Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

newgirly

Thanks for all popping by, busymee I hope the wedding prep is not too stressful! Bridesmaid dresses will be online too I think, at least there are cheaper options these days, I the old days it was whatever was hanging the the bridal shop.

SC, reading about the cost of other people’s weddings would surely put you off I should think 😆

Vix, I’ve been to too many fancy weddings where I was hungry! , one even had a posh venue, ice sculptures and a toast master, with a tiny shop bought buffet and no booze 😱 

KP I think my dd would LOVE a £17 dress 😆 best friend had a dress that cost £1000’s first time round, second time one from the monsoon sale for £60 and I preferred it 😬

Only ds1 in the house with me today, they are all out and dh is at work so I’ve eaten a whole bag of chocolate and am about to start a cross stitch I found in the shed in the summer while watching a film on Netflix - happy days! 

killerpeaty

Never been to a wedding where I am left hungry, I think I would probably order a pizza if that happened.

newgirly

😆 perhaps Kp, it’s not the strangest one we have been to either. My BIL had a wedding reception where you got a bill for the  food at the end of the night, not only that he swapped our small bill (we were broke so didn’t get much) which his tables bill 😱 we obviously swapped it back! The wedding dress cost £1000’s still.... 

I’m supposed to be seeing my aunt in Mums garden today for the first time properly in ages and I’ve woken up to rain, typical! She’s an hour away and here for the dentist ☹️ Oh well maybe it will clear. 

We are off to Alton towers this weekend, the tickets were rebooked from last October and the cottage was flipped also, I thought we had a balance to pay as we had paid in full last time and I thought we lost some cancelling late due to Covid, but the owner has kindly let us use that so no charge this time. So just diesel and food to take for 8. I have a shiny new cool bag on wheels for m@talan which I shall be carting about for two days 😬 

I’m popping out today to get a thank you card and gift for the cottage owner, black socks for ds1 who needs more for work, an some toiletries and hopefully Poundland ponchos for the trip. 

 

themadvix

Oh a weekend away, how lovely! I hope you enjoy!

I have been to a wedding where I was hungry too and it’s not nice. But I think ordering pizza might have upset the couple who are good friends of ours (and in another case was my BIL’s wedding but less said about that one, the better). The best weddings though have been those where food and booze have been plentiful!

South_coast

NG, saw this and thought of you 😀😀😀!

killerpeaty

You mean other people don't do to the Harry Potter thingy once a month?!

newgirly

😆 yes it’s number eleven for me please!

We had a good time at Alton towers, unfortunately it rained hard all day Saturday so we were very wet and cold but it was ok Sunday. As we went in two cars and we went earlier I managed to get to the Emm@ Bridgewater factory, only the shop was open but I got a few “seconds” including a lovely Brussel sprout bowl 😬 Other than spending was all on food to take and diesel, I spent about £10 tea and coffee out to warm up while holding the bags.

Tomorrow I’m off to queue for the chance to get a ticket for our local tiny football team who are off to Wembley, there are 500 available for general sale and only one allowed per person and ds1 and my little brother are massive fans but at work so can’t try, I’m off with ds2 and girlfriend, fingers crossed! 

newgirly

What a miserable Saturday, it’s very wet here! This morning I did something I never do and read some of the start of this diary, it’s so nostalgic as the kids were little and a little sad as I had such high hopes of being MF in 8 years after shortening the term from 33 odd to 12 (this was back in April 2010). 

Wage wise dh was on more money but we didn’t have the factory rent so it probably evens out. It was surprising how some of the expenses I’ve listed have changed - food and tv/internet costs being ones that stand out 😱 
Anyway I feel a bit lost at the moment with how to proceed with the oping. This year has been brilliant and we have saved all of our wages to op (and then earmarked it to give to the kids 😆) but I made a plan and stuck to it, this is however in full lockdown so a totally unsustainable situation for the years we have left.
We have a new 20 year mortgage mortgage that started jan 2021 (previous mortgage was Interest only and running out) £68,118.16 at £346.84 per month and I just don’t know how much to overpay by! I don’t know whether to set a high fixed monthly amount to try and clear it in five years or so or to ease off a bit. Five years feels like a long time now after trying for the last twelve years already, but I’m so sick of having this mortgage ☹️ 

I’m going to post a rough SOA below which I’ve not done for years 😱  

LIFE INS.                  £15.17.                CAR MOT/HOME/CAR ins      £50
GAS/ELEC.               £150.                   XMAS/BIRTHDAY                    £211
GARAGE RENTAL.   £82.                      DH for misc.                            £100
MOBILE.                   £5.                        TOTAL.                                    £361
WATER.                    £34.65
SKY.                         £80.43 
TV LICENCE.           £13.37.                    MORTGAGE.                         £346.84
COUNCIL TAX.        £158.               
SEWERAGE.           £32.97
BEETLE TAX.          £28.97
           TOTAL.        £600.56

INCOME                  £1830 DH 
RENT AFTER TAX    £1500 
RENT FROM KIDS.  £300 (soon to be £200) 

HOUSE VALUE.        £450k ish. (£68, 118.16 mortgage o/s) 

FACTORY VALUE.    £450k ish.  (Mortgage free) 
No car finance or cc’s and cars worth £0 for the large 4x4 as my dad gave it to us it’s not really ours and about 50p for my old beetle 😆

We have 2x cruises booked one a rebooked one from Covid and a surprise one for dh’s 50th, we have some still to find to make the kids money up to £5k each and a total of “holds breath” £6,235 for the cruises including spending money 😱 That was over two thirds saved for but I may sort the kids first now. 

I’ve not added food or petrol as food especially I can’t decide on, we can go super frugal but I’m not sure I want to, somewhere between £5-700 for both petrol and food perhaps.

Any comments on my expenses welcome - except ones about sky 😂 it’s been my lifeline as we have multi room in the loft so I can escape! It’s a basic package with Netflix family, multi room, high speed internet, phone and box sets. Will reduce a little when out of contract but probably not by much! 

Thanks for reading if you got this far 😬

themadvix

NG, don’t be sad - from what I recall you also had cc debt and much less self control about spending. You’ve come a hugely long way over the years and if you hadn’t made the efforts you have things would be much worse than they are at the moment!

Re the SOA: are you on a water meter? Who’s moving out? This will reduce the water bill!

 Could you reduce the presents to a round £200? 

Have you had a look for work? Is there any prospect of more from the factory neighbours? I think upping your income is the best way to go, rather than trying to cut back further. Lots of places are advertising round here for staff at the moment - how do you feel about pulling pints? Not full time, but a couple of shifts a week in a pub or restaurant might be fun (I used to enjoy it) and bring in some money.  I guess this depends on how vulnerable you feel it would make you. What happened to your business idea?

South_coast

I agree with Vix that upping your income is the better target - although the garage rent does stand out. I thought the reason for sorting the log cabin out a while back was that so you could give up the garage? I might have mis-remembered though!