My Mission For Overpayments Starts With My Cow Jug!!

CountingPenniesClaire

Good to have you on board -best of luck with paying off the mortgage. Look forward to reading all about it!

trudypretty

hi everyone,,,thanks for your welcomes...any good ideas for overpaying are appreciated....cheers Trudy x:rotfl: :j :beer:

strumpet

Fabulous idea to save 50ps TP - I think I might join you if you don't mind me copying your splendid innovation!I currently siphon off all my £2 coins into my dishwasher fund.It's quite funny really as everytime I break into a fiver for a loaf or a pint of milk, I end up with nothing left after I've religiously "filed" all my spare change into all the relevant "mini funds" that I have on the go!!!!I liked the idea about using money you never thought you'd have. I currently waiting for £49.55 to become payable on the TopCashBack site so that'll go in to the mortgage OP too!Good luck with yours!Strumpetxxx

SmlSave

Hello and welcome!

What a good idea with the cow jug.

Defintly listen to what the guys above say They are all wise and knowing

trudypretty

hi strumpet and smlsave...thanks for your welcome ::)

strumpet ... i know what you mean about the pints of milk costing pretty much a fiver once you have added all your change to various pots!!!

paid another 20.00 o/p so total for October is £100.00 which is fab as that was my aim for each month!!....although next month may be more...50ps are rising....must have about 3.00 in there now (oh god...getting excited by that...what is heppening to me!!!)

trudypretty

had another idea today about how to get extra cash to make o/payments....each week my shopping normally comes to between 50 and 60 pounds....so generally i allow £60... in future if it comes to less than £60 then i will take the remaining cash and put toward o/payments, as is norm more £55ish that could be a potential £20 extra a month!

trudypretty

well, did a car boot sale at weekend with my sister....out of total made...i am adding an extra 20.00 to this weeks overpayments.. therefore this week i will be able to pay 40.00 off which is double than was planned..so great !

taka

Well done!!

trudypretty

thanks taka

StuartGMC

One to consider is the "alternative" purchases; admittedly one I need to improve on with OH. This just involves trying an alternative cheaper product in your groceries, then if it is acceptable do a quick calculation of the saving and how many times you purchase in a year to get an annual saving. (The spreadsheet I sent you has automated this in the groceries page in blue cells )

What surprised me was that a change on just 4 items could save £100 per year (without even trying) upping your OP by £8 per month. It was very surprising to see even on ketchup it could amount to £30 per year alone (Sainsbury's vs Heinz) as OH and DD seem to consume tanker loads of the horrid stuff (give me good brown sauces like Branston Fruity....).

You may find this is a quick hit way to add a further £10-12 a month to your
OP?

That said, you're getting in the swing of things, but do look at your outgoings in detail across weekly, monthly and annual. With this data you should see what "extra" remains provide you are honest on things like holiday, all the insurances, annual subscriptions (English Heritage, RAC, magazines etc) car servicing, children's school trips, clothing (boy is that more than you think once you monitor it, but then you have boys and I've a daughter of (nearly) 11 going on 13 so probably a similar total!), get data on weekly shop to build up a true picture.

Then dial in the mortgage payment, your OP now, plus your monthly savings and that needed for the annual items (aspirational saving amount). I also have an "allowance" for my pub visits and a floating sum "ancillary spend" which is to cover Christmas, birthdays, treats etc.

When I total all this I get a final result which is positive if I am within the income per month (and thus indicates I have some spare which I can then save or OP), or, negative which means somewhere things are out of kilter and need to be addressed. Of course, I don't actually go into the red as this is a result of true spend and aspirational savings but it is a very good guide to where you are in the total picture.

Once you have this and then consider e.g. %net income spent on electricity and gas, you will then find this is a great incentive to improve on them e.g by getting comparisons for the best deal every 6 months and also reducing consumption.

Keep interim copies of your spreadsheet so you can see your progress over time.

Stick with it for, say, three months, then you'll find it is all part of your natural routine to collate the data and do the reviews.

Oh, by the way, did I mention it can become addictive, or was that obvious?