Sweetdaisy's aim to be mortgage-free

sweetdaisy

Thought that I'd update my thread for the month of February. I have been keeping a Spending Diary which has been a real eye opener and we seem to be spending quite a bit of money on food/meals out etc, however have really cut back on the amount of money spent on 'bits and bobs' (things that I don't necessarily need). My food shopping bill at Tesco seems to be increasing all the time, even though I am buying the same usual items :mad:. I am considering getting some of my basic shopping items from Aldi next week to compare prices.

It has been a very expensive month and we have spent a total of £526 on the cars _pale_. This includes both of the cars having a full service and set of front tyres, with DH's car needing new brakes and pads, glow plugs etc.

This month I have made an overpayment of £80 and redeemed £83.50 from survey/cashback sites.

Our monthly mortgage interest added to the Mortgage account was £212 for January/February and I am looking forward to getting the monthly interest below £200 a month.

sweetdaisy

I read a couple of days ago that RBS, Natwest etc were going to increase the interest rates on some mortgages, then low and behold I receive a letter today saying that as of 29th February our Natwest Offset Mortgage interest rate has risen 0.25%, so adding £6.00 a month to our mortgage.

I had rounded monthly payments to £700 a month, so will now be overpaying by £53 a month, so will overpay extra when there is money left over from our 'Monthly Spending' account.

Lately, I have been finding it hard to keep to our Food Shop budget of £85 a week (this includes cleaning/household materials) and have noticed a big rise in the prices at Tesco :mad:, so today I have done a food shop in Aldi for the first time. I spent ages writing my shopping list and included the prices at Tesco, so that I could compare prices as I went along.

All, I can say is Wow! I spent £52.48 for a full weeks shop and saved £32 . I think in future I will shop at Aldi once a month to bulk buy our usual long-life items and get our other items (which are not available there) from Tesco's.

Have to say though, I was taken aback by how quickly the food was scanned!!! I ended up just throwing my food in the trolley as I couldn't pack quick enough, so my packing system went completely out of the window :rotfl:.

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi SD, I can just imagine you at the till. They are rather manic and there are times when I have been known to just 'sweep' the items into the trolley! Glad you saved so much money. Their range of products has increased over the last year or so. Good luck, Tilly x

sweetdaisy

Hi Tilly

I tend to do my shopping online, so this was quite stressful :rotfl:. Wouldn't have thought that it was humanly possible for them to scan so quickly! I am really pleased with the prices and savings made. I have been reading the Food and Grocery section on here for tips on what products are good buys etc. I hardly buy big brand names, so I was able to save on the usual staple foods that I buy.

sweetdaisy

Monthly mortgage payment made today, including an overpayment of £53.

Received a Council Tax letter to say that monthly payments for next financial year are going up £7.00 a month. Was expecting it to rise more than this.

Maternity Leave ends in 6 weeks and feeling anxious about returning to work full-time again, as I won't get to spend as much time with the children . However, as I am the main breadwinner and DH is going to be made redundant by the end of the year, I have no alternative. Maybe I'll have an opportunity to work part-time in a few years, when the mortgage payments/balance reduces .

Did another food shop at Aldi this week and spent £59, really pleased with the savings and the quality of the food . Will be shopping there more in the future and will buy the odd luxuries from Tesco.

Been busy in the garden this afternoon after picking up DS1 from school. My Father made us a vegetable patch a few months ago using old disused railway sleepers, so we got a few more bags of soil from the local refuse site and been busy digging. We are going to plant some onions in a few days, then we will plant some turnips, parsnips, peas, broad beans, tomotoes, carrots and beetroot. Also going to grow potatoes in big bgas.

We are not going to plant a lot of veg, just a few of each variety as it will mostly be a little project for our DS1 who's almost 4 years old, as he loves to have 'little jobs' and he can get involved in watching them grow, picking them when they are ready and then eating them .

CathT

Love the idea of a veggie patch. I really should do this but would need to buy a raised bed etc and not sure I can justify the initial expense. I am off work until June though so if I don't do it now I don't think I ever will.

I have also had my shopping thrown at me in A*di and it's not something I ever get used to. I just put everything in my trolley and pack afterwards. Those SA have got really fast now that they don't need to remember the prices!

sweetdaisy

Mortgage overpayment of £103 made this month and redeemed £47 from survey/cashback sites. As we have an Offset mortgage there's no need to make overpayments (in a sense) as we offset our savings against it, however it makes me feel better to overpay as I get to see the balance reduce online. Looking forward to having the mortgage balance below £80,000.

I have set a target to repay the mortgage by 2022 (4 years early) but 10 years seem too far away . I don't want to compromise the fun things we do as a family as the Boys are very young, but equally the quicker the mortgage balance is reduced the more money we will have to spend on the children. Think I'll have to start completing more online surveys .

Doing really well with our weekly food shopping and staying well within budget. I have become better at meal planning and now only buying things that we need, rather than buying things that are already in the cupboard/freezer.

Been busy in the garden this week planting onions, beetroot, peas, broad beans, carrots and turnips. Just have to get some more soil so that we can grow potatoes in bags. DS1 loves helping in the garden by watering the plants and we are all getting quite excited about growing our own vegetables.

sweetdaisy

Thought that it was time that I provided a quarterly updade of my 2012 New Years Resolutions:

1. Lose my post-baby weight - getting there, but a way to go yet!
2. Exercise by doing a 45 min walk or 30 min crosstrainer session 4 times a week - ongoing
3. Sort out my attic and de-clutter - ongoing
4. Have the patio area completely slabbed (Completed in March)
5. Carry on with my monthly mortgage overpayments - ongoing
6. Aim to get 3 x monthly salary in savings for emergencies - ongoing
7. Continue to stick to weekly budget i.e. general spending, food shop (and keep a Spending Diary) - ongoing and doing really well with this
8. Keep on top of household cleaning/laundry everyday so that it doesn't build up - ongoing
9. Do lots of activities with the children on weekends and have fun - definitely doing this!
10. Close down some surveys site accounts which are no longer profitable/take too long to reach the payment threshold and focus more on the good ones - have closed down accounts on a couple of sites
11. I am a worrier, so I'll try and not let things worry me too much - ongoing
12. Give blood :j (Gave Blood for the first time in March and will carry this on)

sweetdaisy

This is my last week on Maternity Leave. I have been sorting out the house, cleaning all the cupboards, catching up with jobs which needed doing etc. Don't know how I am going to have time to do it all when I'm back in work.

I have also been sorting out my Monthly Outgoings spreadsheets as from next week I will be paying Nursery and After School Club fees, so we are going to be on a tight budget for the next 2.5 years until DS2 starts school. Hopefully my Childcare Vouchers will be up and running by the end of May so that should save me around £80 a month.

£53 overpayment made on the mortgage this month.

I have redeemed £100 this month from cashback/survey sites , but instead of using it towards overpayments I have been putting it towards our monthly outgoings as I am still on SMP and I don't get my first full pay until the end of May!

DH has been informed by his employers that plans are running on schedule for redundancies and originally we thought he would be losing his job at the end of the year, but now it's looking like July/August.

cafelady

Hi Sweetdaisy

Enjoying your diary. Good luck with your OPs and with going back to work on Monday.