Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

newgirly

I attempted to use our bath last night, but as I was about to step in the biggest spider you have ever seen dangled itself over the bubbles. Back to my parents everyday to use the facilities. I shall never have a bathroom done again, it is an absolute nightmare, next time it needs doing I shall move house instead.

Other than that , things going well, we are off to the inlaws to see their new puppy and have lunch, kids mountain of homework done , plus about 6 loads of washing. I know it sounds sad but I am looking forward to this evening lighting some candles and watching tv in my pj's , bliss.

newgirly

Nice lunch at the inlaws and a very cute 8 week old westie, although he was as wide as he was long, mil insists he has been wormed but i'm not so sure , although I am by no means a puppy expert.

I have been reading another post on the mf board aout whether to extend or op. Its something I really don't seem to be able to make a descision on. I change my mind almost daily, I would love to do the loft as another room for the kids so they don't have to share, but at 30k on an already large mortgage of £149k I just don't know. Our youngest are 11 now , so by the time we have saved up they will be 13 / 14. Would we be better just oping and clearing the mortgage quicker so we can help them out at collage/uni, or with a house for themselves. I think I have a while more debating this before I can decide.:o

newgirly

I am trying my best to be frugal at the moment, and i'm doing quite well with the homecooked meals, its falling apart on the packed lunch front though. Two mornings in a row i've bought drinks/crisps etc at the bakers round the corner as I've run out, v. expensive so i need to get organised.

We seem to have a mammouth cc bill this month, with our devon holiday, 3x kids birthdays and parties, 3 netbooks for xmas , bathroom expenses, 2x new senior school uniforms (close to £500), it stands at over 2k :eek:
I knew it would be very high, it is cleared in full at the end of the month, but will come out of the od. I will split it over the next three months so its gone by the end of the year. Hopefully we can still op (or save) by £500 this year as well.

The 0% CC is doing ok, that is reducing by £403 per month , we have just over £3600 left to pay so it will be cleared in june next year.

Primetime_2

SmartRRRR wrote: »

My advice is always this - know the difference between what you WANT and what you NEED.

Think carefully about why you want something, and only buy what you need; you will spend less.


Good luck on your MFW mission.

hope it's okay to rob this quote. this will certainly keep me going!

good luck with the mortgage

newgirly

It's been so hectic here the last couple of weeks, I have still got 2 builders doing the bathroom, its seriously put me off having anything done again as its taking them forever.

I have been trying to be good with money , but its my mums 60th next week and my parents are taking us out to a posh restaurant in london, and dad is paying for cabs and the meal and drinks, which is great. But I only have old scruffy clothes, everything smart is 2 sizes too small , so whilst out today I bought a new black dress for £40 from m&s :eek: I'm still not quite sure as its a bit fitted and revealing, will try on again later with some serious underwear.:rotfl:


Other than that I've been spending on bathroom bits as we only have beach towels left as I chucked all the old ones.
I need to do a full plan of what is coming in and going out over the next couple of months.

newgirly

I'm fed up tonight, not only does the new dress have to go back as it looks pants, the boys have been bickering badly.
One has been winding the other up which has ended up with dh and me having a full scale row over whose fault it was:(. Not a good idea as you have to back each other, especially when outnumbered.

Now I am having a second glass of red, before my weigh in tomorrow, which is probably another bad idea.

After almost convincing myself that we don't need to convert the loft and its better to op, I am now imagining a life with a bedroom for each child, how much of a difference would it make. Mmm, or maybe I should just see if I can find a nice little flat for one and leave them all to it.:rotfl:

cha97michelle

Hon, i am sure not having the bathroom all done too is adding to the tension, and the kids are probably a bit over tired being at school. Finish your wine, sort it out with your DH, and go grab some sleep, and you will feel better tomorrow.

It is so stressful getting stuff done at home. I remember last year well. It felt never ending.

newgirly

Thanks Michelle, I am feeling a bit better today. Lots of rushing about again, but I did manage to fit in another hours walk with my friend and our dogs, if only I could stop eating crisps I might lose some weight.

Final descicion of the loft (yes I know , another final descision:o)

Save for half : £15K

Borrow half with a loan for 2 years: £15K (at a cost of around £1004 in interest)

If we managed this we could possibly have it done this time next year, and that would be fantastic for my sanity.;)

Its not the cheapest way as a loan is at a rate of 6.3%, but would mean I can get it done in a year instead of 2/3 years and I could stay with the same mortgage provider if i did'nt have to up the mortgage. I am with chelsea and hoping they will still be doing a good 10 year deal when we re-mortgage, which would co-inside with our hopeful end date.

If we add onto our mortgage we will have to go to a different bank.
I quite like the idea of having a much more focused challenge, a year is not too long.
The loan would take 2 years , and in that 2 years half our money would go on the loan and the other half on op's, then the full amount after the 2 years was up.

So, whilst saving I am going to switch the 0% card from £403 per month to £80 pm, and with my target of £500 for the rest of this year, plus the extra not going to the card , my dec 31st target is now £1500. Next year I have to save £13, 500, hopefully by oct/nov.

newgirly

I have spent so much on the cc in the last few months I have built up enough points to get a £30 boots voucher, I already have a £10 one from VO, so can get some 3 for 2's for xmas with them both.

Also I've decided to try and get dh to get on board a bit more with cutting back and set myself some challenges too. I have been thinking about going back to my old ways of drawing out cash once a week and having a seperate purse for household bits and food, plus a tiny entertainment pot for us all, seeing the cash might help me be a bit more careful about spending it.

newgirly

Dh is at work from 3 am this morning as he is so busy and has a big job waiting to get sent out monday morning, just spoken to him and he will be back lunchtime for dinner at my mums so thats not too bad, as often happens he won't pay himself though which is annoying, any little extra bits do make a big difference over and above normal pay, Oh well.

I am supposed to be meeting the boys' friend at the park to play football this morning followed by a big roast dinner, so the diet is off for today (and yesterday, oops!)
The bathroom is still not finished and the builders are coming back monday, but dh is supposed to be doing some of the smaller last jobs, I am a bit worried that they won't get done though as he is so busy, if things don't get done striaght away then they don't get done at all ususlly! I can paint but don't fancy drilling into new tiles.

No heating on yet, I am going to see how long I can last out, we have a fire that looks like a coal fire but is a small fan heater above, so I can cheat a bit and put that on before school while they eat breakfast so as to not have the central heating on. DD has been wafting around the house wearing very little wanting the heating on since August, not for quite a while yet i think

Cupboards are very full as I have been lazy, yesterday I bought 2x dine in for £10 from M&S, I wanted to treat dh so got a nice fish pie, but they also had a very big rottisserie chicken worth nearly £6 as a main , so got a second deal too! I will take a bottle of wine and dessert to mums today though, we shan't eat it all.

Today i am determined to go through the finances, dh's wages have not been transfered yet from friday as I have been too busy. I want to spend as little as possible, so might find a different way of doing things and set a realistic budget for what needs buying for xmas still, it all has to be done and wrapped in nov if I am to hit target on michelle's big xmas push challenge.:santa2: