Goodbye Mortgage - the beginning of the end!

Pearla*Merle

Ooh, exciting times! Hope all goes well xx

lilmissmup

Hope baby is here soon!

lilmissmup

Hope all is well with you and baby I know how hard it is to post ha ha

Beckyy

Thank you lilmissmup! I hope you're well.

So, 2017 is here!

The last few months we didn't manage OPs, partly due to expensive months but mainly down to lack of time to follow finances and do things after baby arrived.

I've signed up to MFW 2017 with a goal of £3000. That has manly been plucked out of the air, because I just scarped that this year. However it may have to change as I'm unsure what returning to work PT/childcare costs and our mortgage fix ending will mean.

Meantime, I'm going to work out some goals for this year. Not just financial but general household things which I'd like to work towards/keep up...

lilmissmup

Good luck. 2.5 years on from having my baby I am still struggling to keep a track!!! :rotfl:

Beckyy

I'm still using baby brain as an excuse, I'm hoping that one's got some mileage left yet :rotfl: I hope you and little one are well?

I'm currently looking at childcare for when I return to work, the waiting lists are insane and our choices are already limited by location so it's highly unlikely there will be any competitions based on price!

At the moment I need to cut back on our energy usage (our poor tumble dryer doesn't know what's happened the last few months) and also change our supplier again. Once that's done I'll sort out the rest of my goals for the next few months/year!

lilmissmup

Maddie goes to nursery just 2 mornings a week and its so expensive, but i fell in love with the expensive one!

Beckyy

I've finally got round to posting! I hope Millie enjoys nursery lilmissmup? We'll be starting soon :O

I've completed a few things from my big to do list.

- Arranged childcare for my return to work
- Changed our broadband/phone provider
- Chosen our follow on product for when our mortgage rate ends soon
- Changed our electricity tariff

I was contemplating starting a new diary but will plod along with this one for now... I don't think I do enough posts to warrant a new one!

My imminent return to work is looming, I'm disappointed at the loss of income we will have after my reduced hours and childcare costs but it's no surprise and I can't complain. It will be a good challenge to still try and OP as we are down basically all the money we were saving/OPing.

New goals:

- Complete a monthly meal plan (big challenge for me, I usually just do a week at a time!)
- Sell the rest of our too-small baby clothes and items.
- Look into childcare voucher scheme properly.
- Work out a new OP plan

I hope everyone is doing well!

Beckyy

My posts are almost non existent lately and I still haven't completed my to do list. Oh dear!

My return to work is getting closer and our finances will be totally different then with a considerable childcare bill and my reduced wage. I'm still not certain if exact figures until I sort the childcare voucher scheme but it will certainly impact on savings and OPs. I'm hoping I will still be able to make this years target but it will take a lot of work!

Beckyy

Just passed the £12,000 mark for total OPs!

They've ground to almost a halt recently but I will keep them up, and hopefully they'll creep back up again as our £3000 goal this year isn't looking likely at the moment. There are quite a few things I'm splitting any leftover money between and with childcare and a reduced wage it's not what it used to be!

I'm using quite a few more apps like receipt scanners and quizzes to earn vouchers or £, very small amounts but easy to do, hopefully they'll pay for presents through the year.

I hope everyone is getting on well!