Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

newgirly

Well the cheque has been given to dh for the tax bill I still need to do some shuffling and it means that we won't start the oping until June not May this year , which is when we will have a new mortgage deal starting as well.

I've been trying to get dh to decide what he wants to do for his 40th in sept, and I think he will now have a party either at home or if we are really lucky my mums back garden, sounds a fairly cheap option , but there may be 80- 100 :eek: people possbly and he will want to pay for all food and drink. He has said he will get together some money to help cover it all but I really need to start putting some by.

I was thinking of a weekend away as a present but might try and get a one night mystery hotel cheap instead as i think there will be enough to pay for already. I have told dd she will have to have a low key birthday and so will the twins this year, last year was 2x parties in 2 weeks and its just too much work and expense so close to dh's.

newgirly

Its been a busy few days, I have done a few hours work cleaning and possibly may have more hours coming fingers crossed. The weight loss is going ok, about 3.5 lb lost this week, to be honest I think its because I have tried to stop thinking about dieting after watching paul Mc kenna on tv the other day, who said to basically eat what you want but slow down and not get distracted by tv or computers which makes sense.:D

I am about to book a treat for dh's birthday, after lots of research on cruise's and lots of other expensive ideas, I have discussed it with the kids and we are going to book a night in a premier inn and tag on an extra day before we go to centerparcs in july, it is only an hour away from alton towers and I know dh would love to go as he has'nt been for about 18 years. It seems a waste to use one of the days we are at CP to visit so an extra night seemed a good idea, £58 for 2 rooms (DD refusing to share with even me!:rotfl:), and hopefully some cheap offers on the theme park nearer the time, very mse!

newgirly

I am in a madhouse at the moment, we are clearing dd's room ready to paint, so far we have found £65 :eek: apparently birthday money she lost last year but did'nt tell us as we would have a go at her! Well yes i would have. When I heard the screaming I thought it was a spider not a pile of cash. :rotfl:

I have not booked the premier inn as have decided it will be more stressful having a one night stop off on the way to centerparcs as I want to take my own food and its just going to be more work, plus its a month before dh's birthday. So, descision made we will do a seperate trip and try and go during the halloween half term and posssibly go for 2 nights so we can go to the scarefest there. I will take a look at b&b's as well though as they are not doing the cheaper rrom rate at half term. It can be dh's present from me and the kids then for his 40th which I think he would enjoy.

Its been a busy week, I have done quite a few surveys and some extra cleaning, so far all my money is being saved seperately, and the plan was to op half and save half for holidays. Not sure whether to split it 50/50 every month or put by the money to cover the holidays at the start of the year and then when paid for op for the rest of the year. Hmm, need to work out how much I need really.

Cooking from scatch at the moment as I have not had time to go shopping, but I'm getting tired of weird meals and am very tempted to go to m&s and buy something tasty for tea tonight.:D

macgirl

You sound like you've had a productive week and 3.5lbs is VERY impressive! :T

I feel DD's pain. We got money from our parents for Christmas this year and I thought I'd lost an envelope with £50 in it :eek:
My heart was in my mouth as I'm well known for cleaning up at 100mph and throwing important stuff in the bin (I once threw out my passport after one decluttering frenzy, so I have form )

Good Luck with the decorating!

newgirly

DD's room is coming along, although its now much darker than before, one wall with black wallpaper with silver flowers and 3x walls very dark purple. :eek: Being a teenager she does'nt have the blind up ever anyway so I suppose it won't make too much difference. I have managed to sneak in some bright pink cushions to brighten it up a bit.

I've also emailed a b&b with a view to booking for oct for dh's birthday. It is £100 pn for 5 of us so dearer than premier inn , but its walking distance to alton towers and they have animals and are surrounded by woodland with most importantly of all a set of football goals! Fingers crossed they are available.

Feeling quite rough today and need to do some hours for dh and go food shopping (and update figures in sig. as very out of date!), the only thing cheering me up this morning is the thought of watching sherlock tonight.:j

Hope everyone is having a good weekend x

newgirly

Had a good day yesterday, took my Mum and Aunt to bluewater shopping centre. They bought me lunch as I drove (only got lost once this time ) Also bought DD a suit from new look for her work experience soon, she is working in a school.

After promising myself a cath kidston bag in the sale, I managed to resist, I must have spent 1/2 an hour looking at them and just could'nt spend the money, I ended up buying a keyring for £3 instead. Does anyone else find it hard to spend sometimes on luxuries? I have no problems buying somethings but not things that I really want but don't need.

I never had a reply from the b&b however my inbox was strangely cleared , I have not rung them as I'm faltering a bit, dh is doing a bit of extra work to help pay some of the spending money for our summer holiday but i still have the whole of centerparcs to pay for and spends. I am so indescive (sp) its untrue. I am thinking it might be fate and I should wait until a bit nearer the time?

Coming down with a cold at the moment and have the whole house to sort and clean as I have 4 girfriends for lunch, its nice to see them but I am shattered, sometimes you just have to get on with it though. I have done a few more hours yesterday for dh which has boosted my total for this months earnings, I think jan will be by far the best month this year as I had most of my tcb clear and sold some gold. Still hav'nt sorted how to sell on ebay, and lost the lead to the camera dh bought me last year, must look into it though as the house is bursting at the seams, also the twins both want a kindle which I am pleased about as i do think it would encourage them a bit more. I have said if they can save half we will pay half as well,(must have been feeling genourous!) funny thing is DD is a book worm and does'nt want one until she has finished all the books she has. So they want to sell some old games to help with the savings.

Need to spend some time on the mortgage calculator as hav'nt had time lately and it helps keep me motivated.:D

beth111

You are doing so well newgirly, I love catching up with you diary. Keep up the good work.

newgirly

Have been checking out lots of mortgages again as I was not well yesterday, managed to do a cleaning job and then spent the day on the sofa. It looks like we will just stick with a 2 yr offset with chelsea at 3.39% though as I keep getting turned down on affordability elsewhere.
I have worked out that if when we re-mortgage in june dh gets his 10% paycut restored and I can make an extra £200 per month, and we can manage long term on a very tight budget, it is possible on paper to pay off the mortgage in 7 years, one month before the twins 18th.
The chances of us actually doing that I am sure are very slim, it depends on how the business goes and how expensive the kids continue to be. Plus the temptation to move somewhere else in the meantime is massive !

This year I am going to try and put more energy into making the house more tidy and decorating every room, DD's is done already this month. I need to focus on putting a bit more love into the house we have rather than lusting after houses on rightmove that we can't afford.;)

Still have 149 squares on my house picture to colour in, hopefully i can get rid of a few this year, payments won't start until July now thanks to the tax bill and clearing the debts, worth it though as it will be the first time in our 15 years married life together that we don't have any debt.

Monthly food budget is a washout as I have £5 left for jan now, so I will not hit target with that and the diet is ahem , not so good either, however my best friend has been bought a personal trainer for two for 5 weeks for her birthday (she did ask for it, otherwise offence would have been taken ) and I will be hitting the park for a bootcamp once a week :eek: the shock of this news has turned me to chocolate biscuits though.:rotfl:

CathT

newgirly wrote: »

This year I am going to try and put more energy into making the house more tidy and decorating every room, DD's is done already this month. I need to focus on putting a bit more love into the house we have rather than lusting after houses on rightmove that we can't afford.;)

This is my plan too, from looking on rightmove we could afford to increase mortgage by around 40k but would need to increase it by about 70k to get the house we want. Therefore makes sense to stay put and eventually spend 30k ish here. Makes me think of that programme 'don't move, improve'

Good luck with sorting the mortgage deal, mine really seems to be dragging on but will be worth the effort.

newgirly

Hi cath, its not just the extra to buy the house its the fees and the money you will spend over the next few years getting it just how you want it, its more sensible to stay put!

Being MF seems such a long way away though, I have seen quite a few posters on here who I thought were new and have clicked on their diaries only to find they have been here longer than me and just update once or twice a year. I wonder if these mfw's are thinking about it everyday like I seem to, or am I just obsessive?

I wish I could just make the payments and then get on with life , but I am definatly an all or nothing type of person, luckily it has changed from all spending to (in the main) all moneysaving or at least thinking about everything we spend on. Will I be able to ever get to the point when we have no mortgage, I hope so, but don't really trust myself to do something daft along the way.