Tues 15th

A question about : Tues 15th

When we start out on the DFW trail we do loads of big stuff that makes quite a difference to our situation. These include having our lightbulb moment, cutting up the credit cards and cancelling Sky and the gym.

But once we have done the bigger stuff, we often feel that we are not making the same amount of progress, when in fact the small steps are helping us form good financial habits and helping us get closer everyday to staying in control and becoming debt free, or staying debt free.

Examples could be hanging washing out instead of using the tumble dryer or leaving your purse/wallet at home to avoid the risk of spending.

So be proud of those small steps, they really are important.

Best answers:

• Morning all!!
  Where is everyone? How come I'm starting this thread at nearly 11am?!? Debt busting begins before the sun comes up!
  So, my list for today -
  All food from stores
  Only need to put some fuel in the car, so LSD
  Do swagbucks, onepoll, check competitions boards
  Need to grab a quick shower when I get in from work (guy is coming to plaster the bathroom ceiling tonight)
  Check banking
  Finish my gingerbread man cross stitch!!!! NEED to do this today, it's been dragging on for months!
  Will be back to update later, and maybe add some things if I can think of anything else
  Have a good day y'all! x
• Was going to say "morning all" but I've missed that one! Zepsgal thanks for starting us off ... wonder where everyone is?
  Huge apologies for me as I've not posted for a couple of days now RL getting in the way
  It's started snowing here ... and is lying (I hate snow!)
  So today (have been busy already!):
  Thermals on ... heating off (and it's bloomin' cold)
  Check accounts & shuffle if needed
  Lots of cups of tea to keep warm
  Sort cats & tidy up done
  Walk dog x 2 - 1 done & the other will be up the farmers field to the next village ... not taking the car out in this!
  Wash x 1 & hang up done
  Iron done
  Watch stuff off Sky+ while ironing done
  Phone Drs to get prescription done
  Read book and keep warm! finished a book earlier ... on hunt for a new one!
  Keep warm & safe everyone
• Hello fellow penny-savers,
  Busy day today, multi-taskiing like mad. Lots of snow yesterday, which started melting then turned to treacherous ice overnight so decided to spend a day in the kitchen doing all sorts of stuff!
  So far, have:
  -Hung up laundry to dry, washed overnight on cheaper elec. tariff.
  -Got all my lovely seville oranges cut up, juiced & simmering on the hob prior to making marmalade this afternoon. Recycled jars washed & ready for warming in oven.
  -Breadmaker primed with dough for tonight's pizza (with the last of the ham we roasted at the weekend). Going to make a few mini-pizzas as well (calorie-counted as we are back on the wagon!) for the freezer as they are handy for packed lunches.
  -Rose Elliot's Golden lentil soup in the slow cooker, using some ham stock I had in the freezer. Usually make it on the hob, but hob too busy with marmalade so doing it in SC instead.
  -Been through recipes looking for something to make with the last bucket of our windfall apples. They won't keep for much longer. Apple & Ginger chutney, I reckon, so am checking I have everything in.
  Despite the fact that we are not back in debt, we did overspend our income a bit last year. I decided to come on this thread as I thought it'd keep me motivated not to be tempted back into my old naughty ways. Definitely the right decision. Just heard that our income is secure this year, but 2014 going to bring more redundancies (public sector), so we've decided to make our postition as strong as possible in case the worst happens. Saw v good advice on MSE a couple of years ago re possible redundancy & that was to "live as though it's already happened". This has REALLY focussed my mind & I'm feeling pretty organised about money-saving. Am planning to put at least 3 jars of this marmalade away for Christmas presents!! (I've impressed myself there, lol!)
  Hope everyone is staying warm.....I'm wondering if I'll still be able to walk if I put a 4th layer on!
  Cheers,
  foxgloves x
• Foxgloves, that's a lovely impressive list! I would love to make my own preserves, do you reuse glass jars (like sauce jars etc) or do you use ones you bought specifically for making jams?
  Love the motto, people should really think about how life would be if they were made redundant.
  Hello Rising! Hope you are keeping okay sweetie, and I hope it's not snowing at my house As much as I love it, I'm getting work done to the house tonight, don't want to give anyone an excuse not to come and help out
  My list from this morning -
  All food from stores - On my way to this
  Only need to put some fuel in the car, so LSD - Ј20 fuel in the car, nothing else
  Do swagbucks, onepoll, check competitions boards - Target met on sb
  Need to grab a quick shower when I get in from work (guy is coming to plaster the bathroom ceiling tonight)
  Check banking - Done, no magical money appeared lol
  Finish my gingerbread man cross stitch!!!! NEED to do this today, it's been dragging on for months! - Still not done going to clear my desk and get it done today, honest I will!!
• Hi
  Ally Dowd you v kindly posted on the thread at the weekend about cancelling sky and getting freesat.
  I just rang up and they say that in order to be able to record, I'd have to continue to pay Ј10.25 per month.
  Nothing I read on the website said that - is that true??
  I need a recording facility as I'm quite often not home until late and like to save things up to watch (rather than going out).
  I'm really trying to get into this "small dfw" thing! So today, I have
  - not eaten breakfast (could do with losing some weight - I know it's not the best way to do it but I didn't have anything in for brekkie!)
  - had soup from stocks (shop bought a couple of days ago so not entirely dfw but better than my usual trick of Ј4 on a sandwich)
  - cake from leftovers for someone's birthday at work (doesn't fit in with my first thing for today I know!)
  - last night I went to a friends so she fed me and I took leftover cakes which I had made at the weekend for another friend's birthday
  I have a workout session tonight but it's only Ј7.50 and money well spent for 45-50 mins (if I manage to force myself to go!) so relatively little spending. Also have take out for dinner tonight left over from sunday (not great for diet but only half a portion) and then soup for tomorrow and thursday lunches from stores.
• Wow it really is quiet today! Hello everyone
  Thanks for starting us again Zepsgal. Hope you finish your cross stitch today.
  RFTA - I think I've gone mad, I read your comment about the snow lying as the snow was telling porkie pies!!
  Lulabelle - I know you know but skipping meals is not a good way to lose weight, you will just snack more or worse, starve your body. Make sure you get some bits in for tomorrow!
  Today I have/will:-
• Manually scraped the ice off the car
• B/L/D from stores
• Made use of free water at work
• Staying in for most of my lunch break to avoid spending
• Popped to post office to see if a card would need a large letter stamp or not, not very MSE for me as I had to pay 90p for a large letter stamp because it was slightly too thick...but I suppose it's MSE for my Aunt who won't have to pay the additional postage & the admin fee!
• Bought some more soup from Mr T's while it's on offer - 5 for Ј3. A 60p lunch is not to be sniffed at!
• Logged calories using free app
• Check postcode lottery
• Charged phone at work
• Heating off as long as possible & on low when needed
• Check online banking - hoping my refund is there now...it's been about 6 weeks since I sent the goods back!
• Check for new mystery shopping opportunities
• Enter some comps
• Need to fess up on the GC thread
• Enter receipt into Mr T's price promise
• Check Gumtree & fleabay
• Continue reading household diary thread & making my own freezer inventory/filofax sheets etc.
• Make up another DIY porridge pot for brekkie tomorrow - super cheap & filling!
• Do some surveys

Hope everyone has a great, MSE day x

• Hi Zepsgal,
  Yes, I save glass jars to use for all my preserving, & family members save them for me too, if I start running short. I have been making jams & chutneys since my teens, I learned from helping my Mum & Nan. If you decide you're going to give it a go, don't buy new jars, there's no need, you just wash your old ones in v hot soapy water & as you have to heat them in a low oven to prevent them cracking, that sterilizes them too. The preserves I give for presents at Christmas are done up like a tart's boudoir, as I save pretty papers, ribbons, etc, for this. It's not a hobby that costs much to get going, particularly if you can get a 2nd hand preserving pan (I inherited my Nan's) as jars are recycled, the wax paper discs & cellophane circle packs are not expensive & you can use recipes based on what is in season, what you've grown yourself or foraged. It's marmalade making season at the moment as it's the only time of year you can get Seville oranges, which make the best marmalade. The ruby grapefruits make nice marmalade too, & you can get them 3 for Ј1 on our market sometimes. I did lime & lemon marmalade for presents a few weeks ago......limes were 5 for Ј1 on our market (that's enough for a batch of marmalade, which appeals to my renewed sense of frugality!) & I already had a lemon, plus had stocks of sugar in from Aldi. So if you fancy it, give it a go! I find if I start early at 'Marmalade time', then by the end of the year, I've got enough jars of different stuff to give several people little hampers of 3 or 4 pretty jars. Apart from marmalade, I do jams, jellies, chutneys, brown sauce, piccalilli, hot pepper sauce & the fruit liqueurs (sloe gin, blackberry vodka, etc). I like a bit of foraging too.
  Back to the grindstone now, (a very sticky orange one!)
  foxgloves x
• Afternoon all,
  NO SNOW HERE
  Half day for me at work today so able to do a few DFW bits:
  - Meals from stores
  - Checked online banking and CC accounts
  - Checked amounts and written out all of my debts into my diary, it's frightening when I include Student Loan as well However, because that is paid out of my pay, I don't even register it as a debt (at the moment) - when everything else is gone I'll set about clearing it then.
  - Posted ebay parcel.
  - Cleaned kitchen floor with old carpet cleaner
  - 70p into Sealed Pot and 2p into pennies jar.
  - Start my new tutoring job tonight Money will be going straight into the pot to pay off debt.
  Hope you all have a lovely rest of the day
• foxgloves - Like you I do a lot of preserving and try out a variety of hipflask recipes every year.
  It really is the easiest thing to do, especially chutney. The best tip I learnt about jam is that if it doesn't set overnight, pour it back into the pan, boil it up with some lemon juice, resterilise your jars and there you have it - jam that will set and no waste!!!
• Lulabelle, yes, that is correct I'm afraid Ј10.25 per month to use the sky+ facilities. Have you looked at the recordable freeview boxes? One off payment for the box then it's yours to keep. With the sky+, once you cancel that, you lose all the recordings you have With the freeview recordable box, the recordings will always be there.
  Foxgloves, OH NO!! Me and DH gutted the kitchen at the weekend and threw out about 10 glass jars and lids! We had been saving them up, for no reason really, i just thought they would come in handy. And they will, but now I've binned them
  Right, I'm saving them from now on!! I've bought a book or two on preserving, just never got round to doing it. Another of my 'full of good intentions' ideas, need to stop procrastinating and get on with stuff!
  And on that note, I'm off to clear my desk and do my cross stitch! GET IT DONE ZEPSGAL!
• We have a duplication https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=4391233
• OMG! Cross stitch is done!
  I said I was going to do it, and I did it! Yaaay for me!
• Hi everyone,
  A very late entry from me due to a busy day at work.
  Here is my list:-
  Meals from stores
  Ironing
  Look at budget and work out money (pay day today)
  Read book
  Work out meal plan for next few days
  I think thats it for now.
  xxx
• Was about to say that to use sky plus features you would have to pay the Ј10.25 per month to use these features.
  However our installation engineer said if you plug a VHS video recorder into your tv you can record that way onto tape direct from the tv. We'll be trying this later this week.
  We had Freeview in our old house but can't get reception here.
• I've run out of inclusive broadband allowance til the weekend so I'm limited to posting from my phone. So my posts are gonna be short n sweet!
• Hello all, going to subscribe to this thread as I find to do lists really useful and its very satisfying when you can cross something off. Mine is a bit upside down as I am working nights this week and don't get up until mid afternoon.
  So far since getting up I have
  Had my hair cut (well overdue)
  Purchased two birthday cards (DD is 13 tomorrow)
  Written above purchases in diary ( although forgot receipt for cards)
  Changed two chiropractic appts this week to better fit my schedule
  Made enquiries about borrowing a van to collect a fridge freezer a friend is giving me for FREE !
  Put out rubbish for collection tomorrow
  To do
  List some light bulbs I can't use on ebay
  Put up a curtain at kitchen door to keep draught out of very cold kitchen
  Iron clean uniform and clean footwear for work ( got very muddy last night)
  Drop off birthday card two at cousins house en route to work.
  Speak to lodger re purchasing his share of toilet rolls and doing share of cleaning the bathroom
  Check online banking (mobile banking texts are never up to date )
  Thanks for the inspiration everyone, two hours till I leave for work so better get a move on, food for tonight already left at work from yesterday as I took loads and didn't eat it all. I alos left my bank card at home so I couldnt go to 24hour SM and spend and will do same tonight.
• Hi everyone
  I'm making dinner - turkey lasagne - cheap and there will be leftovers
  Checked banking - tight!
  Checked paypal - Ј19 from surveys building up nicely
  Text pal to ask if I can stay over rather than pay Ј14 taxi home - can drive back next day instead.
  Checked Quidco to find out where my Ј65 cashback is... Will be raging if it doesn't track properly
  Reading a fabby book I got free (Santa paid )
  Free yoga and meditation @ home
  Night in with OH, the pup and a movie on TV