Mortgage free by the time I'm 40

delmar39

I've just logged in to my account and paid off another £5! So, thanks for posting it encouraged me to pay off that little bit more this month (we're moving house at the mo so overpayments will resume in May when we know what our new bills will be....:)

cha97michelle

LittleBit wrote: »

Hi Michelle,
Yes we are in similar situations, and it was reading your diary that gave me the kick up the bum to get going with this challenge. I try and look out for free things for the kids too, but I have to admit I'm a sucker for spending at the end of the month. I somehow manage to be good for 3 weeks, and then the last week of the month it all seems to go to pot and we have a blow out - usually on stuff we don't need at all. I need to find more motivation and willpower :mad:
We've done a bit of baking with DS1 and he seems to like it, easy stuff like chocolate crispy buns, and banana cake. If you have any recommendaitons for easy things to make I'd appreciate it.

Oooh - i am inspirational Nice to know that someone else benefits from my ramblings.

Can you get rid of all the money elsewhere so it appears that you are skint? I try to move as much as possible to the savings account or the mortgage so the current account looks like we have very little and then it is less appealing to spend. We all get these urges. I am a sucker too. I like buying treats for the kids like a magazine or a bit of chocolate.

In terms of baking it depends. My 3yo is very good at following instructions and is fab at helping in the kitchen. I get him to help all the time. He peels carrots and parsnips for me and has helped make our main evening meal when it is stuff like pizza or spag bol. He is a strange child really. He likes to watch cookery programmes on cbeebies but has also been known to watch Saturday kitchen. With both of them i have done simple things like mince pies from ready made shortcrust pastry. Butterfly buns. Fairy cakes. Simple victoria sponge. We even tried chocolate eclairs but that was very messy and hard work. Pizza or bread dough is manageable.

DS2 (nearly 2) is just too little really. He likes to take part but really i strap him in the highchair and give him his own bowl and spoon. Sometimes i let him stir the mixture with a lot of supervision. He is far too fond of putting everything in his mouth really. The odd occasion where i have lost attention has been a bit of a disaster with flour everywhere.

If you are looking for specific easy recipes try the cbeebies website as there are quite a few. There is even a game where you can pretend to make up recipes. DS1 is a dab hand.

They also love to pretend to cook where i give them a bowl and spoon each and they put their ingredients in (bricks/lego etc) and stir about and then put it in the oven. (Dangerous when i switch the oven on before checking.)

Kids at this age are easy to entertain really.

setmefree2

Bufger

cha97michelle wrote: »

Oooh - i am inspirational Nice to know that someone else benefits from my ramblings.

Can you get rid of all the money elsewhere so it appears that you are skint? I try to move as much as possible to the savings account or the mortgage so the current account looks like we have very little and then it is less appealing to spend. We all get these urges. I am a sucker too. I like buying treats for the kids like a magazine or a bit of chocolate.

In terms of baking it depends. My 3yo is very good at following instructions and is fab at helping in the kitchen. I get him to help all the time. He peels carrots and parsnips for me and has helped make our main evening meal when it is stuff like pizza or spag bol. He is a strange child really. He likes to watch cookery programmes on cbeebies but has also been known to watch Saturday kitchen. With both of them i have done simple things like mince pies from ready made shortcrust pastry. Butterfly buns. Fairy cakes. Simple victoria sponge. We even tried chocolate eclairs but that was very messy and hard work. Pizza or bread dough is manageable.

DS2 (nearly 2) is just too little really. He likes to take part but really i strap him in the highchair and give him his own bowl and spoon. Sometimes i let him stir the mixture with a lot of supervision. He is far too fond of putting everything in his mouth really. The odd occasion where i have lost attention has been a bit of a disaster with flour everywhere.

If you are looking for specific easy recipes try the cbeebies website as there are quite a few. There is even a game where you can pretend to make up recipes. DS1 is a dab hand.

They also love to pretend to cook where i give them a bowl and spoon each and they put their ingredients in (bricks/lego etc) and stir about and then put it in the oven. (Dangerous when i switch the oven on before checking.)

Kids at this age are easy to entertain really.

:rotfl:hahahahaha

Im going to be a terrible father, i'll just be laughing too much to tell them not to do it!

LittleBit_2

2 OPs today, £4.10 and £2.90

Bufger

LittleBit wrote: »

2 OPs today, £4.10 and £2.90

woohoo, good work LB - keep it going. :T

LittleBit_2

ooh have made 2 more OPs today, as I get paid tomorrow, and thought I may as well finish this pay month with even figures in the account, so OPs of £4.60 and £29.71. That's a biggie for me

LittleBit_2

Another OP made of £4.84 as we have been paid this morning
Will have to spend a fair amount today though as need to pay for DS1s preschool place, and it's for amonth and a half, so £84 :eek: Also am going swimming tonight so that will be about another £3.50.
We also had to get DS1 some new shoes last night, but went to the Clarks outlet and got him some trainers with RRP of £24 for £10. They don't have as much choice, but you can usually find something you like. He needs boots too really, but we have been given some by a friend that are exactly his size, and with a bit of polish I'm sure they'll look fine.
Goign to try and sort out this month's budget quickly while both boys are asleep.

nookey_bear

LittleBit wrote: »

Another OP made of £4.84 as we have been paid this morning
Will have to spend a fair amount today though as need to pay for DS1s preschool place, and it's for amonth and a half, so £84 :eek: Also am going swimming tonight so that will be about another £3.50.
We also had to get DS1 some new shoes last night, but went to the Clarks outlet and got him some trainers with RRP of £24 for £10. They don't have as much choice, but you can usually find something you like. He needs boots too really, but we have been given some by a friend that are exactly his size, and with a bit of polish I'm sure they'll look fine.
Goign to try and sort out this month's budget quickly while both boys are asleep.

hi little bit - just started my own thread so good to see someone else who has started out on the long (but hopefully successfull) road to paying the mortgage off early! great to see you paying off £2 here and £3 there, very inspirational stuff. I need to find out how I can pay physically pay small amounts in (need to call Nottingham BS to find out best way) but I know every little helps

GOOD LUCK - will be reading your diary with interest, might pick a few tips up!!

LittleBit_2

Hi - thanks. I don't know about being inspirational, I've only just started on my journey really, but am already finding that the odd £2 and £3 payments are adding up I'll pop over and have a look at your diary now.