Gillybean's new MF diary- here we go again!

Gillybean

Not a very successful couple of months MFW wise. Been a bit silly spending when I should have been saving- nothing major, just relying on the excess in the joint account, bad habit.

But on the upside I've replenished my savings pot. We had an unexpected outlay before Xmas and had to raid the instant access savings- I like to keep around £2k in there for emergencies. We had to use almost all of it, but by the beginning of Apr it'll back to normal.

Can't wait to start OPing again. Specially as the SVR on our mortgage is rising by 1.5% between now and Sept. Would love to get a decent amount paid off so it wont have too much of an impact.

Gillybean

Hi all,

I've not been on here in a loooong time, and a few changes have happened since then.

We remortgaged at the end of last year, reducing the term from 18 years to 12. This meant we could increase the amount repayed per month, but it's not stretching us. We still are able to save and overpay.

Overpaying has taken a bit of a back seat recently as we purchased another BTL property, funding the deposit from the one we already have. So a mind boggling few months of new mortgage, remortgage, fees, surveys, solicitors, etc :eek:

Now, everything has settled down again, thankfully. We save £100 pcm in an overpayment pot anyway. And I've done the sums and we should have around £180-220 pcm left over after the bills are paid, providing I don't touch the account and spend it

We are tied into a deal for 2 years (first year is almost done tho) where we can only overpay 10% of the outstanding balance per year. I think we've got just over 3k left that we can pay so I'll do that in the next few months, got about £1500 at the mo.

So it's all looking good I think. My youngest starts school in Sept which will change things again. no playgroup and nursery fees, I'll be using the car a LOT less as I can walk them both to school and I'll have more time on my hands so I'll get back into the Aldi habit and save on our groceries.

I WILL shift this mortgage!

abouttimetoo

Welcomeback Gillybean

Good luck with your new plans

Regards
ATT

Gillybean

Thanks ATT.

I just checked the accounts and it's looking like I've got almost £2k ready to go towards OP. So I should have a decent amount at the end of this month. It's been a while since I made an OP, looking forward to it!

The main expense at the moment is the boys being on school hols. Not spending loads on taking them places, they're happy enough playing with friends or going to a local park. But they are doing nothing but EAT! It's costing me a fortune!

abouttimetoo

Hi Gilly, that's a great amount to OP, well done you and you know how great you will feel once you've sent it:j

Re your boys, I don't have any of my own but spent lots of time recently with small boy family member so lots of trips out and it sharp adds up. His appetite is also growing...

Regards
ATT

Gillybean

Lovely sunny day here.

My brother and his family are visiting for a few days so we're taking the kids out in a bit. Nowhere fancy, just to one of the many local parks for a couple of hours.

Then I need to go and do a top up food shop- see my earlier post about being eaten out of house and home at the moment! A bunch of bananas per day, anyone?

I'm going to transfer the OP funds today too so will hopefully make that payment tomorrow if it goes in on time, or Monday.

Gillybean

Morning all,

Well, what better way to start the day than making a lovely overpayment! £2k paid off, taking me down to £63k owing. Looking at my sig, we've pretty much halved what we owe in 5 years- I think that's pretty good going!

Checked the current account and if I don't touch it, by the time all the DDs have gone out I'll have £200 left at the end of the month, so that's good stuff.

We're currently tied into a 2 year deal so I can only physically overpay another £1200 between now and Dec. But that's OK, I can still look at what else I've got saved up and work out how much lower that balance could be, lol.

I think it's safe to say my MF mojo has definitely returned!

LauraJo

Morning Gillybean - that is amazing progress! Wont be long and you'll be in the 50's!

Gillybean

That's my next goal, lauraJo!

Been playing around with overpayment calculators. If I just do the planned overpayments we'll be MF in about 5 years. But obviously I'll be doing my damndest to beat that.

I've not done any definite calculations, but now DS2 is starting school in Sept, we should be saving a bit more money, no playgroup or nursery fees to pay. The only regular outlay will be school dinners, which I know I could send them with sarnies and it'd be cheaper, but I think it's good for them to try things they might not get/try at home. Peer pressure can be a positive thing, if their mates are eating something new, chances are they'll try it too.

Additionally I wont have to drive DS2 to playgroup/nursery, we'll be walking to school, so that's less diesel- and more exercise!

We're in limbo a bit at the mo, waiting for DH's books to come back from the accountant so I can give a final figure to the tax credits people. At the mo they're using last years figures as an estimate. So it'll be nice to know where we stand, both in terms of what we owe to the tax man, and what the tax man is giving us back, lol.

Gillybean

Had to dip into the joint acct this week as I was caught out a couple of times with no cash on me. I've just checked and once the last DD goes out next week I'll have £142 left, which I will transfer straight over to my OP account. That's got £91.02 in it already.

Started with the back to school shopping yesterday. Got school jumpers and new book bags. Aside from shoes, everything else is being paid for with Tesco clubcard vouchers. I only use our local Tesco Express so don't rack up a massive amount of points but I've usually got enough to pay for school uniforms each year.

Have a good weekend everyone!