Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

Kittenkirst

Hey Newgirly, are you crafty in that could you start making some personalized gifts for people. One year I did a lot of gifts in jars/baked homemade Christmas cakes/jams etc and they went down very well

My personal favorite (& the most popular with the recipients) were the cranberry & pistachio biscotti recipe adapted from BBC Good food- popped some ribbons on the jar and homemade fab gifts (especially good with a cafetiere/mug bought on sale and a bag of coffee

newgirly

They sound nice kittenkirst

I've had a go at a few things before, Xmas eve hampers, film hampers etc. plus a few sock monkeys but they were on top of buying stuff

I'm good at the planning but not the execution - last year's Xmas cake didn't get iced or decorated in the end (and most of it went in the bin :eek:)

AlexLK

I make / restore things for birthdays / Christmas (all adults we send gifts to get a hand-made hamper for Christmas). It's really cheap and they all seem to really appreciate it. My son helps, so he is learning how to cook / bake / use tools as part of it. We have few people to send gifts to (couples get one gift between them rather than one each) but I could see how this could be really difficult if you have a lot of people to send gifts to.

newgirly

I think some people really appreciate the effort don't they but sadly not all in my experience! I would appreciate a homemade hamper Alex

I'll be making the advent calendars again this year, but they are not exactly mse now I'm doing 4 or 5 of them.

AlexLK

If they don't appreciate it then that's their problem, in my opinion. Christmas and birthday gifts, I'd like to think, are more about showing thought and appreciation than anything else. My parents really treasure an old footstool I restored for them and some picture frames I made, more so than expensive gifts I had bought in the pre-MSE past. My in-laws really enjoy receiving their Christmas hamper and love that their grandson has made / helped to make some of the items. I was concerned about the level of appreciation but was fed up spending a lot of money on gifts, especially for people we didn't have a clue what to buy.

newgirly

I agree Alex, my favourite ever present was something which dh made me (which is what our business does too!) it was borrowed by a company we do work for who a promotinal Fayre and they rang up and said a guy had offered them £1000 for it on the spot, we could have really done with the money but I said no. (It would have been hard to replace as he borrowed something specific to make it exactly as I wanted it!) Nothing can replace something that was made for you

newgirly

It's been a very busy week at work, we have a massive job which we have not had for a couple of years come this week but instead of the usual three month turnaround they want it back in four weeks :eek:

I can't start my bit until it's been sorted through, but then it will be all hands on deck everyday, shame it conincides with my birthday week! (Yes, I try to make my birthday last at least a week :rotfl:)

So tired yesterday as the dog was up all night barking at the wind, feeling a bit more human today though and I have the day off and am out at the shopping centre with my lovely best friend and her youngest free coffee vochers again today :T

Payday tomorrow thank goodness, £50 personal spends time :j well I Shall draw it out today as I'm out. Can't use the cc until the 1st and have £20 left for petrol and food, I can manage that I'm sure, £15 petrol and £5 milk and bread, we will eat what's in the freezer and I'll bake some snacks.

Popped round a friend's last night and one of the girls has just put her house up for sale, it's a tiny 3 bed about 20 mins drive from here and it's up for £320k they can't afford to buy bigger in the areas around here so are moving to Suffolk (it's lovely there I know as my aunt lives there), but a shame to move so far with teenagers due to the cost.
It made me feel very relived that I found mse and the idea of overpaying the mortgage, it's making such a difference to or future, I know we can stay in the area near friends and family and won't lose our house, which was a strong possibility near the start of this journey, we may even be able to move again in the future.

newgirly

newgirly wrote: »

newgirly wrote: »

newgirly wrote: »

newgirly wrote: »

February update!

Start figures Jan 1st

Mortgage £58,613
Loan. £21,773

Total at Jan 1st £80,386


As of today:

Mortgage £53,630

Loan. £ 20,621

Total today; £74,251


Total reduction so far this year: £6,135

Total Feb reduction :£3,049. 00

LadyGnome

Wow great figures for Feb.
I was having a wobble earlier wondering if all the effort was worthwhile but when you post about people having to move because they can't afford a reasonable property I remember how lucky I am to have the choices I do and that is because I was able to take a longer term view. I feel very fortunate that I have been in a position to make financial choices and that mostly I have made sensible ones.

newgirly

Thanks ladygnome, we all have wobbles I know I do all the time sometimes it's easy, other times not so much. You have done amazingly well oping so much in the last few years :T