Lulabelle's MFW Diary

lulabelle1

It's been pouring down all morning here and there is no sign of it stopping anytime soon.

Still in pjs but have cleaned the house so it's all good.

So much for a cheap supermarket month. DH went off to do the food (and other stuff) shopping earlier and came home relieved of 130 quid! Apparently things were on "special" so he needed to take advantage.

On a money saving note, I used up the veg that was heading to the bin to cook up a vegetable soup earlier. There is now a bucket load of it sitting in the kitchen. Had some for lunch but no idea how I will store the rest as the freezer and fridge are fairly full and all of my plastic storage boxes are used up. I might need to ladle it in to freezer bags instead....

Roast chicken dinner later, yummy.....

nattypants

Hope you're enjoying your chillaxing day lula and have managed to stay in your jammies:D

The sun is shining through my whole house, which although is lovely in one respect, it's cheekily showing me all the dust.....I have a whole 3 minutes before I go off to more more cleaning:(

I wish I had a cleaner, I wish I had a cleaner, I wish I had a cleaner;)

lulabelle1

I had a cleaner for a few years but decided to cancel her when I got serious about aiming to be MF. I might consider having a cleaner again as a reward once the mortgage has been paid off. I don't have a massive house so it's no too much of a problem to keep on top of it and I just try not to let a bit of dust/mess bother me. I used to be really over the top in regards to the house having to be spotless but thankfully I've loosened up a bit. It's just a total non starter when you have 2 boys and a messy husband in the house - I just used to be pi88ed off th whole time clearing up after them. Now I just take a deep breath and look the other way (well, most of the time anyway)....

lulabelle1

Dinner prepped, soup portioned, kitchen cleaned (again), dishwasher emptied and loaded (again) and additional washing up done. It's getting dark already and I'm yet to sit in the lounge with my feet up watching a film and eating chocs..... Perhaps I can sneak in a bit of time now.....

lulabelle1

I'm thinking of changing things around a little bit financially.......

At the moment most spare money goes in to Mortgage OP's - the idea being that we get rid of the mortgage at the end of 2016.

HOWEVER - if we do this, then come Dec 2016, if we clear the mortgage, we will have no other money. Well, maybe a little bit here and there but nothing substantial and nothing to provide us withe any kind of security.

SO - I'm wondering whether to change the plan a little bit and aim to split mortgage OP's and savings 50/50 going forwards.....

ALSO - on the downside, income for the next 6 months will be down a fair bit, BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

With all things considered, it looks like the mortgage might have to be 2017 instead.

edinburgher

SO - I'm wondering whether to change the plan a little bit and aim to split mortgage OP's and savings 50/50 going forwards.....

We opted for this route as FTBs, but it feels a bit tedious already! The one thing I would suggest is decide on a 'security' target and work towards it, focused goals always happen the fastest, no?

lulabelle1

That's a great idea, I'll have a chat with DH later and see if we can agree on a savings target to focus on. Then, once achieved we could stop the 50/50 and start paying more off the mortgage......

We let a few fireworks off in the garden this evening. I always think its a total waste of money but DH insists. Nov 5th is also the actual date of our anniversary. So, it's always fireworks in the garden instead of a rimantic dinner. Perhaps it will change when the boys are older!

So, dinner tonight is a very unromantic stew from the freezer. We're having it with dumplings for a bit of variety!

Meal plan is done until next Thursday - we've got everything we need for all of the meals so hopefully we won't need to spend too much at the supermarket in the mean time.

Ds1 started swimming lessons tonight, £30 spent. Ds2 starts his again on Friday, so that will be another £30. Ds1 needs new school jumpers and polo tops, ordered today, another £42. Just sorted the house insurance, £277...... Will allegedly get £50 cash back but I'm losing faith with with how long it's takes to get this sortof cash back through. DH's car insurance is due next month and his car needs servicing too. Just spend spend spend at the moment.... All of this on top of the hotel bill from last week etc.

I wrapped all of the Christmas presents this morning, they are now all bagged up per family etc and back in the loft. Just a couple of bits to buy and that's it. DH and I haven't bought anything for each other yet but we've had lots of nice treats recently so I'm not sure we will bother. I get more joy from watching the boys open their gifts anyway.

Back to work tomorrow. Lots to do so I need to get my focused head on from now until I finish for Christmas.

Fortune_Smiles

Hi lulabelle

we're concentrating on our savings target first before making any OPs to the mortgage. I think you just have to find what works for you and what you feel comfortable with. We're in the same position with this time of year being the most expensive for us so not much going into savings either. I know I'd be spending more if it wasn't for this forum though - as long as I'm moving in the right direction I'm happy.

Well done on the Christmas preparations.

Fortune x

lulabelle1

Thanks Fortune... I agree, I'd be spending more too, which is a pretty scary thought quite honestly. Even though we still spend and have treats, we consider it much more before doing so and always try doing it in the most MS way available.

We've got a lot to be thankful for though and despite my whittling every new and then, I'm really grateful and appreciative of what we do have...

Fortune_Smiles

Nothing wrong with a bit of whittling - it's life's pressure valve

Fortune x