My MF Dream... be free of the shackles by 40... 117 months to go

MyMFDream

not alot happening here. New tax year so I have opened this years ISA. I will get Dh to do his this evening. On the subject of DH he informs me that he is getting a 2% payrise this year, not great considering inflation but an improvment on the forcasted pay freeze at christmas.

MyMFDream

stunning day here. Plans are declutter, tidy, mop, dust, wash the living areas downstairsand then hopefully sit down with pen, papaer and my husband and get this SOA nailed.

We are working away at the allotment and I have seeds coming out my ears.

pammyj74

Would be good to see the SOA, I bet there is quite a few things you could save on there. Also doing your spending diary will make you think more when you spend willy nilly. It is amazing how your train of thought changes when you have to write it all down and see it all in b&w. Make sure you are true to yourself and count for everything you spend.

It is a change of lifestyle when you choose to work at being MF. It doesnt have to be a sentence though, there are other ways around doing things without missing out.
Those spends you can quite easily spend without a care would have to be reigned in if you are really serious about it. The way I think of it is that £20 I could have spent goes on my mortgage and saves me another £10 in interest and it all mounts up.

Good Luck with it all

MyMFDream

I need it.. I am now wondering how much i could actually shave off my target if i really really try

Sepa74

Ooh! Another gardener. Goody!

I have a tiny pocket-hankerchief sized back garden, but I still manage to grow an awful lot. It's perfect for me as my work is pretty busy and stressful, and the garden is small enough that if I don't do any work in it for a couple of months it isn't the end of the world. I could never cope with an allotment!

Have you seen www.gardenswapshop.co.uk? You can either sell or swap seeds and plants on there. I find it a good way to get rid of seeds that would otherwise sit around until way past their use by date making me feel guilty for not sowing them!

I got most of my seeds this year from the Real Seed Catalogue, who encourage seed saving and preserving heritage varieties.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about your adventures in the garden.

MyMFDream

hello sepa. Well news today is my sweet pepper seeds 'calafornia wonder' have germinated after 9 days in unheated propegator. i sowed 10 and 4 have sprowted overnight as there was no signs of life yesterday. I have some charlotte pots chitting away nicely. Cherry and plum tomato are growing nicely on window sill.

MyMFDream

ooo its been almost exactly a month since i last updated this. Nothing much happening to be honest we are still fighting with grocery spends, looks like I will be due a teeny tiny bit less tax when my return is completed than i have made provision for so there may be scope for an overpayment.

Food shop is as usual a nightmare, i need to have a freezer/store cupboard stock take. It has been around 5 months since last time we did it and I have zero idea of what is lurking in the back.

I have been looking at sainsburys feed a family of 4 for £50 a week and I don't think i'm that far off its the formula and nappies plus non food items that pile on the money. I need to look at nappies from amazon, apparently they hae some great offers on both nappies and wipes. April we were £408.64 in supermarkets plus £32 for the milkman. Shop guide price for delivery tomorrow is £107 roughly including delivery.

cha97michelle

I've read your diary before but i can't remember doing it. Good luck on your MFW journey. You'll find we are a friendly bunch with a trick or two up our sleeves.

I notice you mentioned Zopa. I have an account over there i am using for longer term saving, and i only have about £300 but i like it there. I put some in when i can.

I've also been DY and ciao crazy for the reviews. Ciao have a good offer at the minute where each new review in May gets 15p then whatever you make from people rating it. It is time consuming, but payout is at £5 so it is little and often which i find more motivating.

I'd be interested in seeing your blog. If you let me know the link. I want to look into writing in mine more often and getting paid something for it.

MyMFDream

I'll pop you a blog link by PM in a minute if it will allow me to PM links Michelle.

Well we have a very very tight few months coming up, savings for my period of leave from work wont last the full period of intended leave if food and fuel increases any more. I overpaid £50 yesterday and enquired as to what our LTV currently was and its apparently 76.8% My aim was to be at 75% or below by Jan 2013 so hopefully we will be hitting that target. For now I need to be a bit creative with what money we have over the next 5 months so hopefully when i return to work we do not owe any more money than we do now.

Amazon 108 nappies for £10 which I felt was a good deal.

I should add that I have pretty much sorted presents for the kids as money neutral. Mostly amazon vouchers, doubled up tesco vouchers and some high street viuchers I got for copleting a few surveys for a delivery company.