Mr and Mrs P are going mortgage free...

gallygirl

Can you use spreadsheets that already have formulae in them? If I have a computer I'd be happy to do for you and send back :rotfl:.

MrsP1983

Aw, thanks for the thought! It's more the not being able to copy formulae across cells easily that's the problem. It drives me nuts. I've just copied and pasted and changed cell letters to make it work for up to April 2014 (I think more accurately than it was before at least) but the idea of doing it for another 28 years' worth of records is killing me! (Though hopefully it won't be 28 years of course )

MrsP1983

Ok, I 'accidentally' stayed up last night until about 1am working on THE SPREADSHEET. I have discovered that I can copy and paste formulas, but only one cell at a time. Still, better than having to retype.

(Note to self: a laptop may be a worthwhile investment!)

SO, the grand news, which eventually helped me drift off into a blissful sleep, is that our 30 year mortgage, due to finish in 2042 when we are the grand old age of 59, can with a little bit of jiggery pokery and a whole lot of money saving be paid off by...May 2023, mere months before my 40th birthday! The idea that we could reduce it from 30 years to 11 is mind blowing to me. That's assuming, of course, that the interest rate stays the same as it is currently (4.89%), which it won't, as once we're out of our fix even if we stay with HSBC it will go down quite a lot, and of course it could go up in the future too. So best case scenario, interest rates stay super low for the next 11 years...:rotfl:

MrsP1983

MrsP1983 wrote: »

Some goals to hit before Christmas 2013:

1. OP max allowed of £1723.68
2. Save at least £400 per month
3. Add any underspends from the budget to savings
4. Have at least 15 NSDs a month
5. Use things up before replacing them, particularly toiletries and unread books

So far this month I've successfully ticked off no. 2 and am hoping for more by the end of the month. I've also had 3 NSDs so far and used up a bottle of perfume, a bottle of hair oil and a mini moisturiser!

MrsP1983

Some more number crunching, this time courtesy of my PocketMoney app which I LOVE. In order to meet my target of shaving £100 off the budget this month, and taking into account all upcoming direct debits, payments etc, I have...£78.27 to feed us on for the rest of the month. I did a £40 shop in Aldi this morning and we won't need anything until next Monday, when I reckon I'll be able to do a £25-30 shop as our store cupboards and freezer are pretty full. So in theory it's possible!

MrsP1983

If I can manage it, October will shape up like this:

£400 into savings at the start of the month
£437.18 made from selling things to go into savings at the end of the month (projected total)
£100 shaved off budget
£138.14 that wasn't accounted for and I'm determined not to touch

= £1075.32 saved. I hope.

MrsP1983

I know it's incredibly dull, but I'm feeling proud so I'll share: all Christmas presents are now sorted! I also snuck a packet of Christmas stollen into the Aldi shop on Monday, and plan to get something small (that will last) each week, so I don't end up panic buying loads of stuff on Christmas Eve. We have masses of decorations from previous years, I bought loads of cards last January and I've finished buying/making presents. We're having both families round on Christmas Day, but the only big thing left to buy now is the meat, so hopefully this will be a fun but frugal Christmas!

MrsP1983

Boots had a points offer today where if you spent £50 you got £12 worth of points, so I went in and bought enough toothpaste, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and shaving cream to last at least 6 months I reckon-all on 3 for 2s or buy one get one free too! Am quite pleased. My toiletries budget is £25 a month, and I'd already used about £8 of this month's so this means I've used all of October's, all of November's and a little bit of December's, but I don't think I'll then actually need to use any more until at least March, so long term I think it'll be a saving.

MrsP1983

I've decided to pop one thing for Christmas into the Aldi trolley each week, whether it's a bottle of wine or a packet of biscuits etc, so that when we get to December I don't end up panicking and spending a fortune on 'extras' before the relatives arrive. I need to keep an eye on it so I don't end up with excess stuff though.

Really enjoying lurking on and reading other people's diaries. Our own savings seem tiny compared to some of the overpayments being made, but it's all good inspiration!

Mr Pie is much more on board now, which is good. He was saying the other day that he doesn't feel like we've cut down our food budget at all, when in fact it's halved!:T

LauraWxx

MrsP you sound like you are really focused!
I love Aldi, I have one just around the corner from me and find them fantastic, our weekly food shop is around £30-£40 which I dont think is too bad. I have never used mysupermarket to compare what it would be elsewhere...do you have to type in everything you bought? I think it would def be worth a go and would motivate me to keep going to Aldi!

The biggest thing that i notice is there lemonade, I used to be a massive PEpsi max fan but even when on offer at £1 a bottle it mounts up, now I have converted to the Aldi Essentials Diet Lemonade which is lovely and only 17p a bottle!! only problem is carrying is - i live in walking distance yet often buy soo much my arms are about to drop off when home!!!

Your savings are coming on great and it is fab that you have the opportunity to earn extra money! Keep it up!!

The xmas buy and thing a week is also an idea I use, more for presents than anything else. I am buying a present a week until xmas, then giving the bf the bill for half just before xmas and his pay off to me will then buy his present!! I use morrisons for my top up shops (any bits I cant get at aldi) and have been doing there savers stamps so am up to around £120 with them...may just cash them in though!!

anyway, sorry for rambling on your thread! Just wanted to say keep up the good work!!!