My mortgage free mission!!!!!!

frugalfrog

Ebay posted & money withdrawn from Paypal, after all fees we have made £70 (but as I paid for postage & ebay fees on 0% CC actual cash in bank is £92).

DH did a swap with his guitar, bit of a sad day as I did love the look of his Fender Mustang sitting in my living room, but he never played it as it did not give the sound he wanted for his music. Did a swap in the local guitar shop & got a new electro acoustic 50's style rock look and £100. More in fitting with his music style (at the moment). £100 is going in the bank & he is really happy, so cant be too upset, cant really have guitars decorating my living room anymore with little crawling DD who wants to touch everything at the moment!

As I have said before, I am an accountant at heart & have been keeping a log of ALL of our income/expenses since we moved out & out of interest I looked at how much we have take home pay earned since we moved in together (Dec 2004) and it totaled £271,500, if only we had the foresight to live a bit more frugally back then, we wouldn't have any mortgage & would be living it up now! Its amazing looking back at the amount of money we have wasted over the years, but NEVER again!

Over the 8 1/2 years we've spent:
£2k on CD/DVD/books/XBOX; (approx £20pm)
£6.5k clothes; (app £63 pm)
£17.8k DIY/home improvements; (£175 pm)
nearly £50k on food!!! (£490 pm)
£13k holidays (£127 pm)
£9.8k presents (£96 pm)

That is probably lower than some peoples but I think its ridiculous! and the last year we haven't spent anything so the majority of this was spent in the first 7 years. I wonder if anyone else has ever kept their figures as well?

frugalfrog

hmmm exam on Thursday (came way too quickly) about to do mock exam online. Hope this goes well!

frugalfrog

Done mock 92% (distinction) but I did miss one stupid thing & if I had picked it up it would have been 100%. I knew I was missing something, but gave up in the end as I was getting head ache! but still, looking good for Thursday. Problem with these exam is that all the figures are on the screen, so there is a lot of "finger to the screen" so when there is a lot of data its more difficult than with paper. Tired now & really need some sleep!

frugalfrog

Yay lovely hot day & got 97% on my exam.

Best friends little girls 1st birthday tomorrow & DH band is playing at local outdoor music fesitval tomorrow, so we are all going down & the girls can enjoy some music in the sun. Going to be a great day & all for free (will be taking a picnic)

CathT

Have been catching up but only seem to get time to read and not post at the moment. I'm glad you got somewhere with tax credits, it's worth persevering.

Well done on the ebay sales aswell, DH wants to do a car boot sale but it's so disheartening when you have to unpack all your unsold items.

You're powering through the exams too. Hope you and your dd are enjoying this gorgeous weather.

frugalfrog

Really cannot believe its been over a month since last update! Have been really busy & had no time to myself.

DD turned 1 a couple of weeks ago & had a big party for her birthday, loads of family which we havent seen in a long time came & she was overwhelmed with presents! Me and DH were very careful with spending as we knew she would get a lot of pressies as it was her 1st. Managed to only spend about £15 in cash - rest was in vouchers - Tesco direct has the 2:1 voucher exchange, and spent nectar points at argos & amazon.

Financially though I have been a bit slack, not really had time to work the budget.

We have now maxed the 0% credit card, so that has been put in a drawer so no more spending on that!

DH managed to spend over £100 last month on tobacco, so we had a sit down discussion to reduce his spending on himself. He is gettting £100 in cash at the beginning of every month, out of that he can get his luxury's tobacco, alcohol & band stuff... To me £100 a month would be a wonder but he has his expensive habits which are not easy to cut back... What I could do with £100... get my hair done (not been hairdressers since last August!!!! my mum pops over with the scissors every so often for a trim but its not the same ). He is not good with money, so this is a bit of an experiment to see how he fairs.

Both cars now sold, only a 1 car household now & have loads of room in the garden/drive now. Next stop DH gokart

I have finally cut ties with my job, officially handed my notice & paid back my season ticket today. Still have to do a bit of jiggery pokery with tax, as I have over paid & last years P60 is incorrect.

My bookkeeping qualification going well, didnt realise the last two main exams take 30 days to get results and had to wait for results from exam no 4 to be able to apply for no5.. Was a bit annoyed but got results back from exam no 4 today 98% :D:D so booked no 5, which should be in the post tomorrow! If i get than done and posted by Friday, should get results back latest 6 Aug, then can apply for practice licence and start work!!! In the meantime I have been studying for the extra exams of Payroll - which I'm very nearly done. Should be able to apply for that exam once I have sent off exam no 5 and get that done next week... Then onto Self-assessment course.

Have got the studying bug now and looking at doing a Financial Accountant qualification once up and working as a bookkeeper. Then I can offer a wider range of services and get paid more. This will take around 2-3 years, so will be up until DD is in nursery/school then I will have more time to work and probably want to expand my business.

Looking at my SOA today now everything is setted, we are currently in a -£250 per month, with £1,700 in savings. Which give me about 6 months. But hopefully I can start working by end of August, and build up work gradually over time.

I_want_a_baby

Hi,

I read threads on mse every day but have rarely posted but your thread is amazing.

I am a sahm to two children, one a 2 and a half and the other is 5 months. after reading this it has really inspired me to try and contribute towards the budget by registering with superpoints (via your link) - please can you refer me for dooyoo as well?

we are hoping to get a mortgage in the next 2 years but in the meantime are saving (every penny!) to ensure the mortgage is as small as possible.

thanks for a great read, i will be subscribing! apologies for the grammar/spelling - I am typing one handed!

thanks

stacey

frugalfrog

Hi thanks, I've sent you a invite

I have quite often posted typing single handedly while holding/nursing dd!

Just realised its been ages since updating signature, so had a little look... food budget has been BAD past couple of months. I have not been meal planning/bulk cooking and DD now eats properly so have been spending more on things like fruit (she has discovered a LOVE for strawberries). Will have to look at what we are spending again.

No overpayments still until I am back at work, just the normal payments, but it still is dropping the balance, but just not as fast as I want

Book target (bit behind!) lack of sleeping by DD and studying is giving me little me time to read, but nearly finished Frankenstein, which I am loving. Quite like the classics, I read Shelleys Last Man epic a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, so bought Frankenstein but never got round to reading it. Still a long way off my 12 books target though (and have a few epics on the shelf...)

newgirly

Hi frugal frog, I've just read your whole diary, you have done so well , I know how hard it is to get your other half fully onboard. Mine is quite good, but smokes which is so frustrating!

Anyway, I will try to keep popping in

CathT

Hi Frugalfrog, looks like things are going well and you're powering through your exams. I'm glad your DD enjoyed her bday, it's such a fab milestone. I bet you wonder where the last 12 months have gone though. Hope you are enjoying being a SAHMummy.