TYO's 2011 kicking the mortgage into shape...

yukkibear

My breakdown cash back took a couple of months to become payable.

cha97michelle

My house insurance cashback said it would be 4 months, so i am expecting £65 but not till May/June time.

We take these small steps and then wait a long time to see it all pay out, but we will reap the rewards eventually.

[Deleted User]

Mornin all!
end/beginning of month update..
mortgage -savings = £124187.7 :beer:
pretty good considering I also paid off £400 off joint credit card! :eek:

This leaves us all paid off and well within budget for food/petrol this month...

Fun spends need to be stretched but should be fine as mostly a few meals/drinks out with friends which I have some vouchers for, and others cheapy pubs where you can get a meal and soft drink for around £6 - no more impulse shopping I say!

Have been keeping a spending diary and very interesting how a couple of pounds here and there for a can of drink or chocolate bar or magazine really adds up! - I dont want to see £100 every month essentially being spend on rubbish! so thats my big motivator for next month! may well budget something into food shop for these kind of things and when its gone its gone!

Doing well for freebies including some vouchers for innocent juice, milkybar buttons and a BOGOF greggs voucher which I may use for lunch next week (lucky colleague who will get a free bacon roll! :rotfl:)

Couple of big bills coming next month including car insurance and water bill- tho going to change this to direct debit I think to spread the cost - also need to check decorating/bathroom budget as they are going to be the big expenses come the end of april!!

Off out for today so must go and drag mrtyo out of bed- hoping he is not too worse for wear as headed off out last night and I was in bed by the time he returned! :rotfl:

have a good weekend all...

setmefree2

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the yay smf2 !!

Been MSEing too this week - got some stuff with vouchers, heating down/off, free energy monitor coming (via the parentals as you had to be over 70 to get a free one!) pack lunches into work all week!

We have some big bills coming out in april and may - am suddenly slightly panicking about paying for all of this upfront! there will be no increase to the OPs for the next few months methinks! .... will have to have a bit of a declutter methinks at the weekend to see if there is a possibility of any "saleable" clutter- dvds , books etc...think I have cleared us out of house and home tho!

On the plus side, car ins paid for and haggled down to cheaper quote than I got on comparison sites , did the old "well thats a shame as the other quote I got was cheaper (true) " with my current provider and they matched it! good old tip from martin there! have now done that with phone contract and car ins so far!! breakdown also paid for via topcashback , so just MOT and home ins to come and then all big bills for the year done! yay! gonna look into council MOT places as meant to be cheaper as no investment in finding "faults" as they dont do repairs- has anyone ever had thier MOT done this way?...

Trying hard to keep food shopping down and think will manage target this month- lots of whoopsied stuff in the freezer plus batch cooking and extras from the last few months overspends are keeping us going well I think!

Also trying to cut out boredom/too tired shopping as a lot of the spends in my spending diary seem to be "impulse" little things I dont need "but dont cost much" (toileteries, magazine, chocolate etc..) but add up, or takeaways cos Im too tired to cook or even open the fridge when I get in! nothing major and not going over montly spends, but feeling Im spending it without having much to show for it ! tips?....I am trying to be more OS and having meals in in the freezer etc.. but there have been a few "cant be bothered " nights where we want a treat- perhaps I will buy a couple of pizzas or something for that "instant dinner" moment ....

other than that all ticking along in tyo household- wanting to book a holiday for the summer - will probably do that once ive looked at finances at the end of april - and of course look at the holidays boards here for where to get best deals!

right better get to work! have a great day all...just a few more hours till the weekend!

museumworker

Haven't tried the council MOT places, but would be interested to hear how you get on if you do give it a go.

Would definitely recommend having batch cooked stuff in the freezer for lazy nights, a hm stew or chilli to hand has kept me going this winter!

Hope work has been better. Have a good weekend, and good luck with the declutter!

[Deleted User]

Mornin MW
I will let you know how I get on with council MOT ..
Sounds like you are doing some good decluttering yourself!! well done on all the rooms finally being decorated- that is my mission at easter- a very "bank holiday weekend" thing to do I guess!
Starting to think about holidays too!
Non MF activities
just bought an electric toothbrush from amazon as they were half price! - we had one ages ago which stopped working ( I actually nearly had a heart attack at how much that one would cost to replace- £100 but origonal price was £200!!!! how can anyone spend £200 on a toothbrush!! ....mrtyo did tell me it was expensive when he got it but I had no idea that kind of "expensive" even existed!:eek::eek:) Mine in comparison was a barginous £65 and will be paid for from expenses from work which are due in a few days, saving on car ins and next months "fun" money (not sure elec toothbrushes are "fun" but there we are!)

Other than that a NSD/low spend weekend- gonna go for a walk today, then friends bday tonight (complete with wine already in the cupboard) then may use some of our vouchers for cinema/lunch tomorrow-we'll see!

have a great weekend all ...

[Deleted User]

Morning all
Thank goodness for the weekend!
Coming down with a cold/flu type thing so dosing myself hoping I dont get properly ill with it ...

In other more positive MSE news have managed quite a good week
another bag to charity shop and officially all decluttered out
£5 profit from dvd sold
£9-ish to come from recycling old/broken mob
voucher for free drink for lunch with friends today
food shopping not looking as over budget as I thought- and should manage £100 target next month!

once everything is paid for next month I can really focus on the OPs/savings for the rest of the year. It looks like this year will be the DIY/decorating of both our places !
Am very excited but trying to keep off rightmove as it is all pie in the sky at the moment and need to focus on what needs doing with what we've got first! love the idea of a house with guest bedrooms and a garden tho! and the incentive to save and not have a scary mortgage is a good one!! Plus with a garden I could grow some stuff which would be very MSE off the food shopping bill!

Tasks for this week will be contacting estate agents re: letting flat out again ... all that money will go into joint house funds savings to keep me motivated!

And its sunny - yay! - cant ask for much more than that!

tootallulah

Morning TYo, you are going great guns, really fully de-cluttered? Send some of those vibes down here please. Sounds like you will really know where you are by Easter and then the summer will be here, good times ahead. Have a great week-end.

When I get back from holiday I want to pick your brains re letting your flat I am pretty sure I want to sell mine but everyone I know thinks that is mad.

katsu

I am incredibly impressed at £100 groceries for a month - I struggle to manage £200, but we do have special dietary requirements due to DH's health.