Freebies, Frugal Measures and Frugal Fails 17

This last two weeks, I feel that I have finally made progress toward living a debt free life.  Having had paid work for the last few months has been a major factor, and whilst it's had it's problems, I am grateful that I've had the opportunity to do work that I essentially enjoy and get paid for it.  So here's the frugal and not so frugal progress of late:

Frugal Measures and Freebies

1) My paid position at the CS has been extended for  a while longer until the end of January I think, but I'm still waiting for confirmation of dates. There are however a few issues to iron out in the next week or so, which I'm not really at liberty to go into here. Subject to these, it will be good to continue to earn some money for a bit longer.

2) I paid off my overdraft this month and I am now debt free, save for any money owed on my credit cards, which I use for online shopping. These balances total just over £200 and will be paid off next month as always. I now intend not to use my overdraft facility going forward, although I will still use my credit cards on a monthly basis to order online and then continue to pay off the balance each month.

3) I've had a few dividend payments on my shares this month, which have added up to far more than I would get in interest on the money.  This has increased the amount of passive income I receive each month, which is all good. There's quite a few more due next month, which is good too.

4) Two packs of free seeds this month, parsnips and sweet peppers.  I think that my subscription to Kitchen Garden has just about come to an end, so I'm not expecting many more of these freebies in the near future, unless I decide to use my Tesco club card vouchers to re-subscribe and I'm not sure if I want to do this.

5) I attended my first Manager's meeting and training day for the CS last week and got a free lunch of sandwiches and fruit, which saved me buying anything, as I didn't take anything with me. It was quite interesting to put a face to some of the other managers in the area. Also, I got to come home at 4.30 pm instead of 6.30 pm and the bus journey was shorter, so I was home at a reasonable time for once.

6) I started listing again on eBay for my small business, which has been a bit dormant for the past 6 months.  I decided to make the most of the lead in to Christmas, which has traditionally been a very busy time for me. I've made a few sales so far, but have noticed how much more expensive eBay's fees are this time around.  I'm doing it more to declutter the stock, rather than make lots of money, but if I do make some money it's a bonus. The things I've sold so far have more than covered the fees incurred to date, so I'm pretty happy at this.

Frugal Fails

1) Despite starting to benefit from paid dividends from my shares, the value of them has been falling lately.  I'm hoping it's not a sign of things to come with the economy, although it does look that way.  I'm not too concerned, as I'm intending to keep them in the long term and they should rise again over time.

2) I ordered a pair of winter ankle boots from ASOS last week. I've put this as a fail, as it wasn't budgeted for. My current boots are looking very scuffed and a bit battered and need to be relegated to dog walking and allotment duty.  Going out to work now, means that I do need to pay a bit more attention to what I wear and the image I project whilst at work, although when working in a CS the pressure to look immaculate isn't that strong. Even so, there does come a time when things need to be replaced and I think I've had my current boots for nearly 3 years and have worn them constantly.  In addition, I find them quite slippery on pavements in wet weather, which isn't ideal and I've nearly come a cropper on a few occasions.

3) Whilst attending the CS meeting last week, I purchased a cup of tea from the café on the premises, not knowing that if I'd gone straight to the meeting room, there was free coffee, tea, orange juice and food available.  Never mind, I'll know if there's ever a next time. Also, I bought a bottle of wine to give to my old manager to thank him for supporting me, but he never turned up to the meeting because he was on a course elsewhere.  I'll have to give it to him another time, if it doesn't get drunk by OH that is.