All the small things...

HappyNow

Wow, well done FF, massive congrats to you and OH.

You've waited a long time and worked hard for this and you have done it! Just the lift you and OH need. You have brilliant parents too by the sound of it.

I daresay you will be posting on here a lot more now

FlacosFloozie

Hopefully! I've been really bad at posting these last few months but it is good at keeping me on the straight and narrow

FlacosFloozie

So, we survived 2016 and I'm counting that as a win
Mr F has started his new job and it seems to be going well. Spent the afternoon looking at his contract and their pension scheme. It's changing in a few months and they'll match contributions up to 7%. I wish my employer was half as generous.
We're back to meal planning so, hopefully, will stick to a tighter grocery budget.
We're also shopping aroung for quotes for flooring in the new house. At the moment we have a reasonable budget but I want to keep a contingency fund for unexpected expenses so its a case of resisting temptation and saving hard for another 3 months

AlexLK

Congratulations, FF. Didn't realise you now had a house.

FlacosFloozie

Right, well we're all moved in now. The house in in chaos with all the boxes but I love it. Parents have visited and it got the seal of approval Our first mortgage payment is due at the start of June. I'm going to let that one go through first then see about overpaying.
We also need to set a budget for the next few months. We're lucky enough to have some money left over so need to decide what to save, what to spend (lakeland has suddenly become a source of temptation) and what to invest. Our mortage is due to finish in 2038. I'd like to get it cleared sooner but also need to be thinking longer term about retiral incomes. Plenty of food for thought. Right, I'm off to have a nose around the savings and investments forum...

FlacosFloozie

Right, time for what has becomme my biannual posting .
We're settling in to the house and enjoying having our own space. I could have the Ikea catalogue as my specialist subject on mastermind and the less said about the garden, the better for now.
I've not been on top of things as much as I should. Our savings are better than my signature would suggest as there's still a fair bit of cash in Mr F's accounts. However, we still have a few bits of furniture to buy and some more paint... the garden can wait til spring .
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be as simple to make overpayments as I'd hoped. It seems I have to ask my bank to make transfers. I've had an email about signing up for online banking with the mortgage co so hoping I can do than then transfer myself.
I'm also starting to review for the longer term, nothing to do with the big birthaday next year, honest! I'm planning to up my pension contributions from next month. I've also joined my employer's scheme... a whole 1% but its better than nothing.
I've been looking at S&S ISAs this afternoon and planning to open one with Charles Stanley and start drip feeding. I've put in an application for a funding circle account.
I've also made an new speadsheet with all our savings, investments, assets, mortgage and net worth so I can keep track of our progress.

FlacosFloozie

Some more small steps this morning- have renewed my online savings accounts. This has taken the interest from 0.01% to 0.25%. I use them to budget for annual expenses like Christmas and car insurance. It'll only be a few extra pennies but every little helps.
YNAB is also up to date. I've gotten really bad at only updating it at months end rather than using it as I go along. Its shocking how much the grocery bill has spiralled lately. Some of its rising prices but a lot of it is me being lazy. Still, the freezer is stocked with batch cooked meals. We resisted take away last night and I'm going to venture in to the local Lidil and Aldi this week.