Sundaysgirl's MFW journey - better late than never!

Sundaysgirl

Low spend day today - just a few pounds on cereals and milk for work breakfasts, much cheaper than buying a proper takeaway coffee shop brekkie as will last me several days.

Today I have also:

- refunded a top which was bought for me - £29.99
- transferred the small balance from my old current account (no longer used and balance has been untouched and unchanged for a year so thought it was about time to withdraw it!) - £6.95

So £36.94 into the OP pot - I might splash out and round it up to £37 :rotfl:

Sundaysgirl

It's been a little while since I checked in, really need to get into the habit of regular posts!

Since then I have transferred an additional £27.04 to the OP pot: the cashback from my 123 account, a few teeny TTs and £15 £co. I have also saved £10.57 using MOCs at Mr Ts (my share of the saving). Will add this to the pot at the end of the month.

My toiletry challenge is going well, being conscious of my bad habit has brought it under control, and I've spent only very little on myself this month simply by steering clear of the shops - no clothes bought!

I have had a few large house expenses, with more to come, though these are mostly being funded from savings.

TV license due to be paid at the end of the month - had forgotten about this will be paying it as late as possible!!

Lunch brought to work every day so far this month. £79 spent on groceries to date - so going to try to stick to a budget of £100 for the month. £21 for 12 days, can I do it...?

Sundaysgirl

So I've decided to enlist the help of a PT to get me looking my best for my wedding - very un-MSE, I know, but only for 7 months and will hopefully be worthwhile. OPs will have to be cut to fund this, but I think only by around £200 per month, so not a disaster and hopefully won't set me back too much. It will probably just about cancel out the positive effect of my pay rise last month - at least I hadn't gotten used to the extra cash yet!

Sundaysgirl

Today's progress in my MFW quest: I have finally gotten around to cancelling my monthly phone insurance, decided it wasn't worthwhile to keep this going. £4.99 a month saved from September onwards, so £59.88 a year extra towards the OP pot. Small steps

newgirly

Just wanted to pop in and say hi and best of luck

Sundaysgirl

Thanks newgirly - have read some of your diary, very inspiring!

Sundaysgirl

Yesterday wasn't my best - library fine for overdue books (I took them back thinking I was on time but had lost track of date... :wall: ) Also had to buy some birthday cards and presents. However, I did save £11 at Mr Ts thanks to some MOCs, and looks like my share of the grocery spend this month will come in at under £100

Today has been better - it's pay day, which means OP day. My OP pot was at over £100 so I have added this to my OP for the month - a total of £1,300 just transferred :j

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa

Hey there,

Been reading ur mfw journey with great interest. Hopefully will be starting mine as me and hubby are in the process of buying our first home. We are going with Santander and were told that we can overpay up to 10% but have not been told about a £500 limit. Is there a limit with you? All the best and I look forward to reading the rest of your journey.

Sundaysgirl

Hi Rachel, thanks for popping in Ooh exciting times for you - congrats! I'm with Santander too and only limit I'm aware of is the 10% one - based on your closing balance at 31 December. That said, I've never tried to make an OP for under £500 - I usually do one lump sum on pay day or shortly afterwards. Any small amounts I save in month I transfer from my current account to a dedicated "OP" savings account which I set up recently, then add this to my big OP at the end of the month. Good luck!

ETA: also, I don't have an online mortgage facility; I can see my mortgage number online but not the balance. So I'd be wary of making small ad hoc payments as it'd be difficult to track! HTH

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa

I was referring to the £500 you mentioned in your second post? Exciting time yes, stressful times most definitely. The plan is to overpay about £400ish a month minimum but could be more once we have figured everything out. Will explain more when I start my mfw diary as I do not want to steal your limelight.