MFW Diary.....before moving in!!!

LauraWxx

in fact now i am thinking about i have done far more mfw things recently that originally thought!

Went shopping at morries on sunday afternoon....managed not to get trolley rage :A but did pick up a large piece of cod and a large piece of haddock (whoopsied) for a total of £1.18. :j
Then got a block of cheese for 19p. The lady also offered me some pack of salmon (prob about 2 big peices in each pack) that she was just about to reduce to 99p ... gutted i didnt take them but had already run out the que once and thought i was going to get ousted for getting them aswell!!

Next, went via local shopping park on way home last night and bought two b-day pressies for a lot less than what i would normally spend.

Total £25 for both (kids) which bf will give me half of. One birthday isn't till mid September but it is a week and half after i have moved...so knowing me i will end up buying something expensive if left till last min!

petrol always being bought at Tesco to get clubcard points (will get Tesco credit card once moved and pay off in full every month for petrol only) but for now cash and normal points will do me!!
also aiming to 50mpg out of car....not always possible!!

will keep thinking up ways to make my money go further...any tips appreciated!! :D

quintwins

Your doing really well just think how quickly your total will go down once your in and have proper motivation of see a mortgage total go down

I love ikea but i also wanted to suggest you asked for a few bits on freecycle and kept and eye on ebay, everything doesn't have to match aslong as it looks nice and works.

LauraWxx

Thanks quintwins....cant wait to get in and have a good crack at it!!

Realised that as savings accounts dont show on credit file then i figured i was pretty safe opening a savings account - then can hopefully get it all set up and linked to my current account by the time of moving in. So opened a Santander easy access acount as they are currently paying 3.2%. Once settled in and in to the swing of things i like the look of First Directs regular saver and will get my isa in before the end of year, however at the moment i need to be able access the money easily enough.

Missing cashback claim logged on tcb and added to my account.
Been checking out some other items i can get cashback on, and will also do both the netflix and love film free trials through tcb when i move in. I think if i did it at the moment i would get confused with which dates to cancel by etc etc as there is so much going on at the moment!

Hope all are well xx

LauraWxx

VO survey done yesterday afternoon and a couple of quidco check ins on the way to work.:A

Dinner will be whoopsied fish made into fish pie ...mmmmm :A

Petrol in last night at Mr T redeeming cc points. :A

Rang orange and put a block on my phone to not allow me to send photo messages....i am terrible for sending cute pics of my bf's neices to either there mom or the other aunty etc...bill is creeping up (and already expensive as an !phone). That should see a £10pm reduction.

Also been on to orange about another contract I have that they were meant to reduce to £10 pm 2 months ago but not taken effect, so that is £28 credited to my account which will mean the next 2.8months bills are paid!:A

Stopped at Mr T on the way to work and spent almost £3 on pop and chocolate :mad:

really need to ensure i buy enough supplies at the weekend to see me through to the next big food shops and curb these morning stop offs....Mr T expresses are my weakness!!!

Hope all are well! :beer:

LauraWxx

Not a very good spend evening / morning ... but all came out of my weekly 'spends' money so not the end of the world.

BF decided to start diy'ing on his kitchen last night which meant couldn't use cooker and make the whoopsied fish pie i had planned on, and instead HAD:D to have takeaway!! Decided on chippy though as at least that is cheaper than others....less than a fiver for the both of us so not too bad.

Stopped again at Mr T Express this morning.....really need to get out of this habit as these little costs add up.... don't drink tea or coffee and my morning pepsi max seems to be my fix. Normally hit B&M's at a weekend for there cans which are about 25p each, but didnt last weekend so have been paying £2 for 2 small bottles the last few days :eek:.

So £35 left in my purse to last until Wednesday...i calculate my money into a weekly spend amount, out of which has to come petrol, food shopping and anything else i want. Do not need too much food shopping this week so hopefully should have quite a cheapy weekend and can save some of the cash back as I desperatly need my hair cutting!!

Need to go to town on sunday to pick up a few bits (cheaper in town and free parking on sunday!) so whilst i am there i will take a walk around and try to get as many quidco check ins as possible.

Just started a VO survey but no sound on this computer so no luck, will have to see if still valid by the time i get home and use laptop (which does have sound!).

Have a great weekend all xx:beer:

Probi

LauraWxx wrote: »

Good luck to you then aswell Probi!!!
When do you move in?
I am on the countdown now to moving in....4 weeks and 6 days!!

I have been giving the OP v Saving to clear the first buy loan some serious thought...thank you Becky for making me think a little more in depth about this.

Basically the decision I have come to is....drumrolll please!!......SAVING to clear the First Buy scheme 20% loan.

The plan is to be gifted some money within the next few years which would more than clear this loan and provide a hefty deposit for a family and long term home (whilst keeping and renting the flat out). However this money will be coming as the result of a family members house selling and whilst it is on the market and there is a certain amount of commitment to getting it sold, it is nearing the half million pound price mark and not much in that region seems to be shifting round my way.

So my plan is to save save save and save some more. Then should the house not sell for whatever reason, I will hopefully be in a position that i can make a serious dent in the first buy loan when the time comes that i want to move on. From my workings I could save in the region of £10-£15k in the next 2-3 years (depending on boyfriend moving in and splitting bills, bonuses, expected pay rises etc) so could well be less than that. This would mean then if the house hasn't sold, when we outgrow the flat (expect around 2-3 years) and want to rent it out, i will be able to clear most of the first buy 20% and have paid off a bit (although i no not a lot) of the mortgage. I would then have to juggle the figures a bit because i cant rent it out whist any first buy outstanding.

If the house does sell then great and I can start drip feeding the savings into over paying the mortgage.

So yep, that is my plan!!!
!

Hey,

I don't move in until december so a bit more waiting than you!

My thoughts on the first buy scheme were to overpay the mortgage as much as possible then when it came to the end of the 5 years, depending on interest rates etc then re-mortgage to cover the 20% or just start paying it off separately.

I guess I could be looking at it wrong but I kind of see it as 20% of my mortgage is interest free for the next 5 years so better off paying the interest bearing sum.

Or have I got that completely wrong?

Bet you can't wait to move in, I'm bored of waiting already!!

LauraWxx

Yep i am definitely on the countdown....3 weeks 4 days i think to completion and 4 weeks tomorrow to actually move in!!

I think if i was planning on staying long term i think I would be doing exactly the same as you. However i plan to clear the firstbuy in a few years and then hopefully rent the flat out which is why i am trying to save to clear that first because I cant rent it out with the first buy still owing!!

Not sure about remortgaging to include the first buy....although the contracts i have received for First buy show it to be paid at a lower interest rate (like 1.5%ish) in the first few years and therefore might be worth not combining with mortgage and paying it at the lower %...but would check your contract!!

LauraWxx

a bit of a half and half mfw weekend.

Had 4 steak pies from the bakery section whoopsied for about 80p on friday night. Straight into the freezer and will do with oven chips and gravy one night (maybe once lost a few pounds as not the most healthy tea!

Trip to the hairdressers saturday which left me with less hair and less money than planned :eek::eek:

Did have a walk around town and collect a few quidco checkins :A

And bought a couple of xmas presents from the £ shop :A

Managed to have a fairly restrained rest of the day money wise, a few drinks when out but only diet coke so no real spends.

Kitchen out of action still so another takeaway for tea...again chippy as so cheap but really really need to get back on track with diet...have put on about 2 stone since my birthday last october .

Sunday - didnt feel too well so didnt really move off sofa all day long which meant no spends...although does mean i need to do the food shopping tonight on the way home from work...hopefully a few whoopsied items will be available!

Curry cooked in slow cooker overnight, only got to stir in some yoghurt when home and that will be done. :A

Still on the countdown for moving in, 3 weeks tomorrow we complete, 3 weeks on saturday is the move!


GOT GOT GOT to put some stuff on ebay this weekend coming, dont really have much on so no excuse not to, only have spin class and babysitting planned this weekend so hopefully minimal spend again!


Have done a fair bit of reading of the MFW diaries, i like to pick one and then read it from the start, takes quite a while but nice to see how people get a long with them. So far have read Tilly's and Newgirl's which were both a great read and have picked up lots of tips. Now on to find my next one to read!!

Hope all had a great weekend!:)

LauraWxx

Nice evening last night....we had the curry that i had cooked in the slow cooker on Sunday night ... does anyone else prefer curry that has been cooked, left to go cold and then reheated??!! Maybe just me but anyway it was delicious.

Morrisons shop was not too bad...just under £40 although my lovely mother has offered to pay for a few weeks food shopping for me before I move into the flat! :D

Bought enought food and pop at morrisons to hopefully ensure no naughty stop offs at Mr T Express in a morning!

Currently searching on ebay for dining table / in particular the chairs i want! Have budgeted £250 for dining table and chairs, not a lot i know but only need a small ish one. Have seen a lovely table in Ikea for £130 but the chairs that I really like are £65 each :eek::(.

So have found 2 lots of them eBay, one is just the 4 chairs (Currently standing at £58quid ish and ending tomorrow) and the other is a BIN at £190 but includes a table as well...which wouldn't be my first choice but would do!

Decided I will bid up to the budget for the chairs minus the table cost ie £250 - 130 = Max bid £120...it will include a round trip to manchester to collect but that wont be too bad if i get the chairs I want at half price!

Not much planned for this evening...gym but membership so that is no cash cost...no money in purse and cant forsee me needing any until tomorrow. I draw out money weekly on a wednesday. Will draw a little less tomorrow and use some of what is left in the bank to make a payment towards Credit Card, currently on £90 but set to clear in full every month. Dont want to take that hit all at once so will try to chip it away the next few weeks before the payment is taken.

3 weeks today we will complete and the flat will be mine :j:j:j

LauraWxx

ohh meant to say...another 2 saving stamps bought for Morries so am at about 92£ now....really pleased I have kept this up this year...previous years I have forgoton about it and only started October time!!!

looks like it will be a good xmas in the Lauraw house!!