Countdown to Freedom

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi J and LB, bear in mind it took a year of lurking before I started a diary and all that time I was quietly working on him

I also think that because our target is tough, he understood, in fact the kids too, the need to reform.

Plus, he has his eye on a lovely car and given cars have never really been important, (current one has 111000 on the clock), that will be his time to splurge :rotfl:

I guess that is perhaps bribery and corruption at work here :)

Tilly x

ammonite

Well done Tilly you are doing brilliantly

I find including my OH in the financial discussions sort of got him marginally enthused. I wouldn't say he was as enthusiastic as me but since I've been with him we have always seemed to be saving for something either holidays, wedding, house or paying back a 0% credit card.

I think for me the important thing I have to do is not flap when we do spend money. We only go out occasionnally with our friends but if we spend £40 on a meal (when we could have stayed in and eaten for £2) I really have to let it go and say nothing. I have to get the balance of being frugal with him and having treats. I know some people make the choice to be frugal for X years and have no treats but that just wouldn't work with either me or my OH.

I talk to him about my bargains and when I get a real buzz out of them, he raises a small smile. I think I'm slowly rubbing off on him. I just say things ocasionnaly like "ooh I'm glad we grew strawberries this year, they were £3 a punnet in Tesco and we've got them for nothing!" - he then got peas and tomatoes to do next year as he saw an offer for free seeds so "that'll help out a bit next year won't it".

I think by showing them small steps you can make to reduce savings and quite honestly saying "we have £50 left until the end of the month if we want to save up" then he has started to realise ways in which we can cut back (we've started putting washing on the line instead of being lazy and using the dryer).

Speaking only from my own experience I'd say it was gentle coercion, slight involvement, letting my enthusiasm be shared and having treats plus a LOT of time!

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi Ammonite, I wonder why so many MFWs are female - apologies to any male readers

The thought of the banks having yet more money in interest is a killer and that also motivates Mr T, so perhaps that's something which may motivate the male contingent?

I think there is a fine balance in being frugal and missing out on things. Mr T is prepared to cut costs but insists that we, as a family, need to do things together. That was one of the of the motivators to find free things to do, over the summer. Plus that the two of us need time together as well, and again, we have followed the low cost options.

We certainly still spend money on stuff, but it is limited and we have learnt that life should not be one of pure reward for workng hard. Which is what we did before, spend, spend, spend. We work hard and now are benefitting from the work, whereas before, our salaries were wasted. Thats a very generalising statement but pretty accurate sadly.

I also grew up at a time when a mortgage was really for life - NO WAY.

Right, back to the emails

Tilly x

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

I am quite tempted to pick the green toms now and then get rid of the plants. I have had 3 plants which have done well and the others have failed miserably.

Just pick them and make green tomato chutney (I have a good recipe if needed). Good Christmas presents! And even better with cheddar for personal consumption! I've hidden our last jar from last year because we've an out of date jar of Branston pickle to use up first (I know MrMRN will use the HM over the Branston!).

ammonite wrote: »

I just say things ocasionnaly like "ooh I'm glad we grew strawberries this year, they were £3 a punnet in Tesco and we've got them for nothing!" - he then got peas and tomatoes to do next year as he saw an offer for free seeds so "that'll help out a bit next year won't it".

I was thinking about keeping a spreadsheet of our home grown produce and weight next year - to compare to supermarket/green grocers prices. Has anyone ever done this?

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

I wonder why so many MFWs are female - apologies to any male readers

Oh no, what if us girlies are all too busy gossiping about our Mortgage Free efforts while the silent men are actually getting on with it?

janineh1982

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice wrote: »

Oh no, what if us girlies are all too busy gossiping about our Mortgage Free efforts while the silent men are actually getting on with it?

I can say with some certainty this (unfortunately) is not happening in the JH household!! :rotfl:
I will keep my hopes up for the rest of you though :T

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi MRN, tracking home grown stuff seems like a good idea. I would be really interested. I know I haven't bought shop salads since about April. Actually thats not true, I seem to remember buying one bag as I was in a rush and didn't have time to wash it

Let's say an average of £1.20 a bag, approx 20 weeks, salads of some description on an average of 4 days a week, that's 80 x £1.20 - £96 of salad :eek::eek: I know that's all very rough but it helps to scale the savings.

On the silent men front, no way :rotfl: well, not in our household anyway :). Mr T is a fab husband and provider but we were both as bad as each other.

Now you have me thinking about another spreadsheet when I had only posted that I was cutting them down today.

Tilly x

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

Yeah I know... I'm not sure if I can handle another spreadsheet. But since they bring focus I think we might care for our veggie patch a little better and enhance our yield if I did start a new spreadsheet.

Unfortunately marrows only 80p each at the green grocers this weekend so not much saving there!!!

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Change of topic. I am going to write off about an endowment policy which is from a previous mortgage that I have kept going, to get a better view of what it may pay out. That's the final piece of the jigsaw to help us meet our target. Fingers crossed

Tilly

HelenDaveKids

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

Change of topic. I am going to write off about an endowment policy which is from a previous mortgage that I have kept going, to get a better view of what it may pay out. That's the final piece of the jigsaw to help us meet our target. Fingers crossed

Tilly

Ive just done that, had three policies from previous morgage, my current morgage is repayment.
Anyway got a quote for how much worth (I say quote as they said if I rang back another day it could be different) and they tried loads of figures as was due to pay out Nov 16. Anyway I think (I say think as I'm no mathematician!) that by cashing in early I can save £3000 in interest, plus I used there 6% estimate and im not convinced it will do that well. Ive cashed one in (waiting for money to hit bank) then when thens done my max OP, im going to cash in the next one, then wait till May for the biggest one as then I can OP the whole lot as my fixed period finishes.

Hope you get a good figure!

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

Change of topic. I am going to write off about an endowment policy which is from a previous mortgage that I have kept going, to get a better view of what it may pay out. That's the final piece of the jigsaw to help us meet our target. Fingers crossed

Tilly

Woo sounds exciting... the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle... but will it fit?!