A blissful home - mortgage_girl's MF diary

mortgage_girl

I seem to have fallen off the MFW bandwagon a bit at the moment and my grocery spending seems to have got a bit out of control. I think that since I've paid off my car and have extra money to make op's with, I'm not as focussed at making every penny count. So from today I'm going to make a real effort to use up what I have in the cupboards before stocking up on anything else. I've got loads of tinned tomatoes, baked and dried beans, onions etc that will be perfect for making pasta sauces, chillis, bean burgers etc, so I need to get my backside back into gear and start meal planning again. I also have packet muffin mixes that need using up and various veggies that I really don't want to go to waste so I will use those up before buying any more. Tonight's tea will be leftover bean bolognese (I'm starting as I mean to go on ) and if I feel up to it I might bake some muffins as a little treat. I'm blaming the dark nights for bringing out my laziness.

I need to keep on top of my spending diary too as it was only when I added my grocery spends up so far this month that I realised I'd already gone over my budget - and were only halfway through the month! Oops :eek: So it's back to being a bit thrifty and making the most of what I've got before I spend anything else.

MGx

mortgage_girl

So my first post of 2015 - where does the time go??? I've not had a hugely productive start to the year, it's mainly been spent getting back into the swing of things after xmas and generally wanting to hide under the blanket away from the cold and dreary weather. Thankfully we're starting to have a bit more 'sunny' weather and things are perking up a bit. Despite the dreariness I have managed to op just over £1600 so far this year which I'm really pleased about. I've set myself a target of £11,000 again this year and hope to smash it. This will mainly be done through budgeting, meal planning and only buying what I really need (with a few treats along the way to stop it getting to boring) and bringing a bit of extra money in through surveys, sw@gbucking and selling my unwanted 'treasures'. I'm also trying to build up my emergency fund to a comfortable level as I dipped into it a bit more than I wanted to last year.

So today will be spent mostly cleaning the washing machine and trying to get on top of my reports before I go back to work on Monday. I've got my comfy socks and snuggle jumper on and plan to get cozy under the blanket with my laptop - I might even push the boat out and watch something on Netflix too! Who says teachers are boring?! :rotfl:

MGx

mortgage_girl

Morning all! It's been a busy weekend so far as I've scurried around trying to get all of the outstanding jobs on my to-do list done before going back to work tomorrow. I made the most of the sunshine yesterday and disinfected the greenhouse and plant pots so now I'm all ready for the growing season. I've done all of my washing (just the ironing to contend with now) and this morning I batch cooked a load of mushroom and lentil pies ready for the freezer. I'm determined to get organised again and feeling much better for the lighter days.

I had a look through my mortgage papers yesterday and discovered that we'd actually taken out a 35 year mortgage (for some reason I had it in my head that it was 30) so my MF date would have been November 2041! :eek: If I stuck to the original payments I'd be almost 60 by the time I'd paid my mortgage off - which to me just seems shocking. Whilst I understand that some people may not have the luxury of being able to afford op's, it seems bizarre to me that those who have a choice would happily continue to pay the minimum payments and just accept it. But then perhaps they'd look at me and wonder why I'm not going abroad twice a year or upgrading to a bigger house, newer car etc when I can afford it. We're all different I guess. Anyway, I'm content with the fact that I've reduced my mortgage term by 16 years and I like the security of knowing that almost half of the house is mine.

So the plan for the rest of the day is to get my ironing done and clean out the chooks - and then chill and make the most of what's left of my holiday before returning to the chaos of work tomorrow.

Have a good Sunday everyone,
MGx

Luckyinlife

Wow that is crazy 35 years is a long time even if your 20 haha

great work tho you have brought it down massively you should be proud :]

mortgage_girl

Luckyinlife wrote: »

Wow that is crazy 35 years is a long time even if your 20 haha

Yes it is isn't it. I knew we'd opted for a longer term to keep the payments down as my job wasn't secure at the time but I'd forgotten it was 35 years! I guess we were just trying to be sensible.

Luckyinlife wrote: »

great work tho you have brought it down massively you should be proud :]

Thank you 8 and a half years on and I'm now a solo home owner with just 10 years 6 months (hopefully much less!) to go. How things change.

MGx

mortgage_girl

Just a quick update to say that my mortgage is now officially below £50k!:j:j:j
Now on with the grand plan to tackle the rest!

MGx

BookWorm

Hi MG

I just thought I would stop in and say hello. I have read your diary from the beginning this morning and wanted to say you are doing brilliantly :T

I'm impressed at you with your home grown stuff and chicken keeping too. I like the idea but know I would never manage it. Gardening always feel like such a chore to me. I maintain the garden I have (it was left to me in a good state when I bought the house) but that's it really

Like you I also find the grocery spends the most challenging. I seem to manage one good week and then splurge the next (even when not trying to!). Always something to work on eh

Best of luck with the rest of your journey!

BW

mortgage_girl

Thanks BW - hope my diary didn't bore you too much. I love gardening, well, not so much the flowery side of things but veggie growing is great fun and the chooks are always happy to keep me company, especially if they think they'll get a few tasty worms!

I know what you mean about grocery spends, it's very easy for it to turn into a splurge week. I may have a store cupboard challenge next month and see what I can get used up.

Feel free to stop by anytime.:)

MGx

happydays_70

Subscribing!
Well done you..I have enjoyed reading your thread. Will be asking you for gardening tips

mortgage_girl

Thank you for your kind words happydays. Feel free to ask away for gardening tips - I'm certainly not an expert but slowly learning with a few tips here and there from my Nanna. I find it so relaxing and a great way to ground myself after running around like a headless chicken all week at work.

So today I've been to see my Mum and grandparents, cleaned out the chooks, done my schoolwork and ironing and had the luxury of having the rest of Sunday to myself which I've spent browsing MSE, baking buns, watching Dexter and squeezing in a little workout. I plan to spend the rest of my evening curled up on the sofa reading and having lots snugglepuss cuddles - bliss.

Have a good evening everyone.

MGx