MFW! :) 6 Years left..

Gweds

Hi everyone!

I'm new to this site and thought I'd post as I've read lots of encouraging threads on here Our story so far..
My partner and I bought our house for £98k 5 years ago (recently valued at £105-109k) we've had a 5 year fixed rate of 6.49%..!! We just remortgaged on a 2 year fixed at 2.99% and put an additional 13k down. This brings put o/s mortgage balance to £67, 700. We have kept 6k back, as I'm now a stay at home mum to our 10 month old son
Our mortgage was originally over 25 years, we reduced it down to 13 years, in 2011. We have now reduced to 6 years..! Scary stuff! Especially as we kind of seem to have done things in the wrong order really..! When we were both working full time and earning good salaries, we didn't give it a second thought..!? It's only now really, that we're so determined to get it paid off as fast as we possibly can..

So we're seriously trying to make cuts backs and stretch out money as far as we can.. A big challenge! Bit our way of thinking is 'a few hard years and we'll be much better off in the long run'! I'll be 35 and my partner will be 33, so still young! The plan is to save for a couple of years after,at which point i will be back at work hopefully.. Then move to a bigger house in a nicer area.

So any ideas on how to save/make money, or just experiences that you could share would be great!

Thanks! :j

MallyGirl

if you intend to use a nursery or registered childminder and either firm does childcare vouchers then go for it as soon as you can. You can only put £243 a month in the scheme and you are going to need more than that so why not start building up a pot now - saves tax and NI.
My DD is 11 and we are going to stop paying in this summer finally - we have continued to use them for holiday clubs and after school care till now.

Gweds

Thanks mallygirl but I'm going to be a full time mum for tr next two years. It will be a challenge financially but we're both so determined! We want to make ourselves as financially secure as possible.. Which for us, is to pay the mortgage off ASAP! Well in 6 years, lol.
Have you overpaid? We might try some small amounts of we can, will just have to see how things go.
Spent £80 on a weekly food shop this week seriously need to cut it down! Think we might try Aldi next week..
Any other money savings tips greatly appreciated!
Good luck on your MF journey!

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Good luck Gweds.

Menu plan, know what's in your freezer, fridge and 'larder'. If you can grow salad leaves. If you have space put some raspberries, strawberries in - very little effort and saves shop prices.

Declutter and car boot, eb@y or gumtree.

Use TCB and £co.

Do an annual overhaul of your budget, research your insurances well before buying.

Earn cashback on a credit card and/or loyalty points

Join panels such as Shop and Scan, Consumer Pulse - you earn points and can convert to vouchers

I pay my council tax by CC (no charge) to earn cashback for doing nothing

That's off the top of my head, there are many others who can add more

Enjoy the journey

Tilly x

Gweds

Thanks Tilly
Is it easy to grow the salad leaves? Where did you buy the kit?
did you earn much cashback on your credit card??
Gweds

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi Gweds, I earn around £160 ish a year from a cashback credit card. I spend on a card, shift the money from my bank account to my credit card savings pot, then transfer it back just before the DD goes it to pay it off in full.

Salad leaves (cut and come again) will cost you pennies - try Ald! Or L!dl - really easy - either in pots with some compost or in a small veg bed. For the cost of a bag of seeds, you will have lettuce leaves through until end October

Best wishes Tilly

LauraJo

Good luck on your journey. I took menu planning advice from Tilly and have reduced my spend from £250 a month to under £100 (for 2 of us)
It was a fab tip
I also use a cash back credit card, boots reward etc etc and use those vouchers to buy my Xmas pressies. I think also remember that your baby is so young they don't understand if they get less presents than their friends
My nieces and nephews get cheap pressies from me until they are old enough to realise!

Gweds

Morning
Thanks Tilly! Who is your cashback credit card with? I might find out if Natwest do one..
What are you're great menu planning plans tips??! I'm intrigued, lol.
Hi Laurajo
Thanks for the info! That's a very good point about our baby not knowing about pressies yet.. When he does, hopefully we'll be a lot more financially secure by then.
Do any of you alshop at Aldi or Lidl? Might try it this week..
Good luck to you both!
Gweds

Gweds

Hello MFW!
I'm looking for some tips on cutting our grocery bill.. We have a one year DS, and me and my OH
Currently spend about £70 ish a week! We are going to try Aldi this week I think.. What do you all think about Aldi? We went to morrisons last week and it came to about £45! But no nappies, wipes..just food. So will be shopping there again! The fruit is lovely!
Any ideas/suggestions/tips on cheap recipes??
I am meal planning but I think I am in need of some cheaper recipes..
I cook in bulk a lot in the winter but no so much in summer :S
We have just secured a rate of 2.23% with Natwest, fixed for 2 years slight improvement from our 6.49%!! So our monthly payments are now £1021 (which I'm told £896 will come of the capital each month) We are also planning on overpaying by £254, so that would mean we'd see £1150 come off capital each month! if we can do this each month of our 2 year fixed deal, we'd be left with a mortgage of £39,000! which we'd then hope to pay in 3 years instead of 4 years. This is all based on my OH's wages, as I'm currently a SAHM, trying to cut costs everywhere I possibly can we also still have £6,800 in our savings account as a back up.
It's just times like this that are hard, as we don't have a garden, just a very small courtyard. I would love to be sitting out in 'our garden' (with grass)
..) with my baby boy but we have to remember that we're doing this to better us all in the long term. And now our DS doesn't really know any different, I guess it's the best time!? I can drive and we go to playgroup 2-3 times a week, and drive to the beach, park, families etc..
We're planning to stay here for a couple of years after the mortgage is paid so we can save for our 'forever home'.
Another big concern of mine is the schools on our catchment area.. I'd like to get my son in a school 2.5 miles down the road (where we plan to buy our forever house eventually), there are just no guarantees of that though
Any money making ideas for a SAHM would be greatly appreciated too
Thanks for reading
Gweds

Gweds

Savings £7800, not £6800�� hoping to get back to £10000!

lamarsi

Hi Gweds, I'm just starting my journey to MF date so i've been reading the advice on your post with interest.. erm coping would be more truthful anyway good luck I'll follow your journey hopefully it'll keep me on track with mine!