I really really want to be........mortgage free!

ourcornercottage

I totally agree, could do a bit more but you don't want to be miserable. I am going to do it as a gentle introduction if not i will end up giving up.

Also put £200 into funding circle today, its something Ive wanted to do for ages to help UK businesses and whilst it might not be as good as they advertise I think it will be an okay investment and also a bit of fun. On the plus its good for the UK economy. Im only going to put in what I can afford to loose and invest no more than £20 in any one company. Any previous experiences anyone?

Goldiegirl

Hi - I think you are doing very well on the groceries - only £100 per month for three of you plus two dogs. I saw that you were veggie, but it's still a low expenditure compared with many people. Certainly no need to cut there.

I also noticed that you were thinking of shopping around for house insurance.

One thing I would say about that - make sure you compare like with like. You could get a really low quote, but it might not include things that you already have, and want, like accidental damage cover.

We are ditching Sky in the new year. We've already dropped sky Movies, but we are having one last Christmas of Sky Sport. (Mr Goldie likes watching the darts at Christmas, it's almost a tradition after 20 years!). We've enjoyed having Sky, but most of the channels we watch a lot are on freeview, so we're going to buy a freeview box that records programmes.

It might be worth reviewing your TV viewing and see how many channels you watch on a regular basis, and consider if you need Sky after all

ourcornercottage

Thanks, we are really good on our shopping, i'm recording all our purchases so it may be a little more but we waste nothing and bulk buy when things are on offer so we really spend very little. you can see our eating out adds that up a bit so the shopping will go up a little as that comes down.

Id love to ditch sky but I live in the sticks, i mean in the real sticks and I just cant get a decent reception on an Arial, I would never have sky if not. Sky sports is a luxury and I will be negotiating again soon or leaving.

I have been looking at the home insurance on like for like cover and will definitely be able to get it down, just need to call currently provider to see how long im tied in for. Accidental damage is a must in our house, nothings happened so far but with 2 dogs and a 6 year old you can guarantee when I get rid of that the telly is going to go over!

ourcornercottage

ps thanks for all the support guys its really helping.

ourcornercottage

Not the greatest day today, had to fork out for sons guitar lessons and athletics classes but he enjoys them so it's worth it :-)
Still working recording all purchases which will be useful to review. I've noticed signs for a 5% tsb account so may open one up to make the most if that to save house doing up money in. Did anyone use the topcashback debenhams offer, mine didn't work right I'm annoyed.

in_need_of_direction

You'd be better overpaying on the 19% credit card until it's cleared then throwing what you currently pay each month into savings or off the mortgage

smifffy1989

With topcashback it is best if you delete internet history, open up topcashback and follow it through to the site and purchase straight away.

I often find what I want first on the website in question then see if it is on topcashback and follow the above process.

You can also raise a missing cashback request on the topcashback website, this may help you resolve the issue

Watty1

Looking forward to the journey! I'm self employed and started out just wanting to overpay and am now considering how to plan for a retirement etc.
Just a thought on the haircuts - which was a big expenditure for me - try a local college with a hairdressing salon. They are usually keen for people and very very cheap. (And students are supervised so no fear there!).

ourcornercottage

Cc another thing I'm working on. Already overpaying by 500-750 per month, I'm trying to do this is on top of that. If I can see mortgage coming down a bit too it will help with the motivation.

Idea is to my off cc in 2015 whilst starting to reduce mortgage then as soon as cc is paid then move them payments to mortgage. Does that make sense?

Did the topcashback debenhams thing okay in the end so free undies posh for my son. It just puts the wrong amount yo begin with, website sYs it does this and updates to the correct amount afterwards. I'm going to use Quidco and tcb for everything from now on after I know what I want.

This month is starting o become very expensive, and going out again tomorrow and the following Saturday! 3 times in a month!

SillySod

"There's me (40) my bf (49) and son (6) we have 2 dogs and did have 3 chicken but they died of a mystery illness earlier in the year and we've been too sad to replace them."

OMG I was really shocked until I realised I had misread "chicken" as "children"! :shocked: