The Anticipated Glee of being Mortgage-Free....NoraBatty's Quest Begins!

elantan

Oh dear, you may have unleashed a monster there

Congrats on the wee one, its a bit late obviously but congrats all the same

norabatty_2

Thanks elantan!

So here are some key figures:

Current mortgage = £43,608
Normal monthly payments before overpayment = £335.81
Regular overpayments scheduled to start next month = £220.34
Normal monthly payments after overpayment = £556.15

Current savings = £28,000.

For the last year, we have been spending approximately £500 per month from this savings pot. My goal for the next 4 months is to keep this figure of £28,000 at the same level whilst simultaneously overpaying the mortgage by £220.34 per month. In effect, for the next 4 months we need to spend £720.34 less per month that we are used to!! (the reason I have chosen 4 months is because that is when the next batch of tuition fees are due).

I know this may sound like a very tall order but DH is prone to large impulse buys, eg. new TV here, new carpets there. He has now vowed that there will be no large purchases made for the next 12 months. I have kept a detailed monthly spreadsheet since January 2012 and I think removing these large purchases will save us around £400 per month! I can cut £100 off our grocery bills easily enough. The rest will have to come from keeping an eye on things and generally not spending so much on treating myself!

I am also thinking of starting to do some surveys/reviews. Any suggestions as to which ones I should choose/avoid?

elantan

It's going to be interesting following your husbands transformation

Can't recommend any surveys etc as I ind them more hassle then they are worth ... Good luck though :-)

norabatty_2

Since starting my "Buy Nothing for Six Months" challenge one week ago (ie. only buying necessary items like food, toiletries and household bills), I have spent the following:

• Last Wednesday, weekly shop at Mr S - £17.17
• Monday, 2 loaves of bread, 4 ltrs of milk and 1kg of pasta - £4.10
• Yesterday, 4 apples and 3 bananas at local market - £1.80
• Today, weekly shop at Mr S - £16.54

Total spent on groceries = £39.61

Considering my usual monthly grocery bill is the wrong side of £300, I think I'm doing very well. No junk food has been bought and I'm guessing this will run out next week, which will be difficult!

In other news,
1. ordered another card for my Santander credit card so DH can use it when buying petrol.
2. DH has also promised to ring Sky and threaten to leave in the hope we will get a reduction in our bill. If we don't get it, we will leave and do Freeview +HD. Does anybody know how much it costs to get an aerial put up on your roof? DH seems to think this is a proper job that would cost more than £100.
3. Signed up to Dooyoo yesterday and did my first review.:T
4. I have decided to sell lots of stuff around the house on Ebay - never actually done this before and was wondering how often they do free listings? My mission for next week is to gather all of this stuff in the garage and start writing descriptions, taking photos, etc.

norabatty_2

So I had my friends up for the weekend and between spa treatments, meals out and taxis, I spent £104. I drank sooooo much wine, my head still hurts.....

norabatty_2

Woohoo! Passed my exams with flying colours - roll on second year! :j:j:j

norabatty_2

Well, two bits of good news:

1. Got a letter from uni saying I got best results in my year and will be getting a prize for my hard work - looked online and I think I should get around £100. Fancy prize-giving ceremony is on next week. :j

2. DH rang Sky last night, told them he wanted to cancel his contract as we could no longer afford it. Effective immediately, our monthly tariff (line rental, TV and unlimited broadband) has been reduced from £44 per month to £25.50 per month for the next 12 months - a 5 minute phone call has saved us £222!! Can't believe we didn't do this before! :T

Bad news:

I've been up since 5am with stupid hayfever

norabatty_2

norabatty wrote: »

My goal for the next 4 months is to keep this figure of £28,000 at the same level whilst simultaneously overpaying the mortgage by £220.34 per month. In effect, for the next 4 months we need to spend £720.34 less per month that we are used to!! (the reason I have chosen 4 months is because that is when the next batch of tuition fees are due).

Well, as it's the last day of the month, I have had a look at all my bank accounts and my total savings today are worth £27,216.82, so I'm only £783.18 off track in my first month!! :eek:

To be fair, I have been trying very hard this month and the reason I am so far off track is because my credit card bills for the month of June (pre Buy Nothing for Six Months Challenge) are £1467 which will all be paid in the next few days and these figures have already been deducted from my total savings amount. I suspect my credit card bills next month will be considerably lower! We also had to give half of the rent on the apartment for the last 3 months to the family relative who co-owns the apartment.

In other news, have bought an 8 month supply of nappies for less than £70. If possible, I will return today and build that supply up to 12 months. Nappies are on BOGOF, which I've never seen before and will be great to get a year's supply for just over £100 (less than £100 if you include points from Boots Parenting Club that I'm earning while I'm at it!)

We are off on holidays next weekend, back to where I am originally from so main costs will be petrol. My parents are renowned for having no food in their house so I will be going to Mr S today to use the last of my £4 off £20 vouchers. I actually have all meals for the week in the house already, just need to get fruit and ham for sandwiches so will spend the rest on non-perishables like biscuits, pasta, pesto etc that we can bring with us to keep costs as low as possible while on holiday. Might even stretch to a bottle of wine.....:D

norabatty_2

A bit late with my end of July update, but here goes:

Total savings on 31st July: £27,457.32

Did really well on our holidays, only spent £313.42 on our 12 day holiday! Not so well on our anniversary weekend away, spent just shy of £300 on that weekend.

Grocery spending is WAY down - July's bill was £222.54, which included £104.85 on a year's supply of nappies. This compares to the horrendous £398.64 we spent in June.

Having studied the 19 months of financial records I have kept, I realised that both me and DH spent an average of £150 per month in 2012 on EACH of our cars. In the first six months of 2013, that figure rose to £190 each per month. So I am now planning on declaring my car SORN at the end of September when the insurance runs out and using public transport to get to uni and back. This will involve at least 50 minutes of walking per day if it isn't raining so no need for gym membership either! I have calculated that if I use a taxi to get to the local train station in the morning and again in the evening to get home from my local train station 3 times a week, I would still be £1,100 better off each year!! That means I'd be saving over £90 a month! I will try it for the first semester and then decide if we really need two cars.

norabatty_2

Another month, another update:

Total savings as at 31 August 2013: £27,674.71

I could have done much better but our boiler decided to spring a massive leak and it cost just shy of £300 to fix it :eek:

Unfortunately, we have some big spends this month - car tax for DH's car (no car tax for me as I've decided to take my car off the road for a few months and see if I survive!), 2 new tyres for the car and house rates in excess of £500 must also be paid.

However, my frugality in the kitchen continues to improve. Total grocery spend for August was £103.65! Also managed to go back home for a week in August with LO and I spent less than £100 for the full week including transport and food!:j

Of course, another monthly OP of £220 has been made and I estimate that the mortgage now stands at £42,292.33 (as at 1st September). This means that since we made our £8000 lump sum payment on the 17th June, our mortgage has been further reduced by £1,315.67! :T