Ladies & Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts ...

benbenandme

Aah, so the mortgage chart is all up to date, its amazing how much more calm and relaxed I feel now

Still to do this weekend are sorting out the banking and developing a strategy for Christmas

benbenandme

Morning, I had a pretty good nights sleep and now have lots to tackle today. I'm leaving the food shopping until tomorrow, I will nip to Co-op and get some bits for dinner and packed lunches and then go to tescos after school tomorrow, I hate it at weekends. so today then; well it mainly consists of finishing tidying the flat (shouldn't take more than 20 minutes), cleaning the flat (another 20 minutes as its really not too bad at the moment), sorting out the banking (a good couple of hours I reckon) and starting to plan for Christmas (quite a while I'd imagine).

Ds is due home at 3 so I have 7 hours so should (in theory) be able to get it all done by then, but we'll see

benbenandme

So, I've been to tesco express, spent £7 (including a packet of chocolate hob-nobs to keep me company on the sofa this afternoon while thinking about xmas ). I've also done the housework, just a few bits to finish off, need to clean the dining table and clean the kitchen floor, but other than that its done :T

I've also done the first stage of the money sorting. Basically I seem to be getting in a bit of a pickle with it all, I have so many different accounts and money at bookies etc, that its getting quite hard to track what should be where, so this afternoon I am going to work out what *should* be where, then move it so its in the right place, then see what the shortfall is elsewhere and that will be the amount to be moved from my isa. Then hopefully once I'm all straight again I can stay on track. I need to set up a couple of transfers between accounts so that they go each month, or I need to write a list of what needs to be moved where each month and then action it at the beginning of each month. That sounds like a better plan actually as its not always the same amounts Hmm, sorry for my ramblings there, just needed to think aloud.

Then, it will be time to crack open the present cupboard and see whats in there and start figuring out who I need to get for / what I've already got / how much I have in the xmas fund and how much I actually need in the xmas fund

benbenandme

I'm getting there I've made a list of whats in my present cupboard and it actually isn't much right now, which is a good thing as I've been trying to run it down a bit this year and haven't been shopping as much as I used to so therefore haven't spent so much

I have a spreadsheet showing who I need to buy for and how much I intend to spend etc. I have 2 family birthdays left this year and then xmas, and altogether I am budgeting to spend £216 (not including ds). In my xmas fund I have £341 so assuming I stick to budget on these ones, then I will have £125 left which will be for ds presents and anything else xmas related (eg. tree and any new decs).

I already have a few bits put away for ds, I have a box set of Roald Dahl books that he was going to get for his birthday, a toy story 3 towel for swimming (reduced to £1.50 in tesco), a set of plactis tennis racquets (he starts lessons after half-term) reduced to £2 in tesco sale, a skateboard (£3.99 in Argos sale) and Upwords board game (£4 in Debenhams sale) . I am also hoping to receive the poster of the train routes and may see what other train/bus related freebies I can blag

He has already said he would like Hornby for xmas, he asked for it last year and I talked him out of it but he's still asking so I think I may go for it this time round as he is so into his trains and has wanted this for quite a while now. I'm quite pleased it isn't electronic gadgety stuff tbh, so am happy to go along with it So apart from the Hornby it will be stocking fillers to get for him which can just be mainly added to the weekly shop so the cost isn't noticed

benbenandme

I was looking at putting a bet on Matt to win XFactor, but his odds are all about 3.75 which is very low considering its still bootcamp stages ... think I'll just watch instead

Keeping_Motivated

Benben which mortgage calculator do you use?

benbenandme

its one that someone on the mortgage free board made, its fab, I can try to pm you it if you like?

Keeping_Motivated

Thanks Benben I have looked on the MFW board at the calculator thread and there is one that someone has made on the first page maybe its that one?

benbenandme

Possibly, I've had it for a couple of years now, am lost without it!

Keeping_Motivated

Is it a spreadsheet or one like the egg calculator on a website?