Mortgage Free For A Happier Me

Happier_Me

Well another work week has flown by and my new secondment role has started with a bang - this is really going to test my skills and sanity to the limit but I love a challenge:D

The downside of being so busy juggling work, home and children is that the home bit (and the MFW bit) becomes less of a priority as I just don't have the energy to do it all.

So I will be relying heavily on this diary to keep me on the straight and narrow over the next few months.

An MFW update:

• DH has managed 5 NSD's this week
• DH is arranging the Xmas meal for his work this year which means he's booked it at a restaurant walking distance from his mum's hotel....oops, house.... so no need for taxi's or hotels) and he gets his meal for free.:T
• I have spent a small amount 3 days this week on vending machine coffees. I have decided to set myself a small budget of £1.00 - £1.60 per week to spend on drinks instead of aiming for NSD's at work.
• I have blown my food budget by £20 with 10 days to go:o. This is partially down to having family over for tea this weekend. We will need a few extras on Saturday (salad, cobs) and a top up shop next weekend so aiming for £470 for the month. I actually scanned through my online shopping basket when I realised the price, taking things out to reduce spend (although the Terry's Chocolate Orange stayed in the basket as this is obviously an essential food item:D).
• On the positive side we have spent very little on entertainment or clothes this month so even with the food overspend we should come in well under budget overall.
• We have also managed to cover some other spends too and are still on target to come in under budget. This includes xmas presents: £45, new baby present (BIL/SIL): £32.50 and a birthday present (SIL): £15.

I think that's about it for now. Got a busy weekend with family planned so the children will be entertained and we shouldn't spend too much either.

Happier_Me

I have reverted to lurking as opposed to posting during the last couple of weeks, mainly because I have been so busy at work. Our October mortgage payment of £2,350 has just been taken, which includes a monthly overpayment of £1,177. This is £600 more than we normally overpay thanks to my extra secondment income. I'm not sure if we can maintain this level of overpayment if I'm entirely honest as we have plans for holidays next year that we need to save for but we will see how it goes. One thing that I find really motivating is the reduction in the monthly interest charge - on the main mortgage this has reduced by £100 a month since February this year.:T In March 2014, the main mortgage interest rate should halve to the standard rate so this should see the total interest we pay fall below £100 per month. I think am more excited for this than Christmas....and I love Christmas:D.

On the food front, I failed miserably sticking to my £400 food bill challenge. I spent close to £500 altogether and I'm not sure whether we can cut back without feeling like we're living like complete hermits. We rarely go out after all (two children tend to have that effect on your social life, don't they!). We had family and friends over for dinner at least three times in that period and we do like to have a drink at home. Spending up to £500 on our food bill is still a massive improvement compared to previous months so I am going to aim for this each month.

I have updated my signature and I can now claim to be officially sub £80k, although we will have another mortgage payment sitting in our current account by next Thursday.

Happier_Me

Well, another week has flown by and work is busier than ever. As I work flexibly (so I can feel like a real mum on a Monday and Friday - I take the children to and from school on these days) I tend to start quite early in the mornings, stop to get the children ready and off to before school club, then head into work. I am also working at least 2 to 3 hours on a Saturday and a Sunday morning.

So suffering from lots of guilt again at the moment as the house is being neglected and I am constantly juggling work and kids. But I know the kids are more than happy - the hours I work at home tends to be done so early each day they don't really notice. And they are with their dad - I just need to ensure the work doesn't become excessive.

I also need to remind myself I am lucky to have the job I have and we are, in mortgage terms, sprinting towards the finish line, at which point I can reassess how my work fits in with our home life. And I have every intention of calming down - I honestly don't think I could do this on a permanent, indefinite basis!

So on top of all this juggling we are trying to stick to a tight budget. There is absolutely no point in me earning an extra £600-£700 per month if we are going to spend it all on takeaways because I'm too kn@ckered to cook at night!

So far so good though. I don't feel as in control of money but that is because I have started shopping for Christmas and I am not keeping track of my spend although I know I am well within budget.

We have had some unexpected spends this weekend too - we have purchased some snow boots for the kids (planned - Matalan £12 if anyone is interested) but they have both grown a full show size since September, so we have also had to spend an extra £76 of new shoes for school. We had a sneaky MacD's yesterday too:D

Still monitoring the food budget, not spending anything on takeaways and limiting our entertainment too. Work NSD's going well for DH and I am sticking to a very low budget at work.

Goods news, DH is toying with the idea of taking up cooking as a hobby:j

Apparently he finds it relaxing - this could work really well for us, as I find it really relaxing watching him cook;)

muddywhitechicken

Happier_Me wrote: »

Apparently he finds it relaxing - this could work really well for us, as I find it really relaxing watching him cook;)

:rotfl:

A DH that cooks is a truly wonderful thing :T

Happier_Me

Believe me, he's going to get plenty of encouragement. FIL loves to cook too - MIL doesn't even know how to turn on the oven!

Happier_Me

Had a busy weekend with a Halloween Party on Friday night, swimming lessons and shopping yesterday and a nephew's birthday party today.

We've also had a new addition to the family today... my nephew arrived safely this morning. I can't wait for a cuddle.:j

Had a near MSE disaster with the washing machine this morning. It sounded terrible on spin cycle and I honestly thought we would be replacing it today. But we have managed to fish out the bra under wire that had lodged itself in the drum and all is good now.

I've made a spag bol for tea and a cottage pie for Monday and Tuesday too... I almost feel organised :A. DH to cook a nice meal for the two of us on Friday while I indulge in the red stuff .

Happier_Me

Well, I've gone a bit mad on the Christmas shopping this week. I am still on track with my Xmas budget and I have around £200 of presents still to get for family and friends, but I know I've caught the spending bug. The hardest part for me now will be not spending any more on the kids.

I have decided to tackle the food budget again by batch cooking four days of meals for DH and I on a Sunday morning. DH can then cook Friday and Saturday (I hope!). A £3.35 pack of lean mince fed us for two nights last week so we should be able to cut down on the amount of meat we buy by bulking out meals with cheaper veggies etc. It will be better for us too. We really need to cut down on the drinking too as this is not healthy and it is costing us a fortune.

Happier_Me

Batched cooked as planned yesterday and now have two cottage pie's in the fridge and three lasagne's in the freezer.

I also phoned my mortgage provider yesterday to clarify when my five year fix ends (28th Feb 2014) and what would happen at this point. I had assumed that the main mortgage balance would revert to the SVR (2.5%) but you not what they say assumption is the mother of! Anyway, my understanding is correct. I'm not sure I will be able to find a fee free two year mortgage deal for less than 2.5% next February so we may well be waving goodbye to our last ever mortgage deal in 2014.

I also took the plunge and changed my mortgage payment date to the beginning of the month, so our next payment comes out on 2 Dec. This means I've been able to overpay our October pay day mortgage payment of £2,350. Mortgage balance now stands at £77,529.46 - I need to update my signature.:j

I have to hand in our solar panel readings today too. I'm expecting a cheque from this of close to £600 which will also be paid off the mortgage this month.

Happier_Me

Well, I think it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted.

Things are going okay. Here is a run down of the good and the bad from an MSE point of view for the happier me family:

The Good:

• I'm getting into batch cooking at the weekend. Three lasagnes made this last weekend. I will be attempting to batch cook a broccoli soup and a veggie curry sauce this weekend, as well as a couple of cottage pies.
• Back on the case with the food budget, although I think I may start calling it the wine budget as I am fairly certain we spend more on this than actual food! Spent £75 last week online (after £12 off from quidco clicksnap).
• Solar panel money for the quarter to mid Nov has arrived (£591) and this will be paid off the mortgage when it clears.
• DH is doing well with the work related NSD's and I am keeping my spend very low during the week too.
• Not spending a huge amount on entertainment which is good but realistically this can't last forever.

The Bad

• I have overspent slightly on my Christmas budget - which is the downside of finishing my Xmas shopping early and then not being able to stop spending on 'bargains'. Bad mummy!
• Can't stop drinking the red stuff although we are trying to cut back (hiccup!?!)
• Takeaways are starting to sneak in on occasion
• DH's new hobby (cooking) is proving to be disastrous (unless you consider burgers with grated cheese on white bread a luxury meal). He needs to try harder.
• DH wants a Nexus for Christmas (not budgeted for). Honestly, you would think he works really hard for a living, expecting to spend money on treats like that:rotfl:.

Next update will probably be next week when I make my next mortgage payment. Oh, and I have 19 working days to go before I break up for Christmas with the children...yippee:j

Happier_Me

December mortgage of £2,350 (inc: OP) made yesterday plus an additional overpayment of £592.19 (solar panel income). Mortgage balance is now sub £75k:D