Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

newgirly

Hi cath , no I have'nt looked at next, will do. My kids are a nightmare food wise, the older they get the less they will eat. Its plain meat and veg or the usual kids fish fingers etc. I have managed to get two of them to eat a chicken curry recently though!

newgirly

I have looked at my current acct online and my 0% CC payment has come out today, I maust have overpaid after the statement was produced as they have taken £100 ish less than the regular amount.

I have decided that due to the fact I have £11 at the moment , that I won't pay that as well. I'm going to wait and see how I go. I still have 10 days before I can use the shopping/petrol etc CC.

The good news is that this months 0% CC payment has just taken the balance under 8K, so we have paid off £1908 since taking the card out in about april I think.

newgirly

Well we had bought a PS3 for the 2 boys as a surprise for xmas ( new but v very cheap from a friend of DH) but after me trying to discreetly grill them about whether they want one or not, we have come to the definate conclusion that they don't! So DH is going to sell it on to a friend and now I've got to get something else for then for xmas.

I went to mr s to try and get some more 1/2 price toys today but most of it had gone. I still managed to spend £45, i'm not sure what on really, lunchbox stuff I think.
The one great thing I managed was to walk past all the big bottles of baileys 1/2 price and NOT buy one!

I'm going to spend as much time as possible on surveys later, seem to have more VO lately, have had £5 credited to mine and Dhs halifax yesterday, and have about £6 payable on topcashback today.with lightspeed £5 requested thats £21 towards my £40 target per month that I owe my OP pot. So it may actually be a realistic target. I know its not much , but in the world of surveys it is

I've done a slow cooked chicken for kids dinner with veg, which has turned into a chicken casserole for DH later. Will stick the BM on now as well, I have been setting it on to come on in the early hours and for some reason the dog has taken to barking at it, so no more waking up to the smell of fresh bread in the morning.

CathT

What a shame the boys don't want the PS3, do you anything else in mind? All my Halifax rewards going well too but can't account for one of them as incurred the £5 charge for going overdrawn for a day! Argggh! I now have their text service though which lets you know when you have gone over limit.

Well done on the surveys, seems to take ages to build them up doesn't it.

newgirly

I have just transfered this months halifax reward money to my current acct to go with my mortgage op's £10, plus an extra £5 which is odd pennies from DHs wages for the last few weeks. Topcashback is on £6 now plus I have requested £5 from lightspeed the other day, so am up to £26 now, I have another £14 to find by Dec. Should be easily doable.

I made 2 orders yesterday from BHS with codes from grabbit, and managed to get a some baileys stocking fillers for teachers and a friend and a few other bits really cheap. I also had my new purse delivered thet I ordered (grabbit again) at the weekend, It was only £1.40 delivered instead of £8, I have been quite lucky this week with getting good deals. Just need to get some more pressies for ds1 &2 now.

Dh has promised to help me decorate the hall /stairs /landing this weekend, however he has also said he will be working, so I doubt he will help now. He is supposed to be building a new under stairs cupboard, and stripping the high bits up the stairs as I don't like heights.I really would like it done before xmas as it is in a right state at the moment with half the walls stripped.

I'm not doing that well with money at the moment, am now down to £22 from the £111, hopefully I should'nt need too much food in the next week though, some of it did go on BHs presents that I hadn't accounted for, and Aunties birthday present. Perhaps I should stay in and decorate next week, it would kill two birds with one stone.

newgirly

Feeling a little delicate today, went out un-expectedly last night for aunt's birthday. I had said no as I can't afford it, but DH said he would pay out of his money, so I went out with family for a curry, which was lovely but very spicy.

I thought I would be organised and put the BM on for lunch later, but I switched the plug off by mistake, 1/2 way through. It looks lke the dough would be ok to go in the oven so I might try and do some rolls with it later.

Had friends round for lunch yesterday which was nice, did jacket spuds which went down well, with spiced berry cordial which I am really addicted to at the moment. I don't have to cook tonight as we are round mum and dads for bonfire night.

I was on the grabbit boards (again) this morning and saw a good offer for a sim only contract, so have taken it out for DD's phone. I have held off on doing this as I wasn't sure it was worth it. But now she's getting older I am topping her up a lot more. So she keeps the phone she already has, and I've signed up for 12months , 3oo mins PM and unlimited texts (the most important part for a 13 yr old!) for £10 pm, which is probably the same as I'm paying now. I got it through topcashback with hopefully £80 cashback, they were doing it through quidco for more money, but people were saying it was'nt tracking all the time. So hopefully that will be another bit of cash for the OP pot.

I'm hoping for a good cashback deal on film subscription soon, we have already done the lovefilm one, so will have to keep an eye out for another one.I think I might start selling some stuff on ebay as well, its been ages since I last listed anything, although I think I will still need DD's help.
I hope everyone has a good weekend.

newgirly

I am in a bit of a dilemma at the moment, I am trying to decide whether to carry on overpaying the mortgage with the money that is set aside until april or spend it on the house. I desperatly want to overpay as I have been. But, we know the next year and a half at least there will be no extra money at all for Op's except what I can earn or squeeze!
We have just started decorating the hall, but really need a new carpet, OH re-fitted one of my mums carpets about 8 yrs ago and it has really seen better days now, the bathroom also needs refitting as it often leaks and is pretty horrid. Also the kitchen ceiling needs re- plastering where the bath has leaked.
If we don't carry on OP the money every month it should cover both just about as DH can do the bathroom (he's refurbed a whole house before) and we will go for a cheap suite. I just can't decide what to do , as every month I am Op the money put aside I really need to make a decision soon or it will all be gone.
I am worried that I will lose momentum with Oping the mortgage, we have always been very bad with money but have done really well these last few months, and I don't know if I'm getting carried away!
Oh, I should have said DH gets share dividends every year, but as the firm has had a lot of extra expenses there will be no money at all next April, and thats where the bulk of the Op money comes from, so there will be no large chunks of excess money for a while. The money we have now is around £1000, what would you MFw's do in my position?

chella71

Helloo Newgirly, I am new to all of this myself so unfortunately can offer no words of wisdom but have heard that this overpaying lark can get quite addictive
Personally as we , like yourselves, are making home improvements at the moment, I would say don't rush into anything, we take our time and look for good deals and bargains, I have saved so much by just hunting around, it sounds like the bathroom definitely needs doing, especially as it has been responsible for damage to the kitchen, but maybe the carpet could wait a bit longer?? our carpet was so terrible in our hall and bedrooms when we moved in that we just pulled it all up, the foam backings had all turned to dust, we now just have to replace each carpet once we have had the rooms replasted but fortunately in our 1930's house the floorboards themselves aren't toooo bad!
You sound like you are doing REALLY well and are bound along the way to have a few blips with the op's, just keep on digging in there are you will come back out the other side, bit naff about hubbys job though hopefully the company will do better again next year.
Look forward to reading your updates
Chella x

newgirly

Thanks Chella, I just can't decide what to do , something always needs doing does'nt it. Another problem is trying to convince DH that we can have a nice bathroom without it costing a fortune, He wants the whole thing tiled , and I'd just like it painted with tiles round the bath which would work out a lot cheaper. Hmm, I wounder if we could ask father christmas for a toilet for xmas!
By the way , have you started a diary as I don't think I've come across it?

SmlSave

He wants the whole thing tiled

tell him you're happy to let him have the whole room tiled as long as he's the one responsible for cleaning said bathroom and keeping all that grout white!