new mfw

THRIFTY_GIRL

Well said CC!!

True, it may be cheap credit but it still costs something. I think the point most people miss is that

a)it is an ongoing commitment so the sooner you get rid of it [the mortgage] the better.

b)If you have no mortgage you can put that money into savings so when you need cash you do not have to take out a loan at a higher interest rate...simple;)...its a win-win if you ask me.

It may be appropriate to put the additional money in a savings acoount with rates being so low but there is the issue of being disciplined enough not to spend that money:rolleyes:......and on that note I think I'll call it a night.....

chirpchirp

Seems ages since I updated!

On the 1.9.09 I made payments of £500 into savings, an extra £100 on last month.


On the same day my new contract came into effect ( which I haven't seen yet!) making me full time and taking me a further point on the payscale.

Yesterday the lady at afternoon club said we would start afresh on what I owe as my children visited ad hoc last term when they started their new school. My children just tend to go and play with their friends who are there when they aren't officially there! So a big yay on that to the very kind lady :j

I have been really annoyed with one of my daughters sports clubs where she has shown potential. She was going for 6hrs a week ( cost £85 four weekly or £76 and a few pence if paid monthly) The standing order amount took into account holidays over the year. However in September we always get landed with extra fees eg - club membership fees, (surely this should be part of the normal fees!) national fees to register for insurance ( no probs with this) and team uniform fees. This year team uniform fees had increased to £35!!!! This for a uniform she may wear 4x in a year possibly only twice. Ok Ok doesn't sound much till I tell you it's a leotard. During the 5 years she has being paying this fee I have not known them to renew the leotards and they are only lent to the children! Which is not very hygenic.

Anyhow, been having problems finding a new club so popped along to another one last night. They don't really have enough space to accomadate her at the moment but they do have one session of 2 hours costing £3.50 an hour. In the short term this will be a huge saving and they seem to think the most she should be doing is 3-4 hours training at the most. Their coaches appear much more professional and are much better qualified. They refuse to have too many children in one session so as the sport requires one to one coaching she will have more turns. A win win situation. I calculated that as it is paid termly, presumably on school terms that the term should cost me approx £98 instead of £304:rotfl:.

On a less pleasant note, have to go and do a "nit" check now. Only been back at school for 2 days and I spotted lice in one child's head. The perils of teaching young children!! I swear teachers should have a tax allowance for de-lousing solutions:mad:.

chirpchirp

Well not huge things to report since last time.

Today I've posted a switch fund for my S&S ISA to move some funds and sent a letter requesting an increase in the amount I pay into them. This amount will cover the amount which I no longer pay into my cash ISA now it is full.

I've found some jumpers so I don't have to switch the heating back on but it's still ever so cold. It's my fingers which feel it the most. I really must look into sorting out having the skirting board put back on in one of the rooms as that's why the cold is coming in. Must also chase the builder to sort my bedroom window which is currently duck taped up as it's not in properly. I may go the expensive route and get the local window company to fix it as the builder who put it in never arrives.

Tonight my frying pan made a huge bang and a rivet had blown off it into a sausage. I rang Lakeland whose customer services were excellent as ever and are sending me a replacement! Could have been very dangerous if I hadn't been searching in the freezer at the time!

setmefree2

Poor you - sounds like you've been very unlucky with builders. The situation with the window really

Glad you went uninjured in saucepan incident!:D

chirpchirp

Yesterday was pay day and the first one since going full time. It will take a few months to know just where I stand and whether I am financially better off working full time. I know the job satisfaction has certainly increased so it's worth it from that point of view.

Reasons why it may not be so beneficial financially:
Increase in petrol - 35 mile round trip for an extra 2 days
Lunch - about £2.20 a day - school meal - no way will I take packed lunches.
Decrease in tax credits - this will be quite significant and I won't know for sure exactly how this will affect me for quite a few months.

I rang the tax credit people today to inform me of changes and they said my money could even increase for a few months and will then go down after April.

Meanwhile, I have increased my amount into my regular savers from £500 last month to £750 this month. As you may have noticed I have an IO mortgage so I have increased the S&S ISA from £150 to £300. These increases have been made based on savings made elsewhere eg groceries, utilities, planning journeys and the decrease in daughter's activiities.

I have again kept my mortgage payment to £1000 making a capital repayment of £703.42 ( or at least that's what the spreadsheet tells me, mortgage statement won't arrive till January).

I have also engaged a solictor to sort out transferring the house into my sole name. I can't have the mortgage in my own name yet as I don't earn enough so my 5 year aim is to clear 100k. This will be a very tough target but if I don't aim for something I will get nowhere. The 100k will include the S&S ISA dependent on how the markets are doing.

Looks like it's time to update that sig!

setmefree2

Chirp Chirp well done on all your progress :T:T:T:T

StuartGMC

:j:j:j:j Ditto :j:j:j:j

Queen-Bee_2

Congratulations Chirpchirp! You're doing so well!

chirpchirp

Been thinking about setting a target for a long time. Now I feel I'm ready to say it out loud.

I want to decrease the mortgage to £141,000 by September 2013. Hopefully by then my wages will increase to allow me to apply for the mortgage to be in my own name.

At the moment this seems like a huge target, especially if the mortgage rates increase dramatically. If the ISA S&S increase significantly then this may be possible but I'm not in a position to try and work out the percentages of this. I don't know how to work them out taking into account new payments etc.As a result my 100k challenge is based on so many ifs and buts. I don't have a clue if it's possible but here's to a lot of luck in the future and a huge gamble now that I've announced it.

Queen-Bee_2

You're braver than me! My life has taken so many twists and turns in terms of intentions and aspirations since May, that I've not yet committed to a date - I'm still working on an asap basis!! Good luck!
QB