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

shala_moo

Busy old week.. i'm now glad of the sit down! It's a beautiful day here, it's really lifted the spirits to know summer is on it's way! :j

Dad had a hernia operation just before last weekend, so I was looking after him for a bit.. made sure he had a good home-cooked meal and lots of painkillers to hand, he also had a massive bill from npower for £8k in the week :eek: so had to go up and sort that.. also cancelled the direct debit just in case they try and take the money. I'll be swapping him over to a more reliable company as soon as I can :mad: they haven't actually billed him properly for about a year!

Busy at work too, bit of overtime done so that'll be money in the pot, hairdressing appointment, slimming club and housework took up the rest of the week and now i'm pooped slept for 11 hours last night, even OH didn't wake me getting in or out of bed! I wasn't sure he'd been to bed at all :rotfl:

So money savings?

• Sainsbury's shop was done with some vouchers, 1000 points added to nectar card - i'm not sure how much that works out in money terms now since the change
• interest from TSB account has been OP'd to mortgage £6.63
• sister's birthday presents have been bought all with vouchers and cashback (although I've had to raise a ticket for the cash back :mad:) so potential savings of £40 there

Started to do a bit of spring cleaning today - washed the quilt to our bed in the washing machine instead of taking it to be done professionally. It seems to have washed ok, it's now hanging in the sunshine happily drying think it might have to go in the tumble dryer to dry completely but it would have cost £30 to have it done so I reckon I've saved some money.

The windows have all been thrown open to air the house out too and the heating's been switched off :j:j next job.. cleaning windows

Hope everyone's got lots of lovely sunshine too xx

shala_moo

Hi :wave:

I've stumbled back in, trying to have a new wave of enthusiasm..

It's payday today :j so usual money shufflings done.

Good things in last few weeks

• Bonus received at work £300 - put in the offset pot
• Birthday was last week so many Debenh*ms vouchers received :T
• 2 x £10 vouchers obtained from survey sites
• offset pot is now saving us over £50/month in interest :T
• council tax OP'd to the mortgage
• should be £10 a month better off due to the budget
• RAC renewed using clubc*rd deals so free :T
  

Bad things in last few weeks boooo

• put on 5lb :eek: d*mn birthday treats
• too much spent on takeaways (hence the 5lb)
• seem to have an influx of ants in the kitchen - tried vinegar and lemon juice as deterent but i'm afraid we need to step up a gear with the ant powder now
• haven't won the lottery

Still just tootling along, saving money where I can, stashing money into my offset account and paying bits to the mortgage when we get a bit of joint cash come through.

Hope you're all well xxx off for a catch up x

in_need_of_direction

Try cinnamon for the ants.

shala_moo

Thanks INOD, they seem to have disappeared today (maybe they're out enjoying the sunshine) but I will definitely add the cinnamon to the vinegar and lemon juice - nice smelling kitchen :rotfl:

It doesn't sit well with me putting down ant powder, I'd rather just deter them than kill them outright. Now if it was spiders or moths then it would be different :eek:

Woke up this morning with a banging headache but it's been a productive day today so far, grocery shopping done, washing's washed and on the line, cars are cleaned.. off to make OH a cuppa then we can tackle the spare bedroom - we're taking out the bed and putting the treadmill up there.. apparently it'll make us use it more.. we'll see :whistle:

Think I need to make sure I drink more today to stop the headaches.. I was pretty poor yesterday just one glass of squash, cup of tea and a can of coke if I remember rightly.

Need to also do a quick shopping comparison as I went to Waitr0se with vouchers this morning.. i'd like to know I've saved money compared to if I had my normal Sainsbugs shop.

Right tidying spare room awaits..

shala_moo

Evening...

Ant update they're still blo0dy here! I've tried vinegar, lemon juice and cinnamon and nothing.. they disappear for a day and then they come back so i'm afraid as much as I hate it they are going to have to be poisoned

Money stuff this week

• unexpectedly needed new glasses £300 not budgeted for, bonus from work spent in one foul swoop
• £5 amazon voucher from survey site
• got to £50 payout on newvista :j think they pay at the end of the month

Other stuff

• swapped the father to a different fuel company after spending another hour on the phone to np0wer trying to get them to cancel the £8k bill :mad: They sent him an additional bill for £350 that he was about to pay because he was worried they would cut him off!! I get so angry with them.. anyway, upshot is I sat on the phone until they cancelled the bill and once we've swopped over properly I will get a final statement and pay the £20 balance i think it should be..
• 1.5lb off the 5lb gain lost this week .. slow going, but at least it's going

Second pay day in 5 days.. just twiddling my thumbs until then really.

xx

beanielou

Dident realise that you had two jobs.
Glad that you got your dad's account sorted out.

shala_moo

Hi Beanie,

oopps I don't have two jobs - it's just that OH gets paid on the 31st so I get his money too.. I just class it as my second pay day :rotfl:

beanielou

shala_moo wrote: »

Hi Beanie,

oopps I don't have two jobs - it's just that OH gets paid on the 31st so I get his money too.. I just class it as my second pay day :rotfl:

Love it

shala_moo

Mar Monthly figures
Outstanding Mortgage £143,169,17
Family Loan £1,130 (OH's)
Offset pot - £11,819.36
Approx. Monthly interest saved and OP'd £58.62
New end date - Feb 2029

Total Debt as present moment £132,479.81
-£955.54

Happy with that.. next milestone is to get that mortgage under £140k and the interest saved over £100 a month :T Should do the first goal before the end of the year, not sure about the second.

Another 2lbs off today, so I don't feel like my £5 has been wasted this week we've decided to go to an earlier class next week so we can stay for the whole thing meaning more value for money :T

Ant's nest has been dealt with cost £4 for some bait trap things, we daren't risk the loose powder due to the cat running around so went for a little more expensive option.. it's worked so far..

Hope everyone has a wonderful bank holiday weekend xx

shala_moo

Hi :wave: how windy is it today :eek: I put the washing out on the line for an few hours this morning and it was dry in no time at all!:D

Money savings/spending over the last few weeks..

• £25 lottery OP'd to mortgage
• interest earned paid to mortgage £6.43
• £40 spent on plants for the garden, it looks lovely now:D can't wait to finish it off the landscaping this year with some tidying round the edges and some big pots on the patio

Spends coming up

• Hairdressers - highlights, roots and cut :eek:
• visit to the hygienist to book
• car tax is due the end of the month I think - must check - £30 only though, bit different to last year!
• Have a couple of hospital appointments this week, so car park fees and possibly some consultancy fees to pay (hoping my insurance covers it all though)

x