HappyCamel's MFW while SAHM journey

museumworker

p.s. another vote for L!dl - their muesli is as good if not better than ones twice the price in Waitrose anyway!

And if you're breastfeeding, the weight will come off pretty quickly, especially with an older one to run around after! 3 months on and I'm only 6 pound heavier than pre-pregnancy, am sure that'll come off in due course.

happycamel_2

So I'm full of stuff I want to do but have no time to implement at the moment!

It's hard to do a detailed budget when my parents are living with us all week to look after DD but won't be doing so once I finish work. I guess the grocery bill will almost halve and I can then reduce it further by hitting the German supermarkets and doing more home cooking.

I need to sort out our utility bills. NPower increased our dd by 25% even though they owe us money and we've lost our loyalty bonus for staying with them for a year after our house move so now I need to shop around and maybe fix.

We are pretty much done with the big purchases needed for dc2 and I don't know of any more big purchases so our budget should settle down. I need to finish getting Christmas presents because there will be no chance for shopping with a tiny baby. Again, I really need to wait until I stop working at the end of October because I should then have a month at home to get all this sort of stuff done but I'm impatient. Actually, I should probably add writing Christmas cards to the list too then I can add dc2's name if we can ever agree on what it will be (MAJOR sore point right now) I've picked the names I like, DH doesn't agree but doesn't have any better suggestions so now it's stalemate.

I'm trying to be sensible with spending but we don't do much that's extra anyway. DH is getting an iPhone 5 next week but I can't complain because the whole 2 year contract cost is less than his last bonus and he really doesn't have many treats. I got him new pyjamas for his birthday so this is his "proper" birthday present really.

I'm desperate to do more OPing and we do have the money in savings but I agreed with DH that we'd put £40k in the offset and I need to remember that my income will drop. I hate all this waiting. I need to remember that we owe more than £260k so even if I wiped our savings accounts completely we'd still have more than £200k left, it's a marathon not a sprint, but I'm impatient at the best of times!

happycamel_2

I'm on annual leave today and only have 9 days, spread over 3 weeks until I stop work entirely. Eeek!

I was very MSE yesterday and switched utilities to First Utility. We were with Npower who, despite us being in credit, wanted to up the DD by 25%. I got an extra £100 from them for staying loyal for a year after we moved but that's expired now and instead of going from £100 to £125 pm we will be dropping to £96 and I'll get the credit balance back. All this will be going in the OP pot.

I recently saved £300 by switching DH's car insurer and that is going in the pot too.

I had a long chat with DH last night, he knows I need projects and goals so we've agreed it's now his job to earn money and mine to save it. Neither of us wants to be finishing the mortgage aged 60 and we hope to make one more house move yet. I have to say the OP calculator made all the difference in persuading him :money:

happycamel_2

Yesterday wasn't so brilliant for money saving after all. We have family staying this weekend so I hit Costco to the tune of £180! At least buying in bulk should save in the long run and I have to feed 7 if us the weekend so it was never going to be cheap. I'm making everything from scratch.

I just need to call Santander to see if they applied the OP to the higher interest rate and reduced the term rather than the payment.

Today and tomorrow should be NSDs but that isn't saying much because it's all due to how much we have in the house already!

happycamel_2

So we had a NS weekend because I stocked up on Friday for having family over. I've been a good girl today and brought in leftovers for lunch so today should be an NSD too.

DH has had the details of his bonus share issue for October and January which looks good. Now we're having a (good natured) battle because he wants to keep it in USD to fund holidays/emigration and I want it to pay off the mortgage then we get buy USD for holidays/emigration as when they actually occur. The thing is, he could be right, if the exchange rate moves the way he wants it to but I reckon a 4.99% sure thing saving is preferable!

happycamel_2

NSD again today, I was tempted to buy a drink at lunch time but contented myself with the watercooler and the fact I don't want to break my NSD run.

I had a very low paying ISA with just over £800 in it so I've emptied it, topped it up to £1000 and overpaid the mortgage, knocking off 8 months and £3k in interest.

That's got me to £6k this year (actually this month, but now I need to start saving for Christmas). If I overpay the loan by 6k a year we'll knock off more than 10 years. It's an ambitious target given my salary is going to drop to nothing but a good start now and then the move to offset will all help. I just need to get this 4.99% loan as low as possible before it comes off fix the year after next.

happycamel_2

I'm going to fail on the NSD front today, I've got my lunch but I'm out of snacks to take to work and at 7 months pregnant I *need* snacks!

I've just found out that Santander pays 1% cashback on mortgage repayments (with a Sant' mortgage), which we have. The 123 account looks like it'll be a really good deal for us as we'll get £10 a month just for the mortgage. We're currently with Natwest Gold (£13 a month fee) which was worth it when we were using lots of the benefits and the branch was really convenient.

It'll be cheaper to insure DH's iphone privately and switch everything over then all the cashback can go in the OP pot. It'll make it easier to move money between the offset and the c/a once I get that set up too.

happycamel_2

Update, I can get £55 cash back from Quidco on the 123 account. Now even DH (who hates change) is pro moving accounts. I'm working tomorrow but on leave on Friday so I'll apply then.

I'll also need to call Sant and ask them to apply the £1k overpayment correctly. Last time they wanted to reduce the payment rather than the term.

happycamel_2

I've just had three lovely days at home with dd. we haven't been out and they've all been NSDs except for a tiny bit of internet shopping by DH. As far as I know he just bought some batteries for some of DD's toys.

We're having an extra window put in to one of the bedrooms. We got the planning permission months ago but have struggled to get a builder willing to do the work, apparently they are all too busy. We had one quite that was higher than I wanted and the couldn't be done until January. Yesterday we got a second quote which is £1k cheaper and he can do the work this year. Let's hope it isn't too good to be true!

I've got 5 days left at work now, three this week and two the next. I'm looking forward to getting it all over with now. This week is going to be really stressful but I guess it'll be over before I know it.

DH and I have discussed Christmas, neither of us want much so we've agreed on token presents and to get a nice villa when we go to the States next year. We still need to get sorted for everyone else though, before the new baby puts in an appearance in early December.

happycamel_2

Not quite an NSD day today, I bought a drink and a snack at work and refuelled the car on the way home, the latter is incredibly expensive because I have an ancient X5 with a 3 litre petrol engine.

On the upside, a colleague brought in lunch for the whole team and I have left over spag bol to take in tomorrow.

Santander wrote following the last OP to confirm the following balances:
Loan 1, £161650, 3.39%, term 28 yrs 8mo
Loan 2, £101920, 4.99%, term 25 yrs 10mo

I'd like to get loan 2 under 100k before the end of the year...