Getting a Grip and Saving towards the mortgage

try_harder · 30 January 2017 at 4:25PM

Well done Busy mee1 on saving over £1000,i didnt do so good this month ,in fact i didnt save anything only spent money but i am more determined to try harder next month .Oh i did pay just over a hundred on the overpayments to the mortgage so not a total washout .

Busy_Mee1 · 3 February 2017 at 2:36PM

So that is January done and I must admit it seems to have gone in a blur for me. I have finally managed to get a day off work today but find I have a splitting headache. I think I have been running on adrenalin for weeks now and I think the sudden drop in my stress levels have caused my headache. Anyway I have taken parecetomol and ibuprofen and it has eased a bit.
I had a good audit of all my bank accounts this morning to get all my spreadsheets up to date and can now post January's figures:

Saved in January £1,101.14
Total saved towards mortgage £43,115.44
Total Mortgage £251,418.73
Savings:Mortgage. 17.14%

Now that my big project is complete and I have a bit more head space I have been thinking about my next goals. Obviously the next big goal will be £50k in savings towards the mortgage (which will be 20% towards the mortgage). If I carry on saving at the rate of £1k a month I will hit that in August. To hit £50k in July, I will need to save £1,166.66 per month, and to hit £50k in June I will need to save £1400 per month (gulp!). I think I am going to aim for July at this stage - it will still be a stretch but without having to go to real hardcore frugality. I also have probably about £700 in interest due from the regular savers and my fixed rate ISA over the next few months, so who knows I might get over the line in June.
One thing I really need to get a grip of is my food shopping again. I am back to feeding 4/5 adults again and our food bill has really gone up. Part of the problem is never really knowing who is going to be eating and it makes it difficult to plan.
I have been shopping this morning and got a big haul of food from M&S using a, £5 off voucher, £3 reward voucher, various deals and yellow stickers. I got £52.95 worth of shopping for £35.75. I then went to Aldis and spend a further £40.13. - the super 6 for 59p each are really good this week. I bought Baby corn, mangetout, asparagas and chestnut mushrooms all things we buy and use.
I am now going to try and manage on £200 for groceries for the rest of the month.
I have also made an almond and sultana cake using up odds and ends from my stores cupboard. I have frozen it because we are all on a healthy eating kick but it will be there for the next time we have visitors.
I can report that I have got back to the gym this week, but haven't been running yet. I have lost 3lb of the Christmas weight and am pleased with that :T
I think that is all my news -we are going away to some friends for the weekend and will be going out for an Indian so there will some spending but hopefully not too bad. I am going to really try and keep up with the posting on here as it does help.

try_harder · 5 February 2017 at 2:02PM

Another great month for you busymee1 ,you are doing so well i bet you easily reach your 50 mark by June you are so disciplined .January was a bad month for us due to repairs as you know and i did not manage to save anything only spend and my overpayment for January was very low so i hope i will have better results to show at the end of February .
I think you are still doing pretty well with your food bill ,i tend to make up enough food to cover us all and pop it in the fridge .I usually have a bowl of salad normally what ever i find reduced then a tub of hummus a couple of packs of beetroot a fruit salad made up with any fruit i have and then i add a tin of cheap peaches syrup washed off and bananas added when using .I put a quick tin of green lentils 40p and make up a big bowl of cous cous add sunflower seeds pumpkins etc and a few almonds ,brazils,walnuts chopped and if i have any cold meats i add these or grated cheese or eggs i also keep potatoes cold in the fridge if i have any left over ,if any extra people arrive its a five minute job and also very healthy depending on what you like to eat .I also eat it for lunch as theres mostly only me at home lunchtime .I tend to just make this every 2 days it takes about 10 minutes ,one day a week we have a roast and if i cook any other days and have salad left over i pack it up in oh lunchbox too
I know you work so hard and long hours hope this helps a little ,its cheap and very healthy too and yummy .

Busy_Mee1 · 7 February 2017 at 3:08PM

Hi Try Harder - thanks for the suggestions. I have never tried tinned lentils but definitely will now. Your salad sound great for lunch boxes.

I am definitely more focused on the finances, we have had just had a lovely weekend with friends who have taken early retirement and it has reminded me of what we are working towards. I had a good conversation with Mr Mee about finances on the car journey and we have agreed to try and have a good financial month this month and I think I am going to try and hit £50k in June.
I need to review my accounts as we have a number where the interest rates have dropped and some regular savers that are due to end. I think I have a plan and have started by opening 4 t@sco current accounts (2 each) which will pay 3% on £12k. I now have 11 bank accounts :eek:
I need to switch my donor accounts again, but just need to decide where- N@tionwide,FD and HSBC are all contenders as they all have regular savers.
I am cooking up some big batches of chilli today - the meat one is in the slow cooker and I will make a veg one later.
I finally got around to claiming my expenses from work last week and £143 hit my account today and I immediately shuffled it into my O&S account to help towards operation £50k :T.

try_harder · 7 February 2017 at 3:57PM

Wow 11 bank accounts ,thats amazing ,i would never ever remember what or who needs paying when that really is well done .i stopped my regular savers as i was getting in to such a muddle with when to take the money from where and what date ,if we got paid monthly it would be so much easier but as we get paid daily i never seemed to have enough money in at the correct times.
I am absolutely positive that you will reach £50k by June .

Busy_Mee1 · 7 February 2017 at 4:10PM

I am going to try and simplify things a bit this year, but tbh we are lucky that we have regular monthly income so I can just set everything up on standing order. I don't really have to touch anything then, I just do a regular patrol to sweep any monthly interest or awards up. I can imagine it must be much harder if your income is more irregular.
I am glad you have faith in me Try Harder but I have a track record of starting with good intentions but then get knocked off a course a bit when the temptation of the nicer things in life (usually family events not buying stuff) come along.

try_harder · 7 February 2017 at 4:42PM

I can completely relate to that ,i am exactly the same although i do buy stuff as well ,i always want to keep everyone happy ,children ,grandchildren and when things go wrong for them i want to put it right ,not always a good thing .I very rarely spend any money on myself nor does my oh but i tend to go overboard with all the children .
You are almost there just a few more pushes and how amazing it will feel to have £50000 saved and what satisfaction you will feel and just think of the interest you will be making .Have you got an Isa ?I cant remember if you have ,i keep half of my money in easy to get to ,low interest savings and half in my isa ,my funds have done amazingly well over the last few months i am really pleased although they can go down of course .Keep up the good work.

Busy_Mee1 · 8 February 2017 at 8:02PM

I actually finished work early today and it was still daylight. It felt lovely

I definitely have got my MSE mojo back.
I cashed in our jam jar of coppers and gained £9.85 and then called at Sainsbreeze on the way home because I had a £2 voucher off if I spent £20. I spent £27.43 in total and but only used £15.78 of my £200 budget and got lots of yellow stickered goodies.
The cupboards and freezer are full so I am confident we can manage the rest of the month on the remaining £184.22.
The chillis I made yesterday fed 5 people last night, provided 3 lunches for today and there was still enough for Mr Mee and I tonight. Mr Mee is currently rustling up a vat of his famous bolagnaise sauce for tomorrow night - hopefully that will stretch as far.:rotfl:

themadvix · 9 February 2017 at 5:42PM

The longer days are really starting to kick in now, aren't they? It's lovely!

The chilli and the bolognese sound epic - enjoy!

Busy_Mee1 · 12 February 2017 at 9:49AM

Hi Mad Vix, the chillis and spag bol were nice. I do find one pot wonders work really well for us, because the kids come and go and eat at different times. I usually whip out a portion for the freezer before anyone starts on them though because if I wait and see what is leftover when they have finished, the answer is invariably nothing :rotfl:

It is a very cold and grey morning here - we could really do with some spring sunshine now. I went to the gym yesterday morning, so that is three times this week. I still haven't been running though and DS is trying to persuade me to do Park Run with him next week - I really don't feel ready for it. I would need to get out for a short run first to see how I do - I will see if I can manage that this week, but much depends on how work goes. I have lost 4 lb though which means I only have 1 lb left to lose to be back at my pre Christmas weight :T
I also went to see the progress on DS house yesterday - they have now done the brick work up to the second floor. DS is a lot happier that he can see some progress, although they are now predicted it will be ready between May and August.
I spent last evening number crunching ( nothing on the TV) and worked out that to hit £50k in June, I need to save at least £1211.36 a month. That amount monthly added to the annual interest I have to come from my regular savers and ISA (£827.93) would mean we would hit the magic £50k mark by the end of June. This would be 20% of the mortgage and would offset the outstanding amount to below £200k. :T
I am determined to do this now and need to cut our groceries and day to day living expenses and generally bit a bit more focused again.
I have lots of MSE jobs to do this month, the big switch on energy fuel comes to an end so I need to switch again and the house insurance needs renewing. I also need to ring Tescos today as I opened two accounts with them. One has come through OK and I have duely filled that with £3000 but the other didn't complete properly on line and I need to phone them to finish that off. I am glad I got in quickly with these as they have now paused all new applications because they have been inundated with requests.
I am going to do the grocery shopping this morning and hoping to get away with a small top up shop, this will depend if I can manage to get Mr Mee from putting lots of extras in the trolley. I have told him that we are being strict and sticking to the list

I have pulled out the leftover turkey and ham from Christmas out of the freezer and I am making leek, turkey and ham pie for dinner today....DS is very excited about homemade pie, I just hope it turns out OK.
Have a good week everyone:)

Getting a Grip and Saving towards the mortgage

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