Want to be a mfw but worried?

thriftylynny

:wave:Hi Ally, just popping in to say a big thankyou for your advice regarding my tv licence renewal headache, i rang them yesterday & have it sorted now ,so thats one less thing off my mind! I do enjoy reading your diary on here, as like you i'm also trying to op mort 2 first & at times it just seems sooo slow, have 2 older kids & on a tight budget,so its great to see you posting on Downsizer's thread, us single working mum's need all the encouragement we can get don't we? Keep on going Ally, you're doing brilliant, its what motivates me to carry on with all this :A

ally18

Morning all,

Thanks thriftylynny for your post, I'm glad to hear you have it all sorted now.

Well, not a good weekend unfortunately. I have had bad news concerning a friend who is not expected to last the week through the big c which is extremely upsetting. 43 is far too early an age to go and leave family. It should not be happening at all!!!!!!! The worse thing is I can do nothing to help!

Grocery wise, I spent the £5 voucher at Mr Ts so grocery budget now stands at £56 left for the rest of February.

I took my dd shopping on Sat and she bought a few things. Unfortunately, as I was feeling so down, I ended up spending £17 on four tops. I'm not sure where this money will come from at the moment. Prom dress is on the back burner for a while as she says it can wait until nearer the time.

Hope everyone is well.

Froggy-G

Sorry to hear about your friend, sometimes it's so unfair..Just be there for your friend's family, am sure they will appreciate your support..

Concerning your DD prom dress, what about Ebay or alternative shop (like old fashion, vintage or 50's style..) I am no guru in fashion tips, just trying to help out..:o

Keep your chin up Ally..

Froggy

ally18

Thankyou Froggy for your kind words, still waiting to hear at the moment.

Unfortunately, my dd has a pretty good idea what sort of dress she wants so we do know what to look for. I may even look into having it made as it may be cheaper, I don't know yet. I think its going to be the car and accessories that may cost a bit.

Quiet day at work for me today, lunch brought in so nsd. Have another voucher for Mr Ts to use this week, not that I need anything other than fridge stuff but I can't pass that £5 up. I'm going to buy the toiletries we need to last through March and some freezer bits. No doubt the vouchers will end soon, I hope they do anyway as I can't resist using them. Mind you, if I keep doing what im doing at the mo, probably April will be a very little grocery spend and what is left can go to m2.

Don't have anything planned for the weekend, its my time alone this one so I will probably clean up and tackle my wardrobe. I have old shoes I haven't worn for years which are still really good, I would like to get rid of on ebay. The trouble is I don't much like using it. They never let me know when the free listing days are and I only want to use these times to keep costs down.

skint_spice

I was going to suggest getting the dress made or ebay - DS's pals mum got a wee local place that does alterations to make one for her DD and said it was miles cheaper than shops. DS had a prom thing but car wasn't too bad as it was split between about 6 of them, hope DD and her friends have a ball

Sorry to hear about your friend.

ally18

Hi all,

I haven't had much to say for a while but I have updated my sig as I've made another op to M2 recently.

I managed to stick to my grocery budget last month, didn't spend anything on going out and no bills so have scratched together everything left over after being paid and put £150 towards my decorating/repair fund for later in the year. :j

My dd has decided on her prom dress and that is looking much more reasonable so we are going shopping soon.

Short and sweet today.

ally18

Morning all,

Weekend over and back to work. Going to treat myself today, going out for lunch with a friend but hopefully shouldn't cost too much as now on my diet, so will just be having soup.

Friend passed away at the weekend, I'm just glad she is no longer in any pain.

Haven't done any shopping, I am now going to use all the freezer stuff and cupboard stuff up for a while and get rid of all the processed food before buying in loads of meat and veg hopefully.

My gas dd has now gone down to £7 a month. Tbh I wish it hadn't, I would have preferred it to stay the same so that they don't end up increasing it by more when it needs to go back up in the future as no doubt they will but in the meantime, the £23 left over goes straight into the gas/leccy act just in case. That is currently standing at over £400 so maybe, if it is not needed, that could be another payment to m2 around July time?

Sun is shining today but bitterly cold. After the rain of yesterday and now the sun, no doubt my grass will be a foot taller by the end of the week!!!!!!!!!!! It really needs cutting but it was too wet on Sat to do it. I think I might have to get a goat!

Have a good day all.

elantan

thats a good idea of syphoning the extra money off your gas and elec to another account and keeping it just incase you get a big bill in


sorry to hear about your friend

elantan

lulabelle1 wrote: »

Ally, this is a really interesting post.....

I had been given advice by a few people that I would perhaps be "better" to invest my OP's in maybe a stocks and shares ISA as I would yield a better interest rate than the 2.5% on the mortgage rate that I currently have.

I gave it some consideration as I could understand the logic and actually ended up talking about it with my IFA yesterday. I honestly expected him to offer me all kinds of investments and to tell me that this would be better than OP'ing the mortgage......

BUT

He actually said that overpaying the mortgage and getting rid of it is the best financial decision I would ever make! He advised that whilst other investments "may" yield more, the stock market is so volatile that it would be risky and the very best thing is to get rid of the mortgage and then consider making other investments when that is paid off.

Anyway, I can see that you have a similar mindset to myself so I thought this might provide you some reassurance that you are absolutely doing the best thing - both for your peace of mind and the security of yourself and your family.

Once your home is paid for, it's yours and can't be taken away.

Best, L x

it really is an interesting post L and i can see why it was suggested that way ... i think they psychological advantages of paying off your mortgage, owning your own home and the feeling of security must out weigh alot of the temptation to get a better return for your money on the stock markets

Froggy-G

Sorry about your loss Ally, thinking of you..

Froggy x