Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

newgirly

Phew! Zumba was hard work, good , but hard work. It was bits of all sorts of dancing, salsa, african, belly dancing all sort of mixed together and very energetic. Of course some of the older ladies up the front put us to shame. Will probably go back next week though.

I've managed to print bank statements I needed from nationwide online for the re-mortgage but the one acct. where dh's wages go won't let you print them off and charge £5 per month, and i'm missing 2 which is a bit annoying. So once they come through i can send everything off.

Dinner for me was beans on toast, and dh was spicy sausage pasta made with leftover sausages from last night, I am becoming the master of making weird dinners for him out of all sorts of leftovers. good job he was brought up on his Mum's cooking, so he can't be too fussy thank goodness.

mummalove

Glad Zumba went well. I've heard of it but didn't know what it was exactly, so I can now act all knowledgable about it if the subject ever gets brought up again!!

The sausage dinner brought back memories for me...if ever I got stuck for a meal, or not quite enough food in to make dinner, I always used to add a few sausages to whatever we were eating - hence sausages are always called 'back-up sausages' in our house.

newgirly

What a hectic weekend, round the outlaws for dinner which was ok, FIL mostly avoids me after our minor set to at xmas which suits me fine kids have been put to bed extra early and allowed to play a video game or watch a dvd for a while, so I can mooch on MSE and watch dancing on ice and wild at heart, I think I must be old before my time.

I have been very lazy lately and done no surveys for days, I need to get a bit more pro active. I've done well with food so far, the budget is very tight but there is still food in the freezer. DH said if I run out of money he will give me a bit extra from his budget which will help a lot. I just don't want to steal from the loft savings we are building up.

Slightly worried about half term as I have some friends who can be a little pushy and want to do cinema/bowling etc. I am going to have to put my foot down I think and say no and mean it, I'm quite happy to have kids round to play and feed them. DH can also get hold of very recent films , so I've suggested doing an at home cinema afternoon at mine with homemade popcorn and sweets, if my offer is not taken up I shall eat all the sweets myself.:D

mummalove

Brilliant idea for the home cinema treats! If you have a Nintendo Wii (or borrow one from a friend?), you could also do home bowling too? For that one, you could cook up a load of cheap pizzas, wedges, etc for them. Of course, as their 'cook' you would have to sample all their food

newgirly

Good idea Mummalove, however my two boys are crazy about their xbox and my aim is to get them off it as often as possible:D

newgirly

I am shattered, I have been up since 4.30 as the dog started barking. Dh came home early and we went to the pub for lunch which was nice, he never has time off.
I bought some ready done stuff for dinner(well dh is paying he just doesn't know it yet!) from mr s , which was ok, but we never have ready meals and veg usually and it really was a bit of a let down, I think I must be geting used to my home cooking now.

I have had 2 vo surveys tonight, one for £1 and one for £1.50 which took forever, I only need another 25p and i've got enough pending for a voucher soon.

I'm so tired and tomorrow will be a busy one as well, two school appointments, taking my friend to pick her car up and lunch with the girls, while the kids are at school, plus a mountain of ironing, everything is more crinkled since i'm going cold turkey without the TD.

newgirly

I've been going throught the bank acct today and have just noticed that they have not taken the min 0%CC payment of £72 this month, It must be because I overpaid last month after the statement went out. I do have the money to pay it but have decided to keep it and put aside for the car tax which is due the end of march instead.
I have set up monthly savings for that, but there is not enough in there yet. I'll have to adjust my sig though as I'd already marked it as paid.

School meetings went well, but we have lots to do over 1/2 term going over their mock sats papers, plus DD has a lot of revision to do as well, so I think we will stay in quite a bit next week.

Dh has thankfully said he will pay for yesterdays shopping (£26) , so I haven't eaten away that much at the money i've got left this month. I've also got an extra £40 in the bank If I need it from him , which i can deduct from his allowance next month. I feel a bit like its cheating on the 4k challenge, but to be honest I have paid out for 8 birthdays so far this year which is just too much to cope with in one go on such a low amount, so I'm not going to beat myself up about him helping out.
i'm off to a friends for lunch soon which I'm really glad about, plus i have the heating off at home and its flipping cold! I will switch it on when they all get back from school of course

newgirly

I have dd home today, after coming home early yesterday and being sick, seems ok today though.

I've just got the copy statements I need to send off with the mortgage advance application. I will send it all off today before i change my mind again! it feels very scary and will take our mortgage up to about £182K plus £7K still on the 0% card :eek:. Dh's income will be a lot less this year as well, hopefully it will pick up again next year , but its going to be hard.To be honest if we waited another year, they would not lend us the extra.
I think for the difference it will make day to day it will be worth it, the boys will be starting secondary school this year and will need their own space even more. They are getting used to me not spending a lot since joining here anyway.

We have paid off about £10K in 10 months last year with op's so we are good at squeezing a lot out of what we have.
They way I see it its no more of a risk than last year as we are now IO and only commited to the £515 in interest per month, compared to our repayment costs last year of £1362 per month , plus we op'd £274 per month.
If and when we get the mortage offer back I will work out the term we will be aiming to finish the mortgage at, and set up a dd for the extra amount to op to get us there.

lincoln-potter

Hi NG,

It sounds like the quite a change is afoot. Exciting and nervous all at the same time, I am sure it will be a risk worth taking.

CathT

The bigger mortgage will be worth it and justified when you have a more spacious home you love. Those pennies will stretch, we will make them!