Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

MF/savings steps today: Have Tilly tidied accounts again. Hubby got a lift into work as we're going out tonight - I'll be over his way for work so will pick him up - saves two lots of petrol Had Council Tax bill and it's been frozen for third year :beer: Used up end of bread for lunch - turned it into eggy bread as it was rather stale. Have bids on two items on Ebay and watchers on several more - fingers crossed they sell - think this money should be going into savings!

Less MFW: Going out for a meal tonight with in-laws and family friends, but have preordered, so at least we'll be able to keep track of costs.

DH and I discussed that we need to discuss savings targets, but haven't got any further than that! He needs to unlock online access to his ISA, but never seems to get around to it! (And then accuses me of being obsessed with how much he's got saved!!:D)

Have a good weekend everyone!

Thanks LGP!

Hope everyone had a good weekend, despite the unpredictable weather (we had a lot of hail here!) Our weekend didn't quite go according to plan, but in an MSE way!

MF/Saving positives: Offered to pay our share of dinner out on Friday with in-laws, but they were having none of it . Saturday was meant to be busy, with hubby helping a friend to move, with promise of curry for dinner as a thank you (to which I was invited, but would have felt it necessary to contribute as I wasn't around to help!). In the end friend didn't need our help, so saved on meal out. Also managed to have free lunch - me at event I was popping in to help out at and hubby at his parents.

Sunday we spent catching up on jobs around the house, including finishing my raised bed in the garden (at last!). Went out and bought some plants for it - but used Garden Centre vouchers I'd been given for birthday.

Sold another £20 of stuff on ebay too, so that will go into the savings pot.

Less MSE stuff: Did spend on some cakes made, but money was for a good cause (and with all the other savings made, I think it was fair enough!)

Have now used up last of bread flour until delivery arrives on Thursday... Hubby away from tomorrow, so that'll help, but thinking I might have to be inventive with lunches - might make some tortillas as I still have plain flour!

Have a lovely Monday all!

Just a quick update as work has gone from nothing to every hour of the day (isn't it always the case?!)

Mortgage successfully moved to Santander, have paid off the booking fee and now know how to go about overpaying (although, as previously mentioned savings are the priority at the moment).

Will keep an eye on the accounts because we are due some money back from the solicitor (apparently they couldn't just get us a mortgage for the exact amount on the day it ended, so we've got a slightly bigger mortgage than needed - very frustrating). When that comes through it will go straight into the mortgage.

Hubby has been given a 6% pay rise which we're very pleased about - he's only been properly in the job for a year, so they obviously think he's doing something right. This has already been set up to go straight into savings.

Money's tight here this month due to my lack of work last, so will be using up everything in fridge and cupboards (again!).

Vicky

Hi Pennystretcher, you must have been trawling to find this! No, I haven't moved... just fallen off the MFW wagon a bit. We moved to a Santander mortgage two years ago and you can only make overpayments of £500+, so between that and an expensive holiday and life in general, we've not been overpaying.

That said, in the last couple of months we've paid an extra £1000 off - I had some money left over after paying all my tax from last year, so as well as putting some aside for a pension (now set up at long last - with NEST, so easy to use, just what I wanted) we paid £500 off the mortgage. We also overhauled our joint bills account and discovered there was rather a lot more in there than there needed to be, so another £500 there Even better, I haggled with Sky after they put our Internet and phone package up and have got it down to £21.40/month. Haven't adjusted what I put into the bills account, so that'll build up nicely over time.

We've had a few unexpected expenses this week - I managed to break my mobile phone (it was due for replacement anyway!), so that was £140, DH needs 4 new tyres and the frame of his glasses broke (now sporting the Harry Potter superglue look until he can get some new ones!). None of this is an earth-shattering disaster, but we've just spent quite a bit of money on flooring for our hall and DH was planning to buy a new suit before a wedding (his current one was bought when he was in Sixth Form!:eek:). So, frugal living it is! Have been trawling the forums and getting back into the MSE ways of Swagbucks, surveys and being careful not to waste food. Hopefully this will translate into a fund to overpay the mortgage once we've got over the temporary disasters!

I'd like to say I'll be updating again soon - and I will try, but I've realised I'm just not good at keeping a diary!:o

Yesterday I baked two loaves to save on lunches, used up 3 brown bananas in banana cake for snackage, did some surveys and (separately) earned 70-odd swagbucks (nearly at cash out). Apart from the £140 on a phone it was a NSD - does that count?!! (I can't remember last time I had a new phone - I tend to get DH's hand-me-downs and he doesn't get them with a contract, that wouldn't be :money:).

Aiming to report back tomorrow,

Vicky

Here goes my attempt to keep this diary more up to date!

Kittenkirst - Banana loaves with a bit of chopped up chocolate in them are even better (I used the 70% dark choc Easter egg my Dad gave me - every year the chocolate gets darker and I haven't the heart to tell him I'd prefer milk!).

Yesterday on the MFW front I mended a holey sock (unheard of for me) and did a couple of surveys/Swagbucks. I also used my NT membership to visit a local farm - sadly no lambs yet, but lots of cute piglets. This was MFW because I refrained from having a cuppa and didn't buy the extortionately priced cider there but instead sent DH to Sainsbury's to get some on way home - for dinner recipe, not a drinking problem!

Work was quiet yesterday so also made a start on my Brownie unit's accounts for last year - I lost a cheque book so had been avoiding doing this. Turns out it wasn't so bad after all, although I've still got quite a lot to do. Getting it off the to-do list will give me more time/head space to do MFW things when work is quiet. (Using VT Transaction+ (which I use for work accounts) for Brownie accounts from now on - so this year's are beautifully up to date).

There's work to get on with today, thank goodness!