Mortgage freedom..Shala_moo's attempt at a diary..

shala_moo

Went to Ludlow Food Festival yesterday, it's such a pretty town. The weather was ok, but we did get a bit wet at times

Had a bit of a spend but could have been so much worse! I bought some bread, a pork bap, afternoon tea stop, salad dressing and sweet potato crisps £25.50 then the ticket and transport was £24.

I have a day off today :j so I'm catching up on housework booo... Well I will when I get out of my bed!:rotfl:

Money saving news :
- redeemed £25 from purepr0file
- Not far off a payout from 0nepoll so I'll keep checking all day - 25p to go!!
- £10 amaz0n voucher redeemed from mysurveys

shala_moo

Sept Monthly figures
Outstanding Mortgage £156,949.97
Family Loan £4,400 (OH will pay this each month)
Daily interest £17.21
Offset Savings £13,718.57

Total Debt as present moment £147,631.40 (-1,648.78):j

Didn't think i'd done very well this month but it seems I saved more than I thought, I think it's knowing I need to fill that ISA!!

So MFW things :

• finally got to payout on 0nepoll - will trf when it comes through
• got £130 to bank tomorrow (that bl00dy machine again!)
• Overtime earnt this week, 5 hours and there will be some extra over the weekend too
• £3.84 TT
• £180 overtime moved to the ISA

Things to do this weekend

• think the damsons are ready to harvest so need to get cheap sugar and make jam (also OH has decided he's making Damson gin!) these will be gifted for xmas
• need to look for other recipes incase I have too many damsons (two trees!)
• make a list of food items to make for xmas hampers (chilli jam and onion chutney already requested)
• catch up on work work I didn't manage to do this week
• catch up on house work I didn't manage to do this week:(

Feeling a bit sorry for myself today as I have the dreaded lurgy.. maybe i'll just leave OH to catch up on the housework :rotfl:

xx

shala_moo

Good evening MFWer's..

Just finished a few hours overtime so shattered.. but that adds another 4 hours onto the 5 I did on Saturday! I think i'm probably going to get a week's extra money this month the way it's going.. lovely for the savings, not so lovely for my time at home!

Money stuff this week :

• still waiting for 1poll and Purepr0file payouts
• made lime/lemon marmalade - bit bitter :eek: but edible and quite pretty
• harvested some damsons for the gin, currently in the freezer
• harvested the apples - will try and freeze as I don't have the right jars for making chutney just yet but did make some into apple turnovers for the father
• made a list for the xmas hampers, so most of the xmas presents ideas now sorted - just need jars and hampers/boxes
• got a free Netflix trial for OH to start watching Breaking Bad (and for me to finish watching the last few episodes)

Off to bed now, hope y'all have good week x

shala_moo

We've been preparing our harvest today

I've prepped 1kg of apples, which have gone into the freezer, to make chutney once we get some jars and OH has fetched 6kg of damsons from the trees, which have also been frozen to make chutney, jam and gin in future months. However, there is still a tree full of damsons :eek: I reckon there's probably another 10kg to be picked!!

OH's mom is coming to get a bag full to make wine and I might ask if anyone at work wants some, with all the will in the world I don't think I can use them all :rotfl:

Our list of homemade hamper goodies to make so far is:

• lime/lemon marmalade - made
• damson chutney
• damson jam
• whiskey marmalade
• onion chutney
• chilli jam
• pickled onions

we'll also add some bought stuff like chocolates, booze and biscuits although I've just found a recipe for Orange, Cranberry and Walnut biscuits :drool: that I fancy having a go at (thanks MWC I bought the Sarah Raven book :rotfl:)

Popped to Ald1 for the shopping this week - £10 for some veg/cheese/ham and i'm done so a very good week for the grocery spends:T also popped into town and bought a few bits but they were mainly to help with making the xmas presents.

Right well i'm off to make more lists for xmas :j:j

shala_moo

OH has given me his half of the bill money so money shuffling to be done :

• ISA now filled :j
• £8.04 from NW interest trf'd to savings
• 68p TT
• credit card paid off <£100 on there though (I bought myself a food processor - halfway between need and want!:o)
• still no payout from 1poll or purepr0file:(

Busy week at work this week (again!) so no doubt i'll be clocking up the overtime! Rumours abound of redundancies again.. we all can't cope with the workload we have, so how they will be getting rid of people is anyone's guess!
It's going to be a very late one tomorrow night so i'll take in some homemade lasagne for my tea, that way I won't be getting pizza or chips when the naughty boys go out for something! (turns out that this didn't work still had the takeaways!)

Only 9 working days until my week off :jcan't wait!

xx

shala_moo

Work week from hell :mad: is now over :j:T:D

I'm exhausted from the stress and even more determined to get this bl00dy mortgage paid and gone. If it wasn't for the mortgage I actually think i'd have walked out on Wednesday.

So with determined effort these are my MFW stuff this week (of what little time I've had!) :

• kept the heating off as much as possible
• 13.5 hours overtime
• free teas at work - chips and pizza though
• read the meters - worked out our bill, if I've done it correctly then we're £50 under our spreadsheet budget :T and in credit of >£200 (usage graph shows we're down on gas consumption, up on electric, guess it's the TD although wouldn't be without it now)
• won 0.26p on Searchl0tto :T moved to savings
• 0nepoll pymt through and moved to savings
• large TT of £19 to savings
• £5 Ha1ifax reward money trfd to savings
• all accounts reconciled, spreadsheets gazed at lovingly
• joined two free trials - toothpaste and free Tesc0 finest stuff

Right the house insurance renewal has just arrived, only £234, so not too bad but i'm off to search the interweb to see if I can better it!

xx

shala_moo

Beautiful day today, sunshine has really cheered me up. The washing is out flapping on the line catching the last rays of sun, may have to just finish it off in the TD..

"Purchased" (with gift cards) the new hairy bikers dieters book the other day so I've used it to meal planned for the week, if I work late then OH can just grab the book and have tea ready for me when I walk in

MSE stuff

• £10 voucher from VO - $ainsburys for xmas bits
• made a massive chilli (with additional bendy carrots) for OH lunches this week
• popped to Lid1 for some xmas bits - the gingerbread is £1.49, in Waitr0se it was £3.99:eek:
• caught up with all other surveys

Have a good day xx

shala_moo

I've finished work for a week.. :j:j

I've had another emotional week at work this week, but the outcome is fab! I offered to take a pay cut and move to a different role because I can't take the stress of my current one, however, this was turned down and instead a new role has been offered - same money but 50% helping out the rest of the department and 50% doing my old role (but the bit I like)

I've come away from work feeling like there is light at the end of the tunnel, which is a great feeling to have whilst breaking up for a week.. at least when I go back there won't be that usual sense of Sunday night dread.

My week off to do list :

• make an appt at the dentist
• order jars for xmas hampers
• order hamper boxes
• fetch new bedding from Debenhams - got vouchers for this
• fetch onions, vinegar and more sugar
• make chutney, onion and jams
• sort out BTL mortgage quotes for OH/MILs house
• sort house insurance
• fix the shower leak
• re-paint the kitchen ceiling re leak above

That covers all the big stuff.. the usual cleaning/decluttering will be done as and when...


xx

megela

Good news on the work front - well worth asking for.

Have a good weekend.

shala_moo

shala_moo wrote: »

My week off to do list :

• [STRIKE]make an appt at the dentist[/STRIKE] it's going to cost approx. £300 to do a root canal:eek: first apt on Weds to discuss treatment.
• [STRIKE]order jars for xmas hampers[/STRIKE] found on ebay £27 for 72 or £22 for 36 - I only need 36 but I don't know which to go for - it's only £5 extra! e.t.a. OH told me to only buy what I needed so 36 it was
• [STRIKE]order hamper boxes[/STRIKE] 5 for £21
• fetch new bedding from Debenhams - got vouchers for this
• [STRIKE]fetch onions, vinegar and more sugar[/STRIKE]done
• make chutney, onion and jams
• [STRIKE]sort out BTL mortgage quotes for OH/MILs house[/STRIKE] done
• [STRIKE]sort house insurance[/STRIKE] done, £148 possible £40 cashback
• fix the shower leak
• re-paint the kitchen ceiling re leak above

That covers all the big stuff.. the usual cleaning/decluttering will be done as and when...

Miserable day today isn't it.. i'm using my time wisely whilst OH is out shopping for guitar amps and watching some programmes that I don't have time to watch in the week!:D

Just watched the amazing programme of the fella that has had his sight restored using a tooth and a plastic lens.. just amazing and made me cry loads but happy tears!

OH is also out this evening so I think i'll make myself a Chinese fakeaway - crispy beef on the menu :drool: nom nom..

Just finished looking for house insurance and found a good policy for £148 with Av1va, I went through TCB so hopefully it'll track my £40, if it does then I've save £127 by not automatically renewing :j

Hope everyone is having a cosy weekend xx