MF in 10 - no ifs buts or maybes

Firegirl

I think if you sell some things it will make you feel back on track!!!! Good luck!

Maybe_its_because

Realise I havent updated the diary but we're still very much on track with keeping the spending within our means.
I've extended my LOA to Feb meaning I'm not going to see any real money til the end of Feb. I did however get a % payrise in August so the back pay was paid last month and some tax this month. A couple of £100 I wasn't expecting so - nice :j

I'm in the proces of updating the spreadsheet - was away from the laptop for a week so lots to input. Last of the DDs are out and bought a couple of gifts on behalf of others so paid the cash back into the bank today now they've all coughed up.

Frustratingly we didnt manage to find any spare for OPs but our final balance for the year is £209,326.
Without the OPs it would have been over £215k.
Really pleased with that.

Maybe_its_because

Targets for 2016

• Joined the MFiT (4) challenge. Reduce from £209k to £174k
• Joined the MFW 2016 challenge. Make £5k of OPs
• Make positive steps to improving my work situation. Stay with the new boss or find another job?
• Spend more time with the family and share our DD with her GPs and extended family more (without spending too much ££ travelling)
• Be brave and approach the nursery/childcare arrangements for DD
• Keep on track with spreadsheet. Do at least 2 A1di weekly shops per month
• Pick up the NSD challenges again
• Broach the subject of a possible 2nd child - eek!

MIB x

shangaijimmy

2nd child...definitely not MFW! I know, we're days off number 3!

Firegirl

Great targets! Good luck!!!

Maybe_its_because

Approaching month end and need to offload some of the finance stuff going on in my brain.

- targets
addressed work issue and officially finish work on 31st Jan. There may be a severance payment attached to it but that's a WIP.

weekly shops in A!di done but one or two "normal" supermarkets visited where needed to get the brands we need (i.e. p4mpers for the DD) Subsequently hugely underspent on the usual food budget.

Have spent on -
new curtains (£90 reduced to £45)
MOT £55 (to claim back from car account)
Boiler service for poorly boiler (£96)

So, how this has happened I do not know with zero salary coming in from me (that's £1500+ a month down) we have still ended the month in the black. There may even be a cheeky little £50 being thrown at the mortgage OP. Something I didn't expect until later in the year.:j
Much of the spending reduction has been down to not paying the usual mortgage OP and not paying the BoM&D or the travel costs I'd usually incur going to work. But taking all that aside, we've still saved a fortune by being a bit tight. I talked to OH about it last night to gauge his feelings on it. He's not unhappy but has noticed. He said the cupboards arent as full as usual - that just means there's less in the goody box. We throw less food out.
So hopefully we can sustain something along these lines for the next few months. Then I can think about returning to work.

Also sold some stuff on ebay, following Firegirl's advice. Have been decluttering and generally blitzing the house.

Other targets
- visited both families/GPs this month.
- arranged a joint family for both families to get together in my parents home town. (ie one trip for us, not two)
- haven't needed to think about childcare. I'm it.
- havent tracked NSDs as I have in previous months, but have acheived quite a few. More low-spend than no-spend.
- not sure about baby 2 given my current employment situation

So finishing the month on a high. Looking forward to seeing what our OP will be on Sunday

MIB x

Maybe_its_because

Managed a whopping £200 OP in jan which is more than I thought we'd manage.
Updates from work... Expenses paid, will put in as an OP once it's cleared. Boss reckons there'll be a few '000 of severance which is beyond any of my expectations ... I was happy to leave of my own accord.
That will get us on track for our OP target and will also replenish the holiday account which will hopefully pay for a little get away in the summer.

Otherwise, house declutter has resulted in more sales so £15 for the pot.

Good start to Feb

MIB x

jodles16

Hello, good news about the severance pay especially as you weren't expecting it! Well done on the OP, impressive stuff! With NSDs I will sometimes take cash out on a spend day if I know that I will need to spend in the next few days such as going for a meal, it helps focus the spending and I wont go over my cash!

Jodles

Firegirl

Well done MIB!!!! Looks like you've really taken control of your situation. :T:T Well done on your ebaying too. I need to get going on some more ebaying myself actually.

Maybe_its_because

I realise I've neglected my little diary a little over the last few months.
Never fear my friends, I haven't stopped paying OPs. But a lot has changed though.

Following my resignation in Jan 16, I received a keep-schtum payout from my employer (not that I had any plans to cause any trouble!)
That payout went on to pay for the "things to do in the house" list - although only the flashing red high priority ones.

We now own a front and back door which fully comply with our home insurance policy and a fresh lick of paint/render to keep the front of the house from falling down.

The rest we paid off the mortgage.

We perhaps should have treated ourselves, but what the heck.

Over the last few months we have paid (on one salary I might add)
Jan - £200
Feb - £940 (part from a power company rebate)
Mar - £140
Apr - £140
May - £924 (part from my redundancy payout)

= £2344 to date which is unbelievable.
This means we're well on target to achieve our next goal which is less than £200k by Nov 16 when our fixed rate ends.
Whether we'll meet our MFW2016 target of £5000 OPs for the year is another story but who knows.

We are currently pennies into the £203ks having missed the £204ks completely.

In terms of our income, we have (as you can see) survived on OH's salary. The plan was for me to, once settled after leaving last job, to find a local, part time, less stress job which fits into childcare arrangements.
That however won't happen now as I'm pregnant and can't work out how to get a job between now and October before our LO arrives.
So our next challenge is to continue to survive on OH's salary. That in principle should be ok, but our recent frugal lifestyle was agreed as, erm, temporary.
We do still have £20k+ in savings. We are continuing to save but only for our DD in her high interest kids account - and not the maximum.
We also have the additional challenge of what to do given our mortgage is up for renewal in Nov and we now earn significantly less. Our income is £47k (was £80k) and mortgage £200k (was £233k)
My only conclusion is that we move onto SVR :eek: which I hope NEVER happens or hope the mortgage company offer us another fixed like they did at the end of our last fixed period, no questions asked.
I have been in touch with our mortgage advisor to see what can be done now in anticipation of all that happening.
There is also the small matter of the BTL which ticks along nicely but is also finishing its fixed shortly.

So, there has been a lot going on. Our ebaying has been a bit poor of late but some income from TCB has come our way (and now an OP). I didn't have a lot of motivation in my first trimester as I was pretty poorly (and with a 2 year old!!)
Income generation will be my next priority now I feel a bit more human.

Will also try not to stay away from the diary for so long.