2012 mfw

curlygirl1971

What's everyone doing with their Council Tax 'free' months? Spend, Save or OP?

Mine is £78 per month - relatively low but there again I put up with my neighbours . So what to do with £156?

Spend
On what? Two nights in a hotel.....boring. Meal out for all the family.......we've eaten enough over Xmas to last us through to April. Clothes - I bought some in the sales with a voucher I got in the Summer for my birthday.

If I need something I've probably already saved up for it or got it covered in my monthly budget. If something crops up in an emergency then I've already got a savings pot for that. Is there anything I WANT at the moment? Not really, nothing worth spending £156 on it but there again I was lucky enough to get some treats at xmas

Save
Put it in my Instant Access ISA at 3.20% (£5.00 earned over 12 months) and being hit by inflation of 4.2% (£6.56 lost over 12 months)? I have put some money in an ISA recently just before I fixed it - but this was part of a longer term savings plan rather than squirrelling away money just for the sake of it. As long as you have savings, saving more just doesn't seem worth while at the moment

Over-Pay
Using my beloved Mortgage Calculator, it looks as if between 3-4 weeks will be shaved off my mortgage life if I make Mortgage OP's of the two saved months :cool:

I suppose Investments and Pensions are two other areas.....but we are only talking about £156

Over-payment it will be then.

Barny1979

£75.00 OP made today

Spiggle

All updated for you Barny.

Take care,
Spigs

puddle96

No 43
Not quite the amount I'd hoped for for the 1st OP of 2012. Started with the very unwelcome vets bill for putting my elderly cat to sleep and then making the decision that it was no good having a fully paid for pile of bricks and mortar if it no longer felt like home- so having sworn I wouldn't re-homed another cat- I did.

anyway please record £935.14 for Jan.
Thanks
Puddle

Spiggle

All recorded for you Puddle.

I'm so sorry for you losing your loved cat. When my 18 year old cat (surrogate son) went to sleep we did the same, no way we're getting another. Twelve weeks later I got up one morning, went to make a cup of tea and so longed for the warm soft fur curling around my legs. That day we went to the CPL and our two black beauties, brother and sister, found us! Some eleven or twelve years later they are still our 'kittens'.

I hope you have as much love from your new companion as we have from our two.

Take care,
Spigs

LavenderBees

curlygirl1971 wrote: »

What's everyone doing with their Council Tax 'free' months? Spend, Save or OP?

Mine is £78 per month - relatively low but there again I put up with my neighbours . So what to do with £156?

Over-payment it will be then.

I didn't even think about it! I love how you worked it out. I simply have allocated mine immediately to the overpayment column...how could I not - Mine is £100 per month & around £50 over 2 months for water rates, so £250 in total....to be recorded as overpayment for me in the next couple of months :T

Go me!

But...not just yet, Spigs et al...still a few weeks away.....it's so hard waiting

xx

Southernman

OMG set back. Failed my driving test...again meaning another £62 on a test plus the 10 lessons for £170. The sooner i pass the damn thing the sooner i'll have more income to play around with. Service charge has gone up £13 a month too due to a new company taking over. I despair. Would have liked to put more money towards overpayment but it's not going to happen this month at least.

PS not buying a car but really want to pass. My final year Econometrics exam was easier than passing a stupid driving test 17 year olds don't seem to struggle with . No minors this time round either GRRRRRRRR

madeupname1

curlygirl1971 wrote: »

What's everyone doing with their Council Tax 'free' months? Spend, Save or OP?

Mine is £78 per month - relatively low but there again I put up with my neighbours . So what to do with £156?

Spend
On what? Two nights in a hotel.....boring. Meal out for all the family.......we've eaten enough over Xmas to last us through to April. Clothes - I bought some in the sales with a voucher I got in the Summer for my birthday.

If I need something I've probably already saved up for it or got it covered in my monthly budget. If something crops up in an emergency then I've already got a savings pot for that. Is there anything I WANT at the moment? Not really, nothing worth spending £156 on it but there again I was lucky enough to get some treats at xmas

Save
Put it in my Instant Access ISA at 3.20% (£5.00 earned over 12 months) and being hit by inflation of 4.2% (£6.56 lost over 12 months)? I have put some money in an ISA recently just before I fixed it - but this was part of a longer term savings plan rather than squirrelling away money just for the sake of it. As long as you have savings, saving more just doesn't seem worth while at the moment

Over-Pay
Using my beloved Mortgage Calculator, it looks as if between 3-4 weeks will be shaved off my mortgage life if I make Mortgage OP's of the two saved months :cool:

I suppose Investments and Pensions are two other areas.....but we are only talking about £156

Over-payment it will be then.

OMG - I luurrrvvee the way you've worked it so methodically ! I'm usually trying to fill my ISA in Feb and March so that's where mine will go this year ...

Southernman wrote: »

My final year Econometrics exam was easier than passing a stupid driving test 17 year olds don't seem to struggle with . No minors this time round either GRRRRRRRR

I knnoooww - it took me FOUR goes! Hopefully it will be quicker for you

Emsky123

MFW2012 No 12 reporting in with my first OP payment of the year - £300 , Feels good to be paying again!

rjlawler

Having made my first overpayment over the weekend, I've just spent my lunch break playing about on spreadsheets.

Following my £250 overpayment already this month, I've worked out if I keep OPing at that level going forward, my mortgage will drop below 100k the month of my 30th birthday in 2015! Now there's a target to keep in mind...:j