No Money - but BIG ambitions

getmore4less

Don't forget variations on the "italian" quick cook.

Oriental bulked with noodles and rice(precooked and dried/frozen if frying).

big plain steel wok and gas helps.

Similar hands on time but takes more elapsed time, one stop oven based roast meat veg, cheap if using seasonal cheap.

slow cooker, makes cheap cut of meat great,

Eat fruit in season and grow your own, winter move over to more winter veg.

Problem with a lot of fruit is you still feel hungry and often not good value, also over played on health benifits.

British pork shoulder is great value often as low as £2.50kg, crackling yummy

Weronika

I know supermarket fruits are not as healthy as they could be, but I still rather munch on them than crisps;) that's my excuse anyway;)

I grow my own strawberries, as those are one of the most expensive fruits - but to be honest last year there was so little sunny days that I had some of the still green strawberries go nearly frozen;(
they were great though as fun educational tool - my monkey would go and check them every day to see if any turned red and he could eat it (he was only around 15 months than;))

My recipes for quick meals:

chicken drumsticks covered in olive oil , herbs and spices, parsnips, carrots and potato wedges : prep time lest than 10 min, shove it in the oven for 25 min :)yummy:)

Chorizo pasta: (Aldi chorizo for 99p is enough for cooking it twice)
cut chorizo in strips and fry in olive oil, 1 courgette, 1 pepper, half aubergine, some wild mushrooms, 2 spoons of tomato puree, 1 jalapeno and herbs and spices to taste (basil, chilli etc)
cook pasta al dente, drain and add to the sauce, fry slowly for couple minutes add grated cheese and enjoy;) prep time: around 10-15 min

Chicken soup:

1 chicken drumstick, handful of frozen veg( carrots, cauliflower, broccoli) herbs and spices - prep time - 2 min;) after 20 min when meat is cooked add vermicelli pasta, boil for 3-4 min and is ready!

Weronika

It only shows that unless you double check everything it will certainly cost you!
I was so sure our mortgage was for £76000 AND 30 years.
I was wrong on both counts, so will update signature as soon as I find out real terms - which were not in the drawer they should be! I don't even know where to start looking for it now, after all the changes we done in our house to accommodate for monkey No2!

So: original mortgage was for £77.299; 5.49% and it was 2 year fix while mortgage term was 35years:eek:. The monthly rate was £415.

That would make the repayment more than double: £174,133!!!
So, the original MFD:2044:eek:

Sadly, because we had to renovate house completely there was no over payments at all during the initial 2yr fix period.

In June 2011 we switched to another 2 yr fix, but I can't find exact details:mad: all I know is current rate is 350 and I assume (but definitely need to check it) the term now is 33years.
We started overpaying by £50 this year, so with assumption that loan is now £76000, term 33, £50 OP - makes the repayment £122,767.

off to the endless shoeboxes with bank statements to find the missing mortgage details. How on earth something so important could get lost, I don't know.:mad:

Lois_E

Hi Weronika. I hope you enjoy your journey to mortgage-freedom and that this MFW board helps you. :wave:

If you want to cut down on fruit costs, try eating things like carrot sticks that are cheaper than fruit. Maybe cucumber or celery would be possibles too. (How expensive is celery these days? I haven't bought any for ages.)

I'm a bit puzzled by your sig, though. If you are OPing your mortgage, then why do you say your debt is "-£76000 and growing"???

I wonder if perhaps why property.advert posted such a "tough love" type of post. Usually on MFW we are very inclusive - anybody who's trying to get their mortgage down is welcome. Some live hyper-frugal lives and do everything they possibly can to get their mortgages down as fast as they can. Others do bits and pieces here and there, but choose not to practise particular forms of moneysaving or money-earning, or to spend money on things that others might consider "luxuries". It doesn't matter. Most people on here are in control of their finances. They have few (if any) debts other than their mortgages, and can comfortably afford their standard payments, so OPs are a choice, and different people choose differently about how much and how.

DFW is different. Many of the people over there are not in control of their finances at all. Some are in debt crisis and can't make even the minimum payments on things. For those people, it's crucial that the board members over there speak the truth to them, even if it's tough, and challenge them to do everything they possibly can to get their spending back below their level of income. Perhaps it was that "and growing" in your sig that made property.advert think that was what you needed. (Although I don't know property.advert and may be quite mistaken about what s/he was thinking.)

The bottom line is that batch cooking would save you money. If your debts are increasing and you're not in control, then you probably ought to leave no stone unturned in your attempts to get your spending down. If your debts are under control and you are choosing to OP your mortgage, then it's entirely up to you whether you choose to get into batch cooking or not.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

Weronika

Lois_E wrote: »

I'm a bit puzzled by your sig, though. If you are OPing your mortgage, then why do you say your debt is "-£76000 and growing"???

My mistake. For me debt is any money I owe - while I understand that some people see mortgage as a different cat altogether, because it's so widely and socially acceptable debt.

I put 'and growing' because each day my mortgage debt is growing - the added interest means that I have to pay back more than I originally borrowed.

I have to change sig anyway - I just found my paperwork and the current (at the start of the fix deal) is £75920 - so slightly less:j When I realised that in 2 years we paid nearly £10000 and only a £1000 was knocked off the capital I nearly cried. Those figures are so depressing!

I think I got so upset, because I came here so optimistic there is so many people here they must have nice, easy solution and expecting pat on the back, well done etc for starting to overpay mortgage after only 2 years of having it - and than I landed on my backside with big thump coz there is no easy solution!
Especially where I am now - with no spare cash and no job perspective until 2013 at least.

I done the SOA but as I already buy everything as cheap as possible, stock up when things are half price I just can't find an area where I could easily save to get the money for overpayments! It would be easier if I could say, ok no more takeaways - but I don't order them, or 'I'm quiting smoking/drinking/going out' - but we cut those already!

The only area left where I allow some luxuries is Boxing day and other seasonal sales - I stock up in shoes and clothes and perfumes. Than there is the fruits - I just can't justify to myself right now (I think we are not that desperate yet) to cut the spend on fresh fruits as I think it gives great example to my little monkey - he already is choosing fruits over crisps or chocs and he is only 2 year old, so that's a great habit I would like him to keep for life!

I came to conclusion that in my situation the best is just to continue watching my day to day spending until I can come back to work in 2013 (hopefully) and when I start earning all the extra money will go towards overpayments.

It was very hard for me to transition from full time work to full time mum - and the loss of earnings hit me particularly bad, as my wage was the one that paid for all not so essential stuff!

Weronika

I found the paperwork. It was in my Bounty folder! Yup, that's where all important stuff was ending up for a while;)

So current figures are:

Mortgage: £75,920 + £199 fee, 2 yr fix 3.85% till May 2013

My monthly basic rate is £340 so I actually overpay £60:j
That saves me nearly £17k in interest and 8 years already.

I started grocery diary this Monday so next month I will have an indication if I can save anything on groceries.

TwinnyD

Weronika wrote: »

I found the paperwork. It was in my Bounty folder! Yup, that's where all important stuff was ending up for a while;)

Made me laugh as sounds like me :rotfl:

After looking at our reduced income and feeling that we've already cut back in most areas I was left with groceries (have found having a monthly grocery target really helps) and ebay as areas I could use to increase overpayments. Baby stuff does really well on ebay and I've sold as we've finished with things, even making profit on things that we've bought off ebay and then sold on again.

Good luck with your journey

frugalfrog

Hi, I'm in similar boat, where after having DD I am returning to work part-time at a severely reduced wage, so "spare" cash is very rare. I know OP is also about motivation, which I think this site is for. If I had a spare £10 from selling something on Ebay, would it just get lost in my bank account, now I have the motivation just to straight away call up the mortgage and OP it before I spend it. Every little helps as they say

Also, I had a similar shock with my first mortgage (35 years with the dreaded NorthernRock back in 2004) you pay a horrendous amount of interest due to the length of mortgage. One I noticed this I remortgaged to a 25 years (ok the monthly payment was more, but not that much) and the capital reduction was amazing in comparison! And every little OP goes straight into that capital.

On the fruit issue, I agree with Lois E, cucumber, carrot, celery and red peppers cut into sticks are great snack food, which has replaced the more expensive fruits in our house. Aldi's are great for these if you have one near you

frugalfrog

frugalfrog wrote: »

Aldi's are great for these if you have one near you

I've just read the all of page 1 and see that you already shop at Aldi. I think its great

What I have started doing is when I get home from the shops and take the reciept and put into a spreadsheet what I have bought, packet sizes & price. Been doing it for a few months & it flags up price rises, but also a good way to see what you are spending money on. If your good with pivot tables, categories the items ie fruit, dairy, cakes etc and that will really help you see where the money goes bit time consuming tho

gallygirl

How about carrot sticks and cucumber slices as they are cheaper than fruit? Also better for little monkeys as less sugar.

I remember how hard it was when mine were little to find time to cook etc, but in the end I would just sit them on a (safe bit) of the worktop while I prepped etc. I'd make maybe a big pot of veg soup, another of carrot etc, and get them to 'help' by chopping soft stuff with plastic knives, or rip up cabbage etc for minestrone soup. That way they are really involved with what they are eating. Then I'd get them to help me put it into containers for the freezer, and they could draw the pattern for the label. So, pink & blue squiggles for tomato soup, green for minestrone. Then the next day they can choose what to eat from what they made. Tbh though, I wouldn't have any of this 'must have something different every day' - they eat what they're given at that age, or at least they did with me as I was a nasty mum :rotfl: