Coffee and chocolate

KosmicPink225

I really like the flavour of this thread!

Thought I would just pop in as I am in a somewhat similar situation to you Miggy. Have manageable debts outstanding and coul pay them off if I really need to, so not really a debft free wannabee more of a nifty thrifty.

Got out of a bad credit situation a few years ago, back on track financially and determined not to go there again. As they say old habits.... etc so I am always looking to squeeze the extra little bit of cash/bargains from anywhere that I can (legally!).

My job is full time but my husband is dropping down to part-time (dicky ticker) so income will fall a bit but I can make up the shortfall with o/t and poss promotion/change of direction.

Will pop in from time to time as interested to follow your progress and also let you know that I am rooting for you.

BTW on a diet so only coffee for me pls - sweetners and skimmed milk only!!

miggy

Lovely to come in from work and find you all making yourselves at home! You look quite cosy!

Choc-addict wrote: »

I have a coffee on the go and have already eaten some choc today - can I join in pls??

You're very welcome! Pull up a chair

hypno06 wrote: »

The way I am struggling to stay awake at my desk today, I think a double espresso would be in order. Thanks

Coming' up... :coffee:

KosmicPink225 wrote: »

I
BTW on a diet so only coffee for me pls - sweetners and skimmed milk only!!

That's the beauty of virtual treats - you can have double cream and sprinkles and it doesn't make any difference!

Thanks all for saying hello, I think it will be hot choc now or I'll be awake all night. Any takers?

miggy

KosmicPink225 wrote: »

Thought I would just pop in as I am in a somewhat similar situation to you Miggy. ...
BTW on a diet so only coffee for me pls - sweetners and skimmed milk only!!

KosmicPink, we'll have to cheer each other on! I am supposed to be on a diet, having lost weight earlier this year but stopped a few pounds short of my goal. If the chocolate starts disappearing and it wasn't Neville (the mouse from LisaWaters original thread), tap me sternly on the shoulder and look disapproving.
Do you have a diary of your own? I'm rather taken with the idea of a nifty thrifty . Well done for sorting out your finances, by the way. You probably have skills in that department that I've yet to learn.

miggy

I seem to have hijacked my own thread...
I'm supposed to be doing things financial, huh? Well...
I counted the coins in the coppers jar - £2.53. Is it worth paying that off the mortgage?!
Seriously Someone the other day mentioned having a miserable day then paying 1p off each credit card, and it lifted her spirits no end. Nice idea. Then I've been reading MemoryGirl's thread, with her idea for paying off her mortgage, (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=33212363&postcount=120) which has got me thinking. I did some very rough maths and discovered that if I put the price of doing one overnight at work, per month, towards the mortgage, I could pay an extra month's worth of mortgage every year. I then put these figures (all a guesstimate, mind - couldn't find a bank statement with our current payments on! :eek:) into one of the calculators on the mortgage-free wannabe forum, which in turn thinks I could have it all paid off a year early. Very very vague figures here but that might save us between £3,000 and £4,000. I have just been trying to explain all this to DH, whose maths is only slightly better than my own, and I think he got the giste.
I realise I'm very fortunate to be able to consider this, and even more so not to have the figurews at my fingertips. It goes out as a direct debit because we simply don't trust ourselvres not to forget.
Soooo - what will be the fate of the £2.53 in the coppers' jar? Watch this space!
Other than that - Tesco after work, stuff being sold off - 3 bags of potatoes and a loaf of olive bread all for £1.67. Happy me.
(Edit: original price would have been £7.39, butI wouldn't have bought the olive bread, which was £1.59 so that makes a saving of um... um... £4.18. Shall I pay that off the mortgage then? Or does it only count when we've actually eaten all the food, because if some goes to waste, I will just have thrown that money away, won't I?)
I have also had my load-bearing exercise, carrying them home.
Early shift tomorrow, be back late afternoon folks.
Help yourselves to biscuits, and you know where the kettle is.

miggy

Stuff to save for:

(This post is intended to be added to from time to time and represents ideas not commitments).

Paying mortgage early - £275 p.a.
Replacing the electrics - 2,000?
An emergency fund - £500?
Driving lessons/car - £1,000?
Finish the double glazing - £750?
Dining room carpet
Dental work - £400 (of which £198 deposit paid)

miggy

WooHoo! Just beat my best score on themoneysaving game! 2,820!
:beer::D

KosmicPink225

Morning Miggy and all on this thread.

Well done on all your calculations! I have to agree that it is a good feeling when you can pay that little bit extra (no matter how small) to nibble away at your debts ( a bit like Neville really! or me on my diet)

Just to digress slightly I have also followed Mike's thread from the beginning - what a story!!! I never posted as such good advice was given - not a lot that I could add, except moral support .

As to the diet - [EMAIL="Slimf@st"]Slimf@st[/EMAIL] only today and lots of water/coffee as OH wants fish and chips tonight for a treat. Might have to take you up on the no calorie virtual chocolate today!

miggy

Hello peeps, I think it will be (virtual) homemade lemonade on here this evening, it's so hot & muggy.

KosmicPink, keep hydrated and save room for the chish n fips! Glad to see you have heard of Neville, he might just find a new home on this thread.
We are having fish pie tonight which won't cost too much as I bought the fish when it was marked down and the topping comes from the tons of spuds I bought yesterday, so I've bought a tin of tomatoes and a tin of ratatoille - not a traditional fish pie mixture but very good. Total of 79p spent on those, but also £3 for chicken in batter for the boys. They don't like fish. All the more for us - hopefully some for the freezer too.
I've also spent nearly £4 on pet food.
The whole extra cash thing gets powerful really quickly, doesn't it? I found 4p while I was out - score! 3p of that went straight into Tesco, but it's the thought that counts!
Better than that - at least it seemed like a good idea at the time - was that I picked up another shift tomorrow. It's worth about £50 towards the mortgage overpayment in one go so I am pleased but of course I won't get it till August and now I have to work tomorrow... when DH is home.

miggy

*Sigh* - I'm coming to the conclusion that the extra money from the shift isn't really for repaying some of the mortgage after all. It needs to go towards some dental work which I have to have done. That's pure indulgence because I need a crown on a back tooth and could have it done on the NHS for about £200, but that would mean a gold tooth and I'm sorry, but I can't stand the thought. White for me - which will cost another couple of hundred.
So instead of sighing and moaning about not instantly making a dent in the debt to Halifax, I shall rejoice that it's a quarter of the cost of my fixed tooth. Whichever pot it goes into, it's going to slacken the strain elsewhere.
I have some days off coming up so I need to ebay some bits and pieces.
Meanwhile on the frugal (and glorious) front, I have started to harvest a bumper crop of red currants. What to do with them? I decided against wine as it's not really 'us', but redcurrant syrup for waffles - mmm! Also a Summer Pudding using currants, raspberries and whatever else stays still long enough.
I really, really love serving a fruit pudding where, when the replete guests go down the path and get into their cars, the fruit they've eaten has just travelled the furthest it's ever been!

Poosmate

Hey Miggy, nice thread! I hope you get your cupboard sorted out soon.

I have 2 cupboards personally, one into which my salary is paid and the other a chunk from salary (my) account goes into. The other one is called Bills account. Almost all of my bills are paid monthly by standing order or direct debit with the exception of Gritish Robbing Barstewards Bass (I pay them what I want when I want to so it might be £10 for one month and £30 another or nothing! lol). I pay them out of Bills account. I make sure I always put more into that account than is coming out - only by about £5-£10 per month. That way it builds up a few bob for Christmas and birthday pressies. I love doing it that way because the water rates are paid over 8 months and Council Tax over 10 months so for 4 and 2 months respectively I have much more going into the account than coming out (ending in March). At the end of March, I see what excess is in there and pay extra off my highest rate credit card and put some into my Isa for my car insurance/tax (my emergency fund).

By doing this I know my house finances are secure. Mortgage/bills all paid on time - no charges and no defaults etc.

What's left in "my" account (not much) pays for petrol, food, minimum payments on credit cards (by DD so no missed payments) and anything else I [STRIKE]want[/STRIKE]... er ... I mean need, plus any overpayments to said credit cards.

I know it's going to take a long time to pay off my debts but I think I've struck the right balance between paying them and having a bit of a life. And to be honest, this is not very MSE I know but, I'd rather take a year longer to pay them off than watch every single penny and be miserable. I've kept some luxuries such as Nescafe coffee, tv package, the odd choccie bar/packet of crisps, lunch at work so if anything goes wrong I know I have some leeway and can make sacrifices.

My mortgage has less than 14 years to run and I'm hoping to be debt and mortgage free in 10 years.

I've now got into the habit of checking my emails every day and completing all the surveys I am offered. If I can make enough vouchers/cash to pay for Christmas, I'll have more to pay off my debts - bonus!

I'm feeling rather positive about this year, my finances are structured and in order. I hope you can get yours sorted.

Oh well, it doesn't look like anyone is coming on the tv to say Raoul Moat isn't dead, I guess I'll have to take Sky News' word for it and get myself off to bed now.

Good night all and happy financing/debt busting!

Poo