MF Mission....The JHH Dream!!

JHH1982

[FONT=&quot]Hi all,

I have been a long time lurker and had an attempt (well a few actually ) at writing a diary before.....i some how managed to loose/mess up my previous login deets for MSE so here goes....new username and fresh start at the diary :money:!

A little about the JHH household.....:D

DH and i are early 30's. We purchased our dream house in our dream location in March of this year :Twith a current mortgage of £264k

I have a burning desire to be MF! :ADH not so much :cool:
He is 'partially' on board with the idea (especially when i show him the interest £££ we will save by paying it off early) but he also wants to enjoy life .... 'you only live once' ....and all that good stuff.
Whilst i don't inherently disagree with him, i think we can enjoy life more simply and would therefore free up the ££ we dont spend enjoying life 'his way' to overpay the M.

Before we can start overpaying the paying we have a number (3 large ones!!) of costly items/things to pay for :eek:- namely:[/FONT]

1. [FONT=&quot]Private Op for me (NHS waiting list ~ 3years!) = £8600[/FONT]
2. [FONT=&quot]Garage (This was the deal with DH when we purchased the house, as it didn't have 1 ....I have tried in vain to get him to pop a couple of hundred pound shed up for his motorbike instead :rotfl:....to no Avail :mad:) = ~£14000[/FONT]
3. [FONT=&quot]Bank of Mum/Dad Loan (they helped out with the depsoit so we could get better rates on a 15% LTV mortgage) = £21000[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Total = ~£43,600[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

The Op ££ (£8600) is currently set aside so tick in that box.
The plan is between now and next Nov (15) we need to pay for the Garage and bank of Mum and Dad back.
I am a bit of a spreadsheet [STRIKE]geek[/STRIKE] lover and have had one for years upon years, to track everything and monitor spending etc. So hopefully, god willing and good luck prevaling - we are on course to meet the Nov 15 target :j
Come December 2015 - everything we have been saving for the garage/loans etc will then be thrown at overpaying the mortgage.

My plan in the interim (i.e before Nov 2015) is to OP the M with any 'unexepected bonus type ££'s ' that come our way
This includes (but not restricted to) work bonus, selling items, reducing overall household spends etc etc.

Think that is probably enough waffle for the mo - all i have to do now is crack on :beer:

JHH x[/FONT]

JHH1982

TGI Friday everyone :beer:
Yesterday's MF endeavours .....

MFW Goodness :money:

• NSD

The Not So Good :eek:

• DH bought takeaway for dinner (only chips and curry so not too heavy on the old wallet) because i was feeling dreadful after the plethora of tablets i'm having to take pre Op next week

Blessings :A

• Took the hounds (we have two beautiful boxer girls) on a walk midday through our local woods. It was lovely to see Autumn in full swing , which i had chance to enjoy for the first time this week as it was actually dry! :T

Ramblings
Very disappointed with myself today that we didn't stick to the meal plan (had been doing so well!) and snarfed a takeaway, having said that i felt so rubbish last night i didn't care at that point.
DH is away this weekend with some friends in the South downs completing a 100+ mile bike ride :eek: - rather him than me.
I hope to spend some time with a couple friends, catch up on the ironing (which is likely to bury us if i don't :rotfl:) and maybe batch cook some meals in preperation for the week/or two i will be out of kitchen duties.
I've always loved cooking, however a few of my main challenges with it (in the previous house) were a small galley kitchen, no dishwasher + i like to try cooking alot of new dishes (and not repeat things week upon week) which generally means some little bit of something for a recipe i haven't got (despite having very well stocked cupboards of everything)....And i hate going to the supermarket.....
In the new house we have a lovely big kitchen, with an island and dishwasher so plenty of room to cook (and bung everything in the washer for cleaning ) and i seem to have gotten into the rhythm of meal planning for the month, doing a supermarket shop for all the odd's and sods i may not have at the beginning....then going to Aldi weekly for all my fresh items (fruit/veg/milk/cheese etc).....It seems to be working well so far :j apart from last nights slip up :cool:
Hope the weather stays nice for this weekend anyhow - or i will have one grumpy husband when he returns Sunday evening!


JHH x

nobodysdriving

Hi JHH
well done, I love your determination.
I would like to join this soon as I am about to take my 1st mortgage ever at age 45!
this is for a 50% shared ownership.
My goal is to pay off as much of the mortgage as possible in the next 3 to 4 years to then be able to mortgage for the rest of the 50% and then pay it all off before I retire.
I'd like to retire knowing I own my flat 'fully' (it's an expensive flat in the outskirts of london)
would you be able to either share your spreadsheet (without your personal budget of course, just its 'skeleton') or point me to some good ones on internet

I want to get hold of my spending budget properly for once in my life and keep a close eye.

Also any tips for spending as little as possible on food apart from starving LOL

PS I ride a big 1000cc motorbike and I'd love a garage for it so I agree with your hubby although I am a female I've always been a 'tom-boy' type of person

JHH1982

Thanks for popping by NB's driving!

Congrats on the soon to be mortgage! Scary stuff isn't it! :eek:

Happy to share my S/Sheet - will PM it over....It's very 'tailored' i.e i have tinked with it over the years to get it how i want it....not sure it would suit everyone though ...!?!

I generally have two mains ways of tracking £££....
I have a main tab in my s/sheet that covers the Current account pot (all bills incoming/outgoing which i mark off as the DD is paid each month ) and one that covers 'Saving's Pot - this has an abundance of mini pots (i.e holiday fund/car maintenenace etc) again where i mark off if we have spent 'x' of the holiday pot - with a running balance for each pot and then overall balance.

I then have an app for my phone where i track spends on my 'personal' allowence i give myself each month
It cost me a whole 89p i think!? :rotfl:but soo worth it - it's literally called 'spending' (has a brown wallet as the app on your phone) it's so easy to use/tailor and it exports into my lovely spreadsheet so i can track until my hearts content ....
I have to say i basically look at my s/sheet each day and track everything to the n'th degree ....a little sad, but it makes me happy :rotfl:

Re the food tips - there are far better people on this board than i at this but i have to say my latest revelations are working a treat - meal planning and Aldi!!

I was a bit of a supermarket snob before, but having been [STRIKE]forced[/STRIKE] persuaded by a good friend to give Aldi a go, i will never go back. Don't get me wrong there are some things i won't forfeit, heinz ketchup/beans and a few other things (that i still pop to the T3sco etc for each month) - but can honest say as to the rest of it, ranging from Tuna, ricepudding, fresh fruit/veg/ etc etc - if you hadn't told me it was Aldi - i would not have known any different and it is SOOOO much cheaper :T

I reckon in the last 2 months (according to my current stats) with meal planning + Aldi, we have saved almost 40% month on month. :j

Ahh - DH has a 100cc i think - Aprillia RSV??
I do love being a pillion don't get me wrong it's just the exorbitant cost of the brick built shed i object too to house the thing in :cool:

nobodysdriving

JHH1982 wrote: »

Thanks for popping by NB's driving!

Congrats on the soon to be mortgage! Scary stuff isn't it! :eek:

Happy to share my S/Sheet - will PM it over....It's very 'tailored' i.e i have tinked with it over the years to get it how i want it....not sure it would suit everyone though ...!?!
Ahh - DH has a 100cc i think - Aprillia RSV??
I do love being a pillion don't get me wrong it's just the exorbitant cost of the brick built shed i object too to house the thing in :cool:

thank you for sharing

I would love to reduce my food bill to £50 per week (for both myself and my 19yr old son)
I know where I am going wrong: I need to cook more and eat a lot more vegetables. it's the 'on the job' food expense that is hilarious/ridiculous, I must get used to packed lunches but I 'hate' sandwiches, I am a 'low carber' so maybe I need to cook lots of veggies to take to work...

I have subscribed to this thread, would love to follow your progress

JHH1982

Yesterday's MF wannabe actions


MFW Goodness :money:

• 5 x surveys completed (Screened out an awful lot more though) , but I'm getting close to being able to collect some of my hard earnt ££
• £28.20 from Quidc0 - Moved to the 'Ad-hoc' savings pot in my trusty spreadsheet, once we get to the required £500 we can make a MOP :j

Blessings & Good Stuff :A:T

• Spending time with family :beer:
  
• Enjoying some chill time this weekend in peace and quiet whilst DH is away!
  
• Cuddles with friends little girl tomorrow (1month old) and a cuppa

The Not So Good :eek:

• Out for a meal with the family last night which meant £££. DH paid and it was only £60 for both of us, so pretty good actually
  
• BFF's dog died this week, she lived to a ripe old age of 14!! But still very sad:(
  

• Bought a new winter short coat from D3bnehams @ £50. In my defence I haven't bought a new winter coat for a long time and don't have a short smart one - so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it :rotfl:

Ramblings :whistle:

• Lots of rambling thoughts, nothing particularly uplifting or MSE like to report though! So as my dearest mother (and may others) say, if you haven't got anything nice to say, don't say it!

JHH

JHH1982

Confession time

MFW Goodness :money:

• Not alot (like an almost big fat zero!) except another few surveys completed....

Blessings & Good Stuff :A:T

• Relaxing day had by all yesterday, and by 'all', i mean me and the hounds. We had a leisurely hour + walk the woods in our village, lots of play time indoors. It looks so pretty atm in the woods ...although the slippy leaves and mud may yet be the death of me :rotfl:
• DH (and his not so relaxing day) did the 74mile bike ride :eek: , came home around 8pm, i fed him and then he went to bed. Ready for his early 5.30am get up to drive to Newcastle
  

The Not So Good :eek:

• Bought a chaise long for the 1st guest bed - it is very pretty :T (have been after one for a long time) and was a bargain...but still ££ spent and not very MSE :money:
  
• Second hand 4 x le creuset pans bought :beer:....
  but still ££ spent and not very MSE :money:

(In my defense, if indeed there is one, dearest mum bought me a le Creuset casserole dish for a birthday present this year - i it! So i started looking at buying the pan set, which are veryyyy expensive :eek:.....anyhow as part of my relaxing afternoon yesterday i had a quick nosey to a localish antique shop and obviously it was fate wanting me to buy them....as they had 4 x pans (the volcanic colour i wanted) for £69!! :T )

nobodysdriving

JHH I think those are good buys

JHH1982

nobodysdriving wrote: »

JHH I think those are good buys

Me too NBD - not sure the bank balance agrees quite so much though!

JHH1982

Hump day today for me as my last working day is Thursday this week....blimey this two days has been a long two though! Not sure if this is just me...?

Plan for tomorrow/Thursday is to try and menu plan for the next two weeks

Today's MF actions....

MFW Goodness :money:

• NSD day

• 2 x Surveys completed

• Planned a new and 'slightly' improved strategy to try and pay of the bank of mum and dad debt + garage fund….

The Not So Good :eek:

• Stressful time at work…. Multiple reasons….:(
  • Continued incompetence from a particular dept (which is a direct result of their incompetent leader IMO :mad:) causing a lot of pain for me and the team I'm in - on n hourly/daily basis!! The powers that be are either very short sighted and cannot see how little impact (+ive anyway) she is having for the business or they simply don't care enough!?! :wall:
    
  • Prepping for leave……2 weeks of it currently post op, hence trying frantically to close everything off or as much as able (nigh on impossible in my role, as most, to do)…+ prepping a detailed hand doc (which I know no one is likely to read in any great detail but it makes me feel better :cool:!!)

Blessings & Good Stuff :A:T

• We still have a roof :eek: :rotfl:(although i have to say this was in doubt on several occasions!)
  

• My newly acquired, ahem:whistle:, chaise longue arrived today and it looks fantastic :j

• Worked through a lot of the 'to do' list of things that I want/neeeeed doing before the op….i know if I don't get these completed, they will drive me mad whilst I'm sat on my proverbial a$$ for two weeks recovering/doing nothing….

I need to try and plan tomorrow/Thu some sort of menu for the next couple of weeks - DH is fab but has limited culinary skills
I cooked HM lasagne earlier this week, which we had again for lunch today - plan to freeze the last few portions.
Friday is all about cleaninga and batch cooking, chilli, curry, stew and freezing- so hopefully we won't starve whilst i'm incapacitated :rotfl:
Failing all else though there is always cheese or beans on toast

JHH1982

MFW Goodness :money:
• Lots of (virtually all) NSD days over last few weeks
• Dozens of surveys completed
• Talked DH out of buying expensive sound system for the lounge
• Should have an extra ~£300 in the pot this month to put towards the 'paying back/saving for' funds - this is due to doing bob all but watching TV/staying in the house!


The Not So Good :eek:
• The Operation didn't go to plan and have been in surgery 3 x now - hopefully all is now right :cool: (or so they are telling me) and I can properly start to recover!!
• So unbelievably bored :wall: of sitting on my behind literally doing nothing but watching TV! I know I shouldn't moan as I'm thro the ops and on the road to recovery but I am not a natural 'sit and do nothing/watch TV person' and I'm finding it incredibly challenging! :doh:
• Menu plan an spends on food gone to pot! Too many takeaways by me and more so DH! Very much Looking forward to getting into a routine again in a few weeks :T and eating home cooked food!!


Blessings & Good Stuff :A:T
• Very thankful to my amazing surgeon - he's been fabulous and I am so so grateful to him :beer:
• Work for being so very understanding in my somewhat challenging circumstances
• Fab neighbours who helped with letting the hounds out whilst multiple hospital visits/stays have been necessary
• DH for sorting everything and putting up with my stressy & v grumpy face for several weeks
• Being incapacitated and not spending any ££ has opened my eyes slightly that even on top of all the efforts to pay off the pots currently - I can still do more!!! :cool::o