My 2020 Vision

XSpender

Just nipped on to TCB to see if my £40 was payable (it isnt) but the cashback for the car insurance has tracked:j That is £27 I wasn't expecting because I had to complete it over the phone due to me saying that I was the driver in a no blame accident and it was recorded as being DH so our application didnt match.

Isn't it funny that I have to come on here to share it with you guys as you understand the excitment over £27 unexpected cashback when people in RL would think I was a little bit sad/bonkers:rotfl:

XSpender

I haven’t posted for a while, been in limbo a bit until DH pay and bonus arrived. DH did get the extra bonus he was expecting but appears to have a different tax code this month and has been taxed 29% instead of the normal 18%. I think this is because his OTE are putting him into the higher tax band and he has had a more expensive co car for a few months.

I don’t really understand how it works as neither of us has quite hit the higher tax band before and DH has a co car as well to take into consideration. I have amended our projected income for the rest of the year to take into account the extra tax.

DH is a bit disappointed at what he came out with this month but we still have the funds to do what we had planned, helped by MIL generous gift.:T

We received the quote for the windows and it is very reasonable. We have decided to just get the living room, our bedroom and the front door replaced first. We will then get the bathroom, DS bedroom and small kitchen window done and finally the patio doors done in the next year or 2 as they are ok but will need to be replaced at some point. Doing it like this means we are not using any credit as we are paying the balance off the card this month and are just going to keep it for emergencies and to improve DH credit rating. It also means we are not going to skint ourselves with Christmas just around the corner.

We also have a £400 dentist bill and a £185 flight to pay for this month and I want to put something away for Christmas in case I see bits when I am out and about and so it doesn’t have to be paid for out of December’s pay and bonus.

I have been reading some of the old posts on Mortgage Free in Three’s blog about paying yourself first as this is something we need to get in to the habit of doing, not saving what’s left. I liked the way she split her mortgage into 1% and 0.1% targets and I think this is the way I am going to tackle our second mortgage. 1% is £150 in the ISA towards mortgage no.2. Even with the home improvements we have planned we should be able to settle it in full by June/July next year. I am setting myself a challenge of raising a minimum of £150 from bits and pieces of money each month on top of any savings we have.

DH seems to be really changing his perspective on money and seems really proud that we don’t have an overdraft or credit card balances that we can’t afford to clear. He was looking up stats to see how many people in the UK have an overdraft or credit cards. Don’t get us wrong we have been there and had over £80k in unsecured debt when we went pop mainly on CC and overdrafts bigger than our take home pay so we know exactly what it is like but have come out the other side and are grateful that we were able to do so.:)

I just need to turn on DH saving switch now and we will be laughing;):rotfl:

Happier_Me

Hi XSpender

I have checked my DH thoroughly and he definitely doesn't come with a savings switch but I wish you luck finding one on yours:D

I am,however, fortunate that my DH is not particularly self suffiicent, so when he says "Can you order me....." and I answer "No, I can't", he's completely stumped as to what to do and usually ends up going without. He also has a terrible short term memory, so if he insists on ordering something, I promise to place an order the following day....by which point he's forgotten what he wanted. Oh, the things we do to become mortgage free:rotfl:.

I have enjoyed reading your diary and I will be subscribing.

XSpender

Hump day already! This week is just flying by.

Hi Happier Me – My DH is like the Queen, never carries cash or his debit card so if he wants anything I have to do the purchasing. I am sure the sales assistants must think he is either hen pecked or a kept man!

We each have our own ‘pocket money’ and DH tends to spend his and then something will come up and he will want to ‘borrow’ some from the next month and ends up messing up the budget as it doesn’t get paid back. It is great that we have some money at the end of our month these days; I would just like it to be more so it can be used for getting rid of the mill stone of mortgage #2 and then reducing mortgage #1.

DH has been reading this thread (hello DH:wave:) and was giggling about me finding his saving switch last night. He says he is enjoying reading it. I don’t know why as he gets the same drivel verbally as well as on line now. Better watch what I say from now on though.;)

Came home to a dead fish yesterday, the fish medicine was too late for him and cost more than he did. The other three are looking well but we will hang on a bit before getting any more. DS didn’t bat an eyelid but it is more DH’s tank than DS.

Just checked TCB and I have £40.40 payable at last. :j This is going in the pot towards my first 1% overpayment of the 2nd mortgage. I can’t physically overpay it so I am saving it, 1% at a time, until I have enough to SIF.

I have spent most of my food budget with 20 days/3 weekends to go which is a bit worrying as there isn’t any spare in the budget to cover an overspend as we want to pay for the windows out of this month’s pay. We are well stocked up but this is still a challenge given the amount of fresh fruit we eat. I have included every last snack and can of pop, Gr33gs this month and those bits do add up.

NSD yesterday and took back a George F grill to Sains as was a bit of an impulse buy and not the one we actually want. Was about to say it is a NSD today but have paid the cleaner.....I suppose I could class it as a 'bill' just paid in cash and still claim my NSD;)

XSpender

DPIL have offered to lend us the difference so we can get all our windows done in one go rather than half now and half in 6 months time which is fantastic! :T They say there is no rush for the money but DH and I are adamant that it will be paid back in under 6 months, or earlier depending on his bonuses but we will start by paying a chunk of every month from November.

New bathroom lino laid today and I am looking forward to getting home and seeing it as I have had trouble imagining what it would lool like as it is a complete contrast to what we had before.

Need to finish this months money shuffle at the weekend as we still need to clear the balance of the card and move money into the ISA's until the windows get fitted.

The plans for this weekend are pretty frugal; some little jobs around the house, preparing the back garden for winter, finishing painting the stairs and landing (will need another tin) and I am going to do some baking and sorting our of stores. DH fancies a wander around the local shopping centre but there is nothing I really need apart from getting my eyebrows done (:eek:) but it is next door to IK3A and we have an item to return. I could then get some more of their glass jars to store my pantry stores in;)

I have also ordered a case of GF flour and cereal so will need to find a place for it ready for when it arrives. I am planning to teach myself to make decent GF bread. The shop bought stuff is expensive and not very nice. Will use up the last of the prescription flour mixes I have in and attempt some flavoured bread to go with some HM soup this weekend.

Oh and I need to start on the Christmas cake gifts but the costs for this are budgeted out of the Christmas pot.:xmassmile

XSpender

It’s been a bit of a spendy weekend rather than the frugal one I was expecting and I have £2 odd left of my food budget and am £4 over the clothes budget and way over the entertainment budget, well, about £40. This isn’t counting the paint and stuff bought in h0mebase to finish the landing and stairs which still aren't finished.

This week I am going to attempt my first ever fiscal fast and will not spend anything between Monday and Sunday. This won’t include the mahoosive dentist bill I need to pay on Friday and DS haircut and swimming. I will be missing out the food shop I normally do on a Friday and sending DH to Sains on Monday with cash and a very short list, probably just fruit and maybe a loaf.

DH has said he fancies going GF for a week or so. If he does that next week I can get away without buying bread.

DH is away tonight with work so I need to have a good tidy up and find some paperwork I need for the ISA I recently opened and DS hospital appointment next week.

Today I have finally signed up for childcare vouchers. I feel almost grown up, pity is DS is nearly grown up too :rotfl:

Jevvers

Hi Xspender
Been reading this with interest, congratulations on all your progress so far. I am also aiming for (partial!) MF date in 2020 so will be cheering you on.

Good luck!:D

Jevvers

XSpender

Hi Jevvers Good luck with your 2020 plan too. I will have a look and see if you have a diary and pop over for a visit.

I am feeling beluggghhhh today and full of cold. I have never been as happy to see a slow cooker full of hot sausage casserole as I was when I got in last night. I even had a lemsip before bed and they always make me feel sick.

Running late today, late dropping DS off, forgot a top I was going to return on my way home but made it to work on time. Pheww.

DMIL is taking DS for his haircut today (budgeted for) and I have to pick up DH regular prescription so not gonna be a NSD. Not doing great on the fiscal fast so far especially when the work canteen is calling my name....well, you've got to feed a cold haven't you?

Good news is I ordered DS bed on line and they sent me a short questionnaire for feedback so I explained what had happened with the bed not arriving and they rang DH yesterday to say that they would refund us the equivalant of the delivery of £9.99 (which was free) so very pleased with that as didn't expect to hear anything about it. I am going to put this towards my first 1% offset of the second mortgage. I also have another £6 odd to go in the pot too.

DH will be in late tonight, travelling back from a work thing so I will need to sort something out for tea that I dont need to faff about with.

My big GF bread order should arrive today so my adventures in breadmaking can begin;)

XSpender

Hi All

Not posted for a few days as been a bit under the weather.

Used my breadmaker to make GF brown bread last night. It's not great:( Eggy (down to the 2 eggs in the recipe no doubt) and very dense like Rye bread. It won't poison me but doesnt have much else going for it so I can see there being a lot of toast been eaten by me this weekend. This was the recipe on the flour bag so I will investigate some more recipes/add some Xanthum gum and leave out the eggs.

Not a great day in the kitchen at all yesterday as the mince wasn't defrosted to make the cottage pie I had planned and the GF pizza base I made instead wasn't great either. Good job the flapjack worked out OK;)

I have managed a NSD Wednesday and Thursday and a TT 3 days this week. I have also set up the log in details and transfer account so I can send over my bits and pieces to the ISA to save up to pay off the secured.

I have £71.35 towards my next £150/1% block:) This is from TCB, TT, STC and coming under budget on diesel this month. I have until the end of October to hit this so it should be doable. I am running my 1% challenge on a calendar month basis so it will fit in with DH wages rather than mine. I am soooo looking forward to colouring the next square on my spreadsheet.

Big dentist bill this morning but the good thing is it was paid for by scraping up bits and bobs of money from different pots and selling a couple of items which was good practice for my 'pay the 2nd mortgage off 1% at a time' challenge. My tooth is a bit sore, might stop me stuffing my face.......no, probably not:rotfl:

DH is off this weekend so we have a couple of family things planned; swimming and a walk at a local national trust. We also have a bit of DIY to finish as well as the washing and catch up with the ironing. My job is to keep everyone well fed as it's blooming freezing and will stop us buying food and snacks we don't need as the house is full of food.

XSpender

We seem to have been haemorrhaging money this month and have overspent so I have been avoiding posting:o. Some went on a new dishwasher we accidently bought.:o:o Ours is on its last legs but would have lasted a while longer. Nothing has gone on credit but we have not SIF the visa or saved enough out of DH bonus to pay for the new windows and door which are getting fitted in the next couple of weeks and will need to squeeze this money out of this months pay. I have been short paid this month too and won’t get the difference until next month so it’s going to be really tight this month and I do not want to borrow any money from anywhere or put anything on the visa if I can help it.

When DH gets his December bonus (fingers crossed) the visa is getting settled and a chunk is going in the ISA before we spend a single penny on owt else.

Our food spends last month were horrendous, not helped by being a 5 week month, and this is one area I need to cut back on. The last couple of months I did a big shop around pay day and smaller shops the following weeks but this isn’t working as I am spending too much too early in the month. I am going to buy just what I need based on my meal plan and using up what I have got. I have meal planned up to the 3rd and hardly need a thing.

I was hoping to have enough to put aside 1% off the 2nd mortgage on top of the 2% that comes off with the monthly payment but I won’t have quite enough so will scrape up what I can to add to the £55 I have put aside. I have a couple of coats of DS I can try flogging and £27 cash back I am waiting to come through. We also qualify for cash back on the DW but I don’t expect to see that this side of Christmas.

My budget is:

Diesel £130 – more than my usual £70 as I have 4 long journeys to make with work. Will make a profit on expenses but wont get this until Dec pay
Food £300 – aiming for a use it up ready for Christmas month and bought a lot of stores last month
Pocket Money £90 - £70 for DH for a rare night out and £20 for me
Hair cuts £16 – DH and DS only as just had mine done
Cleaner £56
New windows £750 – Balance to pay
Christmas £100
Balance of May holiday £198 - due 31st October
Plasterer £100 – mate’s rates to get the living room re plastered due to a leak in 2 places
Visa £50 – may be less as not sure what the minimum payment is as usually overpay

DH got massively taxed last month as he has gone into the higher rate tax band so I have estimated his pay at this level of tax. If he gets more I will pay more of the visa and put a bit more in the Christmas savings pot.

I have £100 worth of amazon vouchers due from work soon, £40+ of Mr T vouchers if they ever arrive and I am aiming to go to B00ts and get some 3 for 2 prezzies on their £12 point night next week. All these vouchers/points will be used for Christmas gifts and will make a fair dent in my list.

Oh and the breadmaking is not going well at all - 2 lead bricks so far but I will keep trying;)