I'm going to do a diary too :)

gerbiljo

Ah thanks beachie, tough as an old shoe tho hehe anything going down tho is good so keep up the good work:)

Phew hubby did the food shop...£31 how great is that, tho there was no cat food so that will need getting at some point.

I finally have some vouchers coming, £10 amazon ipsos is here and I have a fiver in mysurvey, a tenner in my tns and I must have a tenner in valued opinions too tho I haven't cashed any of them in yet. See how they all turn up straight after an amazon purchase??

I was norty and bought a computer program today, I just can't help myself

Our challenge is to not max the sainsburys card by payday- friday woohoo, if I have to walk to work I shall to make sure we don't!!!!

That might be our update for the minute, can't see I will have much to say until friday... will add tho that matilda my chicken seems much better, I can see she still isn't 100% but in herself she is back to normal so perhaps that is the best she will be now, at least she's happy with the duck, don't want either of them alone if at all possible, or for the shortest amount of time it can be

BYEEEEEEEEEE

CathT

If my hubby did the food shop it would be a lot more than £31. We went to boots yesterday and he slipped maltesers into the basket, I was horrified to discover the packet cost me 69p! What happened to chocolate being 28p a bar?

gerbiljo

I know chocolate is so expensive and crisps, I love it but its almost too expensive to enjoy haha. I'm the strict one but, i tend to buy my daughter stuff whereas my hubby doesn't and I think he likes it when I'm extra happy he spent so little. I think we added £2.18 with cat food food telcos top up tho

We got a pack of 4 boosts the other day for £1 and hubby said thats good, in my mind thats the price they should cost as I worked in a sweet shop between being 14-18 and remember some of the prices. By similarity also I saw a sign outside a pub for pints on off £2- £2.20, we don't drink so my last experience with a cost of a pint was when I worked in a pub when I was 18 and thats the price they were then so I presume that normally a lot more than that. I'm living about 15 years behind!!

gerbiljo

grrr hubbys tyre needed replacing £56 unexpected cost and we both need petrol we are super close to our sainsburys limit tho we won't hit it before payday thursday and friday.

The money I owe work has been spent tho. I think I might just stick this on a credit card and be done with it as its on my mind too much, will eat up what were ahead but better than nothing. not sure which card it will go on yet...

gerbiljo

Well my husband has been paid so today we have done some paying off soon to be continued with more tomorrow as I get paid too....

So today we have cleared the £210 tesco card balance. We debated cancelling it but might leave it for a bit incase the car blows up or something as we wouldn't be able to access money otherwise.
Also we have paid £700 off the sainsburys card balance we were very close to the limit and now the balance is £4287, I would like this cleared by the end of the year/ first month of next.

Also paid £1160 off the mortgage so balance is now £51365, tomorrow we can scoop a little bit more off and monday we can dip into the forties:j:j

I have not had a very good week again though and got very upset yesterday, in the end I had to call my head office as I felt I wasn't coping. It was good though as they were really supportive and I was surprised compared to my old boss who made me feel ridiculous for not coping. They suggested a few things and even suggested the possibility of part time which is obviously always what I wanted, I need a balance. I will go to the docs this week to discuss too. In true form I feel absolutely fine, (shedding a credit card may have helped) and we are going to try a few things to help improve things and have a meeting etc. I know its a bit depressing to put these things in here, but I guess it is the truth of the situation and hiding it would disguise the difficulties faced in this mortgage free quest!! I spoke to my husband last night and he wanted me to quit and he is stressed too as he gets in first and finds it hard doing the animals/ dinner and looking after our daughter at the same time. We are going to play the next few months by ear and see what happens. Anyway of course I am feeling fine today and feel I can do anything thats how it goes I guess.

I have to also add that my very nice nan has given me £1000, for the purpose of building, i.e. not to be paid on existing debts therefore we will try and use it for exactly that. This should do most of the 'floor' and definitely keep us going to the end of the year.

I have started to look at gas/elect switch but I can't find out how many units I use now, on monthly costs some of the fixed deals look cheaper, not sure if i can get cash back as iv only been with my current company for 3 months??

Will update tomorrow

gerbiljo

Feeling rather positive as it stands today:D Just paid 1095 off mortgage with my salary and I shall be going back to work and paying off most of my bill (£175) this shall leave about £30 but I do have more to add so I will end up owing about £100 again which I may consider paying on a card though will speak to my husband first, if not I shall certainly make more effort with it as otherwise it shall build up again. didn't pay the usual lump off the mortgage quite tho it is still a huge lump and monday, my fave day of the month mortgage payment day we shall dip into the forties:j:j

We have my sisters birthday on sunday so will be making some cakes etc and my last 2 gerbils died so have a feeling some gerbil purchasing shall be going on, also the husband is going to buy me a garden owl:D so looking forward to the immediate future!! Hopefully we can start planning re the build, I think the next step is drainage and keeping one eye out for any bargains that come our way via ebay more time more bargains we should be able to source!

Will update after the usual weekend spending...

So to summarise mortgage today standing at £50270:j

wynnvegas

Hi Gerbil,

That £270 is annoying me so I can imagine what it's doing to you!!

You're doing fantastically. My favourite bit of your last few weeks is you grabbing a swimsuit for your 2013 holiday. That's inflation busting at it's very best!

Really nice gesture from your nan. Wee unexpected things like that make such a difference and you're right to use it for some guilt free and tangible improvements as sticking it toward a card would be a bit of a cheat.

Looking forward to sharing the next year and a bit with you. Hope the stress levels and such remain manageable - there's a big light at the end of the tunnel and switching to p/t employment sounds like a suitable reward for bumping the mortgage.

Cheers,

Billy

vl2588

Sorry to hear of tough week, bloody amazed at story of supportiveness I have to say!!! Part time sounds BLOODY GREAT! Email soon xxx

gerbiljo

Well most of the things that I said would happen have reduced my work bill by £175 and so it stands at about £30 now, though I have to add £66...so it goes up a bit but I will chip away at it with my odd pennies I think... either way at the moment it looks good!!

Our shopping was £45 including stuff for my sisters cake, though we couldn't get dog food again and I can't believe the big bag disappeared so quick. We went in factory store and spent about a fiver, including a couple of stocking fillers for my daughter. We went in B&Q and bought some decking wood to plant some of my buxus trees in (my husband is making some planters) so I include that in extension stuff! Tidying up the garden is a little thing that can make a lot of difference in my mind as it doesn't have to cost much but looks better, though its hard to improve the look of a building site! We also spent £20 on a present for father in law. All presents done until November

I realised that we didn't account for the £100 payment to saisnburys direct debit so I expect we shall have to use this card towards the end of the month as we will run out of funds grrr, but we won't use it til we have to so at least mentally we are not using them.

On the up I have received £10 ipsos, £10 tns and £5 my survey all of which will be in amazon vouchers probably for xmas.

I called sky today to cancel we currently pay £29.75 for 1 package and hd, it is now reduced to £20 a month until january- need to cancel it 31st dec same package after that I think we'll stop it, better than nothing.

I worked out the gas/elect and I need to swap to edf, I need to call british gas on monday and this should save £70 a year, if they let me switch online I will go thru compare the market and see if i get £20 cash back but I only switched form edf a quarter ago so I'd be surprised.

I now have 3 new gerbils, Meemu, Noomu and Ari, these are names after maldivian atolls to make me think of the 2013 holiday, wynnvegas I had to laugh at your comment I must sound like a right wally at times dreaming of my very distant holiday if if if I get to the end of this!! Yes though I shall not need to buy one if we get there, if these plans go ahead I will still be pretty skint at the planned time so perhaps I shall be grateful for these advanced purchases! thank you for the very encouraging post , I guess you remember this point well!!

On an extra note yes the £270 is annoying but allows maximum satisfaction tomorrow when we go to £49880 gggr that numbers annoying as well isn't it!!! I will have another £80 though a couple of weeks after that so £49800 which will still annoy me...no pleasing some people. The con is that our monthly reduction is £3080 and I do try to add the extra £20, but then I still rarely get an exact number, as if I do I'm tempted to go into the next bracket...ooooo I'm torturing myself here!! Our payments once the cards are gone will go to £3580 reduction a month come january but that leaves me the same dilemma

I know I love the sound of part time, I reckon if I'm really struggling I could still keep on this challenge on 4 days a week??? It's not written in stone though by any means...will find out more this week. Ta V

I got the owl, in a rush but when I get time I will post a pic of 'Owlf'.

My husband just let the cats in and they have eaten some of the cakes ooooh no!!! Luckily just licked...I have marked the licked ones and I guess they shall be mine!!

Will update tomorrow, where has this weekend gone grrrrrr

gerbiljo

Up date today

£49875, daily interest £2.06, 63.98 for the month and £393.53 off the balance rounded off with £1.47 but I could have just gone for the 47p and had 49876 oh well haha. 3 weeks before I can take a bit more off...