30 small steps

cookie9

Have finally set up OPs again on the account and will try to pay a lump sum later. Food shopping is still being monitored and now all three of us need packed lunches so spending is higher than I hoped. At least I have free lettuce from our garden. The garden has also provided a small amount of fruit this year and next year should see a better crop. The biggest time saving has been making lunches the night before.

Wee man is growing all the time and has out grown his wellies and trainers so had to buy more today. I will need boots later as the weather turns colder. Fortunately I picked up a couple of jumpers in the sales so work wear looks ok for winter.

Insurance is coming up for renewal so need to make sure I get a good deal. Trying to make my money work hard for me as I work hard to get it. Regular savings account now at 5% which is pretty good as the current rates available are so low. Hopefully I can compare a few quotes this evening.

Where did the weekend go?

cookie9

The 1st of October and it certainly felt colder today. Just checking what we need for winter and fortunately it isn't too bad with just boots and sock for wee man. I took advantage of the MSE collective switch and am on better deal with BG than my old BG tariff. Even better is the £30 cashback for switching to the same company.

Next on the agenda is sorting out house insurance to see if I can beat the renewal. Dh and I now have a plan for the next 15 years after which we hope to be able to retire MF. Getting the best deals will help us towards this goal. Wish us luck.

Update - managed to get £12 off renewal so not too bad.

cookie9

Is anyone else feeling cold? The good thing about having a diary is that I look back at last year and see when I caved I put the heating on. Hoping to go for a couple more weeks to make it to the end of October. Wee man has had a growth spurt so have ordered a couple of jumpers for him. At least I remember to use Quid£o to get some cash back.

Thinking ahead for Christmas I can ask for family to buy wee man some clothes so that is handy. I have bought some stocking fillers in the sales and have some vouchers to use. I picked up Christmas cards and wrap in the January sales which always makes my DH roll his eyes but he uses my stash come December!

Off to make some warming soup now. Hope everyone is well and making progress to being MF.

cookie9

Fairly good this weekend. We had been to the park a few times and went for a long walk this morning complete with snacks and a flask of tea. I do like my tea but if we go to the caf! this ends up being tea, juice and cakes! Lunch was paid for by vouchers so only had to pay the tip.

Mortgage statement arrived so this year we have paid off £10,000 in total after interest deducted. Given that I stopped OPs for a few months I am really happy with this news. this has given me a bit of an extra incentive to pay off more.

As I need to get a few things off Amaz@n I checked if there are any offers and was pleased to discover I qualified for the free £7. Not huge amounts but small steps help.

cookie9

Half term is here so thinking of cheap entertainment ideas. Pumpkin craving might be fun and I like pumpkin soup so that looks like a winner. Weather permitting we will head to the park and if miserable weather going to go to the cinema. Snacks will be prepared at home so no additional expense. I do need to give careful thought to lunches as normally make packed lunches for everyone but can make hot lunches this week.

On the energy front we have done well with our gas but electricity is still a bit too high for my liking. The two culprits are the washing machine and oven. Unfortunately both wee and big man are messy so always have full loads on. I am good with the oven as try to use several things at the same time but DH is not always so forward thinking. At least we are a good deal and I had our £50 credit paid over to me. New Direct Debit is going to be lower too so a good result.

One thing I am not always good at is keeping an eye on my petrol tank and sometimes ending up refuelling at an expensive garage. I am now keeping track of which of my local garages have the best rates and will make sure I fill up there.

Back to making my usual OPs so feeling good about that. I do like to play with the numbers to see how quickly the mortgage could be paid off. Dreaming of my MF day!

cookie9

First day of half term and not too spendy as we had a lovely morning in the park. We are so lucky to live in an area with really nice parks to go to. I spent £2 on some crafty bits and pieces for us to do over the next few days and decided to have lunch out with a free meal for wee man thanks to British G@s. This was mainly to treat myself as I have a pile of household tasks to do this week and want to start in a good mood.

I am always impressed by the amount people on this forum seem to be able to sell their old things for. I am going to try to sell off wee man old toys again as the last few sales fell through but after that it is off to the charity shop.

I am sorting out my wardrobe again and putting away my summer clothes as it is certainly Autumn now. I have a reasonable supply of jumpers so shouldn't need any more this year. My knee high boots have been reheeled and my ankle boots are in good shape so that is work taken care of for the winter. For the weekends I have my trusty snow boots which I picked up in the sales a few years ago for the bargain price of £10!

cookie9

What a nice surprise in the post this morning as my local garden centre has a reward scheme and I have £26 to spend there. They have some good deals on books so will pick up some Christmas presents there. Hopefully these combined with my other reward points will make Christmas not too painful.

mortgage_girl

Cookie - you're so organised. I haven't even bought a single Christmas present yet and still need to buy ingredients for the Christmas cakes...I'll put that on my to-do list for later. Fab news about your voucher too.

MGx

cookie9

MG I 'impressed you are making your own Christmas cake. As I am the only one who likes them I don't bother.

Today did spend a bit on a treat for wee man and myself. We went to local National Trust house which had a Halloween trail complete with pumpkin carving and toasting marshmallows. Lots of fun. Need to cost it out to decide whether it is worthwhile becoming members. I think it may be cheaper to join Scottish National Trust which has reciprocal arrangements with the English one. Afternoon was much cheaper as we spent the day making Halloween decorations.

cookie9

Heating most certainly on now. I am struggling with a bad cold so have gone back to bed with cold relief and a cup of tea. Wee man happily watching Kung Fu Panda so I can rest. The good news it that we are almost at the 150,000s. It would feel so good to get there by the end of the year.

I need to sort out meal plans so this week but can't face it at present. Also have pile of work to do but again can't face it. At least I managed to do some housework yesterday even if it was at 5.00 am.

Off for a nap.