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

I_want_a_baby

Goodness me! I go away for a day and look what greets me on return!!!:D:):D

Muser1 well done on setting up the online details - let the OP'ing commence!!:j

Al1x - thanks for reading and leaving a comment - I started a diary and my aim from the start was to save £50 a month towards a house - I have been simply astonished by what I have achieved. I really wouldn't think it would have been possible on one income - especially with bills rising and the fact that our budget left £0 for ad hoc OP's! Good luck and I hope you exceed your goals too!

Aril - Thank you for your comment too - I always love hearing from MF people - Can't wait to drop my W from my MFW title!
Its also exciting to hear someone who has crossed the finish line and done so using the same methods - Just confirms to me that we WILL get there! I hadn't heard of that site so thanks for the tip I will have a look at it as soon as I can. Thanks.

So my update:

Went to Lidl and got a few essentials and some biccies for us to share with visiting friends. Decided as the days my money had to last were reducing I would round down the purse balance to £7 so put £4.20 into the tin. Then paid a further £1 as a donation to nursery for an activity. Still no movement in bank balance - actually starting to get concerned :rotfl:.

New total £116.49 + £29.50 cash tin = £145.99.
£145.99/£319.61 (£173.62 to go for this months ambitious target!)

So new balances are:
£6.00 Purse balance for this week (to last 2 days).
£30.00 In purse for the following week until payday (9 days)
(Fuel money currently in bank - budget £40).

All of the £116.49 saved this month has now been sent to & received into the mortgage account.

New Mortgage Balance £95,634.40.:T

Ebay update - 2nd batch doing well.
Ending Saturday - 9 Items / 3 Watchers / £0.00 Bids.
Ending Sunday - 4 Items / 124 Watchers / £25.00 Bids.

Really good being able to log in and see the mortgage balance. Definately going to help me stay focused!

Just want to say a big thankyou to everyone for your help & support since i have been keeping a diary. I started my diary in July last year, less than a year ago and what I have achieved in that time has been fantastic. I really appreciate your tips, comments, thanks & guidence.

Lovely weekend to come - 3 nights of no working, quick trip around the charity shops, coffee out with best friend, night out with hubby **just us**, BTCC on Sunday & visiting family. Simple, happy, maybe not exactly frugal but hey ho, every spend = a TillyTidy!

Happy Friday everyone, hope your MFW plans are going well.

Thoughts to all those involved & affected in the Boston situation. Huge respect and admiration to those keeping the place safe and putting the safety of the public before their own.

Stacey x

I_want_a_baby

Happy Monday everyone!!

Days are creeping by and gradually starting to get closer to payday!

Had a few spends over the weekend although nothing too much and mostly things we needed.

£16.00 cash in purse left now to last until payday (8 days).
All other budgets gone now.

I took £10 out of the tin for my personal spends so I TRF'd it from my online spends to pending savings to refund it.
There has also been £2.08 trf'd from excess mobile phone budget to pending savings.
Overall these two transactions represent just the £2.08 increase in savings.
The £12.08 that was in the pending savings acc was sent over to the mortgage today.

New total £128.57 + £19.50 cash tin = £148.07.
£148.07/£319.61 (£171.54 to go for this months ambitious target! Really don't think I will make this target as a £70 refund I was expecting from energy company turned into a £1 debit balance and also we have had a few extra spends this month)

New Mortgage Balance £95,634.40 - 12.08 = £95,622.32.

Ebay update - All Ended Now.
Ending Saturday - 9 Items / 3 Watchers / £1.00 Bid.:rotfl:
Ending Sunday - 4 Items / 124 Watchers / £61.00 Bid:T.

Planted the very first things on the veg plot yesterday - Potatoes from a bag reduced down to 50p :money:. Pictures to go on my blog very shortly.

Decided to up our personal spends from next month as hubby got a 3.5% payrise which was very unexpected!! We both currently have no money to do hobbies and want to make sure we are still having fun whilst paying off the big M!

Hoping to put the ebay money into the pot (as and when things are collected), but other than that OP's are going to be minimal until payday I think.

Hope all is well with everyone else, working tonight but will try & read a few diaries this week.

Stacey x

I_want_a_baby

£30 into the tin from an ebay sale!
Transferred this and £10 from the cash tin saved to the mortgage as an official overpayment today

New total £168.57 + £9.50 cash tin = £178.07.
£178.07/£319.61 (£141.54 to go for this months ambitious target!

Of the £178.07 - the whole £168.57 has been officially op'd and the £9.50 remains in the cash tin.

Was a NSD yesterday and looks like another today.

All going well, really nice to see the real mortgage balance reducing.

Stacey x

I_want_a_baby

£16 into the tin from an ebay sale!
Also had £5.50 which was a refund from my mum, so I ahve transferred the total £21.50 to the mortgage as an official overpayment today This knocked another month off the term of the mortgage - 4 months less that it would have been now!

New total £190.07 + £9.50 cash tin = £199.57
£199.57/£319.61 (£120.04 to go for this months ambitious target!

Of the £190.07 - the whole £190.07 has been officially op'd and the £9.50 remains in the cash tin.

Third NSD in a row :T.

Stacey x

TwinnyD

4 months knocked off already, that's great going :T

shirlgirl2004

That's a really good rate of progress knocking 4 months off in what about 7 months?

I_want_a_baby

Thankyou TwinnyD & Shirlgirl!

Your comments keep me going and keep me on the straight and narrow when I am loosing focus!! Yes we have knocked 4 months off in the 6 months we have paid x

Been paid and after paying other bills and covering a few expenses to come this month I was left with £36.42 for OP'ing (better than nothing I suppose).

That was sent over to the mortgage account a moment ago bringing the totals to:

New total £226.49 + £9.50 cash tin = £235.99
£235.99/£319.61 (£83.62 to go for this months ambitious target! Getting closer but only 4 days left!!)

Of the £235.99 - the whole £226.49 has been officially op'd and the £9.50 remains in the cash tin.

Off now to update my signature - very please with my progress this month really didn't think I would make it over £200 after I realised my wages would go on bills and the energy rebate was no more. Really want to try and push and find that other £83.62 now but that may be a push too far!

Happy friday everyone x

Stacey

Beckyy

Well done Stacey, hope you're having a good weekend

I_want_a_baby

Thankyou Beckyy - hope that you had a good weekend too?

Well we all suddenly came down with a sickness bug yesterday afternoon. Son was ok, husband and littlest one were awfully ill and I was being ill too. I feel worse this morning which is delightful as I have the little ones! This is when being a stay at home mum isnt quite as good!

So hubby has now been paid as well so I can give my final report:

£12.97 was the balance left in the food account.
£35.80 was the balance left in our normal budget.
£98.47 was the balance of hubby's payrise & tax code change.
£147.24 Total to be saved.

New total £373.73 + £9.50 cash tin = £383.23
£383.23/£319.61 (£63.62 OVER MY VERY AMBITIOUS TARGET!) :T:beer::j
Of the £383.23 - the whole £383.23 has been officially op'd!!

Wow a huge effort and I cannot believe I exceeded the target!

Just had a look at the super dooper spreadsheet and...
£902.73 is the total overpaid so far
£1610.58 is the total interest saved.
5 is now the number of months early the term will finish
£7.09 is the amount the monthly interest has reduced by since the initial payment (6 months ago!).

The new mortgage balance is £95,367.66 (would have been £96350.99)

So very pleased with my progress!! May is also the month that our ISA's mature, this means I will be able to access the overpayment savings (see signature) and actually overpay this!! YEY!!

As of tomorrow I am going to start monitoring my savings weekly - I am going to keep track on a spreadsheet. I am going to do this mon-sun and in the format of:
Online sealed tin
Cash sealed tin
Total sealed tin
Then I am going to actually OP the total figure each week.
I think it will be really interesting to keep track of what I am saving/OP'ing weekly and at the end of the year see what has been achieved! I will not be counting the ISA savings as this is previous months savings although of course I will let you know when they are sent over and what difference it has made!

Hope you are all doing well & making OP'ing progress!

A very happy Stacey x

CathT

Wow well done Stacey, you will be mortgage free in no time at all. I have followed your journey from the beginning and you have achieved fantastic things in such a short space of time.

I could do with your skills to simplify my spending pots and accounts. Having me on monthly pay and DH on weekly doesn't half confuse me!