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

shala_moo

:wave:

Not much to update

Money savings

• £50 reached on Newvista, once it's through i'll OP
• found some mason jar glasses for 69p in H*me bargains :j wanted some for ages but wasn't paying 2.99 for them! 69p seemed like a steal..
• also found some small milk bottles and straws for £1.49 but put them back on the shelf as I have no need for them but really want :rotfl:
• washing is out on the line today - weather looks like it's going to be dreadful the next few days so making the most of the sunshine
• bargain dahlia bulbs also bought from H*me bargains planted out early, hopefully they'll grow, if so, I don't need to buy any bedding plants this year

To do

• research breakdown cover - need to find out if OH is covered already in his lease first
• book tooth hygiene appointment

Off out this evening for a meal with the in-laws, OH didn't realise when we agreed to go but he's splitting the bill for 6 of us with his bro, at least it's a set price menu so no one's ordering the fillet steak or oysters and champagne:rotfl::eek: he wouldn't have been best pleased with that!

Hope everyone has a lovely easter weekend x

shala_moo

Completely forgot it was time to update.. OH had to ask me last night about how much he owed me for bills :eek: i'm usually there telling him he needs to pay me!!

Mar Monthly figures
Outstanding Mortgage = £133,980.02
Mortgage Offset % = 15.94%
Approx. Monthly interest saved and OP'd £55.01
Mortgage Neutral Date = May 2028

Total Debt as present moment £112,628.56

Happy with that, if I can carry on going at this rate then total debt should be under £100k by the end of the year :j fingers crossed.

Our neighbours house is up for sale so had a sneaky look as you do it's up for loads more than ours but it is an old 1700's cottage ours was built 1970, hopefully they get a good price for it so that if we come to sell ours it'll keep the prices in the area up. Fingers crossed for new good neighbours!

A quick check on zoopla shows our house price has skyrocketed (£50k ish upwards) since we bought it but you never know until you try and sell..

Right off to get OH up, I think he has the startings of man flu.. he woke me up snuffling and coughing at 6.30am then went back to sleep and I couldn't. It's the spare room for him tonight! :rotfl:

xx

shala_moo

Evening, hope everyone's having a wonderful weekend, the weather's a bit up and down here but I managed to get some washing dry this morning before the rain. :T

Money saving this week

• joined bounts using MSE email link and synced my fitbit, takes a while to earn a voucher but may as well earn a bit whilst exercising
• threw an afternoon tea party last week for 5 for <£25 it was as impressive as any that I've had, even if I do say so myself..
• Sorted breakdown cover - joining Green Flag just for me as OH has breakdown cover with his lease - Approx £20 instead of our usual R*C membership at £136 (usually use Tesco vouchers)

We're having a bit of trouble with the cars lately, someone reversed into OH's car the other day and put a dent and a scratch into one of the back doors. She's refusing to take responsibility and there are no witnesses so they've decided to both pay for their own repairs. Just annoying because it's a brand new car and he's never had anything that nice. We have to get it fixed as it's a lease car but he'll leave it a while in case there are any other little accidents.

My car also needs a few bits doing - the door handle is broken on the drivers side, the lock bit works but the other end isn't attached to the car at all! I also need new windscreen wipers, new bulb and the paint is peeling from above the windscreen, Apparently it was quite a common thing to happen on my model no idea how much it'll cost to get fixed but i'm a bit annoyed as it's not a really old car.

I'm considering getting a leased car too, but I know the sensible thing is just to fix the one I have and keep that for a few years.

Anyway best be off to check a few more diaries before I turn in for the night xx

in_need_of_direction

I have a lease car as a company car. I just let the little scratches build up then take it to the body shop just before I hand it back. It's more cost effective.

shala_moo

OH is quite unlucky with cars so we thought the best option would be to leave it and then get it done nearer the time, there's bound to be more scratches :eek: i'm glad someone else does the same!

Does it cost you much to get fixed INOD? or does your company pay?

Unfortunately OH's work colleagues are really into cars so they can't stand the fact it's got the scratch on it and he's not getting it fixed :rotfl: they'll just have to nag at him for 18 months..

in_need_of_direction

I pay but I take it to a local shop and generally pay less than the excess.

shala_moo

Bit of money spending going on the last fews days Needs & wants..

A few of my car issues sorted now, the light bulb and wipers have got changed by a lovely man at Half*rds. £28 in total and my windscreen wipers no longer squeak :T:T can't tell you how happy that made me :rotfl: the amount of rain we've had the last few days is shocking better to get it sorted as the previous wiper was starting to shred!

Also popped to the garden centre on my way home yesterday, really want some planters but can't decide what I want. Ended up buying a couple of shrubs, 3 lots of gerberas and some red buttercups.. no planters though another £28 spent. Bought a couple of cheap planters today (£1.99 at B&M) just as a temporary measure otherwise the gerberas have no where to live still need to get a bag of soil though.

In other news, we've submitted our numbers for the Mortgage Free in Three challenge and I think it should be green once the chart is released *fingers crossed* needed to pay off/save £1400 a month and it's averaging £1800 so far :j The target can stay as it is though in case any big spends crop up (like the holiday/cruise we are thinking of taking in a couple of years:eek:)

Hope everyone's having a dry weekend, we've just had a flutter of snow but it's mainly sunny thankfully!

shala_moo

Morning, we're stuck in this morning waiting for the gas man to have the boiler serviced. The amount of trouble we've had over the last few months with BGas means i'm not particularly hopeful he'll turn up but we'll see..

Bit annoyed this week as I've been paid wrong, my overtime wasn't signed off so it hasn't been paid :mad: even worse is that it was weekend overtime so really didn't want to do it!! i'm not very happy, as to me, it just shows lack of respect/gratitude for staff working over.. it also means my offset savings are down as any overtime usually gets put straight into there.

The offset pot at the moment is already looking a bit poor as I've moved some more money out to my S&S ISA, my sister had a good share tip *fingers crossed*, which means my monthly mortgage interest saved is back under £50 a month. Not going to get to that £1000 saved goal for this year must stop shuffling! :rotfl:

Anyway all in all, minor problems, in the grander scale things are looking ok.

On a happier (spendy) note, we've been trying to pick some garden furniture this morning, naturally I've accidently picked the most expensive stuff but must try and find the same sort of thing at a cheaper price. It'll come out of OH's budget though as I paid for the landscaping, so no cost to me :j

xx

Pushkin

Hi Shalamoo - not paying overtime :mad: I presume you will get it though? Surely they won't just not pay it?

Do you work for a big company so its all call centres and being a number not a name so no ownership or empathy?

I had something similar couple of years ago - made a tweak on my flex benefits which should have increased my take home pay instead payroll made an error and it reduced my payment. Took me 14 weeks to sort out and my boss ended up threatening I was going to take legal action (American boss). Thing that wound me up the most was getting cced on an email when it had been escalated and I was referred to as 'the employee' like I had no name! I never got an apology either.

Sorry for the rant - really hope you get it sorted.

shala_moo

Hi Pushkin, rant away.. There's a lot more I wanted to say but you can never be too careful of who's reading stuff on here can you?

I should hopefully be paid it next month, but its a big multinational company so as you say we are but a number

I've worked there a number of years and currently on boss number 16.. Some good, some bad.. you can guess which category this one falls into :rotfl:

I'm just glad we're in a lucky position that we don't need the money, I'd hate to have had it earmarked for a bill or something and not be able to pay because of someone's lack of organisation.