Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

Moneyfordreams

It looks lovely NG

themadvix

It does!

 Great news about the jobs for the boys! I think it’s very wise to have a plan in place for DH - even just knowing it’s there can reduce the stress and make things more bearable. Poor DD though - hope she’s feeling better soon.

greent

I love the ducks(?) !! - brilliant! 

Great news re the boys x

newgirly

Thanks guys, greent they are pigeons not ducks - can’t you tell they are so lifelike 😆 knitted by my aunt in lockdown. 

Busy weekend not doing anything important, ironing, cooking a roast, two hour walk in the woods collecting sticks for ds2’s girlfriends mouse cages 🤦🏼‍♀️ and checking the finances. All is well and I am almost bang on track with the £1000 budget from 15th oct to the end of the year, hovering around the £12.82 a day I’m attempting, however I’m cheating really as I’m not including unnecessary treats such as alcohol (allegedly for Xmas) chocolates and c@sta coffee pods for the machine, all currently improving our quality of life on lockdown but coming from my personal spending budget 😁

I’ve never been so good at meal planning and cooking from scratch as we have so many more mouths and mealtimes, shopping at l@dl has been a big help lately and I even got a £10 off coupon I used this week, I dread to think what our bill would be if I was doing what I used to and stopping at the big t@sco on the way home chucking in what took my fancy for that night 😱 

killerpeaty

I also love the ducks pigeons! Love that you are up and ready for christmas. Looking forward to seeing more of your christmas antics. 

newgirly

Thanks KP 😁
Up early today to top up the Xmas booze from tesc@ as their 25% off ends tomorrow, left it in my parents garage for safe keeping - although I’m not sure it will be safe there either 😆 paid for from my personal spending money and vouchers.  Also from that pot I’ve just paid the cruise deposit I’ve been debating. I Found it cheaper at an online travel agents but didn’t want to risk it, so booked with p&o who should refund the difference (about £80) , in the end I went for a larger inside cabin which was £200 dearer than an average one, but still over £1100 cheaper than a balcony 😱  will be throwing most of my personal spending budget at it for the rest of the year, as well as paying it off over 18 months. 

Pretty sure I have more or less worked out our overpayment plans for next year (well the next few years perhaps!) and it relies on me continuing to be frugal with day to day expenses, food is after the mortgage our biggest expense by far. Surprisingly after looking through my diary for something yesterday I read a few posts that mentioned what we were living on per month and it was around £800 as opposed to the £500 pm we are now which seems a lot! Anyway more to follow and time to get into gear to earn some money too after Xmas I think 🙄 

newgirly

It’s defiantly getting Xmassy here now, the advent calendars are out and I’ve been wrapping again 🙂 walked into town to meet best friend for a c@sta orange hot chocolate at the park 😍  then bought some red roses in ald@ for myself, best friend and mum which were only £1.99 each. Requested £1.13 from topcashback today which will go 50/50to the holiday pot and op’s, I think that’s what I’ll do with extra earnings for a while. 

themadvix

Splitting the extra money sounds like a plan NG.

I had a c0sta chocolate orange hot choc again yesterday - they’re so yummy! Also put up my warm white Christmas lights in the garden, bought after you mentioned yours - they look so lovely and really cheered me up after what had been a really low day, so thanks for the inspiration!

newgirly

Ah that lovely Vix, I guess entertaining will be in the garden this winter so it’s money well spent! Hope you have a better day today 😊

Ds1, ds2’s girlfriend and I are off to the shopping centre in half an hour, we will do a quick hour or two and then maybe toast and coffee if it’s quiet them home, the big primarni opened for 24 hours at 6am today but I’m hoping it won’t get busy until after the school run. We are helping ds1 choose clothes for his new job next week in next, but we can look then order in next if it’s busy, I’m excited but worried it will be crazy there! 

Mrs_Money_Penny

Happy shopping. How many more xmas have you to put up still? I remember that you put loads up. I’m waiting a while as I have a real one, although I may put up my artificial one in the conservatory x