Judicious January - Long may the credit crunching continue

[roguepixie]

So, the credit crunching team are into Year 2013. Happy New Year everyone.

Let's continue our cost-cutting, , money saving,penny and pound pinching, NSD ways.

Thanks rogue it helps to be able to consider things on here and get other perspectives!

I live in Sussex in an ok bit of a really deprived area, DH's work would be the decider I suppose, he does have transferable skills but its a scary thought to start over!

I just worry for the kids future here, it's such a bleak town and I'd like to be able to walk down the street without quite so many junkies and girls with cider cans in the buggy hood!

Had to pay EDF £49 this morning as I put in my meter readings online and it turned out I owed them that amount, so rather than leave it I paid it off in the hope that they won't put my direct debit up.

Just been out and washed my car myself which I hate doing but it saves me a few pounds. I haven't used the car wash in ages. I even cleaned the inside windows .

I'm with EDF and they tried to put my payment up when I last gave them a reading. Because I gave two readings close together it looked like we used loads of gas so they wanted to put it up from £53 to £220.

When they looked at it more closely it ought to be about £70 a month but I rang them and said they would leave it at £53 and I'll pay the extra in march. I don't think they can raise it if you tell them not to but I could be wrong.

Apparently I need to check my online statement in a couple of days it'll tell me if there's any change to my DD amount. Fingers crossed there won't be.

You'll get an email informing you of any changes. I really hammed it up and told them DH is on a low wage and we can't afford a rise.

I am feeling virtuous. I have dug out three boxes of books and have posted them off to webuybooks.com. One ordinary paperback got £13 alone! That having been said, I must have typed in 50 they refused to buy so you have to be persistent. Anyway, if all goes well, I should make £60 ish.

Music Magpie failed to collect my DVDs so I am busy chasing them at the moment, so I make another £30.

Also I had an expenses claim for my last workplace that I have just chased, and I found out I was due a 1% backdated payrise for my last three months working there as well, so that should be another £250+ once they have admitted they owe it to me.

My changing tables has 3 bids and 23 watchers and 5 days to go, it's on at £2.20 at the moment but in very good condition so hopefully I might end up making £15 for that.

I have broken even on my eBook after the coding costs, so into profit there now. Making £2 a day on it at the moment!

I am currently looking around to see what else I can sell! AIBU wondering what my DH would be worth if I put him out to stud? One careful lady owner ...

Just realised pay rise will actually only be £60 ish as it was only 3 months. But that will be £60 in my pocket and not theirs ...

It's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. You should have seen my sulk when my Chef didn't sell for what I wanted.

£25.10 today, as I treated myself to "The Life of Pi" in 3D. It was only £6.10 for the cinema and a pair of 3D glasses,
but travel cost £10.70. I had to go to our nearest city, as our local cinema doesn't have 3D facilities. Well worth it though, as the last adult film I saw at the cinema was "The Artist", almost a year ago! I also had a cup of tea and a scone before the film and a sandwich from Greggs for lunch. Then I had a coffee with a friend before school pick-up and bought some milk on the way home.

I'll read through all the latest in a bit; nice to see how busy the thread is :).

Boffin it all counts! DH & I are putting any money we make from selling bits & pieces into a sealed money tin & will open & use it for furniture when we move. We have sold a couple of bits here & there for £5 or £12 etc, but that very quickly adds up to £20, which turns to £50 and so on. BTW, I sell on Gumtree rather than Ebay as I have lately found Ebay very hard on sellers. Also, Gumtree allows you to specify a price eg £10, rather than start at 99p & hope it goes up to £10.

Have bought 2 things today - 5 pack tights at Boots for £4.50 & a cardigan for DH in charity shop for £1. Will also join Weightwatchers online once finished at work - sign up for free instead of £33.90 & then get £35 cashback with Quidco, so will be more or less free .

Well done Boffin

I had a splurge today, snacks post excersise for myself and DDs - £10, can't do that everyday. Also spent £10 on veg and fruit, no roads today and tomorrow should be an NSD.

My DDs are secondary school age, but here they don't change. Rogue I can well believe the cost of your DS's uniform. SIL says she paid that amount for her son, but OH now doesn't believe her, and is going to quiz her on it because a friend has just kitted out 2, aged 3 and 4, for £100 in the supermarket. He's stressed, still not well and rediculous over tired, but that'll be his/sister's problem if he actualy does interrogate her.

Right, have just signed up to Weightwatchers online. Normal cost for 3 months £31.90 sign-up plus £33.90 for 3 months = £65.80. I had a voucher code which waived the 3 months, so just sign-up fee of £31.90 to pay. Went through Quidco, who are offering £35 cashback, so made £3.10 profit! Even taking into account Quidco's annual admin fee of £2.50, I have been paid 60p to join Weightwatchers Will not actually start plan until all Xmas goodies are gone, as I know I will give in to temptation, but signed up now as cashback deal was good!

I thought Quidco's annual fee was £5? It's still a great deal for joining WW either way! I'm waiting for £80.80 from Top Cashback from when I bought my car insurance a few months back - it's tracked but not ready to pay out yet. Cashback from insurance purchases is notoriously slow to pay out, I find. Think it's because the insurance company wait to make sure you don't cancel the policy first.

A few weeks ago I listed something on eBay and someone bought it on BIN. They never paid and I had to open an unpaid item case against them . I listed some more things last week, unfortunately only one sold and guess what? They haven't paid. Getting so fed up of eBay.

Those who use Gumtree, is it an auction site like ebay and are there any fees for listing? Do you post items out like on eBay or do your items only show up on the local Gumtree, so people collect in person? I want to re-list the iPod I sold to the non-payer before Xmas but want to avoid eBay.

Oh, is it £5? Oops Still, that makes it only £1.90 for 3 months, so really not too bad at all!

Gumtree is not an auction site. It is really just like advertising in your local newspaper. So you put in an ad, with photos, for free & you can put in your email/phone no if you want, or if not people can contact you through Gumtree Mail, which goes to your email. You can specify how much you want for an item, and IME the buyer usually collects & pays cash on collection or I say "will post item for cost of postage"

I much prefer Gumtree these days too. Ive only ever listed locally, and everything has been paid for and collected (including £6.5k for my car). Have a look in Facebook too to see if you have any local Buy n Sell pages.

Thanks, I'll give Gumtree a shot I think. I'm on the local FB selling pages but they're a bit rubbish tbh. Just remembered that there's a local online forum which has a for sale section so might try that too.

NSD today, though I got to pick up my trousers from fat face I ordered in the sale online so they are already paid for. I've only just discovered the order and collect thing and its super. Means I can order online but no postage costs and I can just pick it up on the way home from work. :)

I tend to choose where I sell depending on what I'm selling. SOmetimes eBay, or my work has a way of putting up a sales ad on the intranet which is really great. If I use eBay I always list for the price I want to sell, it costs a bit more to list this way but worth it. I put our old bed on for £50 and got £70 (not bad considering I had it for 10 years), I don't think I would have got anywhere near that if I had started at 99p. If it hadn't sold I would have put it on the work thing for £50 and just written of any lost fees. I would rather do that then only sell it for peanuts.

£18 here in Morrisons on milk (+extra milk for the freezer) packed lunch bits for DH, and some cleaning stuff. Got £1.80 off for Staff Discount but re-invested that into 2 Xmas savers stamps

Will be spending £12 tomorrow on getting mine AND both DS's hair cut :)

Great WW deal jenduck.
Didn't have to pay out anything for the car in the end on Monday but that's only because they couldn't find the cause of the problem . So it goes back in next Wednesday for a more expensive thorough look. Trouble is, it is air getting in the fuel line which causes the car not to start. We've been shown how to clear the air but it seems to be building up more quickly and so happening more frequently and taking longer to clear. Tis a nightmare as dh has to drive to work and I need my car for work. Just hoping it's a problem that's cheap to fix.
Otherwise the week has been okay from a spending pov, however we've got dentist today and I'm out for a meal tonight so that's going to change. Sticking to meal plan well. Also have Aldi shop to do later.

Morning all! Not planning to spend much today! Will get Sun newspaper for £9.50 holidays, but I think that may be all Going to friend's house for lunch & afternoon, will take tin of Christmas biscuits as my contribution

Have also listed 1 thing on Gumtree, will do more later, but taking ages for photos to get from my phone to my email.

Northender if you or DH is at all mechanically-minded, have you thought of getting a Haynes manual & having a look at the car yourself? My DH has fixed many a car this way!

Very low spend so far this week. Had to buy a nitcomb as there are lice at DTDs nursery and will have to get some milk today, but am going to find all the small change in the house and spend that at the self serve checkout (or actually i'm going to send DH as he has no shame).

Finally managed to have a good conversation with DH last night - I feel we have had our heads in the sand a bit, but now we've had no income for 6 months, savings are dwindling and even if he gets a job soon we will still be struggling with the mortgage and have no savings to prop us up as we did before. So, we are going to get our house valued and consider downsizing. We are a bit sad as we thought this was our forever house , but we are very fortunate to be in a position where it's a possibility and I hope it will give us more options and a less stressful life in the long run.

NSDs are going well here.
I took some cash out of the bank intending to use only that for 2 weeks and it seems to really work as I am so conscious of using it all that I am very careful. Whereas I find it easier to over spend if using my card. Have enough in fridge and freezer to eat so no need to shop.

Only spending so far this week have been bills for dh's work, VAT and trade accounts, so all unavoidable and all necessary.

yesterday was a nsd and I'm aiming for the same today though its getting hard and I think I'll crack tomorrow not least because we're low on bread, milk and nappies but also because friend wants me to go for coffee and as she's having problems with her DH and her DD I don't really want to say no to keeping her company IYSWIM. I will pay for the coffee or her DH will ask for the receipt when she gets home ( --her DH is a completely controlling bastard IMHO but she won't leave him)

I've just closed a savings account that had a rubbish 0.1% interest rate and moved it temporarily to an account with 1% while I look for something better. Interest rates are rubbish at the moment but at least I've put it somewhere it will earn 10 times more

Stormforce, I don't know if you are near a branch, but if you both get a free MyWaitrose card this entitles you to free coffee every single day, I am given to understand. Sounds like she needs it.

Boffinmum, I second that about the my waitrose card. It's brilliant, free regular tea or coffee every day! Of course, it's hard not to buy a little something to nibble as well but hey, still cheaper. Only useful if you have a waitrose nearby though! Also can get a free daily mail or daily telegraph if you spend I think a fiver in their shop....