Putting my mortgage on a diet

gallygirl

Slowdown wrote: »

Do custard and hotdog sausages go together? I have enough for a week of good meals and a week of weird meals. If I spread this out over two weeks and intersperse decent meals with weird meals then maybe no one will notice! Ha ha. :rotfl:

Do you have any vinegar? Sweet and sour hotdogs (with emphasis on the sweet )

littlegreenpeas

My husband calls end of the month cupboard clearing, the food randomiser.

Slowdown

:rotfl::rotfl:
I really like the food randomiser. My meals are random enough as it is!
Well today would be shopping day but I'm either going to pop out for essentials or not go at all! One or two extra things popped up this week that have swallowed up some cash so going to save as much as I can. My oh has even announced he will 'make do' with whatever beer is in the cupboard! Now that's dedication.

Had the extra expense of taking DS1 to a college in Nottingham for an audition for an acting course this week. Lots of petrol and food when there but all to the good as he has been offered the place. (Got to get the grades first though!) also spent about £15 on materials for sewing yesterday.

All these expenses have to be found from saving elsewhere on the budget before I can take anymore off the mortgage.

So this is where TFR (the food randomiser, thanks littlegreenpeas) kicks in. I usually buy pizza for a Friday night but today I'm going to make them on flat bread bases that I've had in the freezer for a while. They were going cheap in mr Ts so will make good bases as they are cheese and tomato flavoured.

DD home from uni for Sunday and Monday to go to an interview and has asked if I will cook a roast. She was drooling when she asked so I couldn't refuse. Will have to find where there is some meat on offer this weekend.

Anyhow better get up and make the sandwiches with the last of the sensible fillings! Peanut butter and sardines next week!

Kind regards
Slowdown:)

Slowdown

Hi
Well I had a very dodgy week with the food randomiser and along with it, two somewhat grumpy teenage sons! They were not impressed at the size or mixture of the meals and went skulking back to their rooms whispering of conspiracies to starve them.

I haven't managed to slim my mortgage down any further this month and I'm still heading for an overdraft but I have set aside another £100 from this month's payday. So far I've done £550 since I started and though I'm pleased it means it will take over a year to make a single months payment. It doesn't feel like a lot but it's definitely better than nothing.

Hope everyone is well and feeding their own mortgages as best they can.
Kind regards
Slowdown:)

Lois_E

Hi Slowdown! :wave:

You're making great progress and obviously getting into the swing of things.

However, do be careful of overdrafts. They generally have much higher interest rates than mortgages, so OPing the mortgage in a way that takes you into your overdraft can be counterproductive.

Do you have an emergency savings fund? Most people on here recommend having one. It covers you for unexpected expenses - washing machine breaks down etc - and some people have enough to cover all their essential expenses for a few months, depending on how secure they think their jobs are.

Of course, paying into an emergency fund (EF) isn't as exciting as paying off the mortgage, which is why I like to calculate a total of "mortgage and loans" minus "ISA and emergency fund". That way, when I put some money in the EF, I can see a mortgage-related number coming down and post it in my sig.

Slowdown

Hi Lois
You are of course right to be wary of overdrafts. We have an agreed limit with the bank which is free and we rarely go over for more than a day or two at the end of the month and usually under £100.

We use an accounts programme on the computer and forecast what our situation will be at the end of the month just before pay day. We attempt to head the overdraft off by saving on food etc though I'm not convinced we have our spending priorities right. Sometimes we give too much to the children and I think I should be making them go without, especially our oldest son, who has been given a tremendous amount of financial help this year.

We have an emergency fund as part of our savings account. We do not let this go below £2000 as we have come unstuck before with roof repairs and car problems so are a bit wary of having nothing in the bank. We try to put money into this to sort out the house and when we reach a target we have set for redecoration, or buying a piece of furniture etc we spend it and start saving again. We used to borrow money to do household things but no longer. If we haven't got it, we don't spend it nowadays.

Thanks for popping in and reading my thread and look forward to hearing from you again. I will find your thread if you have one and take a peep at your progress.
Kind regards
Slowdown:)

Lois_E

Slowdown wrote: »

I know it was frivolous but I couldn't resist. I bought the most beautifully snuggly blanket that is a double size and covers both me and hubby on the sofa. We have a draft that whistles down the stairs and this is a terrifically effective way of warding off the chills.

Not frivolous at all. An excellent purchase that will be fun to use and cut down on heating. Very MSE. :money:

Slowdown wrote: »

Hi Lois
You are of course right to be wary of overdrafts. We have an agreed limit with the bank which is free and we rarely go over for more than a day or two at the end of the month and usually under £100.

We use an accounts programme on the computer and forecast what our situation will be at the end of the month just before pay day. We attempt to head the overdraft off by saving on food etc though I'm not convinced we have our spending priorities right. Sometimes we give too much to the children and I think I should be making them go without, especially our oldest son, who has been given a tremendous amount of financial help this year.

We have an emergency fund as part of our savings account. We do not let this go below £2000 as we have come unstuck before with roof repairs and car problems so are a bit wary of having nothing in the bank. We try to put money into this to sort out the house and when we reach a target we have set for redecoration, or buying a piece of furniture etc we spend it and start saving again. We used to borrow money to do household things but no longer. If we haven't got it, we don't spend it nowadays.

Thanks for popping in and reading my thread and look forward to hearing from you again. I will find your thread if you have one and take a peep at your progress.
Kind regards
Slowdown:)

Sounds like you've got it all sorted.
My overdraft is much more punitive, so I have to be extra careful not to go into it ever!

Slowdown

Well, I may be failing on the diet front but my mortgage has lost another hundred pounds yesterday when I got paid. :j
Haven't managed to shave any more off in extras but we have also put some money in the savings so we have a pot for emergencies and house development. Total of £650 in overpayments since November. Hooray:T
Kind regards
Slowdown:)

Slowdown

We'll, I haven't paid off any more until yesterday when in desperation I rounded the mortgage figure down by paying off £5.72!! Not a huge amount amount but fun to do.

OH is having a really hard time at work and I'm very unhappy in my workplace too so in turn it leads to me spending more money. Wish I didn't but I seem to buy 'treats' at times like this, such as better food, more wine, a bit of clothing etc.

Should really have a bit of money left over at the end of this month but can't decide what to do with it. Leave it and enjoy looking at a bigger bank balance next month? Pay it off the mortgage? Spend it on holiday at Easter? Stick it in the savings? Just don't know. Any ideas much appreciated.
Kind regards
Slowdown:)

Hurdler

work out a percentage that lets you do a bit of everything? Picked it up from someone else's diary - sounded like a good plan for topping up the saving/OP pots