My Mortgage Free Diary

mpgsheep

Some more money saving things we have done recently

- rebooked car insurance with Tesco after they agreed to match last year's price (still cheapest).
- Everyday I bring in lunch, I move £4 into my easy access savings account, currently upto £258, has been topped up with other bits and pieces too.

SmlSave

Everyday I bring in lunch, I move £4 into my easy access savings account, currently upto £258, has been topped up with other bits and pieces too.

Ohhh, what a good idea I'd steal it but have been horrendus at making lunch for weeks!

mpgsheep

Haha, it helps that my wife and I both like to cook, so usually we have leftovers, plus when we don't I really like cheese and tomato sandwiches lol. Has had the added side effect of me eating better, usually take 4 pieces of fruit in per day to supplement my leftover/sandwich.

mpgsheep

All money saved for the holiday has now been moved to the Post Office account. Intention is to pay balance of holiday on Tesco Card, so we can keep the holiday money earning interest for longer. We found a tesco voucher for £7 off if you spend £50, however having done our monthly shop already, we decided to stock up on non perishable goods, and only those on deals already. Using our usual clubcard vouchers we ended up with £85 worth of stuff for £57, and a stash of cereal, nappies and toilet rolls. It got me thinking that with prices going up in relation to wages (ie inflation), then stocking up on stuff that doesnt go out of date is probably quite thrifty, as in 6 months time if inflation continues to go up, your money will not buy as much. However think to see a real effect on this you prob have to buy lots, still nice to think am saving a small amount this way.

My OH also did 2 small shifts on Sunday (she is a community nurse), which work out at £40 total for just a few hours work, nice if you can get it! This is going towards new stairs for the back of the flat which we hope to have done later this year.

mpgsheep

Oh and car insurance renewed today, my OH complained that they wouldn't match their price from last year (despite this years quote still being cheaper than everyone else), so Tesco (our provider) gave us an extra 150 points per month - better than nothing!

mpgsheep

Been a while since I updated, thought would add what we have been upto. Have also updated my signature accordingly.

-We both now have an easy access post saver account, one is being used to save for the holiday and put in equivalent amount to what we spend on food, nursery and car insurance, plus any extra money in our joint account. My OH uses hers to save a small amount out of her personal allowance each month (we each get £300 to spend as we choose).
-I have changed my current account to First Direct, and almost up and running on that. Looking forward to my £100, and hoping in future to remortgage with them (if cheapest of course) so that I can overpay from my iphone
-We both decluttered our banking, my OH cancelled an old credit card and 3 savings account. I cancelled my old credit card and 3 savings accounts, and we also cancelled a joint savings account. Almost as good a feeling as decluttering the house/loft!

What is good at the moment, is my OH has got fully onside (well as much as she can be), so we are set to increase our overpayment quite substantially in a few months time. I will have £54.37 per month extra to contribute from April (will finally own my sofas..) and currently putting £600 per month towards holiday fund. Once we have enough to pay off holiday, and 1k for summer holiday saved, and then some more saved for house insurance and DS Christmas, then will reassess, and if nothing on the horizon will start using the £600 to overpay, which I can't wait as would mean a 1k op per month...of course dependant on interest rates also...but still exciting stuff

mpgsheep

Lack of posts, but been very busy on the moneysaving front. All money in both our post office accounts has been moved into an Isa in my name (nationwide e-isa at 3.1%). We have already hit out max in my OH Isa (our 6 month safety fund), and come payday next week, will also hit the max on my allowance too. However given the interest levels available on the ISA compared with our mortgage (2%), decided to maintain this as our savings vehicle for now. We are going to continue our £400 overpayment each month, and then anything else is saved in the ISA for eventual overpayment come the day when Mr King decides enough is enough and raises rates. Also been doing a number of other small ms things, £20 on ebay last week, £100 winner on the Gold Cup with a freebet and both signed upto Childcare Voucher schemes at work this week.

mpgsheep

Quick update, very impressed with First Direct as my new current account, only had my first wage packet go in earlier this week, and they have credited me with the £100 joining bonus today! Was a very nice suprise. Maxed both our ISAs now which is pleasing.

mpgsheep

This month's overpayment has gone in, and we are now own 7.99% of the flat, but more importantly, we are under 155k, which is our first significant milestone. Still a long long way to go, but hoping these milestones start appearing more regularly, guess next one is 10% or 150k

mpgsheep

Has anyone else found the Halifax Rewards account very annoying to set up. Takes ages online, and then you have to go into a branch to deposit £100 to "activate" the account, cannot do this via bank transfer. Its ludicrous when you consider how good First Direct are for setting up their current account, once you have completed the form online then thats it! They also credited me my £100 switching fee in under 2 months.