The BIG Plan...

atypicalblonde

Our local Gumtree is full of second hand bikes too, might be worth a browse. My main plan for the day was to tidy the playroom. DD has scuppered that with her Playdoh antics... oh well there's always tomorrow and it has kept her happy for ages! x

MummyEm

Thanks PrincessLou I'm watching a few on there at the moment so will see how those go

ATB Hadn't thought of gumtree as I don't tend to use it often so thank you for that. I will def be looking on there too.
Don't stress about the tidying- enjoy your time with your littlies before they grow up and get more financially demanding

Have budget fully sorted out for May so should all be fine as longs as there are no unexpected spending surprises. I have budgeted reasonable amounts against everything that needs to be done/bought but am hoping to underspend whenever possible so I can send the difference to the mortgage.

Had to get a few bits and pieces sorted out in town this morning. Spending kept to bare minimum. Have allocated everything against budgets. Underspend of £4.72 so have split this 50/50 between OP and savings so £2.36 going to each -every little helps :rotfl:

More eb@y parcels sent this morning (have lost track of how many this week now). Have a few more due to sell early next week so might do a little payp@l withdrawal this week so I can make another small OP. I like paying something even if it's not much, just keeps me motivated.

Need to

-get a mealplan done for next week and get some groceries ordered.
-get washing done
-tackle some ironing

Think I'm going to sneak a lie down and read whilst DH and DS are busy watching sports as DD is keeping herself busy chilling out for a bit.

MummyEm

p.s. just updated my signature figures and very pleased to see that this months total is by far the highest I have OP'd since starting this journey. I wonder whether I could improve on it in May... I see a new mini-challenge emerging...

MummyEm

Even better news. Our Yearly Mortgage Account Statement has arrived, my OP's (up to March) have knocked off one whole month off the term so finish date stands at April 2036!

Still rather a long way to go to my dream date, but a small shuffle in the right direction :T

atypicalblonde

Ooh I do love challenges how about £600 in May?

MummyEm

ATB now why did I think you might be up for that I wonder?!!

£600 certainly does sound like fun doesn't it?! I have no idea where it would come from as this month's OP total was driven up by the cancelling of a budgeted kids activity... Oh go on then, I am sooo easily convinced it's ridiculous really. Right off to find [STRIKE]my children[/STRIKE] something to sell

MummyEm

Further thoughts on the £600 target

-currently I should be splitting an extra income/savings between Mortgage OP and savings so should really be finding £1200 which is a bit beyond me I think...
-ignoring the above for now currently mortgage stands at £261301.00 with today's £2.36 OP to clear on it
-next months normal payment and standard OP will knock off £1k capital soooo OP >£300 would get me sub £260k which would be extremely pleasant indeed (how motivating is that?!!)

extra income/savings could be made
-1poll stands at £31 so if I do every survey available we could be in line for pay out from here (tho realistically that's June payment)
-£co has £16 tracked but only just recently so again June payment probably. Have just uploaded a couple of instore receipts on clicksnap though so extra 2p there
-Due a £86 refund on CC for something that I had refunded but that missed this month's bill cut off
-Paypal has £39 in (after taking in to account ebay fees for April and May)
-Have a tesc0 giftcard which I could use for groceries so I can use some grocery budget to OP. I think it has £15-20 on

Am currently up to my monthly free selling limit on eb@y. FB sales don't seem to be great at the mo. Should I just list more on eb@y and take the fees hit or could get everything ready in the hope for free listing weekend...

I'm quite maxed out on work hours for this month so can't really do more here without upsetting the work/life balance particularly with half-term at the end of May.

That's my brain dump! I'm off to write lists and plan more so I can up the income and lower the outgoings.

I WILL FIND A WAY TO HIT THAT TARGET!!!

atypicalblonde

If you put the numbers into the mortgage OP calculator on this site, how many years will a regular monthly OP of £600 knock off? X

atypicalblonde

Cross posted! X you absolutely can do it, what an exciting challenge x

atypicalblonde

Depending on what you are selling you may wish to try a selling on Gumtree too. Very very easy to list & no fees. It is especially good for toys, household items & furniture, not so good for clothes I've found xx