: »

Thinking about your CHEFs idea. Would you be able to get a magazine article out of this (could be your spending money) You write well and it is such a good idea I'm sure you can monetise it further...

Ooh ells bells, I wouldn't know where to start :rotfl: But thank you for the compliment

Maybe if I do manage to complete my challenge, I could contact Th@t's L1fe or T@ke a Br3ak and get £200 for telling my story :rotfl::D

Orange_Ena · 17 March 2017 at 12:27AM

BettyBones wrote: »

Cruise? Did someone say 'cruise'?! I love cruises!!! And I'm loving the idea of your CHEFS challenge. Surveys drive me nuts though. I started doing the Y0uGov ones last August and am still only at only £33.75 :mad: I was so hoping to be able to cash out before my DFD at the end of May and take that £50 away with me for cruise spends. I was going to buy my first pina colada with it! :rotfl:

Cruise? Who dear? Me dear? :rotfl: I'm with you on loving cruises, there's nothing like it. My last was in 2014 so I'm getting desperate for one now, hence doing every survey I can get my mitts on

Youg0v is a very slow burner. I cashed out last July and have just hit payout again so it's been a slog, and I've done every one that I've been sent so it's not a get rich quick thing. Not long till your cruise now :beer:

When you do cash out though, maybe you could put it towards your next cruise

Orange_Ena · 17 March 2017 at 12:56AM

Evening

Oh so close to that lovely weekend. I had a day off on Monday and it was so nice to actually have a good Sunday not dreading work. Obviously Monday was spent mostly thinking about going back work

But yay, I've only got 4 more working days till a long weekend :T:T

Friday 10th March
* £4.75 in the Co-0p
* £2.20 for a sandwich from the butchers
* £30.29 in M0rrisons
* £5 M0rrisons voucher received. Normally I'd just spend them but I'm going to transfer £5 to savings when I spend this :money:
* 0nep0ll surveys
* Pinec0ne survey
* Opini0n Outp0st survey

Saturday 11th March
* NSD
* Opini0n Outp0st surveys and £2.50 redeemed and transferred to my new CHEFS account :j
* PA survey

Sunday 12th March
* NSD
* 160SB earned
* Youg0v survey

Monday 13th March
* NSD
* 0nep0ll surveys
* PA survey
* Youg0v survey

Tuesday 14th March
* £8.50 in T3sco
* 0nep0ll surveys
* PA survey

Wednesday 15th March
* £16.11 for fuel
* PA survey
* Youg0v survey
* VO survey
* P0pulusLive survey
* Opini0n Outp0st survey

Today
* NSD
* £3.13 received from TCB and transferred to my overpayments account
* 0nep0ll surveys, only 35p away from cashout

* PA survey!
* Opini0n Outp0st survey, £2.50 redeemed and transferred to my CHEFS account
* 302SB earned and a £5 Am@zon voucher redeemed
* VO survey!
* Youg0v survey

Just a warning to anyone that shops at M0rrisons......if you go round and happen to buy products with bonus M0re points, just check they do get added on. I noticed a while ago that they weren't so I started taking photos of the products with the extra points and then getting them added on a customer services. It's really frustrating and actually I'm annoyed that people think they're getting points when they might not be. I emailed a complaint to head office last week, saying I always had to get the points added on by customer services, and they rang me and said that it was a known glitch, they're working on it (it's been weeks and weeks

) and that what I need to do is go to customer services to get the points manually added on

"Er, I'm already doing that love. You're missing the point, you're ripping off customers promising them M0re points and failing to deliver" I don't think she gave a sh*T :rotfl: I tried

Anyway, it's day 16 of the month and I've hit 8 days of making the £4.11 target for the Daily Mortgage Interest Challenge :T:j:T:j:T:j

And........I have £5 in my CHEFS account. That'll probably pay for an hour of my cruise :rotfl::rotfl:

That's all for tonight, I'll try and catch up with diaries tomorrow night. Hope everyone is well

doingitanyway · 26 March 2017 at 9:02AM

Knock, knock. Anyone home?

Orange_Ena · 31 March 2017 at 11:55PM

doingitanyway wrote: »

Knock, knock. Anyone home?

Who's there? It's me! I'm back

Sorry I've been AWOL again, totally didn't mean to leave it this long. Mixture of being busy, unwell and cba :rotfl:

Hope you're well DIA, thanks for calling

Orange_Ena · 1 April 2017 at 12:19AM

Epic catch up to follow......but I feel the need to record it all :rotfl:

Friday 17th March
* £5.69 in the co-op
* £30.01 on fuel
* 0nep0ll surveys
* VO survey
* PA survey
* Opini0n Outp0st surveys and £2.50 redeemed and transferred to my CHEFS account

Saturday 18th March
* £18.03 in L1dl, got a few bigger things I was running out of like washing powder and maple syrup
* £16.48 in M0rrisons
* PA survey
* 8SB earned!
* Youg0v survey

Sunday 19th March
* NSD
* Opini0n Outp0st surveys
* Youg0v survey

Monday 20th March
* NSD
* 0nep0ll survey and £40 cashout reached :T
* 73SB earned

Tuesday 21st March
* £2 in T3sco
* £5.98 in the pharmacy
* £2.50 in M0rrisons
* £50 received from Youg0v and transferred to my overpayments account :j
* Youg0v survey
* 0nep0ll surveys
* Opini0n Outp0st survey

Wednesday 22nd March
* £45 to the plumber....... £10 less than he estimated :money:
* £30.80 in Wilko for a tension rod, shower curtain, superglue, Mothers day pressie and loads of sweets for our forthcoming weekend road trip to Leeds
* Opini0n Outp0st surveys and £2.50 redeemed and transferred to my CHEFS account
* 0nep0ll surveys
* Youg0v survey
* PA survey

Thursday 23rd March
* NSD
* Opini0n Outp0st surveys
* 0nep0ll survey

Friday 24th March
* £8.85 in T3sco
* £29 for fuel
* £5.79 in the pharmacy
* £1.35 in M0rrisons
* £15 towards a Chinese takeaway

* £23.75 received from PA and some transferred to my CHEFS account and some to overpayments!
* 0nep0ll surveys

Saturday 25th March
* £3.50 for lunch
* £15 in the gift shop at Emmerd@le
* £8.70 for dinner
* £4.85 in M0rrisons
* £26 for fuel
* 1p roadkill found

Sunday 26th March
* £17.23 in T3sco

Monday 27th March
* NSD
* P0pulusLive survey
* 0nep0ll surveys
* 3 VO surveys
* Opini0n Outp0st surveys and £2.50 redeemed and transferred to my CHEFS account
* 3 PA surveys
* Youg0v survey

Tuesday 28th March
* £11.65 in T3sco on a few groceries
* £2.85 in Wilk0
* 0nep0ll survey
* PA survey

Wednesday 29th March
* £3.63 in H0mebase
* £3.71 in H0me Barg@ins
* 0nep0ll surveys
* Opini0n Outp0st survey
* PA survey
* Youg0v survey
* 100SB earned

Thursday 30th March
* £4.94 in H0me Barg@ins
* £19 in H0mebase for bathroom paint
* £4.60 in T3sco, including 3 pies reduced to 45p and English muffins down to 8p, all for the freezer
* £30.01 for fuel
* 0nep0ll surveys
* 2 P0pulusLive surveys
* 2 VO surveys
* PA survey
* Opini0n Outp0st surveys and £2.50 redeemed and transferred to my CHEFS account

Today
* £2.59! in the co-op
* 0nep0ll surveys
* P0pulusLive survey £4 and payout reached so I should get the £50 cheque by mid May :T:j
* Opini0n Outp0st survey

Decluttering
102. old shower curtain
103. old shower screen

March stats

PA - £40.14....................total YTD £72.41
Youg0v - 675pts/£6.75..................total YTD £21.25
SB - 641SB (enough for a £5 Am@zon voucher).....................total YTD 641SB
Pinec0ne - £3 (awaiting confirmation)................total YTD £6
P0pulusLive - £16..................total YTD £27
VO - £7.50..................total YTD £17
TCB - 0................total YTD £1.74
i-S@y - 20pts..................total YTD 285pts
Inb0x£s - 51p..................total YTD £1.35
Other income - 0...................total YTD £32.84
Roadkill - 6p..................total YTD 11p
0nep0ll - £13.80...................total YTD £28.60
Opini0n Outp0st - £24.......................total YTD £28

March total - £116.76
Year to date - £241.30 :T:j

Other totals:

• Nati0nwide sweeps - 0..................total YTD 0
• FD sweeps - 0.................total YTD 0
• Pennysaver challenge - £119.80...............total YTD £207.47
• NSD's - 12...............total YTD 34
• Books read - 0....................total YTD 0
• DVD's watched - 0....................total YTD 0
• DMIC (Daily Mortgage Interest Challenge) - 13/31 days of hitting £4.11 income

Orange_Ena · 1 April 2017 at 12:38AM

I can't wait until my phone contract ends in May to go sim only. I normally just upgrade, although I never go for the newest phone. My bill is currently £27.34 but I'm planning on going with Plusn3t for the mates rate deal and it'll be £5 per month for 1GB. I've checked my data use for the last 3 months and I haven't gone over 1GB but even if I go for the 2GB it's only £7.50! So potentially, I could save £268 over the year, although if my phone breaks, I'll have to factor in the cost of replacing it. Just shows that there's always money to be saved :rotfl:

I'm up to £30.60 in my CHEFS (Cruise Holiday Entirely Funded by Surveys) account which is growing nicely. I made my first deposit to that account on the 11th March so not too bad for 3 weeks work.

I'm getting my bathroom decorated next weekend and with paint, it should come to around £200. I'll just need to get flooring and I'm estimating about £80 for that, including fitting. Then that's it, my house will be pretty much done! Maybe just the odd little thing to fix or sort, and more decluttering, obvs, but I'll be ready to go on the market. Aaarrggghh!

After 13 and a half years, my house will be fully decorated and modernised and I'm about to leave it all behind and I'm a bit sad about it really. But I've realised that it's really important to me to have nice surroundings at home. Up until I had the downstairs renovated about 4 years ago, my house had largely remained untouched, and it was so depressing. I wasn't able to face it, I had no money to do it up really, no energy, and it just became something I put up with, barely inviting anyone round as I was too embarrassed. But since my 2nd LBM nearly 2 years ago, I've saved and got it done and it looks lovely, and the house deserved it. I can't go back to living in a sh**hole when I move though!!

Orange_Ena · 1 April 2017 at 1:25AM

Now the house is nearly done, I was thinking about how much I've achieved in the last 18 months - 2 years.

Since September 2015, at home I've had
•! new shower and loo seat
• new radiators upstairs and in the hall
• new doors upstairs
• spare room decorated, including new carpet
• extra sockets
• new skirting boards in both bedrooms
• new fence
• clothes rail put in cupboard
• upstairs floorboards fixed
• my bedroom decorated, new carpet
• new bathroom lights
• hall, stairs and landing decorated
• loo fixed and new shower screen
• garden tidied

Along with the bathroom that's about to be decorated, and all the bits like curtains, lamps, cushions etc it adds up to just over £5000, and yes I have gone through my diary to check! Apart from a £1500 inheritance, I've paid for it all myself, with only a little bit going on the credit card to spread the cost, which has now been cleared anyway.

And my debt has gone from nearly £7000 in April 2015 to £2500 :T

My savings accounts are all topped up and healthy, it helps me budget so much for the month and for the yearly things. But if the SHTF tomorrow and I had to scrape all my money together from my little savings accounts and emergency fund, I could have about £3000. Its so tempting to just clear my credit card but I shall resist :rotfl:

I'm really amazed and quite proud of myself

When you really look at your finances, there are always savings to be made, money to be made from surveys or selling things, being more conscious of what you're spending and how down shifting a brand can save money, or just not buying stuff you dont need, looking for vouchers, roadkill, opportunities, it really all adds up to a significant amount. I know some people can't be bothered to do surveys or don't have the time and i can totally appreciate that. I do put a bit of effort in I suppose, but all those 10p or 10 point surveys do add up for me.

I think the biggest thing I've realised is that after bills are paid and food is bought, that disposable income isn't really "disposable". At some point in the future, that money is going to be needed for something. And stashing a bit away each month cushions the blow a little. If I didn't have all my little savings accounts that get topped up each month, I'd think I was loaded. But by the time my bills are paid and my accounts are filled up and budgets done, I hardly have anything left and at times it's scary, but also, incredibly satisfying. Over 20 years in debt, never budgeting, over spending and frittering and I finally get it :rotfl:

doingitanyway · 1 April 2017 at 8:01AM

Orange_Ena wrote: »

I think the biggest thing I've realised is that after bills are paid and food is bought, that disposable income isn't really "disposable". At some point in the future, that money is going to be needed for something. And stashing a bit away each month cushions the blow a little. If I didn't have all my little savings accounts that get topped up each month, I'd think I was loaded. But by the time my bills are paid and my accounts are filled up and budgets done, I hardly have anything left and at times it's scary, but also, incredibly satisfying. Over 20 years in debt, never budgeting, over spending and frittering and I finally get it :rotfl:

The whole of this post is both uplifting and inspirational, but this paragraph especially so. I have followed your progress over the last few years and I am so pleased this is where you have arrived and so confident I am not so far behind you. Thank you.

doingitanyway · 1 April 2017 at 8:07AM

Orange_Ena wrote: »

After 13 and a half years, my house will be fully decorated and modernised and I'm about to leave it all behind and I'm a bit sad about it really. But I've realised that it's really important to me to have nice surroundings at home. Up until I had the downstairs renovated about 4 years ago, my house had largely remained untouched, and it was so depressing. I wasn't able to face it, I had no money to do it up really, no energy, and it just became something I put up with, barely inviting anyone round as I was too embarrassed. But since my 2nd LBM nearly 2 years ago, I've saved and got it done and it looks lovely, and the house deserved it. I can't go back to living in a sh**hole when I move though!!

:T:T:T I'm applauding this because I know what a huge achievement this truly is and how it feels to be living in a home that is depressing and you can't invite people in when you really want to (sigh) Bravo Orange Ena.

Batten down the hatches.....

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