10 Year MF Mission

helmetbetty

Thanks, niftythrifty33! It still feels vey much like an uphill battle, but we are only 2 months in. It is very satisfying when I make an overpayment, and we bowwed 105k 2 months ago, and its already at 102,099 so starting to make a dent in it already!

I must admit to really enjoying the veg growing, it feels like the money saving aspect of it is just an added bonus! Theres nothing nicer than sitting down to tea with your own nurtured vegetables. Had our first crop of new potatoes for tea yesterday, soooo yummy!!!

helmetbetty

Well, Another month has gone by already, and another £500 was overpayed today. Yay!! Luckily the car wasn't as bad as expected, just a new tyre and a heat shield was loose. First time ever, i think, that its gone to the garage and been less than expected!!

Managed to get some overtime this month too which helped, as had some bunk beds to buy too, little ones growing too fast :-(

Not much else to report really, got some tomatos, potatos, cucumbers and beetroot starting to come in out of the garden so thats helped the food bill a touch, and its yummy to boot!

Same time next month?

HB

newgirly

Hi I just wanted to wish you all the best with your new diary, it's not easy making ops especially with kids and pets to pay for

helmetbetty

Thanks, Newgirly. I must admit, its not the easiest, but we are enjoying it at the moment. I'm sure it will become tiresome eventually, but we'll just keep reminding ourselves of the end result and hopefully we'll manage it!! Need to be quite disciplined with our outgoings. Some things can't be avoided, but many things can, or certainly be found cheaper/secondhand etc.

Eldest son starts secondary school in september, needs all the uniform etc. HOW MUCH!!!!!! why is uniform so expensive?!?

All the best

HB

gallygirl

You're making really good progress - well done :T.

Can we have some chicken pictures please, they're very popular on here .

helmetbetty

Of course, I have lots!! Only stumbling block is how do i post a picture?!

HB

helmetbetty

Well, a bit late this month, sorry. School holidays so been really busy. The car MOT was this month, and I didn't know how much that would set us back, but she went straight through with not even an advisory. A 13 year old Fiat, with no advisory's?! How did that happen? Luck must be on our side this month.

Managed the full £500 OP again this month, so current balance is about 100.5k, which is great, just under 5k payed off in 5 months. Really starting to see results which is very encouraging. Got some new internal doors too, just waiting for them to be hung, and thats the last of the internal doors done. (when we moved in they were all horrible brown flat doors - very '70's - and we've been slowly replacing them for the normal panel doors, this is the last lot to do, so happy there too.

Got school uniforms to buy this month, but we do have a pot put aside for them so shouldn't affect our OP pot, hopefully. Eldest starts secondary school this year, so a bit more than usual with blazers, ties etc, but he's looking forward to it which is good - I remember dreading it when I moved up!

I will post a piccy or two of our chickens if anyone would like as mentioned last month, I just need to know how?

That's about all the news this month, next OP will be end of august, so will try not to be so late in the update next time.

HB out.

helmetbetty

A nice milestone this month, our remaining balance dropped below £100k, we're at £99,974 after this month £500.

Really getting into the habit of it now, and not missing the extra money so much. We still treat ourselves sometimes, but not too extravagant, just small things that make a difference like an occasional takeaway or new clothes etc.

Sold a few bits this month to help towards our OP else we wouldn't have met target as the back to school shopping was enormous! But a small sacrifice really, because it was all stuff we don't use or need, a couple of old mobile phones and some garden bits. Every little helps!

Next month we are going to Thorpe Park, but we saved by buying the tickets online which was so much cheaper than gate price, and we'll take our own lunch to keep the costs down once there.

Guess that's it this month, not very exciting, but that's what cutting back does to you!

HB

helmetbetty

Sorry it's been 2 months since the last update, just didn't really get around to it!

Last month was really good, no additional spend and managed to find a couple of things in the loft we no longer wanted that we sold, so we actually managed £600 OP last month (mainly incase christmas costs more than expected) and this month we managed the target £500 too.

Got the boiler service this month, along with the beginning of the christmas shopping, and the breakdown cover on the car is due too, so will be tightening the purse strings as much as possible to try and make sure we have the £500 for november, though if we only manage £400 we're still on track due to the extra payment in september.

Sorry these are just brief ramblings, I'd never make an Author. But at least it gives me a diary to look back on.

HB

helmetbetty

Please! How do I post a photo - I cannot get it to work!!!!