SmlSave's extremely small steps to reducing the mortgage

CathT

Crikey Smlsave, what a relief about your garden. Glad it's sorted now as that must have been mega stressful. Hope yours gets sorted too Laura.

SmlSave

We have a brick built building on our 'road' and proof that there has been something there (a wooden / brick garage previously) for 16 years. I'm not sure that means anything in the eyes on the law but hopefully it will help with our case

I'm sure it means something in your favor Laura but I'm not sure how much. I hope it goes well for you.

It's the start of a new month today all bright and shiny, I hope it lasts

I went over my spending money by £1.30 which isn’t too bad at all. The food bill however was ridiculous at almost £500 *faint* The reasoning is that we’ve had to stock up from scratch but somehow I’m still ordering more food for this weekend

I blame the bank holiday which has prompted me to host a thank you meal for the family. I’ve decided on a menu of crab bruschetta, tomato salad, lentil stew and sausages, banoffee pudding and cheese to finish. Sounds scrummy I hope.

I couldn’t go and get sausages from the butchers without buying minted lamb chops which I’m going to devour, just thinking of them makes my mouth water. And there’s a food festival on this weekend which would be rude of me not to attend and pick up some cheese

I’ve decided that I’m very good at spending money.

But I have also put some change in the jar and I’ve got an extra 3 working days this month so the extra money can be shunted to the mortgage. I’m not sure if I’ll actually get paid just one extra day this month and then two extra the next month but it’s all extra money coming in.

SmlSave

Oops, I just burnt the bread! :eek: I hope it still tastes ok

DH said some wonderful words this morning..."when I get my bonus shall we put it towards the mortgage?" I think aliens may have been messing with his brain but I'm definitley happy with the result.

SmlSave

Its rather chilly in our house atm with extra jumpers and blankets in every room as the bl**dy boiler has gone kaput. So that's goodbye DIY fund and hello 0% credit card.

I am grateful however for electric showers

:wall:

Looking at the cc's out there I've told DH to get a YourPoints Natwest card at 0% for 15mnths so that we collect points and I'm going to 'advise' him to use it every time he gets DIY stuff or petrol.

I'm going to change my MBNA cc to a Tesco cc with 0% for 16mnths and get points when I order the grocery shopping.

It's the little things that help :A Such as I put 6p change in the jar this morning, walked to work and am eating out of the freezer for the next two weeks so its just fresh food that we need.

Although I am naughty today and didn't make lunch so I'm thinking sushi ...nomnomnom.

SmlSave

Whoop, whoop its pay day! :j

My overtime has been paid of £148 so I’m rounding it up to £150 and off to the mortgage it goes. :A

Somehow there is also £391.03 left over from last month (no idea how but very nice all the same) and so I’ve shunted it to the joint account so that it doesn’t get frittered away.

£200 has been popped into the ISA to earn some interest and so there’s £600 to be spent so:
£201 Loan
£26 Pension
£25 Phone
£25 Milk
£8 Graze
£30 Saving
£200 Spending Money
= £85 credit

There’s a community day tomorrow which I’m hoping to go to and I really want to try the farmer’s market on Sunday for some fresh veg. Lunch on Monday with a friend and Osteopath appointment on Tuesday. Plus DS is starting nursery on Monday so if there’s actually £85 left in four weeks I’ll be surprised!

Gas man came round yesterday and we should be getting the boiler quote soon.

SmlSave

It seems like forever since I’ve managed to get some time be on online! DS has been ill and so for over a week life just sort of ……stalled…………you should have seen the house – such a state :eek:

It’s nice to say that we are getting back into our normal routine; we are even going to the cinema.

I’ve been keeping up with the walking to work, bringing in lunch and saving all small change. Meal planning has fallen by the wayside but I’m hoping to have time to do some planning next week.

I had five fruit trees delivered yesterday :j and so am hoping to get a bit of time to get them planted. It’s spurred me to get garden designing and there’s so much I’d like to do but I need to take a deep breath…breath…..and go slowly so it’s done properly. I’m thinking of growing a native hedge full of sloes and nuts to attract animals and stop DS from running into next doors garden. I’m just not sure how neat a native hedge can be.

It's terribly busy at work so I must go................

pavlovs_dog

Just caught up with your thread :wave:

SmlSave wrote: »

£200 has been popped into the ISA to earn some interest and so there’s £600 to be spent so:
£8 Graze

don't know if you know/would be interested, but if you cancel for a few weeks they absolutely bombard you with offers to tempt you back. Might be a way to shave a few pennies?

SmlSave

Thanks pavlos, I will give it a go Sorry my thread is not updated that often, I get too distracted!

I am plodding along eating everything in site, making packed lunches every other day and have been offered 4 days overtime in August and
5 days in September which will help my OPing.

Just went to cancel my graze box pavlos and got my next one half-price straight away - I will threaten to cancel more often!

I watched Star Trek the other week and totally want to kidnap Benedict Cumberbatch now.:grinheart

newgirly

Hi smlsave, Star Trek was great wasn't it , benedict was fantastic but my favourite was Spock

Hope all is well with you.

SmlSave

Hi newgirly, Spock is lovely too. I wasn’t too impressed with the movie overall but the eye candy was marvelous. :grinheart

I’m scared about looking at how much I’ve spent this month as I’ve:

- Been to the Dentist. My first and only time with a hygienist which cost me £25 plus £14 taxi ride to make my gums bleed for two days. Pah:mad:! - £39

- Father’s Day. Bought two picture frames as DS and I painted them pretty pictures. - £20

- Me, DS and Mum went to Bournemouth. Although the forecast was grey with showers and even a thunderstorm it actually was very nice and DS ran about with just a t-shirt on most the time. Lots of money spent on B&B, food and bottles of wine. - £400 estimated

- DH and I went to Womad at Bristol Zoo. We both really enjoyed it once we’d consumed enough caffeine to stay awake, ate loads and danced lots. - £40

- DS turned 2! We had an open house and I made a car cake. I also tried to make a stuffed toy:o but we’ll say nothing more about that. I kept the food simple although DH did get sent to the shop with a list he somehow forgot two items and bought a lot more which we didn’t even touch. Here’s to cheese for a few nights. - £60

So there’s no Oping this month and doubtful to be any next month but fingers crossed in August we’ll get back on track.

Just thought I’d share that we’re TTCing again. If you could share a positive thought for us that would be great