Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

beth111

Well done newgirly, we will hit under 150k next month and I am so excited about it

CathT

That's a great milestone Newgirly, well done.

never_too_old

Well done,what a great feeling to get into the next figure down.:T

newgirly

Well it looks like the kids have sweet talked their Dad into going to chessington today! I have no-one to let the dog out though so we are only going for a half day, I think its better to go next week but I am outvoted

DH has also asked somefriends/work collegues round to see the england game next week and have a bbq, so I need to have a good sort out of the garden and house, we don't need to buy much he thinks :cool: not sure how this will work! Due to sticking extra petrol in for today my budget is now £8.53 a day instead of £10 for the next few weeks.

I have been spending way too much time on rightmove again, but the reality of it is we live in an area that is stupidly expensive. I don't really want to move further out although I would love to move to another part of the country (devon) but thats probably never going to happen due to dh's work and the kids.
There are houses that are not that much more money than ours but bigger, but the area is not as nice. We are in the cheapest part of a very nice town , but with no real hope of ever getting a 3/4 bed semi there are some 3 bed semis for 700k nearby at the moment. I need a kick up the behind to make me appreciate what I have a bit more I think, all things considered we are very lucky to have a house here, I'm just a bit fed up of having the blinds shut in every window because of double deckers going past the bedroom windows at all hours. Maybe we need to spend a bit of time trying to smarten then place up a bit, its very shabby in the kitchen and everywhere needs small jobs finishing. I don'nt know I just feel a bit restless at the moment, sorry for the moan!:o

newgirly

We had a good day at chessington, however 3 of the rides they wanted to go on were shut and it was quite busy so the queues were longer than usual.

I have been trying to earn some extra money again through surveys etc. Not onepoll as its so slow, I also had a go on the mc cain spud shillings as recommended by never to old.

The gold I sent off arrived with them friday and the money was supposed to go in the same day but it did'nt so hopefully tomorrow it should be there and I will know how much exactly I get. I have to make £300 ish a month to clear the 0% cc by the end dec this year, so I do need all of it. However I have been on the grabbit board and ended up buying a kipling bag, I've looked at them a few times but they are a bit dear, this was a small beige shoulder bag £42 down to £21 free del. and a 20% off voucher made it £16.80. Naughty I know, the money is for debts , but I have been quite good this year, and spent all my birthday money on the family so I think I should be excused!:p

CathT

The reason we have started doing home improvements is partly to curb my rightmove addiction. We haven't done any work in the house for so long i've come to dislike it! Houses are so expensive in your area, we paid £165k for our 3 bed detached in a brilliant area. I like the idea of living in Devon though!!

I don't tend to go on grabbit anymore as I end up spending. Nearly took advantage of a bodyshop offer the other day but resisted! There really are some bargains to be had on there though and I may sneak a peek at the kipling bag.

Hope your BBQ is fun and not too costly. Could guests 'bring a plate?'

pink_poppy

I think there was an accident at Chessington a week or so ago, so that's maybe why some rides were closed??

Well done on getting the gold sent off, hope you got your money today. I've had a pile of old gold sitting in my drawer for about 2 months ready to send off so you put me to shame that you've sorted yours already after only mentioning it the other day

Cath, I agree with getting the house sorted makes you like it again ~ I've just finished decorating my DD1's bedroom & I love going in there now, until she trashes it of course, which shouldn't take long...

Definitely think BBQ guests should bring something to eat (doesn't have to be meat, something like a salad or dessert) & a bottle of something ~ that's what I'd do anyway. What time do you want me there??

BristolBob

newgirly wrote: »

I'm just a bit fed up of having the blinds shut in every window because of double deckers going past the bedroom windows at all hours.

Just stop caring. Leave the blinds open. We are all naked underneath our clothes.

newgirly

Hi Cath and pink poppy, I think putting in a bit of effort to look after this house is the best idea, I just don't want to spend too much money on it, maybe a bit of decorating. to freshen it up, last time I did the through lounge with a couple of years ago I used end of line £4 a tin paint which was a big mistake as I can't just go over the dirty bits.:D

Thanks for the suggestion bristolbob, but I really don't want to frighten commuters :rotfl:

Yesterday I spent money I don't really have on:

• school pens rulers etc. £10
• a £2.50 primarni top for me
• wrapping paper for DD's b'day (reduced)
• 2x teas in M&S as took nan out as mums away

Looking at that rather sparse list it seems ridiculous that I can't even afford that easily.

I've not sent the paperwork back yet to switch the mortgage back to repayment as its got to start in July not June.

All money will be taken up each month to cover the new huge mortgage payment, and everything I make will try and clear the 0%cc by the end of the year.

I'm not sure whether what I am trying to do is really possible. as petrol/food/clothes and misc. are budgetted at as £265 per month.:eek: School dinners once a week, Xmas and holidays are covered as DH is paid on a weekly basis so there is some spare a few weeks a year to pay for it.


I'll give it a go I suppose, and if it can't be done I shall have to use the extra I earn to help out rather than clear the debt. The kids are not going without, they still have school dinners / bl*ckberry phones (in lieu of pocket money from us) , they get pocket money from gran.

One a positive note I had the car tax demand through, it may sound odd but it felt good as for the first time ever time we have the money set aside in the "car expense" savings account that I have been adding to every month, small victories eh!

newgirly

Today I have spent the whole morning looking at everything finace wise. Its going to be unrealistic to stick to such a low budget for months on end, and also very difficult to clear the 0% cc on my extra earnings by the end of the year.

So just to annoy the building society again I'm going to request a fresh lot of paperwork to switch the mortgage back to repayment in sept instead of july. It means I can clear the cc first in full before comitting to a much higher amount each month.

I am still hoping to get close to my £10K target this year, maybe £1200 or so short, perhaps I can make a bit extra towards it, but some of the money I will be trying to make will be for spending as I will only have £285 now for groceries petrol in the budget which is too low.

The monthly payment on the mortgage will go up a bit as another 2 months will have elapsed before I go back to repayment, but only by about £17.

I feel a bit better about it all as it was starting to get quite stressful worrying about not having enough money for everything, this way as long as the cc is paid off and the basic mortgage payment made, I'm still on track to clear it in 10 years or so, anything over and above that is a nice bonus.



Other than that I have tried to be good by:

• making leftover veg soup
• washing with homemade gloop and putting on line
• doing a survey
• no heating on (does that count when its hot!)
• NSD

Thats it so far