Tuesday 15th October

A question about : Tuesday 15th October

When we start out on the Debt-Free Wannabe 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.

Best answers:

• Morning Gang!!
  Thanks for the starter Ziggy xx
  Despite being at the end of a seven-day working week, I am still buzzing from work last night... Nights like that remind me why I joined the Police!
  So, going to make the most of the adrenaline buzz and crack on with some of today's list:
  Free pancake breakfast at work because colleague crashed a car! Whoops!
  Lift share home from work – zero spend on fuel this week!
  Make packed lunch for OH – she fancied corned beef sandwiches – old school!!
  30 Day Shred DVD – free exercise at home
  Quick shower and facemask (free sample)
  Heating staying off – chilly, but sunny day here!!
  Body Armour on hot wash but shortest cycle (who knows what gruesome stuff is on that vest!) and will be hung out to dry and freshen up
  Chill with a cuppa whilst washing is on and read forum
  Pop a dark wash on economy
  Whip-round clean of house and put ironing away
  Check online banking
  Another NSD as will be off to bed very shortly!
  Rugby training tonight – more exercise and free dinner at the club afterwards whilst catching up with the girls!
  Think that's about it... finally starting to feel the need for sleep!
  Hope everyone has a cracking day!! Lots of love xxx
• Morning all ,another day off today but the last for a while
  Read my book , it will happend and I'll make up for not doing it yesterday.
  Garys Great indgredient hunt DONE
  nothing today except the money off normals , I did email asking them how to swap or gift them as it come up with the options but now where on the site does it tell you how to , anyone else know ??
  Cushelle christmas Koala hunt - well I kept going bat there yesterday and finally contacted them saying when was it going to open, 20mins later the page had changed saying it starts today , its not open as I type this. Still not open at 12.45 ,
  still not open at 6.40pm facebooked them , Im not actually fussed but as its been my days off I thought Id enter so I didnt forget.
  Tackle the Ironing mountain (watching a film whist doing it ) as I cut the grass yesterday instead as it wasnt raining. Yer still working on this one
  Laundry - 1st load done , only 1 to do Quess what I found more to do
  Postcode lottery DONE
  Surveys - as yet nothings come through. Had one , didnt qualify
  Check ebay DONE , more views still no bids.
  Work out what to do with the Lamb for dinner ? Lancashire Hotpot type thingy for us , Chicken Casserole for DD & BF.
  Going to shop to get a few bits so LSD hopefully and then I can make fishcakes tommorrow.
  Do the ebay stuff ready for next times free listing ,if the ironing lets me. No chance
  Unsubcribe from old threads that are no longer active or relevant - DONE.
  Have so far today listened to Kacey Musgraves Album Same Trailer Different Place , not normally my kind of thing , now listening to The Dana Owens Album ( Queen Latifah) again not my normal, look em up on youtube you might like them.
  Have a nice day all ,
  Cheers
  Update : DD got out of bath , some water through to kitchen , ring landlord as feel its quite important so that more damage isnt done, wont send anyone till friday.
• Morning all,
  Thanks for the starter, Ziggy.
  
  Busy MSE-style day ahead today.
  The List:
  OH is pickling shallots for Christmas. She's prepping them in the garden cos she doesn't want the smell in the kitchen, even though it's freezing out.
  Carried washing downstairs in a big Ikea bag as I'm tired of dropping a sock en route and then having to hand wash it. (Can't stand lost socks.) Washing will go out on line.
  Washed stain off table cloth immediately to save ruining it.
  Made some more Christmas giftwrap.
  Continue quest for a cheap DVD for OH. Couldn't find a copy in the five local charity shops. The usual companies want Ј12 for it, which is IMHO, way too much. Checked find-dvd.co.uk but this site didn't locate a single copy.
  Grocery shopping done. OH saved Ј4.50 with coupons. Parked in free car park and walked between the shops we use to get the lowest prices.
  Hope that kettle occasionally refusing to turn on is the fault of the house wiring (Housing Asso responsibility) not the kettle dying (our responsibility).
  Turned over mattress to prolong its life.
  Paid credit card bill, slight overpayment to make it a tidy number.
  Updated signature
  Squirreled away free envelopes and stickers that came with junk mail.
  Plan tonight's trip to the Opera. Tickets bought month's ago with vouchers at a total cost of Ј6.50. Will drive into the city and park in the Ј2 car park. Will take snacks and drinks with us. Parking planned with the help of Parkopedia. (Link)
  Offers:
  Make-up for less than Ј1 a piece. Free delivery if you order Ј10s worth. Also also 10% off with code FAIRY10. (Link)
  Buy Marie Claire magazine, get a free handcream.(Link)
  Reduced price laundry products at Morrison's. (Link)
  Ј2 off Chicago Town pizza via Facebook. (Link) Could make it nearly free.
  Donate unwanted toys to Argos, get a Ј5 off Ј35 toy spend voucher. (Link)
  Free Kiwi Fruit with Sainsbury's online shop. (Link)
  Wait for agency to call with start date of job.
  Freebies:
  Free Graze porridge, if you can work out how to get it! (Link)
  Free Pre-Christmas Contact/Christmas List for children. (Link)
• Working away until Thursday so hoping for 4 NSD days. Ј4.99 bid on ebay, checked bank account, 'received' 2 teabags from the hotel
• Good Morning My Lovelies
  SFTM - Am extremely impressed at your DMILdoing the triathlon, are you all doing it?
  ally - what DVD is it, will keep my eyes open (we are inundated with charity shops where I live)
  Hi to all the regulars and lurkers and a BIG welcome to all the newbies, this is a really FAB thread with so many lovely, caring, considerate and supportive people.
  had a very quiet night yesterday as had a banging headache due to the council re-surfacing the road where I live - heavy machinery running all morning and then they start work at 2.30 pm. Today's little listy and I will be trying my very best to crack it :
  Check Banks - Done
  Check swapits - Done
  Packed lunch for OH & DS- Done
  Check www.freepostcodelottery.com - Done
  General Tidy up - Done
  Call Tax Credits - try again tomorrow
  List more bits for sale - keep re-listing on FB/netmums/Freecycle
  Return Library Books & collect new ones - Done (oops 20p fine)
  Bake -
  Meals from stores - Done
  Track all food - In progress
  Catch up on emails -Done
  Surveys -
  Nectar Adpoints -
  Enter a few comps - Done a few
  Knit - in progress
  Read Book (from library) - in progress
  Have a good day, love to you all.
  C xx
• Hi everyone!
  Well, after a busy week I am now popping in to say that I have been very money-savvy these past few days and we sold our second car!
  We don't need to be a 2-car household, as we can share between jobs, school runs and shopping, so we sold it and have put it ALL towards one of my 2 loans. This means that if I were to just pay the minimum from now on, we would be loan free in 2 years instead of 5!
  So today:
• Needed some foundation, so spent Boots points and got some no7 stuff on 3for2, which is gorgeous and makes me feel good, and cost NOTHING!
• Did another up-to-date budget and am going to start overpaying on that loan from now on - I will be debt-free by next Christmas!
• Using up everything in the freezer for meals this week - some weird combinations all round lol!
• Started walking more to and from school, now we just have the one car - save on petrol and gets me some much-needed exercise!
• Heating still OFF in this house - lots of jumpers, fuzzy socks and blankets if needed first.
• Done a weekly shopping list and then went back through the list and crossed off a few things. ESSENTIALS ONLY from now on.

Hope everyone has a good day/week

• Hi Money savers,
  Today's small positive things, such as they are:
  *Did laundry overnight on Economy 7, half powder.
  *All drying on heated airer. Wish I'd hung them outside now, as after 3 days of constant rain, today seems to have perked up. Dehumidifyer turned off though, & window cracked instead (2p per hour instantly trimmed off energy monitor reading).
  *Made beef burgers ready for dinner......serving in home made rolls with roasted garlic veg, mostly from garden.
  *Sowed sweet peas for next year (free seeds)
  *Collected another bowl of windfall pears.
  *Picked courgettes.
  *Recycled empty spread tub into free plant labels.
  *Did surveys (until the boredom just overwhelmed me....)
  *Saving hot water from kettle in flask so it uses less energy to boil next time.
  *Watered new little rocket seedlings & fed cucumber which might just manage to produce one more cuke before carking it for winter.
  *Cover cardboard box with festive gingerbread man paper so I can start putting Mum's Christmas craft hamper together. Am really enjoying collecting together all the little bits & pieces for this.
  *Continue knitting Christmas present.
  *Free exercise as did 50 min salsacise dvd. (Terrible music.....why are there no rock music exercise dvds? I'm sure I'd put more effort in if I liked the music!)
  *Use leftover tortilla wraps to make myself a quesadilla for lunch & use rest for mr f's packed lunch tomorrow. A case of use 'em or freeze 'em as they go stale in a nano-second.
  ally - Do you have an 'Entertainment Exchange' (CEX) anywhere near you? We got nephew's Harry Potter dvds there in excellent condition 3 for Ј5. I also recently got 'Les Miserables' (the latest film) on Blu-ray for Ј6, which looked like it hadn't even been touched by human hand! They will also buy your old dvds or part-exchange if you see something you like. Often got good world cinema section too, plus box sets of TV programmes, etc.
  OK, must crack on,
  foxgloves x
• Good evening from Thailand.
  Passed Thai motorcycle test again this morning. Unlike the UK you have to retake your driving test each year to continue being legal on the roads. I've been driving a motorcycle over here for 8 years but it's still a relief to know I'm okay for another year.
  Collected an 800 baht loan installment from a friend who has borrowed money from me.
  Taught a business English class for 2 hours earning 800 baht.
  Collected 7000 baht salary payment from a part time job.
  Put 1700 baht into the bank.
  Set my alarm for 2 a.m. Thai time so I can get up and watch England Poland.
• Its a beautiful Tuesday, the sun is out and Im feeling great. To keep the momentum going with my debt free plan today I am:
  * Spending nothing. Nada. Zip. For the second day in a row no less - CHECK
  * Planning my grocery shopping to the penny, and down grading meals where I can - being mostly veggie this is suprisingly difficult without too many pulses (yuck). But I'll get there. - CHECK
  * No need for heaters to be on, but if the need arises I'll rug up instead - CHECK
  * Entertainment was walking the pooch, and later will be youtube, hoping for some QI - CHECK
  * Being here and posting to keep my motivation levels high - CHECK
  * Really understanding that buying stuff does NOT equal happiness - CHECK
  * Finding cheap alternatives for entertainment on MrMath's birthday - CHECK.