Gas and electric bills

I woke this morning to find my Gas and Electricity bills in my inbox.
£104 for electricity (quarter)
£98 gas (quarter)

The electricity has had the remainder of my credit taken off so it would have been £14 more.
It still seems awfully high considering how careful i try to be and that its the Autumn bill/

I didn't send my daughter to school today, 6th form were the only people going in but we were told it was going to be a self study day,so i emailed the school and said it would be more economically viable for me not to send her.  4 miles each way so 16 miles in the car at roughly 20 p a mile saved.
My daughter studied at home .

1st December tomorrow cant believe how fast this year has gone.

Visitors

Today being a Tuesday we have visitors,Grandaughter's are over, dinner was shepherds pie, which i prepared earlier and hubby put it in the oven so when i got home it could be dished up.

We have been making shadow puppets on the wall as Maddie found my torch in my handbag.Asked eldest grandaughter what was on her Christmas list, the cheapest thing was a bike!!!! i think she is going to be disappointed this Christmas as neither of her parents are able to buy anything off the list..



Did an extra house clean today so that's some extra pennies going into the debt clearing funds.
Really cant wait to be debt free and mortgage free.

one other bit of news was talking to hubby about getting his road tax and looked at my car parked on drive and couldn't see my road tax disc, its disappeared! phoned DVLA and was told need to either do it by post or go into an office, said i would go in tomorrow as i have a quieter day but they are on strike, DVLA said i wont get into trouble with them but check with the police,they said i could get a fine if I'm stopped depending on the police person involved. I have to just hope for the best and try and get it done Thursday or Friday.

Bits and Bobs

I have been reading a number of blogs lately about cleaning tips well i thought i would add a few of my own.



Denture tablets are great for cleaning the toilet, drop one in the pan leave it to fizz then use brush to remove limescale etc.

floors(tiles ,lino) add a bit of washing powder to the bucket it is an amazing degreaser.

to remove little bits of black in tiles put a small bit of bleach on an OLD toothbrush and rub in area affected.
I will add more as i think of what others i do.


Made a pizza for dinner tonight,used an oven prove frying pan. I put  the dough in the pan to cook both sides. added the tomato, cheese and some left over chicken which wasn't used in yesterdays paella( i cooked it first)
then added some herbs and put it in the oven. It was yummy and it slid out of the pan in one piece .Very quick , very cheap and very lovely.

Had an hour spare time between finishing work and picking my daughter up, so managed to sort a few things out.One of which was gas/electric.Bills are due soon and i had a card through door requesting meter readings. I enter these frequently online so phoned them up to say this, whilst on the phone i asked about a bonus i was promised for signing up for the central heating cover,he put me on hold for an age then came back and told me that the £ 40 had been applied to my electricity so at the moment ( at least until the new bill is sent ) I'm £13 in credit.
He kept telling me i should up my direct debits because my usage is going to go up.Hes obviously not seen us sitting by candle light and with blankets over our laps.



Work was good today, i love chatting to some of my customers (older generation) about  their life's. I find it fascinating and the gentleman i went to today he is a wee bit older than my dad would be if he hadn't died so young. I want him to adopt me!!!!!
Hope everyone is well
until later
nto
x

Hubby Cooked today

Hubby cooked a lovely Paella today.It was yummy and so nice not to cook..

I had to go and get him a few bits for it on my way to take ironing back to my customer.
Well i picked the right time to go to Tesco. I found the chocolate

 and wine gums that i had heard were going through at a lower price.Also managed to get some de icer for 31 p for a large tin and loads of really cheap candles.

Also managed to get a load of washing dried outside,

Debt busting going ok, i have an extra bit of work next week so that will be a bit more to throw at them.

Hope you have all had a great day
nto
x

My freebie arrived

About 9.30 last night we had a knock at the door,2 parcels were handed over.
One was a present for dd2 the other was my freebie

how excited was i.....
I have to try it and then log what i think. I have a number of samples which i can send out as well so if any of my UK readers would like one if they email their address i will post one yo you.

I Wombled 2 receipts when i took my daughter to Asda yesterday, 1 i got a voucher for 97p the other i got the £5 bonus voucher so now have £5.97 off a £40 shop,must look for more lol

Pay Day!!!!

Worked my butt off today at 2nd job,its getting easier now i know what I'm doing .
I was kind of excited but still dreading getting my pay cheque

and when i did get it it was like an anticlimax.
I worked 14 hours 50 mins and took home  £54, tax is the killer, but he ho its £54 i didn't have before.....

Dinner is prepared, i had a packet of finest meatballs left which were on promotion, think weight for weight they worked out cheaper than value mince.
Well as we had meatballs earlier in the week i decided to squish them down and make burgers,which will go in the Hovis part baked rolls i got free with coupons, a very frugal tea.

I have put my foot in it again with hubby,he was telling me how much money he is picking up this evening and i know when he last got paid. well i said to him that our son is earning more than him at the moment with none of the extra outlay( son works with hubby) no petrol, road tax etc.
Now don't get me wrong ds deserves a life but so do we and if things are tight should it be just us that carry the can.DS is not employed by hubby .Well hubby was not happy and has stormed off.

Well that's enough of a rant,i will try and post a pic of dinner later,have to take dd to her boyfriends in a mo,

31 sleeps until Christmas

Are you ready for the big day?


I dont think i  have much to get , as i said before not buying for as many people this year .Need to go to Primani for a few bits for my daughter she wants a couple more of those all in one sleepsuits.


Definately reducing what i spend as i would much rather be debt free.


Hoping i get paid from 2nd job tomorrow will give me the incentive to keep going...


Had an email this afternoon as well from

Savvy Circle: Congratulations and welcome to the Pantene Pro-V team!

I have been selected to try out some new Pantene products, these are being sent out next week, along with some coupons and samples to give away. I love trying new products especially when they are free....


Do you send off for freebies?
until later
x
nto

Cold Today

I sometimes moan to myself whilst at work that I'm too hot but it was cold indoors when i got home.I have been doing more housework just to keep warm.
Dinner is in the slow cooker we are having chili con carni tonight.


I popped into the supermarket on way home as i knew an offer was starting on toilet roll.Buy 4  packs for £3.50.
SEL clearly stated this offer on the classic white and cream so picked up 8 packs and the offer didn't kick in,it only took off the buy 2 for £3.50, so as this particular supermarket offers double the difference if you are overcharged,i got the money back which resulted in free toilet rolls.So look out for these labels when shopping could save you a fortune.

Ive also started entering the puppy points as well on their website ,might get a nice freebie.


Hubby got a cheque drawn up for the taxman so I've now got that to post off to them,bit less than i hoped but not much i can do about that now.Should get paid this week from 2nd job so that's a bit more that can go to them.
My son and hubby popped home briefly this afternoon and i gave my son some flavoured milk to take home,he finds it hilarious( and prob a bit embarrassing) that i pick up things  and use coupons or reductions.
He will learn .....


I know there are alot of clever people in blogland and i need some advice.
Towels ,i know your not supposed to use fabric conditioner on towels but how are you supposed to get nice fluffy towels if you don't tumble dry? One of my customers purchased some special stuff that revives towels but its £7 a bottle so i wanted to see if anybody had cheaper alternative




(hopefully this ticker is now correct)

Ive been awol..

Not too much happened this weekend, i did a basket of ironing for a customer on Saturday and worked my 2 nd job on Sunday.That was a killer, 1 pub cleaned and 10 rooms beds changed, bathrooms & rooms cleaned and all linen laundered.My back knew i had done this,they use a cylinder vacuum and i really miss using my own upright cleaner.


After work today i had to pick my daughter up from school ( she finishes at various times now shes in 6 th form) and we went to the cinema 2 pm screening of Breaking Dawn part 1

.First time i have had to pay for the cinema in ages.Didn't pay full price though,we both have an insider card and at the moment they are doing half price tickets Mon to Thurs.5 people were in the cinema. I enjoyed the film, I've read the book, sad i here you say!!! all i can say is i wish they hadn't split it into 2 films, 1 would have been so much better.
Took daughter to work then home to cook tea.

Had a nice light tea of chili wraps, they were yummy.


Wish i could say more on debt busting paid a little more , i suppose every little helps.
My Clubcard token came today for me to get my sons Christmas presents, a magazine subscription from my clubcard vouchers.Just have to fill the form in send it off and he will get Classic Rock delivered to his door for a year.

Happy 80th Birthday FIL

Last night we had a very enjoyable evening out.

My father in law turned 80....and mighty fine he is on it.Mother in law wanted to take us all out for a meal .
It was expensive but lovely and we all had a lovely evening. Afterwards we went back to my sons for a quick cuppa ( well guess who was designated driver?) and birthday cake.

Little one helped her mummy make the chocolate one.

I don't have work at my 2 nd job today, found out yesterday. So i have just got to do ironing for a customer which will be collected today and will go back tomorrow after work.  DH work has gone abit quite so hes not working today ( i hope it picks up soon , another of the joys of being self employed you have to source your own work)

Debt busting is still ongoing
Entered my meter readings onto my energy suppliers website,it then tells you how much you owe since your last bill.My new bill is due in approx 10 days time and it says at the moment i will owe them just over £100 for electricity and about £30 for gas.I am trying to be soo frugal with my electric but the bill still seems really high.I cook with gas,gch.Obviously doing alot better with the Gas side.But any ideas on how to further cut back on my electricity consumption would be gratefully received....

Today im trying to be more upbeat

Even though inside i'm screaming,i am trying to remain positive....


Work was good today, i have some lovely customers and its always nice to have a chat with them. Start 2nd job properly tomorrow working Fri,Sat and Sunday.Hoping that i will have a cheque waiting for me for last Fridays shift as everyone gets paid on a Tuesday.


My daughter has gone to work so now i'm sat in my front room whilst dinner cooks with my candles burning,I have become such a tight wad when it comes to Gas and electricity usage.

Even though i have cut back drastically what i buy for Christmas i do still buy presents and today i was able to pick up lovely selection boxes they worked out at a £1 each and its full size chocolate in them...i do love a bargain.

Ordered part of my sons Christmas present yesterday he wanted a magazine subscription and i was able to get this with my clubcard rewards.


until next time
nto
x

The problem with my other half....

DH popped home briefly a little while ago,i informed him that his pin had arrived and asked where the card was as i want to check if the ppi cheque had cleared.
You would think i had just declared war!!!


When we successfully reclaimed ppi 3 cheques were sent to us, 2 in my name and 1 in dh's name.These came to a total of £4500, he has £2100 sat in this account,the rest has winged its way to HMRC AS PROMISED.
Well DH is now refusing to pay them this money.He hasn't had any money in for a number of weeks and his logic is well we need some money in they can wait.
We were given time to pay and they removed the levi off his van they wont be lenient a 2nd time.

I cant keep dealing with these things on my own

and to top it all my house is freezing

It says 17 degrees but it feels soo much colder, 1 good thing though at least when my bills are done at the end of this month they should be lower.

ONE OF THOSE DAYS

Today i have felt a bit down


I spent some time going through my finances and my spreadsheet to see if i can do more to pay debts off quicker.At this moment i cant do any more....and thats depressing.Im so impatient.I know i have alot to be thankful for and normally im so positive but today is just one of those days.

My Day

Today has been a fairly quite and frugal day.
DS went to a large Swedish store yesterday and i asked him to pick me up a couple of the cheap fleeces and some candles, when i asked how much i owed him he told me nothing as i do enough for him,these fleeces are going to line my last pair of curtains and the candles my source of light.

I spoke to my sil today as i think she hinted the last time i saw her about not buying Christmas presents, i kinda brushed it under the carpet when she said but its been playing on my mind so i just asked her today and she said maybe we shouldnt buy and just to get together instead. This is going to save me about £100. It feels strange but it will be better for all concerned.

This evening dh and i went to cinema another freebie, took our own drink so a frugal evening.



I know i have mentioned her before but in Frugal Queens blog she mentioned that her and dearly beloved work side by side to clear debts and fully support each other that is something i wish for more than anything it must make life so much easier....

64.53% of debt paid off( this is van & car )

Early start

DD had to be up at five this morning for work at 6.  Even though OH grudgingly agreed to take her this morning
i always get up...I'm an early riser anyhow but i don't like the thought of her getting up and going without seeing her.
So washing sorted,some dishes wiped and put away next lot washed and currently draining.My dishwasher broke about 4 months ago so I'm doing without for as long as possible.


Chicken in the slow cooker for tonight's roast, and now I'm sat down having my third cuppa of the morning, i do love my tea.

I have a customers ironing to do today but i will do that later when hubbie is up, (he has this knack of being able to go back to bed)
one more bargain picked up yesterday,big signs on shelf saying buy one get one free on shaving gel, the discount didn't come off so they give double the difference back so both free, i do love a bargain

Please don't tell my children...

Im going to let you into a little secret,



I am trying to save money this Christmas on presents and one way i have done it is by getting free gift vouchers.
McCain have a website where you can collect spud shillings by doing various activities on the site. 500 spud shillings can be exchanged for items including a £5 voucher for places like Topman, Topshop.1000 gets you £10 and so on.
Its ever so easy , the vouchers if postal ones can take up to 30 days to come so running out of time now to get them before Chrstmas ,
DD also gets a terrific discount scheme with work,i can order a gift card for major retailers for say £10 and i only pay £9.
So thats what i have been doing for my chilldren , they all like hitting the sales after the big day.
Grandaughters are sorted, I managed to get loads of suitable toys in a non advertised sale and they had 90% off. I do surveys but only from one site and i get Amazon vouchers nearly have £30 worth so these again will be used for nieces and nephews.

Do you all spend a fortune on Christmas ?
xx

Lest we forget.

until later
xx

Knitting

After i finished work today i went to purchase some needles to make some mittens, the instructions say 4 x double ended needles in 2 sizes.I asked assistant if it could be done on a circular needle and she said yes no problem.
Well i have just found out she is wrong and when they say you need 4 you do need 4.So will be exchanging them sometime over the weekend.Such a shame as i was so looking forward to starting them.


My son and his partner are coming for tea tonight hes asked for spag bol  so that's what we are having much to my hubbies disgust.Picked up a couple of bargains today.Lasagne sheets 17 p a box ( and not value ones either) and some trays that scanned at a 1p. also got 2 tubs of utterly butterly on bogof and had 2 coupons for 30 p each so didn't think £1.20 for 2 tubs was bad.


Managed to pad £15 today so now paid 64.47% of our debts, yippee.


ps im freezing glad im off out in a mo,its warmer in the car.....


Picture of the tray

Non eventful day

Today has been a non eventful day,It consisted of school run ,work, school run then taking dd to her boyfriends,finally getting back indoors at 6pm just in time to start making tea.
Cooking from scratch isn't always appealing lol.


I stole tonight's tea idea from Frugal Queen, she showed a lovely sausage plait and as i had sausages that needed using up.I used home made onion chutney as well and even though i do say so myself it was delicious.


Just also wanted to say a big thanks to Anne for sending me a lovely pattern for mittens, 
till tomorrow
xx

I got a new job....

Today i had a working interview for a part time job and i got it 




I currently do cleaning and ironing but over the last few years i have lost a few customers due to the recession.I have applied for many many jobs but as i had been out of the loop for a long time didnt get them.This is a lovely little job which will enable me to do my own work as well and earn extra money every week,Im so pleased it will help debt busting no end.


Darling son and grandaughters have been around this evening to play and for tea, they have just left me and all is tidy again, heating off and lights off again.


I had a bit of time to kill whilst waiting for my interview so went to Tesco,
I saw on another blog i read, a lovely little Christmas gift think its called something like snowball soup.Well i want to do this and have been trying to gather all that is needed.Cones ordered,hot chocolate and buttons i already have but want i cant find is mini marshmallows. Apparantly Mr T has discontinued them as well as chocolate chips how silly is that?
Is anyone else making Christmas gifts?
xx

Why are simple things so complicated?

Today has been a frustrating day...and it all seems to stem from Banks!

First thing i wanted to do was pay a payment to a loan.didnt want to do it via online banking.
Just wanted to fill in a paying in slip and do it over the counter . How difficult is that!!!!!!! In the end i did have to do a faster payment via my account.

second thing DH wants to open a no frills account either savings or basic bank account, all appoimtments do not take into account you have to work... finally after a gentle winge managed to get him an appointment at 4 pm on wednesday.

Well rant over, after paying the money today i entered it onto my snowball account and if my dh doesnt stop me doing it our mortgage free date has now gone down by a month to 75 months,how exciting is that...but this will only work if we snowball the loan monies into the mortgage when they are paid off.DH thinks that once the loans are paid off we are going to be able to enjoy ourselves but just how good would we feel paying off the mortgage 7 years early.

I mentioned earlier that i stockpile, this is all done within my grocery budget and on avverage i spend £220 a month, 3 of us at home, dd's boyfriend on a regular basis who has hollow legs im sure  and i feed ds and grandaughters at least once a week.
well i though i would share a picture of one of my cupboards.This is the tame one. i darent show you the shelving unit in my bedroom ( cleaning and toiletries) as thats not a sight for the faint hearted.All items purchased are done with coupons on promotional items and studying MSE ...

snowballing

Here is a picture of  a year of so's interest that i am paying on a/mortgage..b/car loan and c/ van loan.This is a snip it from my snowball account......and this is why i snowball and pad every day. i want it gone.Just think what you could do with this money alone each month.  I would take advantage of Groupons and DH and i could have a night away in a hotel every few months.

I have a couple of coupons to use in Mr T today ,I'm taking advantage of the 3 for 2 on spreads and preserves and baking products,we love peanut butter and to get it a bit cheaper is great.

I follow a few blogs on here and love some of the ideas it gives me, you are some clever people! i want to now knit tea cosy's.mittens,make gifts with drinking chocolate( currently a £1 a tub in co op). for Christmas presents,make a quilted throw the list goes on and on.

Have a lovely day

x

 
         

My Living room has been Maddied!

The box of toys is always tipped out,she has balls from a ball bit which are thrown everywhere...the house is Maddied... They have gone home now so order has been restored ..well as orderly as i ever can be!


My online banking has been down all day today,it was supposed to be just overnight maintenance but its still not up.This has thrown me into turmoil as i haven't been able to PAD today.


As well as clearing up after the little one, i tried to get some order in my cupboards. I'm a bit of  a stockpiler , try and grab every glitch,offers with coupons that i can find.I t has meant that i have lots of things but it seems to work for me as my grocery budget has definitely gone down. I once again have MSE to thank for this .Today's glitch was cereal all with nice long sell by dates.


It is nice to see some people are following my blog,never imagined that would happen so a HUGE thank you and hope i don't bore you all.
xx

Two special visitors

This afternoon i had 2 very special people arrive at my door...my grandaughters.
They are staying with us tonight,eldest is 9 (not biological but loved the same) and youngest 3,
Fun has been had.


For tea we had lasagne which both girls love and i made cheese and onion bread which made a real change to garlic bread,

Whilst oven was on i made a lemon drizzle cake,

 Today has been a horrible rainy day which resulted in dh not being able to work.not good for debt busting.
x

Energy consumption

Firstly sorry for the crude attempt at putting this chart on, just couldnt get rid of the snipping lines.

This is a chart of my energy usage,as you can see i am reducing my consumption big time, luckily its not too cold at the moment,

How does this compare to yours?and what ideas do you have for reducing it more?
x

Support

DH came home with a lovely bunch of my favourite flowers, box of chocs and a bottle of wine for me last night.
Now dont get me wrong as lovely as all these were, i wish he hadnt.I feel this money could have and should have gone to debt reduction.
I just cant seem to get him involved in it all, i keep a spreadsheet of every penny that is spent,i enter figures into my snowball account and i try and reduce outgoings so we can be debt free sooner.DH will moan its cold, dark and that we dont do anything....
We have always put all our finances together whats his is mine and vice versa but you ask him how much the mortgage, utilities etc and he doesnt have a clue.
I do wish we were singing from the same hymn sheet on this one.
Do you do it alone?

Today i made...

Yesterday i read on Frugal Queen's blog. she was having fish pie because she was feeling poorly.
It set my taste buds going and as I'm trying to empty my freezer ( desperately needs defrosting) it was decided that is what we would have for tea.
DH normally moans about fish pie but he enjoyed it... Inside my pie was a basic white fish and salmon,mixed in with a tin of condensed mushroom soup.Topped with mash and grated cheese and served with green beans

yummy.... and i have some left over.

Whilst my oven was on i made a batch of twinks,

Managed to pay £40 to HMRC today and padded £4 to other places.I write everything down on my spreadsheet and on my snowball account and even though the amounts are small i love seeing the figures going down.

And lastly i have managed not to be timed out on two surveys today, i have enough in my account for a £20 Amazon voucher and working towards my next £10,these are Christmas presents for some members of my family.

Nearly forgot to say i went to see Machine gun preacher last night ( freebie) based on a true story, made me cry in places.

xx

My Bargain shop

As i mentioned earlier i had to get DH a new phone so i went into a well known supermarket and managed to get one for £19.99.I also managed to get the above bargains,all baking items are currently on 3 for 2 so £1.04 for 3 bags of flour all with a very long use by date.The glue sticks were 37p each and the tights scan at wait for it 4p a pair.All honey and jams and choc spread ,syrup etc is 3 for 2 so ideal if you bake.

Payment A Day

I love a forum called MSE, it has helped me find information from everything from reclaiming PPI to frugal cooking.

One forum on it is called Payment A Day,this is where you pay no matter how small a payment towards paying off your debts every day, you get loads of support and its brilliant.Since i started doing this mid January i have paid off 61% (inc reg payments) of our car and van loan.My Payments  are normally small ie a £1 but if i sell something or earn extra i PAD it.Mt pad today was for £ 5 this was a £1 to each of the following.van,car,builders merchant,electric and mortgage.
I checked with my mortgage provider earlier in the year if it was ok to make extra payments and small payments and they didn't mind , so i do it via online banking.They do make some stupid comments about my ridiculous small payments but when asked if its a problem they say no! I get a receipt after EVERY payment which must cost them a fortune,

Today i have to go and get DH a very cheap new phone he left it outside in the rain and now its ruined.

Tonight we are going to cinema you would be surprised at how many free films you can see, i have personally seen 16 already this year,cant believe i used to pay to go its so expensive.