rags to riches (hopefully), my diary.

Pips_Mum

Oh no thats rubbish about the mortgage. Hope its an error somewhere and you havent lost £16k:eek:

ragstoricheswannabe

Panic over, its all sorted!!! i havent lost £16k after all, but i do owe more on my mortgage than i thought! i didnt ring northern rock i rang our financial person who helped set it up (my oh's cousin!!) she helped me figure out where the money had gone! (yet another blonde moment!!:o ) i had forgotten we had to pay to get out of the last mortgage which took just under £3k and then there were all the legal and estate agent fees and stamp duty........................ the list goes on!!

Anyway, i asked her which we should be trying to pay off before looking at another mortgage and she said it doesnt matter as long as we dont go over the overdraft and dont miss any payments on the cards!! so think i am going to spend less to slowly eek ourselves out of the overdraft and continue to pay what i am on the cards, although as the egg card is 0% i will be paying the min amount till the hbos cc is paid as thats 16.9%.

Going to try and do the NSD challenge but will join in jan, treating dec as a dry run!! going to look into the sealed pot challenge, that seems like a good idea!!:D

It will be my new years resolution to get all the debt down and live within my means!!!

ragstoricheswannabe

and i have got some envelopes ready and marked up for my budget, if i only take cash and not my card then i will have to stick to my budget!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! think i will have to give my oh a small budget for his coffee habit as loosing the will to live trying to get him to take a flask.

Have turned my thermostat down on the heating but do need it on for the kiddies! I am turning things off at the plug when not being used, baking my own bread, gonna do my own cakes and stuff............. any other suggestions?

Pips_Mum

Sounds like you are doing well.:T
Glad you hadnt lost £16k that would have freaked me out!:eek:
Ive joined the sealed pot challenge and the NSDs too.
One lady had got over £1000 in her sealed pot!!
Ive put down to have 10 NSDs in December and had my first today so i am pleased.
Every little helps as they say.:rotfl:

ragstoricheswannabe

well done pips mum, i too have had a nsd! its alot easier when i am organised i have found! think i am going to do the sealed pot challenge next year, cant believe someone managed to save so much!! just need to find a sealed pot as if there is any way of opening it i would if i was short.

going to continue on the what dfw things thread as getting some good ideas from there, cant always do the big things to reduce spending and debt. feeling quite motivated at the moment, just need to keep my goal in mind. once all debt has gone my oh wants to start on getting the mortgage down, i agree as dont want to still be paying it off when i am 60!

Pips_Mum

I am the same with the pot needing to be sealed so I dont pinch money out of it found this http://www.squiglysplayhouse.com/ArtsAndCrafts/Crafts/PiggyBank.html thought I might have a go at making it, bit silly and fun, your littlies could help you?
Good plan with the mortgage, think I will set my sights on getting rid of debt asap and then starting on the mortgage too.
As you say I have found some good tips throughout the forum and am also feeling quite motivated. Hopefully it will last!!:rotfl:

ragstoricheswannabe

thanks!!!! am loving the piggy banks, my ds1 would love to do that!!!! think that is something to do this weekend............... there was a challenge similar to the sealed pot where you put all your left over money from your food shopping budget etc into a pot or is this the same one?? dont think i have made it up although think i will adopt it into my sealed pot.

Pips_Mum

Um not sure to be honest
Think there are basic "rules" but most people seem to do differently same with the NSDs..
I think I will put in the pound coin I get back from the trolley everytime I go shopping that will soon add up.

ragstoricheswannabe

Have had quite a productive day! joined the sealed pot challenge (it is the same challenge i mentioned in previous post) and me and ds1 did loads of baking! We made drop pancakes, 3 types of fairy cakes, chocolate chip cookies and some bread in the breadmaker.

Made corned beef hash for tea, cheap and cheerful. didnt think my oh and ds1 would eat it but their plates were licked clean!!

not joined the nsd challenge but following along and am happy to report i have had 2 in dec! wont have one tomorrow as need to get potatoes from the market.

the weather report says its going to be -4 tonight with fog, glad i am staying in, curled up on the sofa with a glass of vino.

checked my online banking and really wished i hadn't. get paid in 8 days and hopefully oh gets his overtime due on fri.

ragstoricheswannabe

Just as i was about to give up trying to get oh to take a flask to work, he actually took it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:j he went to bed early last night so i got out an old plastic tub and put in the satchets of latte stuff that he wanted but never used, the sweetners that just happned to fall into my bag from mr A's cafe (;) ) and a spoon and got a cup that was from our old plate set and put all this in front of the kettle that i had filled to max so he could just boil it for his cup of tea before work and use the rest for his flask. Cant believe something as simple as that actually worked!! have been trying for months!!

The weather forecast for the rest of the week is not good warning of blizzards and black ice!:eek: :mad:

my ds1 has now decided that he wants his room to be redecorated with everton stuff (he is nearly 4!!!!!) so with the money people have given to get him something for his bday and xmas is going to buy him the bedding, borders and curtains. His room is decorated with the truck theme from next so going to reuse all the stuff in ds2's nursey! Saves trying to sell it on ebay to get money for ds2's nursery. its not babyish so should hopefully last a few years!

Looking forward to getting my hair done at the weekend, worked out it will only cost me about £8 as my mum still puts £5 a month into a savings account for me which has just enough in it!!