Closing the mortgage to Open opportunities

Emsky123

Thanks Summerday, i must admit the holiday would have been far more expensive if it wasnt for my MIL providing all meals and refusing to take any money towards the food, Most costs are spent on eating whilst out so it was good to have packed lunches made for us.

Emsky123

So i rang the bank last night to see if the latest OP balance letter had been sent, They said it was sent 4 days ago??

I also asked why the standard payment figure online was different to the figure i had been told in writing, again they have changed my contractual payment down due to my overpayments (without asking) but they then said not to worry as they have kept the actual amount at the original figure so i would actually be making around a £50 OP within my normal payment. If had not asked i would not have known this and would unwittingly go over the OP limit:mad:

Why cant they just leave things alone!

Emsky123

This month i am officially skint, Emergancy pot has been used up as our fridge broke down this week, Giving of a really horrible toxic smell and no longer keeping cold so it had to go.

I hate not having any reserves as at the end of the month any left over money goes to the Mortgage.

I also got the letter from the bank confirming i have exactly £2200 left till i hit the OP limit. I should reach that next month so will have hit the target within 7 months. I will not be allowed to make any further OP's till April next year. Currently on the lookout for a decent regular saver account so i can save up my OP's ready for next year.

This is were it gets hard as savings are very easy to touch were OP's are hard to get back (Hard as im not really sure how i would get them back and i think it would take time)

With Christmas coming its going to take a lot of will power to stick to the budget, I have joined Chamichelles' christmas challenge so hopefully that will help keep me focused.

Next week i start my diet, Must lose 1 stone by christmas. Just need to find something i can do to get exercise, Its not easy working full time and with 2 kids under 5, I never seem to have any spare time.

Onwards!

Emsky123

Just checked my Quidco account and £77 has now confirmed so i should get that on the 15th = Woohoo not so skint anymore. I have another £250 tracking but dont expect that too soon.

Managed to go for a 40 minute walk in my lunch hour yesterday, Only problem was that i did it in my work boots which have a heal so now my feet are covered in blisters- owwwchie

I also managed to stick to the diet yesterday and not each chocolate. Hoping the scales will be kind this week.

Today will be an NSD, Today will be an NSD, if i say it enough times it might just come true!

Emsky123

Payday - Whoop

Just sent £1000 Op , Only £1000 more till the limit which i hope to pay in Oct.

Other than that its been pretty quiet

Emsky123

Broken the 70K barrier, Mortgage now stands at £69,661.24.

Got £20 confirmed in Quidco so will get that on 1st Oct

Big expense today as we have a very large fir tree in our front garden that is growing against the telegraph pole, It is now growing above the pole with all the wires coming out of the tree, This is fine but where the branches have rubbed against the wires one of the cable's has a massive hole in it, Luckerly its my cable but unluckerly it has caused my phone line to go down and im sure if an engineer comes out we will get a big bill as its our tree that has caused the damage. We checked all other cables and they are fine so we are getting the tree cut back down below the pole before it can cause any more damage. Cost of getting the tree done £220 - Ouch.

Hoping the bill for the phone line wont be too expensive.

Emsky123

Hot Hot Hot, What a great weekend, took the kids out to the discovery centre then had a picnic at the part there.

Annoyed at Mr T, I ordered online some toys for christmas (half price sale), One of the toys is DS's main present that he has been asking for. Picked the order up today from the store as its free and had to tell the girl not to say out load what i had ordered as DS was with me. All fine till i got home and went upstairs to open the parcel only to find a totally different toy and not what i ordered, Got to go back tomorrow now to sort it out. Good job i checked and not just put up in the loft.

Emsky123

Mr T has really gone down in my estimates now, After taking the wrong toy back and the store ringing Customer service to resolve i went back two days later to receive the wrong toy again, I then rang customer service again to be told the issue was now fixed and i should be able to order the correct toy, Went to the store on Friday to collect - Guess what......Wrong toy again:mad:

Have written a long letter of complaint, So annoying im just glad i did not leave to the last minute to buy for Christmas otherwise this could have cause me a major nightmare as its the only toy DS has actually asked for.

Have been like a demon this week cleaning and dieting, so far managed to stick to the diet for 2 weeks, need to lose at least a stone before christmas. 3 pounds lost 11 to go!

Pay day next week so need to work out what i have left out of this months budget, I have one more week till me savings bond matures and i can make the final OP for the current rolling period, Cant make any more payments till next April ,I have started to look for a regular savings account to i can store my OP's until i can pay again

One final note, telephone engineer came out and it turned out that the tree had not caused the line to be faulty, someone had knocked out our line at the junction box, Oh well the tree needed to be cut at some point so better now before it does real damage.

Emsky123

Got a phone call from Mr T CS. Tey are refunding me £10 as an apology for the problems i have, They have also removed the toy from their website so i will have to look somewhere else.

Rang the mortgage company for my OP limit, The figure she said over the phone was around £1000 less than i was expecting which if true means i have already hit the limit so no longer can make any more payments until next year, She is going to get a letter which the exact figure so i will wait for that.

Savings bond matured yesterday so have already re-invested for another year, I did not have an ISA so have taken an online one which works out more interest than a bond. Once my fixed rate ends in 2013 i can then throw these savings at the mortgage as well.

Had a nice supprise today, went out for the day with my mum and kids, wore a coat i have not had on for ages, whilst walking around i went to put something in my pocket only to find a tenner in there - woohoo money i never knew i had:j

Off for my third walk today, been walking everywhere to loose weight, the diet has also helped me be more MS as i have only eaten soup for lunch and not bought any food at work which used to cost me up to £30 a week.

Right off i go.

Emsky123

Woohoo , got letter from the bank and i can still OP by £1200, Sending that payment today to hit the limit.

Have already looked into a savings account to store the OP's till next year.