Mortgage Free ASAP

Queen-Bee_2

Following a recent discussion with a fellow MFWer, I’ve been reflecting on my money saving ways and the little things I do which help me s-t-r-e-t-c-h my resources to the maximum. Some of them are common sense, some are downright embarrassing, but I’ve decided to share…
• Tea-bags get left by the kettle on a saucer and re-used (though only once!)
• Decanting cheap products into more upmarket packaging – OH eats basics cornflakes when he’s round here and a bottle of Fairy washing up liquid sits by the sink. It short-circuits his complaints and saves £££s. Likewise, my liquid soap-dispensers are topped up with value brand bath-bubbles
• Soap-nuts are used for coloured loads in the washing-machine
• I batch-cook and freeze. 2x for £5 packets of extra lean mince are my speciality. One will be transformed into 4x portions of bolognaise sauce and the other into 4x portions of curry. All 8x portions go into the freezer (probably I could get more than 4x meals out of each, but I’m trying to keep my protein levels high at the moment)
• As previously disclosed, I recycle presents, though I try and do this sensitively. Then again, a fortnight ago I received a pair of long woolly fingerless gloves for my birthday, which, given I’m the wrong side of 40, it was mid August and over 70’C at the time, suggests that other people do the same…
• Until I bought a new bag-less vacuum cleaner with Nectar points recently, the bag would be carefully unfolded and emptied again, and again, and again, until the paper literally disintegrated

Is anyone else prepared to put their hands up?
QB

museumworker

QB - what incredible achievements, you must be so proud. Please keep the tips coming, the more detailed the better! I love a strong tea, so the tea bag tip might be a step too far for me, and we use lidl soap anyway. But very interested in the soap nuts (how much do you think it saves?). We batch cook, and menu plan. Presents are a great expense for us too, but second hand (vintage, darling) and making stuff has helped enormously this year.
MW

Queen-Bee_2

Thanks MW - what I'd really like to see on MSE is a thread with ideas for people wanting to make their own presents for people.

My family is huge. As well as siblings/partners etc, I have 10 nieces and nephews, plus a couple of godchildren. The expense, particularly at the moment, is crippling!! Plus because they are all better off than me, I think they're of the view that Auntie QB is somewhat stingy.

Re the soap-nuts, I think they're quite good. I bought a trial bag for a few £s (it was less than a bottle of Persil liquid soap) and you get loads... I stick in 6-7 shells in a little bag in with my wash, together with basics fabric conditioner (50p/bottle in Sainsbury's - I am in a very hard water area) and everything seems to come out fine. If there is a stain, I do scrooge a tiny bit of liquid onto the spot in question. You can re-use the soap nuts for round six washes. I try and stick to one washing-machine load of coloured stuff a week, and haven't bought any coloured wash laundry liquid for over 12 months. That's over 52 washes, which is around 3x bottles of liquid..? There was the initial outlay for the nuts, but I only bought a trial packet and so far, I've only used about a quarter of them! There is a soap-nuts thread on the forum somewhere - probably on the Old Style Board, but if you Google, you'll find them straight away.

Have to confess that I don't use soap-nuts for my whites laundry, I use liquid for that, which I buy whenever there is a 2-4-1 or special offer.
QB

[Deleted User]

hey QB
some great ideas and am happy to share mine!!...
Also recycle pressies , again not to the same person and its only if it is something I truly dont want/need ... I know several of my friends do it, and I dont feel too bad for it , other times there are things I have bought for myself and then thought "actually no" but I know someone else would like /appreciate them!
shopping in charity shops- just getting into this again, I am lucky to live near quite an affluent area and the amount of new/unused stuff people seem to give away is amazing! - cuts down on pressie costs too! I too would be interested in what people make for pressies- I like the idea but have no idea what I would be able to make???!
batch cooking/meal planning- I am not quite up on the whole freezing portions yet, but I do plan meals now and only buy what we are going to need for the week- our shopping bills have gone down hugely and OH is most pleased I think!
value products/downsizing-I dont know why I didnt do this before...we always bought either branded or supermarkets own but there was something in me too "snobby" to go for value stuff- some of it though I honestly cant tell the difference! some stuff I stick with brands but most have at least gone down a brand!- saves money without feeling you are sacrificing
I also want to find a farmers market/greengrocers locally as tend to be much cheaper than supermarkets for fruit and veg
only using the car for essential journeys- walking/carsharing if I can...this is easy as I am not working right now, when that changes an hour long commute to the capital will change the petrol savings massively!
make sure I have cut down mobile tarrifs , insurance etc to the best deals/lowest tarrifs
re:teabags, I dont re-use but will use one bag for 2 cups of tea
have done some selling on amazon, musicmagpie etc for stuff I wouldve taken to charity anyway and made some money that way

thats pretty much it I reckon!- but not bad considering all this was totally new to me a few months ago- as a result, whilst not OPing the mortgage at the moment I have managed to earn/save enough to tide me over a period of having no income whatsoever for 3 months which I think is not bad! and has definitely made me feel I could survive what life throws at me as it is amazing what you can save/cut down on and how little you can live on and how resourceful you can be if you need to!!

ps I am intrigued by the soap nuts - what are they and where do you get them??

Queen-Bee_2

Hello TYO,

This is the web-site I ordered the soap nuts from - at the moment, I'm around halfway through my 200g bag!
http://www.inasoapnutshell.com/index.html

QB

anniebooklover

Queen-Bee wrote: »

Thanks MW - what I'd really like to see on MSE is a thread with ideas for people wanting to make their own presents for people.

Hi QB, I hope you don't mind me posting (I'm a lurker rather than a poster at the moment ) but have you checked out the Celebrations and Occasions board on Home & Play for homemade presents? There are some really good ideas and loads of inspiration. I have made hampers for my nieces and my mum (a cinema-night-at-home one, a tea-break one and a few pamper ones) as well as some flavoured vodka which I can recommend. My nieces loved the hampers as they didn't need to be used all at once and could last for months. Just thought you might find this useful.

Good luck with paying your mortgage off - I'm overpaying by a piddly £27 per month at the moment but every little helps.

pammyj74

Queen-Bee wrote: »

Thanks MW - what I'd really like to see on MSE is a thread with ideas for people wanting to make their own presents for people.

My family is huge. As well as siblings/partners etc, I have 10 nieces and nephews, plus a couple of godchildren. The expense, particularly at the moment, is crippling!! Plus because they are all better off than me, I think they're of the view that Auntie QB is somewhat stingy.

QB

crafty xmas
This thread is good for people making their own things. I am going to do hampers again this year as they went down well a couple of years ago.

hampers thread


as for your 'better off' comment, You have paid £36k in mortgage payments this year!!! Thats quite an achievement!

Queen-Bee_2

Thank you AnnieBookLover & Pammy - I'll certainly be looking through those threads.

I can understand how my overpayments might look to the outside world... However, my reserves need to finance myself through a masters in order to change career whilst still keeping my head above water. The new career will pay a less than the old one although hopefully, it'll also be less stressful, I won't have to work 80 hour weeks and I'll find it more personally rewarding. Unfortunately, I've not been working for a lot longer than I'd expected (or budgeted for). And finally, OH and I have been trying to start a family... and if we are lucky enough for that to happen, I don't want to be worrying about how we pay the bills. So... in essence, I have to be very careful if I am to achieve the financial freedom I'm striving for...
QB

PS - Have just looked through the thread with all the pictures of the hampers. They look fantastic... But I've never seen the cellophane stuff that people use for wrapping them up in... Do either of you know what it's called or where you can buy it?

pammyj74

err cellaphane
I got mine from a 'materials' shop in my town but I think you can also get it from florists etc.

These are the ones I did a few years ago.


The dove age one for my mum which I loved.




I also added a candle or a little cuddly or something extra.

mummyofonechild

Aww they are lovely Pammy.

You are soooo clever

:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T