Going to get rid of my mortgage!

QB_Wolf

You know what they say "A man can't have too many pairs of shoes".

I think it was about men anyway!!

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Pay day yesterday, hoorah! Transferred £1100 to my new nationwide flexdirect (5% interest) so thats for my savings for moving expenses. Hoping to build this up as much as possible.
Im feeling quite stressed today about lots of situations that are well beyond my control, new schools for my kids, solicitors not replying to my emails, people working in call centres who are annoying me, the girl child's friendships, the boy child's reading, the lack of available money.. shall I go on??!!

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Printed off my voucher for a free coke zero this morning so I will pick up my free coke when I next go to the shops. Wahooo. I love free stuff!!
I heard back from Nationwide today and our new mortgage has now been been accepted- its all gone through and they will transfer the money into the solicitors account on completion, which will be in Oct. Hooorah. We should be in a position to exchange contracts in the next couple of weeks and then we can apply for new school places for the children.
It was a long day for me at work today, I must say I do enjoy my job. Yes Im exhausted and yes it is frustrating but it never feels like work. Sometimes I can't believe I get paid for it! I run an after school cooking club on Thursdays so today we made soup, which Ive portioned up in the freezer at work and will do all my lunches next week. Hooorah, free lunches!!

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We are now drinking uht milk whilst I was trying to avoid going to the shops! I will have to go tomorrow at some point but I am pleased I've avoided it until now.
We have no specific plans for the bank holiday weekend although husband is back tomorrow. Ive got an electrician coming to see if the electrics are safe before we exchange contracts. I need to go into town to the post office and girl child needs some new goggles for swimming. I did have a look whilst at the pool after their swimming lesson today but they cost £10 there and I know the sports shop in town sells them for £4.

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Not much to report really. My savings for stamp duty is not going well as things keep cropping up, cars going wrong, etc etc.

I am trying to avoid spending every penny possible but I am finding it so difficult. Im just watching this repo man on channel 4 and its all very sad

Im dreading this weekend as I said I would look after one of the girl childs friends for the day but she is a real problem child and it wont be a peaceful day. Im thinking of perhaps taking them all out for the day somewhere but I cant afford anything really expensive.

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We were meant to exchange contracts on our new house this week but it didn't happen due to the builders wanting more info on our conservatory. it's not a problem that we didn't exchange as we won't actually complete until October when the house will be finished being built. as we are part exchange they want to exchange early. I am keen to exchange as once we have exchanged then we can apply for new schools for the kids, and they will start at their new schools in Sept. there are all these costs you don't think about when moving house, stuff like New school uniform and book bags etc.
I've made some pizzas last night and the kids will have one for tea tonight.the husband is going out with his running club and there are loads of leftovers in the fridge for me.
I must admit as time goes on, I am finding it harder and harder to live frugally. I am doing it but I feel like as I am losing momentum. every day there seems to be something new we have to pay for. school trips. food is just so expensive and we eat cheaply! why is it that rubbish processed food is cheap and on special offer but fresh fruit and vegetables are expensive. today we are going to a Brownie family fun day which the daughter is desperate to attend but I know we will spend money there, it is a fundraiser. yesterday the kids had non uniform (£1 each) followed by the boy child's class having a cake sale, I made loads of cakes for it and then of course they wanted to buy a cake each.

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We spent about £5 at the Brownie fundraiser but I was actually quite happy as they had a second hand book sale and we bought 10 books for the grand total of £2! Some Roald Dahl and some Rainbow Fairy type books, all in great conditions and none of them the girl child had read. So I was really pleased with my bargain. The boy child spent £1 on the toy stall on an action man then they both spent £1 each on various tombolas etc.
After the Brownie fundraiser we had to go and fill up the husbands car- £80 later we went to see my parents!!

This evening Ive been having a bake off, so far Ive made cheese and mustard scones, shortbread and just got a chocolate cake in the oven. The choc cake is a bit of an off recipe, Ive never used a recipe like this before, it used boiling hot water, but, well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

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Having just read crafting mad's diary and they are listing 5 things they are doing every day to help them become MF. Obviously my diary has now changed into a savings for moving house diary but the end aim is of course to become mortgage free and once we are in the new house, I will be back to OPing the mortgage! I liked the idea of listing the small things you do every day so here is my list for today:

1. NSD
2. Lunch was homemade soup from freezer
3. Kids and my dinner was homemade pizzas using new (even cheaper!) recipe where dough is made from chappati base, no yeast needed
4. Have emailed builders and asked them to include carpets and flooring in new house (ever hopeful but if you don't ask you don't get)
5. Have made flapjacks and coconut cakes for kids lunchboxes.

Tomorrow is day off and I plan to spend the day cleaning the house, sorting things out. I may end up popping out for more fruit but we will see.

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5 things I have done today:
1. Bought some things from Tesco on special offers (bought 48 cans of diet coke for £10, will take them out on day trips etc, keep in handbag to save me buying drinks when out and about), bought 5kg of chappati flour for £2 also!!
2. Complained to a company about their product and they have sent me £4 of vouchers, woot
3. Went to LIDL after Tesco to buy fruit as it was cheaper.
4. Kids had leftover dinner, basically a meal of odds and sods from the fridge, bit of an odd combination but they enjoyed it. This leftover theme continued where I have made them both a pasta salad for their lunch tomorrow finishing off all the odds and sods from the fridge.
5. Checked online banking

I had my day off work today, spent the day giving the house a really good clean, I washed and dried all the bedding, so feeling quite pleased everything is looking nice and clean. The grass needs cutting in the garden but I might wait for the husband to return to do that at the weekend. Im going to apply for a First Direct current account, they are paying out £100 for new current accounts, it will involve a bit of a money shuffle each month but I think worth it for a free £100.

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First direct account applied for, now I just have to wait for the £100 to roll in.
Ive just made 25p on snap and save on TCB as I realised my coke cans I bought today were offering cashback!

And I forgot to mention, seeing as I wasnt going to work today, I didnt wash my hair this morning, thus saving the cost of the shampoo. Im getting my thriftyness back!!