Go Lily Go - Paying off the mortgage

lilyp

Hello. Haven't posted for ages and thought I would write a catch up post.

Now 29 weeks pregnant and really counting down to finishing work at the end of November. As of Monday I'm doing 4 days a week rather than 5 which should be a big help as I am on my feet all day and it's getting a bit of a struggle.

Financially we have been shockingly slack and not very organised. This has been mostly due to me having bad sickness through most of the pregnancy and as I am the only one who bothers with such matters it's all fallen by the wayside.

We have however spent some serious money on the house getting it ready for little one, bought a new car and are looking at new beds, fridge freezers etc. feels very wrong for thousands to be leaving the bank account but parents have chipped in for a lot and our theory is that it's all stuff we know we are going to need soon so may get it all sorted now while we have the time.

Now I'm feeling a bit better I have overhauled the finances looking at how we can survive on maternity allowances. Santander refused to give me an account but bf was fine so he has opened one and I am putting all our savings in there etc.

As for the mortgages we have done pretty well with mortgage 1 this year getting it down to 41k with op of £150 a month. Have had to reduce this to £50 now but I am hoping to still send a few pennies it's way every now and again. I haven't forgotten my goal to reduce this mortgage significantly. Bf would rather try to combine both on a longer term to give us more monthly money but I am standing firm at the moment as mortgage 1 is on such a good deal.

So that's it :j have been catching up on some of your diaries and realised how much I've missed this place and the motivation it gives. Xx

andrea_louise

Yay! Congratulations Lily! Not long to go now! Been thinking about you and missed your postings, but you have a fab excuse. If its the Santander 123 account bf has, remember they pay 3% interest on balances over 3k so it's a good place to stash the op pot!

Did your quidco payment come through ok!

Don't leave it so long to post next time!

Not much to report here, have funds to clear mortgage, single storey extension going on, got a third sheltie 7 weeks ago, another rescue, and have a 4th coming in as a foster on Monday. Hopefully a lovely home for him Wednesday in Northumberland. Yes I've got involved in rescuing my beloved breed of dog!

andrea_louise

If Mortgage 1 is such a good deal, why not throw ops at number 2??

lilyp

Hey Andie. :j

You have funds to clear mortgage. That's awesome! Congrats. Loving the Sheltie rescue work - am a big believer in never buying an animal. Even if you want a particular breed there's always one needing a home somewhere.

Yes that's the plan. All of our ( or should I say my) savings can go into Santander and I have drawn up a plan that bf has agreed with. We are going to have no play money really for a while but that's ok. We can cope.

Mortgage 2 can't be overpayed for 2 more years so as mortgage 1 is a tracker I may as well get it down as much as I can now and then turn attentions to mortgage 2 when the time is up.

I think I need to get our savings up to 10k before I can put extra money elsewhere (we are currently close to 5k). I have been so frugal with baby stuff - all the big stuff is second hand much to our parents horror. At one point my mil was trying go buy an £800 cot! We have been given enough clothes to last this baby until she's 18 months (they are not certain it's a girl so fingers crossed as if it's a boy I have been given a ton of pink) I still need bottles and nappies and stuff like that. Really need to start buying as it's only really 10 weeks to go now. Eek!

andrea_louise

Well done on getting the savings up! Keep an eye on the grabbit board, there are always glitches being posted on nappies and wipes! Boots/tesco/mothercare can't seem to correctly do multi buys on a regular basis! Amazon good for wipes, and wilko's. But don't overbuy on the nappies, otherwise if you have a big baby, you end up with packs of newborn ones you can't use! Also when maternity leave starts, if you have a tesco nearby, check out the tesco misprices thread. It ekes out the maternity pay, if you get legs of lamb or beef free of charge!

lilyp

Thanks for the tips. Will have a lookey. I can't wait to be a stay at home housewife who can play with spreadsheets and coupons all day

MIL has just given bf the money to buy an iPad. We already have one but I had been requesting a cheap tablet for internet surfing when up with baby. Have just realised that new iPad model is out. If he comes home with one of those I'm going to hit the roof.

Our food budgeting is going really well. We have a fruit and veg box delivered weekly and plan a weeks meals around it using a little meat to keep bf happy. Our cat has agreed to eat Felix every other day to keep costs down. We are certainly not slumming it but being cautious and trying not to waste anything.

And I have less than 3 weeks left of my horrible job! Hurrah!!!!

lilyp

So guess what entered our house tonight :mad: a brand new iPad air. He wouldn't even wait a few days to get it a bit cheaper online. The only good thing is that it means he has agreed to not ask for money for a new playstation for Christmas. You may remember he bought a playstation at the beginning of the year after claiming he had no money

He says I don't get technology and I agree its not really my thing but thank goodness. Imagine if we both thought it was essential to own the latest apple gadget :eek: I am happy with a cracked old iPhone 1 on a payg sim. He always has the latest model. His only reason for upgrading to a new playstation is there will be some games that won't be available on the old one. But it's hundreds of pounds each time.

Yes I'm a moaning Minnie but hey I'm pregnant and up at 4.30 am with heartburn. I'm allowed :rotfl:

lilyp

Lovely and rare day off together. We have so much to get done in 10 weeks for this baby so we have been trying to be productive. Bf has been a bit of a star and finally started on the nursery. Our spare room has been the official dumping ground for too long and he has started clearing it out and taking down shelves etc. As I am a bit far gone to be partaking in manual labour I have been allowed a happy afternoon setting up the new Santander account and filling in spreadsheets. It is such a pain it being in bfs name as I need to keep borrowing his phone for access codes etc but at least we are on our way.

Have also set up some spreadsheets to keep record of our weekly shopping expenditure. We have spent £60 this week on food, toiletries and cat food but we seem well stocked now with essentials. I am so glad we have started with a veg box again. We had to stop ours when I was first pregnant as I could keep vegetables down at all. Seeing all the pre packed rotting veg in the supermarkets just doesn't appeal but a lovely box of yummy organic seasonal produce makes me want to cook properly again. I swear it doesn't cost us any extra and we are much more careful with waste. I fact I have been tracking our food waste for the last 2 weeks and the only thing we have thrown out is a worse for wear carrot and half a bag of parsley. Much better than normal. :j

Roast chicken tonight with lots of veg. I am usually veggie but am eating a little bit of meat now and again at the moment. I won't have much hopefully leaving lots of leftovers to be made into lunches, soup and dinners over the week for bf and the cat.

andrea_louise

lilyp wrote: »

So guess what entered our house tonight :mad: a brand new iPad air.

:eek::eek::eek: I would have hit the roof!:mad:

Sorry Lily, it's going to be a quick response today, drove to West Yorkshire today to pick up a foster doggie, it's not easy with 4, thank goodness he's off to his new home in Northumberland tomorrow! Most satisfying job ever though, even though its unpaid!

SmlSave

He says I don't get technology and I agree its not really my thing but thank goodness. Imagine if we both thought it was essential to own the latest apple gadget :eek:

You and your Bf sound just like me and DH He's already been told no gadgets next year when I'm on mat leave.

Well done on getting lots of second hand baby stuff. Not long until your LO arrives!