Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

Pearla*Merle · 1 January 2014 at 1:02PM

I have consulted Mr M who knows about such things.. apparently you can watch the extra channels live or watch the programmes when you want. The problem is the content deals they have ie. they don't have a contract for The Simpsons on there so you can't watch it live or on catch up

(You'd just get a 'not available' screen when it's on, boo). They'll have most things but there are a few oddities like that around... very irksome

I'm sure someone on the internet somewhere will have a list of what they do and don't have? I'm not sure about the digital recorder

But most things should be available as they would be on iPlayer, so you can select what you want to watch when you want to watch it so wouldn't really need a recorder?

You know that lulastic blog I mentioned waaay back? She's set up a whole new site which is primarily focused on the thrift side of things now - http://wonderthrift.com, it looks like it'll have a lot of handy hints & tips

Alas on the lindors! My dog once ate half of a chocolate mousse cake I had for my birthday(!) Slightly devastating :eek:

newgirly · 1 January 2014 at 9:15PM

Ooh thanks pearla and mr pearla , much appreciated

I think I'll wait until the sky expires on the 30th, if they give me an under £10 a month deal by then I will stay , if not give the now tv a go.

Dh treated us to a pub lunch today unexpectedly, it was lovely food in a really quaint oak beamed little pub. Not exactly a frugal start to the year but as he paid it doesn't count

I did feel a bit guilty the kids didn't come so bought a mc d's on the way home for them so spent £7.14

Thank for the link btw , I will be following the new blog.

newgirly · 2 January 2014 at 10:21AM

Still in bed , so thought I'd make a to do list to try and get moving :

Go to aldi to get the new super 6 veg- all 39p this week, plus some meat and milk.

Do all washing and change beds

Clean ds1's bedroom, I thought it was a bit whiffy when it was dd's room, but with ds1 its a whole new level of smelly, why don't teenagers ever want the windows open :rotfl:

Cook something nice, not sure what yet

That's it so far

Pearla*Merle · 2 January 2014 at 11:41AM

Thanks for the heads up on the cheap super six! :T

newgirly · 2 January 2014 at 7:22PM

I didn't make it to aldi and needed up at mr t instead, but did get loads of veg and some of it was yellow stickered so not too bad. One reason was I wanted to get the 5p off petrol voucher when you spend over £50, so I spent £60 and topped up the petrol to full (£51) now I have £60 left for everything until the 28th.

One really good but in there was 2.2kg of gammon joint for £5 in the sale so I bought 2 :T both are in the fridge at the moment as they don't fit on the freezer though so I may have to cook one tomorrow. Very nearly bought the usual small value joint for £4 , the big sale ones were not easy to spot, it was only because I was having a rummage

Dinner tonight for the others was leftover (frozen) turkey and roast potatoes, with cabbage and sweetcorn. So much still to get through in the freezer, in past years the dog would have got the lot , such a waste as the kids just really enjoyed it.

Off to the gym tonight for the first time in 2 weeks and 3 days :eek: I have put on some of the weight I lost before Xmas but have enjoyed it (chocolate baileys, baileys , chocolate - you get the picture

) but feeling ready to be good again, this year I would like to lose 2 stones. I have done it before about 4 years ago but it gradually crept back on, that was without exercise so I'm hoping this time should be a bit easier changing diet and exercising.

newgirly · 3 January 2014 at 10:19AM

Up early today by on holiday standards 8am

Lots of washing to do, but I will use airers not the tumble. The gas /elec bill has been updated and thank goodness I only owe about £35 , so not a massive difference when we get switched in a few weeks hopefully.

Gym was ok last night, but them I came home ate dinner had a glass of wine and a baileys

I need to get that baileys out of the house!

There are lots of adverts on tv at the moment for Summer holidays, in previous years I would be happily browsing to sort out where we should go, so I feel a little sad as we are not going away this year in summer. (We did do a last minute caravan break for a few days last year in summer) but we need a good run at debt clearing.
We have decided to book 2 days at the farm cottage near alton towers in April though, the passes runout not long after it reopens for the year so it seems worth making one last trip there. It should be pretty cheap though £140 for the cottage , take ALL our own food (no pizza restaurant!) and petrol about £50.

It will keep the kids happy, they still can't believe we are not re-newing the passes again but even in the jan sale we are looking at about £450 for 5 of us

I have turned into such a cruel mum lately, cancelling the passes and the sky tv :rotfl:

MissOptimistic · 3 January 2014 at 11:54AM

Hi Newgirly, we are not having a holiday either this year, we were on the verge of booking one just before christmas, but I just turned 40 2 days ago & its my goal that my life (and finances) will be a lot more sorted by the time I reach 50 :eek:
We owe about £3000 to 2 different family members which is interest free, so easy to ignore, but its been owing for too long & needs to be go e!

newgirly · 3 January 2014 at 1:53PM

:bdaycake: happy birthday miss optimistic, I hope you had a great day

newgirly · 3 January 2014 at 2:37PM

First payments made towards the debts this year :j

£50.25 minimum payment
£220.53 extra payment on top

£270.78 total off the £5025 santander cc , new balance £4754.22

Now completely skint until jan 28th not a penny spare eek!

newgirly · 4 January 2014 at 9:29AM

Off to the gym soon, trying to work off the baileys I drank yesterday

I had the sky call yesterday evening, they offered a 35% discount (£13.95 I think) with no contract, I said I can get now tv for 4.99 at the moment , he said ok then sorry to hear that :eek: they are obviously not going to do it for £5 pm anymore. So I will ring today and accept the 35% discount. It's still worth it for us as we record most stuff and dd watches a lot of american series' , plus dh uses the sky go on his laptop. Not sure how long the offer was for , I think its a year.

I also had a look at the new mortgage deals available for current borrowers with my provider chelsea. We can't change provider for a good few years as dh has more shares in his company so now is classed as self employed ( with the company showing losses - long story) anyway , they do a fix for 2yrs @ 2.64%
Fix for 5yrs 3.39 %
Tracker 2 yr 2.54% (collared @)

The difference between the 5 yr fix and 2 yr tracker is £109 pm. I usually go for the shortest term with biggest discount when fixing but this time , I just don't know! I do feel rates must rise soon , prices have gone up by a lot where I live in the last 8 months or so it may follow. Plus a 5 yr fox at 3.39 is still low and I would hopefully be over half way to clearing the mortgage anyway. The temptation to take the lower deal and overpay the difference is great though, but where will we be rate rise in a couple of years time? Plus I need to take into account I can't change provider in the future. Argh , I don't know and need to decide in the next month or so.

Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

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