Mortgage Free For A Happier Me

KolaKube

Cheers Happier Me, I am about the crack out a glass of rose lol... its been open in the fridge all week so needs using up, after all :beer:

Happier_Me

Cheers to you too KolaKube:beer:
Though how you manage to keep a bottle of wine open in the fridge all week is completely beyond me :rotfl:Did the bottle actually have wine in it? I could understand this if it was empty!

KolaKube

Lol it gets worse, there's still half a bottle left... :eek:

Happier_Me

I'm beginning to think I've got an alcohol problem KolaKube and I've got to do something about it. Obviously giving up is not an option, so I'm toying with the idea of alternating my drinks - say one week red wine, the next week vodka & redbull. Well, they do say change is as good as a rest:D.

Happier_Me

Well my credit card month starts today and I am going to record every time I use it this month on my diary. Yay, I hear you all shout!

Okay so this may be a little boring to read but this is where I leak money each month. If I commit to owning up to each spend on here then I might actually give each spend a little more thought.

Not off to the best start though today:

1. Sainsbury's online food shop £89.91
2. Village butchers £27.00 (enough fresh chicken breast for 10 meals)
3. Tesco shop £15.10 (bits I couldn't wait to have delivered tomorrow)
4. Amazon Order £36.03 (Christmas presents)
5. Argos £9.99 (Christmas present)

I am setting myself a £400 food budget this month and I will keep a record in my signature below. I have stocked up on lots of meat and lager for DH so I am hoping next weeks shop will be much cheaper.

I have bought a couple of stocking fillers for DD and Xmas presents for two nieces also today. Found a good offer on a Lego friends set and couldn't resist but this will come from my Christmas budget.

KolaKube

Lol I'm drinking up the last of the rose wine tonight, afterall it wouldn't be very MSE of me to let it go to waste now would it... I may genuinely try not to buy any alcohol next month and see how we get on... chances of that lasting are slim!

sweetdaisy

I have just read your diary and wanted to wish you well on your MFW journey. Sounds like you will get your mortgage paid in no time .

Apart from the main bills and direct debits, I budget on a weekly basis as it helps me keep on track. I put a set amount into our 'Spending' account each week to cover the food shop, fuel for ours cars and general spend for that week. Where there is an underspend for that week, at the end of the week I divide the money into Mortgage overpayments and into savings/emergency fund. I then transfer my weekly spend back from the main bills/direct debit account into the 'spending account' and start again.

Everyone is different but this stops me from over spending. I have also divided our Offset savings account into little savings 'pots' so I shouldn't need to dip into the Emergency Fund.

We are a family of 4 and I have a weekly food shop budget of £80. It is only occasionally I go over budget (did this week!) but I now shop in Aldi as I could never do a family shop in the other big supermarkets for £80 - I'd have hardly any food to show for it.

GemDoll

Hi OP,
I have started a MFW dairy yet, but I will be as we're planning on making our first over payment before the end of September :T

What Lego Friends set did you get? I'm buying Lego friends for my daughter this Christmas.

I'm going shopping today in Waitrose (they have best organic range incase your wondering why there...) and I'm taking £70 cash so I can't go over that for family of four (mostly organic stuff) but some weeks I can keep it at £50 and then the extra £20 gets stuffed into the overpayment pot :T I don't think that will happen today though:mad:

HelenDaveKids

Welcome Happier Me. I use a lot of survey sites and review sites to create free Amazon Cash which I use for presents. I tend to do them whilst watching telly!

Happier_Me

Hi GemDoll

I owe you a thank you actually - I found the Lego Friends offer on a thread when I clicked on one of your posts yesterday (I was trying to find your diary):D

I bought two Lego Friends Horse Trailer sets, one for DH and one for my niece. It's looks like a nice set and I thought the price was reasonable. Tesco have a clubcard points offer on Lego at the moment but I couldn't warrant spending the extra just to get the points.

You do really well to stick to a £70 weekly budget, particularly if you buy organic. You may have picked up in previous posts that Mr & Mrs Happier Me like wine which adds to our food bill each week. Although we are trying to be a little more sensible (we don't drink to excess or every night), this is one area we won't be making much of a saving on - it's supposed to be good for the heart, after all.

Thanks for visiting my diary HelenDaveKids - I have tried the surveys but I don't stick to them I'm afraid. I registered with Swagbucks the other week determined to stick at it, but then lost the will to live within 24 hours - I think I'd earned 46 Swagbucks by this point. I have just registered for Clicksnap grocery online with Quidco so I'm going to see how this goes.