Our attempt at being MF!!

shangaijimmy

We were stopping at 1 after Mrs SJ had some back issues. We're now awaiting number 3 so our "stuff" just gets bigger. Our next potential problem is if we have to start buying pink stuff!!

CathT

CathT wrote: »

Few things to do this morning after school run. I do love extra days off work. It's like being part time.

1. Buy hoover bags - why don't supermarkets sell these or convenience!
2. Buy cheap birthday cards - DONE
3. Collect reserved Arg0s items to stock up pile for birthday gifts - DONE
4. Buy wine - DONE
5. Maybe treat myself to some flowers for £2.99?
6. Visit my mum - DONE
7. Hoover bedrooms - DONE
8. Clean kitchen window (looks dirty after I cleaned the french doors - this is the problem with cleaning, it leads to more cleaning! :rotfl:

newgirly wrote: »

Good luck with that list Cath

Thanks Newgirly, working my way through. Just walked in the playroom. That room needs a list of its own. Very tempted to walk around with a bin bag (although a skip would be quicker)

CathT

shangaijimmy wrote: »

We were stopping at 1 after Mrs SJ had some back issues. We're now awaiting number 3 so our "stuff" just gets bigger. Our next potential problem is if we have to start buying pink stuff!!

Congratulations Jimmy. A pink bundle would even things up a ittle
That reminds me when I found out we were expecting a boy after having dd I started buying neutral items so wouldn't have to start again!

CathT

List completed apart from buying myself flowers and Hoover bags :rotfl:

We need to go into town tomorrow for dd eye test so will get some from the market. They had a hoover shop that everyone used to go to so hopeful it still exists!

Tried to keep spends under control today, spent £3.56 on birthday cards and bananas, paid cash so have £8 to last 3 days

A quick trip to @ldi and spent £6.87 on 2 bottles of wine and milk. Didn't look the best combination when i had an unimpressed 3 year old with me and it was about 9:30am! :rotfl:

Updated spends.

Food - £238.72
Petrol £181.79

It seems the days of a £200 monthly food shop target are long gone. Definitely worth logging spends every few months though as I think you lose track of what you really do spend on food. We don't eat out or have take always though so hopefully room in the budget for the occasional food treat.

House news? Booked an architect to come round next week

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi Cath, completely agree about monthly food spend. Although food has supposedly come down in price, my overall spend is manageable it's only because I bulk buy and hunt down bargains. Life is certainly more complicated these days.

Have a great weekend and good luck with the architect - exciting times x x

edinburgher

We have children who simply don't listen and at times are unruly and disrespectful.

You have children who are energetic and strong willed

Did you ever show DH those calculators? Reading one of your comments about ending up with a good nest egg for what seemed like relatively small initial payments rang alarm bells for me.

I honestly believe that there are good returns to be made, but be realistic. I use 4% net return after tax/inflation for my calculations, I think that this is not too crazy. Some people don't even allow for any growth (for example, SuperSecretSquirrel).

So plan for the future, but don't get seduced by spreadsheet !!!!!!

On a completely unrelated point, did you ever consider going for a bagless cleaner? We've been using our Dys0n animal for 5+ years and it's as good as the day we bought it.

Alchemilla

Ebay for hoover bags?

This probably sounds mean but DS is currently rocking pink hand-me-down crocs.

CathT

edinburgher wrote: »

You have children who are energetic and strong willed

Did you ever show DH those calculators? Reading one of your comments about ending up with a good nest egg for what seemed like relatively small initial payments rang alarm bells for me.

I honestly believe that there are good returns to be made, but be realistic. I use 4% net return after tax/inflation for my calculations, I think that this is not too crazy. Some people don't even allow for any growth (for example, SuperSecretSquirrel).

So plan for the future, but don't get seduced by spreadsheet !!!!!!

On a completely unrelated point, did you ever consider going for a bagless cleaner? We've been using our Dys0n animal for 5+ years and it's as good as the day we bought it.

Alchemilla wrote: »

Ebay for hoover bags?

This probably sounds mean but DS is currently rocking pink hand-me-down crocs.

Thanks Ed, I just meant for the sake of £50 a month it could mean a nice sum of money. Certainly not enough for FI but not a bad reward for investing what is easily frittered.

Am sure DS is loving those Alchemilla!

Eye test done, dd eyes are worse so she needs to wear her glasses more often. They are on order and should be ready by next weekend. Popped to the market and apparantly the stall owner usually turns up around 10:30am. I'm all for supporting local businesses but an early start would suit me better! :rotfl:DH popped back later and didn't have enough cash on him! £1.50 saved on parking as the machines were out of order for the second week in a row. Was also about to take DD out for a hot chocolate when we realised we were due at a birthday party so money saved there. We will go next week instead

Haven't bought wine today which is a brilliant result. Just need to get out of the habit of Saturday night vino, tbh we are usually so shattered after a busy day it's not worth bothering.

Had a bit of a think of how to fund extension (depends on architect opinion and quotes of course) but I have a rough idea of £25k in my head. I certainly wouldn't pay more than that.

An idea is (have not done the calculations yet):

Current mortgage term 13 years 9 months left. Still have cc will take another 3 years to clear.

Am wondering whether to re-mortgage to consolidate it all but reduce the term down. I best do the sums!

CathT

Quick sums seem to work.

Assuming mortgage increases to £124k at the end of the year, we could afford our current mortgage payment plus what we currently pay on the cards as a new repayment. This would also reduce the term by around 18 months minimum and there should be room for OP's on top of this.

Quite relieved the figures work and we can afford the potential work.

Current plan is to get as much paid off the cc as we can before the end of the year.

Cel

Hi Cath, Been catching up on your diary, can't believe how much you have achieved so far