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Archive for November, 2013

Less Debt

November 23rd, 2013 at 09:48 am

I decided to bite the bullet this morning and pay off the rest of the Christmas tree which was one of my Buy Now Pay Later items from the catalogue. I reasoned that we got through the last six weeks so paying an extra £35 to get rid of debt is nothing.

Next on my list will be an item which cost me £199. Payment is due by 31/5/14. There's a few smaller items due before then but I'm not sure how much I afford. I'll start paying this off next pay,which is the middle of December.

Update

November 22nd, 2013 at 01:46 pm

I think my Christmas shopping is almost done. I haven't bought anything for my friend's kids yet - I never see her or hear from her - so I'm hoping to get something in the sale for them. Also I need to get a present for the grannies from SG. There's also my mum's friend who always buys SG something. Again, I'm thinking sale.

We're having Christmas dinner at MIL's, with my mum invited too. I'm expecting MIL to ask for x amount per person like she did two Christmases before. I mentioned this to hubby, who had completely forgotten that we had given her money before. I might check my old blog entries to see how much she asked for - although, prices have increased since then...

We've been invited to a wedding in January. I think only hubby will go though. Their gift list at John Lewis went live today so I checked it out earlier. They're asking for gift vouchers, so I haven't bought any yet. If it was actual gifts I would have picked this morning before anyone else had looked at it; I'm not so worried about it being vouchers. I actually checked twice just to be sure.

Went to the shops with SG today and spent £9.xx on some fruit, cheese, apple pie, custard and a bar of chocolate. Tomorrow we're going to get a few things at the supermarket. I haven't done a proper shop since we've been paid, I've just been picking up things here and there. I think that's worse in a way because I'm probably spending more.

I found some unopened Christnas decorations in a gift bag and some wrapping paper.

Yesterday's Spending

November 18th, 2013 at 08:17 am

I spent £15.88 on groceries yesterday.

As a treat last night, and only splurge this pay period, we got a takeaway. Spent £9.20.

Total spending: £25.08

Today's Spending

November 15th, 2013 at 07:19 pm

After we went to mother and toddler group, I stopped at our local shopping centre and bought me and SG a sausage roll each (Hubby's idea, he says he does it occasionally for them) Went to the local cafe because I reasoned it would be cheaper than the bakers which recently opened in the local shop. Spent £2.30

Hubby phoned earlier and suggested that we get a coffee tomorrow while we're getting some more Christmas presents. I reminded him that we still have other things to buy that we have to use actual money for (vouchers are already paid for) so I don't want to fritter away money on coffee here, a sausage roll or two there.. He said just a coffee. I'll be standing my ground. If I happen to get hungry I'll go to the supermarket or Boots and grab a meal deal because that will be cheaper than eating in our favourite coffee place. Of course, I know I could make us sandwiches to take - maybe I will if I have time. I haven't even wrapped MIL's presents yet, going to have a nice bath then do it after that. I've been exhausted all day.

Used all of my catalogue rewards today to order two presents for SG's Christmas. I had 28.98 rewards and I redeemed 28.00. They should arrive next week.

Payday

November 15th, 2013 at 08:40 am

Today is payday. The first thing I done today was check my bank balance - it's looking healthy, for now anyway - then pay a few bills. I paid my catalogue bill then I paid £30 to my BNPL item (£35 to go, due 13/12 which is my next payday, so need to make sure I have money the day before)

I logged on to swagbucks and have managed to earn 6SB this morning. Thanks to reading CCF's post I realised that I don't have to let the videos play the whole way through.

I need to wrap MIL's birthday presents today since the meal is tomorrow. All in all, we spent 99p on her and that was for her card. I bought wrapping paper for 20p a few months ago so I will use that.

I'm waiting on both credit card statements to update. It will be CC2 first then Capital One.

I got a letter yesterday from another catalogue wanting me to join. "Get £15 off your first order of £35 or more" No thanks. They must send their letters out at this time of year because I've never had one before. They obviously know people rely on them for their Christmas shopping. I've got almost £30 of rewards to use in my Littlewoods catalogue so that will be used for a couple of toys for SG.

Tomorrow my automatic savings transfer of ten pounds will transfer. I need to increase this but I know I need to reduce debt too. I don't want to increase then have to take money out of savings.

Decluttering, swagbucks

November 14th, 2013 at 04:48 pm

I had some time to myself today so I started decluttering my side of the room. While sorting through things, I found a book about Whitney Houston that I'd bought last year for either my mum or MIL. I must have forgotten about it because it was under a few books. I'll give that to MIL for her birthday along with the photoframe and DVDs that we bought using our rewards.

I keep forgetting about swagbucks. I've only got 89SB so I can't imagine how long it will take to be able to redeem rewards. Any tips?

Tomorrow is payday, thankfully. It's been a tough six weeks, but not actually as bad as I thought it was going to be. Yesterday hubby found twenty pounds in an envelope that we must have put aside months ago, so we used that today to top up our gas and electricity. It couldn't have happened at a better time.

Swagbucks

November 9th, 2013 at 08:17 pm

After my last post, I did a search for paid surveys online and swagbucks came up. At first I thought it was a mistake, but no there's a site in the UK. Right now I have 72SB. I'm not sure how often I'll get on it though, but I'll try my best.

This & That

November 9th, 2013 at 05:09 pm

Thank you for all of the kind messages on my last post. It seems, however, that, what five weeks, maybe into this pregnancy and me and hubby are disagreeing about what we should do when baby number two is here. He wants me to give up work, whereas I think I should just reduce my hours a bit? I brought up our debt, but hubby seems to think we'd be ok. The main problem is that we don't think MIL can cope with two under three's and hubby doesn't want my mum to babysit (trust issues etc) We both work on a Sunday so if I could get my day changed then the problem would be solved but we would hardly see each other at the weekend. I don't know why I'm thinking about this now. I haven't even registered with the midwife yet.

I checked my email and my phone bill is going to be £33. Ten pounds more than normal, and more than I'd like. Hubby used my phone because his phone wasn't working so I guess that's why. I will be keeping track better this time around.

Made a homemade birthday card from SG today for MIL. We used some of my rewards from the catalogue to get a photo frame which will be from SG. Still need to order a gift from us, but hubby will use his rewards. I told him he has a budget, so look at gifts within the budget, not what you really want to get, We told our family the news and MIL wants to go out for a meal for a double celebration (her birthday is next week). Apparently BIL will pick up the tab as a birthday present. I hate the fact that he's paying but then it wasn't our idea.

The Christmas tree that I bought from the catalogue last year - yes I bought a tree and put it on Buy Now Pay Later, crazy - is due to be paid in two paydays. I will get that paid off. I refuse to pay interest on a tree.

I forgot to mention that this pregnancy has cost me 9.99 so far. I bought a Clearblue pregnancy test. I think I will try and keep track of my baby-related spending.

Found SG's library book that I thought I'd lost. It's funny, I wasn't even looking for it.

Catching Up

November 7th, 2013 at 07:27 am

It's been six days since my last post. I've found myself making a few impulsive purchases after work, mainly on reduced items. Apart from that, I have been trying my best to rein in spending.

My credit card statement updated so I made a payment. My minimum payment is now 68.54... so close to my goal of 60 for this year. I hate the fact that it's so close, yet so far.

I didn't meal plan this week, we've just been eating what's on hand. Surprisingly, our cupboards are still quite full. Although hubby did say that we really need to get more paprika in. It's one of our favourites to use when making wedges.

Now for the news... We found out last week that we're expecting baby number two. I tried to get a doctor's appointment on my last day off (Monday) but had no luck, so I will be trying again today. We haven't told anyone yet, although we will be telling our parents soon.

Busy, busy

November 1st, 2013 at 10:34 am

Work has been busy this week, and my days have been long. I've been leaving the house to get the bus before 7am and not getting home until almost 7 that night because my bus never showed up. The first night that I missed it I was standing opposite McDonald's and I was freezing... but I never went in.

I found a dress in the sale for SG's Christmas. It was £3.00.

I've been distracted this week - had a few things on my mind. I will probably leave that until another post for now though. But the good news is that we still have food money left.

I'm working four hours extra this weekend. Hubby is doing a nightshift after his dayshift.

My mum's coming over today. I was meant to meet her for a coffee but I'm not feeling well so I've invited her over here instead. I think hubby gave me his cold.