Confessions of a mortgage-spreadsheet-a-holic

VickyA_2

Good SOA. I feel that I need to do another one!

Out of interest, who is your broadband provider? £5.99 pcm is great - our introductory rate was that with BE, but that was only for the first 12 months. We're now on month 13 and it's gone up by £10!!

fishfins

VickyA wrote: »

Good SOA. I feel that I need to do another one!

Out of interest, who is your broadband provider? £5.99 pcm is great - our introductory rate was that with BE, but that was only for the first 12 months. We're now on month 13 and it's gone up by £10!!

Hi VickyA, it's with plusnet. I joined years ago paying £9.99 a month at my mum's house, then when I moved out into a town it turned out I could get it for £5.99 as there were enough people in my area using that rate or something like that! I think they are putting the price up to £6.49 in a month or two though if I remember the email.

http://www.plus.net/broadband/?utm_source=carouselBB

It is £6.49 now for new join ups, that's a link to the site. Just beware, when they say free wireless router they then want £7.99 for postage so if you've already got a wireless router I'd say no to that!

fishfins

My SOA got me thinking about that £240 I should have extra every month, so I thought I'd list the things I've done so far to save/make money and what I'm going to aim to do in the future. Mainly just to make me remember!

Things I've done
-I use topcashback for all purchases I can
-I only go food shopping once a week, after that I'm not allowed to "top up", I have to make do
-I look for offers online (hotukdeals) before I shop and get what vouchers I can, also I use the asda price guarantee (last voucher was £3.40)
-I buy smartprice stuff as much as I can (huge box of branflakes lasts me a week = 77p , I also buy the toilet paper, malt loaf and choc digestives)
-some foods I will only let myself buy if they are on offer, I have to buy a cheaper alternative otherwise
-any books I buy I get second hand, also things like jewellery I buy off ebay
-I try to sell any unwanted things on ebay, although after reading some peoples' diaries I might try Amazon too
-I occasionally do surveys, I used to do a lot but it seemed to take up more time than it was worth
-I signed up to 18185 and do all calls apart from my free evening and weekends and my mobile favourite numbers on that-I can't believe how much I've saved already!
-I try to grow tomatoes, peas, herbs and lettuce although all but the tomatoes and herbs have been massacred by slugs this year :mad:
-me and my boyfriend used to go to the cinema a lot, but now unless it's a film we both really want to see we will buy a cheap DVD instead and have a film night at home, which is actually really nice and makes the trips to the cinema more special
-I have a halifax reward account which my wages go into so I get £5 a month for that
-for eating out we always try to get discount vouchers- last time it was the £5 pizza and salad at pizza hut, and we also have a Nando's reward card
-my dad bought me a boiler control unit for christmas which has massively reduced my gas bills. Before it was just timer controlled, now it is thermostat controlled so it goes on and off as the room warms and cools
-I always make my own bread in a breadmaker- I know the initial cost was high but hopefully the breadmaker will last long enough to pay for itself. Also, the bread stays fresher for longer and I only make it when I need to so I waste a lot, lot less

I did go down the cashback credit card route but got myself into a right pickle because there was such a lag between me buying something and actually paying the credit card off for it. So I won't be doing that again!

Things I'm going to do
-I'm going to put the £240 I should have left each month according to my SOA into a savings account. Then, if I break into it it will feel like I'm stealing from my mortgage, and if I don't I'll be able to make an overpayment
-I'm also going to keep track of everything I spend in a spending diary (I have an app on my iphone which is really good but I never really use) so I can figure out where that £240 is going
-Look into doing a car boot, maybe with my mum or brother, to try to get rid of some stuff which is too bulky or too small value to sell on ebay
-possibly think about insulating my loft although it would be hard work, there's all this rubble stuff in there the previous people left


My biggest spending treat is holidays, I know I spend a lot on them (spent 3 weeks in florida in May which was great) but I do always budget them properly and keep in control. The money I spent on florida was totally worth it to me, holidays make me so happy that I'm OK with spending money I could put into my mortgage on them. You've got to have something to look forward to!

beachie

fishfins wrote: »

Hi VickyA, it's with plusnet. I joined years ago paying £9.99 a month at my mum's house, then when I moved out into a town it turned out I could get it for £5.99 as there were enough people in my area using that rate or something like that! I think they are putting the price up to £6.49 in a month or two though if I remember the email.

http://www.plus.net/broadband/?utm_source=carouselBB

It is £6.49 now for new join ups, that's a link to the site. Just beware, when they say free wireless router they then want £7.99 for postage so if you've already got a wireless router I'd say no to that!

Can also get 9 months half price at £3.24 at the moment plus you get cashback from TCB for £28.28.

After all that it works out a pretty good deal!

gallygirl

:wave: Hello fishfins :wave:

fishfins wrote: »

I have a mortgage spreadsheet which I made when I first got the mortgage, I kind of made it up so not sure how it would compare to other peoples'. It has lots of nice colours though . I've found it so helpful in setting myself targets and keeping track.

Pretty and addictive - who cares if it's accurate

fishfins wrote: »

My biggest spending treat is holidays, I know I spend a lot on them (spent 3 weeks in florida in May which was great) but I do always budget them properly and keep in control. The money I spent on florida was totally worth it to me, holidays make me so happy that I'm OK with spending money I could put into my mortgage on them. You've got to have something to look forward to!

You're so right to treat yourself - it keeps you motivated. Think how many holidays you'll be able to have when you're mortgage free . And if Florida is you're favourite you can use all those great coupons to save money even while you're away

fishfins

Hi gallygirl :wave:

gallygirl wrote: »

:wave: Hello fishfins :wave:


Pretty and addictive - who cares if it's accurate

:rotfl:

gallygirl wrote: »

You're so right to treat yourself - it keeps you motivated. Think how many holidays you'll be able to have when you're mortgage free . And if Florida is you're favourite you can use all those great coupons to save money even while you're away

Thanks, that's exactly how I feel! I was a bit worried I'd get disapproving comments about the holidays but I think every one needs a treat sometimes

GeorgieFTB

fishfins wrote: »

Thanks, that's exactly how I feel! I was a bit worried I'd get disapproving comments about the holidays but I think every one needs a treat sometimes

HI FF and welcome to the forum... you won't get any disapproving comments here (probably??!!), by the time most people make it over to this board they are debt free and starting in on the mortgage...

Almost everyone I know thinks they will have a mortgage for ever, they just think about it like a rent... we are the freaks!!:D

Gx

gallygirl

GeorgieFTB wrote: »

HI FF and welcome to the forum... you won't get any disapproving comments here (probably??!!)

I don't know about that - any more of this talk of feeling guilty about holidays and I'll get very disapproving indeed

fishfins

GeorgieFTB wrote: »

HI FF and welcome to the forum... you won't get any disapproving comments here (probably??!!), by the time most people make it over to this board they are debt free and starting in on the mortgage...

Almost everyone I know thinks they will have a mortgage for ever, they just think about it like a rent... we are the freaks!!:D

Gx

I'm happy to be a MFW freak, it's becoming almost a hobby now! And a worthwhile one at that

I don't know about that - any more of this talk of feeling guilty about holidays and I'll get very disapproving indeed

Okay I'll stop feeling guilty now!:o

fishfins

Just a little update on my new spending diary...

I decided to back-date it to the 21st of July, as that's my payday. Unfortunately this meant it includes a trip into town on Friday for some small bits!

Apart from that, I spent nothing on Saturday, we were going to go to play tennis but all the courts were full so we saved £2.90ish each and went for a walk around the park instead! On sunday we went walking in the lakes and I only spent £2.40 on fish and chips (well, jumbo sausage and 1/2 portion of chips), and I've spent nothing at all today .

On the downside the jacket I put up on ebay didn't sell, I didn't really expect it to but I'll put it up again on the next free listing day. I also tried to do some surveys on TCB but I kept getting part way in and being told they were closed :mad:

It's ASDA shop tomorrow but I've got my £3.40 voucher to use which is a bonus. Luckily I don't need any more diesel this week so I'll be aiming for under £30 for the week. I'm loving the 17p smartprice tomato soup for lunches at work at the moment!