A stay at home mummy who wants to be a mfw - Yes I can and Yes I will!

I_want_a_baby

So to keep me focused -

Little things I have done today -
Did the TCB snap&save on my iceland receipt for the 50p cash back. THANKS LINZ!
Compiled a list of things to get when I nip to the shops this pm to maximise the TCB snap&save offers.
Entered the morrisons SNT competition to win £20k.
Entered Wilkinson 'tell us how we did' draw for £500 voucher
Entered the B&Q 'tell us how we did' draw - didn't win an Ipod but entered into draw to win £1000.
Joined the B&Q club to be entered into the £10k monthly draw & get offers etc
Entered into the two for one 'tell us how we did' draw to win £1k.

To do:
Use up salad & pitta breads for lunch
Homemade turkey & vegetable lasagne for tea (already made)
Chop up leftover onions & peppers to freeze.
Look for any printable vouchers or quidco check in's I can do.
Have another look for any surveys I have been emailed.
Look at swagbucks and see if there is anything I can redeem.

Stacey

linz

I'm not stalking you honest lol

Quidco also have a thing called Quicksnap, same sort of thing as snap and save but different offers. Theres another thread which has both offers combined on the grabbit board

I_want_a_baby

Ok so another quick update -

Just submitted my first quarter's MFiT-T3 challenge results:
Mortgage Start 12/12/12 £97500
Mortgage figure at 12/03/13 £96126
Reduction in amount owed £1374 :j

Overpaid by £415.60
Interest saved £692.49

I do have £675 put by ready to overpay but haven't included it as it hasn't actually been transfered yet. I am waiting for Halifax to introduce their online facility which before christmas they said would be ready in March.

Husband is fully on board with the OP'ing so hopefully we will have some larger figures to report in the coming years.

Applied for an evening job yesterday - should hear if I have an interview on Monday - only picking vegetables for a box scheme but it close by and gives up some extra £'s to OP if I get it. Part time work in evenings is VERY hard to come by in this town for some reason.

Council tax free month this month so transfered that along with about £20 of account tidies to the house savings account.

House savings needed 28.02.13-
£1500.00 Patio fund
£ 300.00 Carpet fund
£ 382.11 Help parents fund (amended fig to correct)
£2182.11 Total needed before can start OP'ing

£140.54 Amount saved so far

£2041.57 Amount needed 02.03.13

Absolutely desperate to get this saved up ASAP so I can start the real OP's.

Hoping to have a very low spend weekend. Will draw my cash out today for my months envelope system.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and I will be back to update soon.

Stacey

PetuliaGristle

Hi Stacey, I just saw your thread, congrats on all your saving so far. Sorry if this has been posted already but TCB are currently allowing you to choose payment in Tesco Clubcard points, potentially worth 3x or 4x if converted to reward vouchers. We use our points to pay RAC membership each year.

PetuliaGristle

P.S. Sorry, forgot to add that T's & C's say up to £50 in points, though £150-£200 in rewards worthwhile . HTH.

I_want_a_baby

Thanks petulia for the tip about TCB into tesco rewards - sounds fab! I will definately have a look into this :j

Well lots to update on!

The best news so far is that I have a job :T
I start Sunday evening and should be doing 3 evenings a week earning £75 a week.... guess where this money will be going

I am trying not to play with the MF calculator too much as I am well aware that things will crop up occassionally and my wages will be needed but it will certainly provide our MFW challenge a big boost!

Had a nsd Mon & Tues, yesterday I spent about £3 buying some lunch. Quite a few expensive things to get this week - nappies, baby wipes, dw tablets & loo rolls amongst them, we should stay in budget though.

Have not yet done our banks so no money update today but may try and do them this afternoon.

Must go lots to do but will be back with an update again very soon!

Stacey

I_want_a_baby

Hello,

Quick update from me!

Transfered 51.37 into 'parents fund' made up of £47 lottery win, £3.61 TCB & 79p save the change.

Amount still to save:
£190.20 Parents Fund
£300.00 Carpet
£60.00 Lino (underestimated)
£550.20.

Current Mortgage Balance £96126. Looking forward to getting into the £95's next month!

We are going to use the current house fund/OP balance of £1500 to get the patio done at the same time as the driveway as we think we will be able to save some money by getting the people who are doing it to combine costs for skip hire etc.
Although currently the cost will be £3500 combined we are hoping to try and get this reduced. Any saving made will be OP'd.

Daily Interest has decreased from £10.44 to £10.34 in the 5 months we have had it so far.

Combined with my income from my new shiny job I am hoping to get the balance to £91000 by the end of the year - this is very ambitious but I am going to put it on here and maybe someone can remind me at christmas so I can see how we did .

Hope everyone that reads this diary is ok, I tend to read lots of other diaries on my phone during the day so can't often reply very easily.

Keep up the hard work fellow MFWer's!

Stacey x

I_want_a_baby

Morning everyone,

Hope you are all out enjoying the rare sunshine .

Lots to update here:

Worked my two first shifts at the shiny new job - very hard work but will be worth it when I receive my first payslip in 3.5 years :eek:.

Am ahead of my MFiT-T3 challenge target for the first quarter and hopefully with my new wage I will be able to stay that way throughout the challenge.

Smaller things I have been doing:

• Using up what I have in the cupboards and staying out of the supermarkets.
• Reading the recipes/blog on the website 'agirlcalledjack', someone on a mfw diary suggested it and it has really made me think about how we can improve the cost and content of our meals. I will be trying out some of the recipes in the hope of reducing our food costs and eating healthier.
• Gave my meter readings to Scottish Power who are in the final stages of sorting my switch to them - As well as earning cashback I will save approx £100 a year and I am on a two year fixed rate with them to protect against price rises.
• Phoned the tax credit people to inform them of my new job - we will no longer be entitled to any money per month and will loose about £75pm but my new wage will be around £300pm maybe more so will still be worth doing.

I am off to rejig the budget as I would like to try and tweak the figures to make up for the loss of tax credits so that my whole wages can go towards the mortgage.

Lets see how I get on .

Stacey x

bbh30

good luck with the new job. I must check out the a girl called Jack blog, I have heard lots about it.

ztan

All sounding great Stacey! Awesome work with the new job, keep up the good work!