our forever patch challenge

sammy70

Another quiet day on the money saving front!

Worked out our April budget, also from my workings out we are on track again this month to make all out target amounts to our various savings pots!:beer:

Tomorrow i will look through freezer/ cupboards, and work out meal plan and shopping list for supermarket for next weeks meals and pack ups for work.

x Sammy X

sammy70

Good morning!

Its sunny here, so second load of washing whirling round..

On the money front, ive transferred £70 to our mortgage free/deposit on forever house fund savings account. This is cash saved from grocery money/spends money.

Now we have transferred to fixed lower rate mortgage im aiming to put any spare money into savings rather than overpayments (though i will do some overpayments). I aim to have enough in savings in the 27 months my mortgage is fixed for, to completely pay off the mortgage in full the day the fixed rate ends! So looking forward to that day!!:j

I also want to fill both hubby and i's ISA accounts to the max this year, to take advantage of the tax free savings, even though the rates are still poor, every penny counts!

My diet has been a disaster the last 3 weeks, gained 3lbs, thanks mainly to over eating of easter themed chocolate goodies, so must try harder on that , and more exercise!

Off to the library to order some new books i saw in tesco last week, then supermarket/cleaning/garden centre for mothers day gift..

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

X Sammy X

sammy70

library-sorted new books.
Food shop-done- used Morrisons bonus card- 5% discount- plus 10% cash back offer on Halifax debit card!

had quick hoover/mop, big clean tommorow and ironing..

Next, wake lovely hubby up with a nice cup o tea, and then pick mother up, and off to garden centre to get mothers day gift!

X Sammy X

sammy70

Good evening!

Pay day for me tomorrow, hubbys friday. Looking forward to sorting this months savings, we are looking like all on target for various savings pots monthly target amounts again , the hard work continues to pay off..

We have car tax to pay this month too, but we save monthly for car expenses, so all accounted for.

X Sammy X

sammy70

Good evening!

I just updated my signature, mortgage now £36,973.70, savings to clear this August 2016 stand at -£7,916..

Good news about the new limits for cash ISAS, i wonder if my next 12 months challenge should be to fill my isa to the max? mmm i wonder..

Had stressful crappy couple of weeks at work, really busy, staff shortages/too much work, just have to keep focusing on the wage i suppose..:(

Ive joined the company pension from this month, only 24 years to retirement! better make a start..

New mortgage rate of 2.24 starts today, hoping to get monthly interest below £100 this month..

bye for now, X Sammy X :beer:

sammy70

good evening.

Today we paid road tax-£265 for the year:eek:

This month is going to be a big spend month, aswell as car tax we have mot (we recently upgraded our fiesta to a 4 wheel drive diesel, 05 plate. Hopefully this should last us a few years, and will come in handy for our rural life in 29 months.. The car was a bargain, mega low mileage , full history, so we couldnt resist , and we had been saving for a replacement for our aging fiesta, which was getting "tired" to say the least..:rotfl:

This month sees my lovely daughters 21st, she wants cash for clothes etc, and im planning a family meal, so though we have saved for this, it still means keeping a careful eye on the finances. As well as this, we are having our fencing replaced at the front of our house, again saved for.

We have booked a week off work in a fortnight, combining fence being done, daughters birthday, and we plan to get some jobs that need doing caught up on in our home..

A busy month!

X Sammy X

sammy70

Two more days at work, then our week off begins, and boy am i ready for it!
We have a lot of jobs to catch up on, im looking forward to getting stuck into them..

The month continues to be expensive, but car passed mot ok, so thats a bonus.

Its my daughters 21st next week, so that will be a lovely day, a nice family meal, and hubby and i are taking her out to the cinema/shopping etc along with her boyfriend, it will be nice to spend relaxed time having fun together.

X Sammy X:j

sammy70

Hubby and I have broken up from work now until Monday 28th, yippee!


today ive got supermarket shop done, walked the dog, had a tidy up and called at boots for hair and make up, ive needed these for ages, my mascara was ancient!


I have a nightmare at the moment, some how ive managed to chip/damage the side of the diamond in my solitaire engagement ring.I took it the other day to the jewellers to see if they could reset it to cover the chip with a claw, but they called me to say the jeweller couldnt do this, as flaw could be made worse by doing this.


Ive got to collect my ring today, am hoping to see if anything else can be done, if not, we may have to buy a new diamond, and the ring is insured on the house insurance, but ive never made a claim in 9 years, so dreading it being complicated and them trying to get out of paying!!


Has anyone else had any experience of this situation? I could do with advice!






Oh well, lets see what the jeweller has to say..


X SammyX

sammy70

well, phew, a busy few days off work, and lots of funtime too!

I eventually got my precious engagement ring repaired, it was a slither that had been chipped out if the side, id some how managed to hit it! anyhoo, i eventually managed to get the stone re-set, and its safely covered with a claw, but im not wearing it at work anymore, incase i catch it again, im sure that must be where i caught it..

We had our lovely new fence installed, a couple of small mishaps as usual when we had anyone in, the fence fitter cut through our internet cable, and it took 4 days to get it sorted, also one made to measure panel went awol, so 2 days longer than planned till it was complete.. oh well,it looks lovely, and internet restored!

My daughter had a nice birthday, we went for a family meal, and on the day me, hubby, daughter and her boyfriend had day out together, cinema, followed my mexican meal. It was perfect, no disasters that day!

This months finances all sorted, savings made as follows-

£736 to mortgage pay-off savings account
£183 to horse savings
£183 to hubbys car savings
£125 to DIY/kitchen savings
£250 to emergency fund
£366.27 standard payment to mortgage

we have has an expensive month, car tax, daughters b.day, etc. So no overpayment this month.

May shouldnt be anywhere near as expensive, so hoping to get stuck into savings. My mortgage clearing day is 1st August 2016, the day after my fixed rate ends. Im determined to have enough to clear the balance, and with hard work and dedicated frugalness, hopefully a bit besides towards our rural forever home!

Im going to check banking, and update my signature.:D

Month 8 of our 36 month challenge begins Thursday 1st May..

Bring on the challenge!!:rotfl:

X Sammy X

sammy70

Today hubby and i had a lovely sunny country walk after i finished work, and before he got ready for his night shift.. we luckily get the chance to do this most days due to my early start/finishes.. we love to spend time dreaming of living in our little patch of lovely countryside.. chickens.. horse..veg patch..aww, we cant wait!!

Im back to meal planning more carefully which i had let slip a bit, and im already seeing small savings in our shopping budget.. Thursday is the day i organise the meal plan/ shopping list for the next 7 days, and we each have our weekly £30 each 'spending ' money. we usually save some towards our respective savings for horse/car..

Im as determined as ever for us to reach our saving goals to enable us to get the house we want..:rotfl:

X Sammy X