It's time to attack the mortgage!

[Deleted User]

Hey macgirl and welcome!
glad mw gave you a little push as everyone on here is lovely and it can get a bit addictive once you start thinking of OPing! :rotfl:
Im too trying to get on board with grocery bills and cutting down- I set a target of £1500 for the year (for 2 of us) and am gonna see where that gets us!
Also staying in for a quiet NYE but Im quite looking forward to dinner and trashy films on tv and my last bit of bubbly before my no alcohol in january resolution kicks in ! :rotfl:

macgirl

Thanks MW, Tilly and CathT and welcome all

Well MW, some would say I DO have the face of the slapped a*se model :rotfl: (albeit wider in the gills and girth :cool:)
I will do a sig for the mortgage, though might feel slightly sick... As for the windows, well I have heavy curtains or fleeced lined ones in all rooms. I am/was hankering after some plantation shutters, but at £1k a room, DH sensibly said NO, so I will be making do and mending in the NY. I know he's right, but am glad he humoured me for a while!

It's the gas bill I need to tackle first. Let's hope the lovely helpful energy lady is right, rather than it's just us wasting it

macgirl

Good Morning! I love the 1st of January and will be making resolutions at the 1st of every month to keep myself in check.

This month I will:

1. Take lunch to work every day
2. Aim to keep Grocery budget under £200
3. Put aside any extra earnings - Quidco, Ebay etc into a separate account to divide between CC and OPs
4. Continue to exercise at least 4 times a week, this will consist of running at least twice and doing a DVD at home - NO EXCUSES
5. I will stick to my (loose) meal plan and not shop on impulse or be attracted to things I do not need just because they are on BOGOF

A few months ago I signed up for RAC cover via QC, it was £99 with £60 cashback. I never thought I would see that, but lo and behold it is in my account! That makes for a total of £70.21 in December, so well worth it. I have transferred it to my CC account.
Next extra cash will go to the OP and I have some ebayables for that. I don't want to hamper my chances in Jan when no one has money and everyone is selling everything to recoup. So, I will have keep watch on similar items...

Right off to get ready for my Parkrun - it's only 5k but will set me up for the day and tick off no:4 from my list.

Happy New Year everyone

macgirl

Have been playing around with the OP calculator. AS DH was sitting next to me, I showed him in £1000's the significance of even a £50 a month OP.
We have decided that by cutting the food budget we should be able to increase our monthly payment by another £100 taking it to £1850. Which is as much as we dare for now.
Our other mortgage is £450 for the rental property so, although we have a few months saving to cover any voids in that, we don't want to stretch too far.

I'm happy with that and anything extra that comes from bonuses or ebay, will be thrown at the mortgage.

DH nipped to the supermarche with my list and spent £38.29 - £6.99 on Cava (which we didn't open as I fell asleep ) and £2.75 on a cycling mag - cheeky. So almost a tenner wasted there - grrr.
£161.71 left for food until the end of Jan - I can do this!

ultrarunner

Hi Macgirl,

Good luck with the MFW quest, another parkrunner here :-)

museumworker

Wow, you've already knocked 5 years off your mortgage! :T

Monthly resolutions are a good idea, I will join you in this. I need to start exercising too now I am well past the 12 week point and am rapidly expanding -but I think 3 times a week will be my limit. Promised myself I wouldn't get as lardy as I did with DD :rotfl:!

Catslovelycats

macgirl wrote: »

As I'm currently on holiday and fully energised, all this feels very doable. But I know once I'm back at work next week and am out of the house for up to 12 hours a day (4 days a week), life will go at 100mph again. I will be exhausted and consumed by work, kids, housekeeping, general keeping of body and mind together! - all my good intentions will be out of the window.

I know what you mean. I feel the same. But just having this in mind is part of the success so do what you can with what you've got when you're able!:T

macgirl

Hi Ultrarunner - ultra I'm not but I did enjoy this morning's jaunt. Nice to meet a fellow parkrunner. DD1 came today, she's only 7 and does crosscountry at school but has never ran 5k. She got half way round and said she thought her lungs would pop! But amazed me that she carried on - I was very proud :T
We decided to get her some proper running trainers so found some for £24.98, so will write that in my diary under "kids activities". We've seen cheapish tights, top and jacket for around £20, but she might have to wait before we buy those.

Thanks for your encouragement MW Our earnings are fairly high, so really we "should" be able to overpay more....If only I were half as sensible as most people on here and not had a misspent youth. Still I feel very positive now and defo in the right frame of mind, so thanks again x

Hi Cats :hello:
Thanks also for your kind words of encouragement, you're right. I look forward to more of your wise words

Just made a large meat chili (at which DD1 turned up her nose, so I had to give her the whole "athlete/body fuel" chat. When that didn't work I went straight for the jugular - NO DESSERT! Worked like a charm :rotfl:) and a lovely chestnut, mushroom and shallot pie for me (fish eating veggie) yum yum and plenty for tomorrow and/or freezer.

crazycatlady1984

museumworker wrote: »

:dance::dance: Yay, you've started a new diary!! Well done and good luck for FFF!

*subscribes*

I like the jacket - but if you end up with a face like that model's on you when you wear it you're better off without it :rotfl:

Your gas bills are enormous :eek::eek:! Don't hate me but we spend £55 a month on duel fuel. I do however have a titchy witchy house . Definitely look into energy efficiency. Re: the windows, there are things you can do to improve - internal secondary glazing, thick curtains lined with fleece, even that cling film type stuff you put on with a hair dryer. There is a thread called Preparing for Winter on the OS board which is very inspirational.

ps you might want to put your starting balance/no of months/interest rate on the start of the diary, so you can look back and feel smug in years to come with all your hard MFW work

lol, that made me laugh.....I checked out the jacket too and that model has got some face on her :rotfl:

£55....is that for gas and elec? Thats brilliant; I thought I was doing well at £70 in our old flat for gas and elec, now up to £114 in new house :eek:

macgirl

Hmm I wish, mine is £162 for both. I'm currently logging the gas meter at the same time every day in order to work out accurate consumption or dodgy boiler.