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

shala_moo

Productive day today...

Been to Aldi, Farmfoods and Home Bargains.. spent £78.47 which i've compared to the same things i would have bought at Sainsburys £117.00:eek: so a saving of £38.53 this week... also saved £4 using a petrol voucher from Tesco

Decided we didn't need to go to the meat wholesaler as we managed to get chicken from Aldi and Farmfoods instead. May pop there next week..

So this afternoon i'll be batch cooking..

• 20 chicken thighs for Oh's lunches
• cottage pie (4-6 portions)
• lasagne (4-6 portions)
• chicken and root veg bake
• prepping swede, carrots and parsnips for a stew
• frozen the chicken stock from yesterday and will make soup with that next weekend

Happy that we've cut down on what we would usually spend and also batch cooking will mean we use less energy cooking. :j

shala_moo

Morning MFW'ers..

It's a wonderful day today as i have a day off work :jalthough I'm stuck indoors as i have a delivery coming so i'm meant to be cleaning the house

So a few delaying tactics this morning -

I have opened a new savings account for my emergency savings. It's only the Ha1ifax 2.8% one but i was a bit limited in my choice as i needed to stick with the banks i was already with (i'm not sure on credit rating after we've just moved)

However, this must have flagged something up at Ha1ifax, as their account manager has just rang to see if i want any "help" with my accounts. I'm not using my Reward Current ac for any DD's or credits, just my usual money shuffling, so he wanted to know if i needed to trf any DD's over.. i said i was fine thankyou and in the process of sorting through my accounts.. hope they don't take it off me if i don't put any dd's in there. Any one else had a phone call like this?

I've also requested £36.20 from T0pcashback, with £65.65 coming from OH's account so that will go straight off the credit card when it arrives. Still got £56.81 to clear.. why do the insurance companies take so long to pay out with their cashback offers :mad:

Payday isn't till Monday but i'm itching to get all my money in the right pots for the month. My normal regular savings will mean that £550 will go straight into my savings pot so nearly there with my goal..

I'm glad i've got this emergency savings as we've been bought out at work by another company and so our future is looking a bit less stable than it was... Imagine the Kraft/Cadbury scenario.. they've promised no changes but you just never know, i feel safer in the knowledge that i'm prepared if the worst comes to pass.

Ohh i don't want to end the post on something a bit negative.. ermmm right off to clean :j:j:j :rotfl:

shala_moo

As it's a monsoon outside today and I have no wishes to get wet I have sat and planned my attempt at growing fruit/veg for this year.. We will at some point be overhauling the whole garden but i may put this off until 2013.

We are very lucky that we have inherited a garden where the previous owners were into growing veg/fruit so we already have 2 apple trees, 2 pear trees, a greenhouse and a pre-dug vegetable plot measuring 3.5 by 2 metres :j oh and the neighbours have a damson tree that overhangs onto our land.

To add to this I have a blueberry bush, two rhubarb crowns and a raspberry cane obtained from my previous garden to plant when i get round to it.

Last year we managed about 2kg of rhubarb, a couple of blueberries and a single, solitary raspberry :rotfl:they were all plants less than 1 yr old though, and i've heard patience is the game when it comes to berries..

So for this year I shall be growing the below, i'm thinking this is ambitious for a novice like me but i have books and the lovely people on the gardening threads to pick up tips from so here goes

Greenhouse - peppers, chillis
Fruit - raspberries, blueberries, apples, pears, rhubarb, blackberries
Veg - Dwarf french beans, lettuce leaves, kale, leeks, squash (winter and summer) peas, spring onions, courgette and maybe asparagus
Herbs - Rosemary, chives, mint, thyme, sage

I have some seed already, ordered more y'day (£8) and then still have to buy some fruit bushes and herbs.. so the initial outlay will be quite a bit this year (less OH's discount as he works in a garden centre:T). However, once the fruit bushes start producing then we should save a fair bit.

I want a pretty but pratical garden.. so lets hope we can find the balance.

e.t.a. have discovered that the wind has blown some of the greenhouse panes out.. wonder how much that will be to replace them? grrrr....

shala_moo

Pay day & Mortgage pymt day..

£250 share save
£300 to regular 8% saver (2 more pymts after this)
Everyday credit card paid off
£990 put into bills account
Feb council tax pymt paid off 0% cc

Feb 2012
Outstanding mortgage £165,388.85
Family loan £17,000
Outstanding CC 0% £2,397.90
Savings £10,125.78 - hit my target :j

Total Debt at present moment £ 174,660.97 (-2023.91)

Reason's for savings shooting up!
Whilst having a mooch on the Ha1ifax website yesterday i found that they have a competition running where you are entered into a draw for £100k for saving £5k with them. My balance at the moment is £4600.78, so it would be silly of me not to put an extra £400 in to the account to make myself eligible. They have 3 winners a month so i'm hoping i'm more lucky with this than the lottery, and unlike the lottery I get my money back at the end of the competition!

I've also used the budgeted council tax money to pay off the 0% credit card as we don't pay in Feb & Mar.. Also paid off an additional £400 odd in the month..

Should have another credit card payment of £150 to make once OH gives me his share of the bills money this month (29th ish) :T I must ring up and get online access so i can see the balance reducing!

Peonie

Oi Shala, keep your hands off; that £100,000 is mine. I've had my eye on it for a few months and have plans for it. :-)

shala_moo

:rotfl:It's mine all mine *evil laugh*

They've upped it to 10 x £100k for May and June so i guess they'll be enough for one each!;)

I've got plans.. Pay £90k off the mortgage, ignore the fact i owe family their money :rotfl:and use £10k to buy/rent a shop in OH's garden centre and sell cakes!

ohh to dream!!

Peonie

I plan not to tell anyone in real life; although I am sure if it ever comes to it I would be bursting with excitement and would tell every man and his dog. With the money I would build an extension, decorate/renovate the house and knock at least £50,000 off the mortgage. I imagine we would also give a chunk of money to my parents so they could move nearby.

shala_moo

Sounds like a good plan Peonie.. good luck xx

So it's a beautiful day here today.. have managed to put my washing out on the line :j:j:j think we made need another line as well to take advantage of the good weather when it arrives.

I've mainly spent the day getting all the fiddly little jobs done that we've been too lazy to do like sorting out the spare room, hanging up some coat hooks and fixing the cables to the walls so they're neater! I feel much more organised now..

Went to B&M this morning to check out their cheapy gardening stuff, managed to spend £20 on bits (although i have a mysterious disappearing asparagus crown.. i definitely put it on the belt but it's neither in my bags or on the receipt :mad:) Picked up some broccoli seeds, lots of pots, bonemeal, rhubarb and a pretty butterfly shaped water sprayer :rotfl:. I think Wilkos is probably better for gardening supplies to be honest, but it was a worth a trip over to have a nose.

This is what i have to play with this year :j:j


Veg plot to the left is about 3m by 2.5m so should be able to get some good produce in there. The other part by the greenhouse is currently bark chippings, so i'll be turning that into raised beds to house my herb garden and i think my rhubarb/asparagus.. and in front of it evetually will be a seating area (patio rather than decking i think)

The trees in front of the greenhouse are mature-ish apple and pear trees so very excited by these for the autumn. I haven't seen any rhubarb appearing like i'd hoped for, so i'm a bit disappointed but i have 3 crowns to plant so at least in a few years we'll be able to have some.

I'm now wishing spring/summer would hurry up and jack frost would go away on his hols so that i can get planting :cool: remind me i said this by the way when i'm crying at the end of summer because everything i've grown is dying/dead! :rotfl:

Ooops forgot, other money saving things done this week :
- 3 free lunches at work
- £20 off ocado shop for doing a survey
- no heating on today
- freebies include, £5 deodarant, months worth of dishwashing tablets (Finish no less) and toothpaste

Sepa74

Put herbs near your back door, otherwise you'll never go and gather them when it's cold, wet and raining! It's bad enough by your back door, but you'll never use them except on a bright summers day if they're down the back of your garden!

Also winter veg and leaves are good by the back door for the same reason!

shala_moo

Hi Sepa, thanks for the advice. The back door is on the side of the house with no useable ground in front of it so this isn't an option unfortunately:(

The path from the back door leads out onto the garden just in front of the greenhouse so it's not too far away.. if it's too cold/windy or raining i'll be happy to send OH! :rotfl: