MF in 10 - no ifs buts or maybes

Maybe_its_because

Just a quick payday update

- A bit out of date with the spreadsheet, accounts and reconciling holiday spends so need to put some time in later to sort out.
- There's a few refunds I've been procrastinating on as they're going to be awkward but will act on those today
- No revised bills yet from npower but regular checking as am intrigued to get a true balance
2 NSDS (at least but didn't fully track) while on holiday but did overspend on the budget by a couple of quid.
- Made some big purchases on the credit card (not THAT big, winter shoes for me and DD - not "planned" per se but clearly needed)
- Made another OP of £137 and we're still in a positive balance so possibly a last minute OP to be made

Going to be a good MSE-er today and get up todate on our finances.

Maybe_its_because

Chuffed with our OPs recently - another £12 in Aug taking the Aug total to £649 and another today of £500.
If we sustain this we'll definitely meet our annual target and also could even meet that extra target of £20,000 in payments made to the mortgage. If we managed that then our daily interest would go into the £15s - still waaaaay too big but moving in the right direction :-)

Don't seem to be managing any NSDs at the mo - only 1 so far in Sept. Today has been one but that'll change as I'm going out with the girls tonight.
Have s birthday party and 4 new baby presents to sort but mostly sourcing from the unwanted pressies pile for my DD. adding to that my crafty baby blankets, their mummy's won't think I'm a cheapo!

Work is madness and not letting up - thinking about increasing my hours to be able to cope with the workload. Need to check with husband and our child minder. Possibly increase it again in 6 months once DD is ready for nursery....we'll see.

Looking forward to a weekend with the family, lots of catching up to do (hopefully no wallet-action!)

MIB x

Maybe_its_because

Maybe_its_because wrote: »

Don't seem to be managing any NSDs at the mo - only 1 so far in Sept.

Looking forward to a weekend with the family, lots of catching up to do (hopefully no wallet-action!)

Managed 4 more NSDs over the weekend which I'm rather pleased and surprised about. There was zero wallet action when visiting the family. :j There was however a much heavier suitcase based on all the gifts I've been given for DD.

Work expenses to put in this week so will get that sorted asap
Still a couple of refunds to arrange. Managed two - just 3 more to sort. Two are overseas from our holiday which is a right pain. :mad:

Booked our holiday for next year but I think I'll ask MiL to pay the deposit so we dont have to (we have the last two times)
Started talking about family trips and where to go for xmas.
Need to book some train tickets (still too soon/.not available) and some flights (really cheap at the mo) Will do that in a couple of days once the CC has reset to another bill period.

Still plenty in the joint account but not half way through the month yet so holding off on any more OPs just yet. There is some secretly stashed away in the hope of OPing it later in the month.

MIB x

Maybe_its_because

Monthly update (given that my last weekly one was written then lost and so I stropped off)

Started of a very tight month and made it through with £9.83 to spare.
- Put some extra into savings (savings balance now into the £23ks but will dip into before the end of the year with tax bill)
- Made an OP of £520 bringing the balance down to the £211ks. Over the last 9 months we have reduced our balance by over £10k which is more than the whole of our 1st 2 year fixed deal !! what the...?
- On track for a little mini milestone of getting under £210k by xmas and well underway for reaching the 1st target of >£199k by Nov 16
- opened a FD account using the MSE link so waiting for that £150. The card and pin has arrived, just waiting on the online access. Will still keep the Sant123 despite the charge increase as its still worth it, just about.
- I became an investor! I put a couple of hundred quid into Saving Str34m and will watch what happens. Inspired by supersecretsquirrel and edinburgher to look at mortgage neutrality and our future financial independence. Little baby steps for now.....
- Booked our xmas flights to the family and saved ££s by using my travelex supercard for the return flight from the EU by buying it as a single in euros. It really is the best thing ever! Its saved us a fortune.


- Workwise I have asked for my hours to be increased as I'm working them anyway from home so should really be getting paid for them. Making my management team aware that my growing workload can't be covered within my current FTE.
- However, I'm currently in the process of appying for a new job. less money (a lot less) but a career move towards what I'd like to be doing. The implications would be catastrophic for our OPs in the short term but OH is definitely on a career trajectory and will make up the shortfall in 3-5 years time on our household income. Our monthly money/spending/holiday funds won't be affected, just that OP budget. Can't worry about that - havent even got an interview yet!
- The power bill saga continues. They issued revised bills but not for the period which had the incorrect bill. So need to wait another 2 weeks for that to be rectified. I'm desperate to know what my actual account balance is (and if its in the black or red) so I can look into switching.

Not a lot of expenses expected this month so hopefully everything will tick over nicley. We are planning a cheeky trip away without the baby so I need to book that this week

MIB x

Maybe_its_because

Most of the bills and payments are out for the month, just the credit card DD and the child allowance to come.
Then its just usual monthly spends for the rest of the month.

Following the Sant banking fee change I've been checking into whether its worthwhile keeping on. Long and the short of it is - yes.

• new Sant fees = £5p/m for current123 and 123CC
• cashback & 123interest = £25 p/m on average across the 2 accounts
• the odd cashback from My Offers (£19 total so far this year)

Want to make better use of these accounts so - the plan....

I have had a Hal CC(£5,000 credit limit) accepted 1.39% fee with £35 cashback (covering the fee) and a £2500 BT approved onto my Sant123 CC.

There is currently a £1,129 balance on the 123CC (acquired during the 0% spend period last year - current123 account holds the money to pay off at the end of the period while acruing 3% interest.)
So there will be approx £1,350 credit on the 123CC, I hope thats not too much for them to return it back. Continuing with the normal oyster top ups, fuel, supermarket shopping spending will use that 123CC credit up by Christmas.
I have the option to BT within 90 days so could possibly do another one to the 123CC if poss.

Normally every new transaction on the 123CC is paid off straight away from the joint account. Instead all the usual 123CC spends will go from the joint account into savings instead. Will also continue to stash that £1,129 in savings as it won't need paying back for now.

New savings plan
- have opened up a £500 r4te$etter with an MSE-er's referral link giving me an extra £50 (+£35 bonus) = 3%
- opened up £500 r4te$etter for OH with my referal link + £50
both for 1 month and then returned to account. = 3%
-Saving $tre4m has £250 in it on two investments for 3-11 months = 12%
- will open a f1rst d1rect regular savings account once my online account is finished setting up. (to invest the £150 bonus they gave me) = 6%
- will drip feed in the spending of the 123CC into savings in one or more the above.

All part of the plan towards mortgage neutrality, given all of the above perform better than our mortgage rate.

Only (minor) implication is there'll be a credit card balance on our credit rating when we remortgage next Nov. Shouldnt affect our affordability.

Mortgage news
Excited to hear that the MFiT- 4 is in the pipeline, hope to be part of that.
£500 OP made this week. Total up to 5732/6500 for the MFW challenge and balance is £210k - ish. Won't get into the £209s this month. Defintely next month though. We've also shaved a full year off our term.:j

Off to tweak the spreadhseets to add more rows to the savings sheet

MIB x

edinburgher

Just read through your whole thread

Welcome to the world of investing (and well done on referring OH, a nice bonus :beer:)

Your credit card balance will affect your affordability (all CCs not paid off in full have an effect), but it should be minimal as it's a small amount.

Re. the S123 account - I think considering the cashback + interest is maybe not the way to think about it. The cashback is your 'bonus', the interest is your right for being a prudent saver. If the cashback doesn't cover the fee, I'd ditch the account. T5B will allow you to have £2k each @ 5% + a joint account and there are other providers slightly above or at the level of the Spanish bank.

Well done on all the NSDs. I have always found the concept frustrating as there is seldom a day in our house where we don't spend money whether budgeted or not. As long as our main metrics look healthy, I'm happy. For us, that's net worth, average savings rate over 3 months and years 'til retirement

Maybe_its_because

edinburgher wrote: »

Welcome to the world of investing (and well done on referring OH, a nice bonus :beer:)

Thought you'd appreciate that... wonder where I got the idea from...?

edinburgher wrote: »

I have always found the concept frustrating as there is seldom a day in our house where we don't spend money whether budgeted or not.

NSDs are really just a way for me to stop wasting money. The unbudgeted ££s were being frittered away here and there - now I have to consider every penny. (which should happen anyway as I'm an MSE-er)

Will look into other bank accounts (incl T5B). My money shuffling is becoming very complex ;-) I know I'm not alone there.

Thanks for dropping by

Luckyinlife

Great savings plan :]

nice OP to bring on the 209k club :]

Maybe_its_because

Major changes afoot.

Following a number of family incidents and the ongoing issues I've had re balancing work, child & stress levels, I've had a leave of absence request approved. This will last for Nov & Dec. I'll then consider how to make positive changes in January to decide whether to return or seek a new job.

My spreadsheet won't like it. ;-)

However much of my salary loss can be absorbed by not OPing or saving or paying commuter travel costs for the next 2 months. Shame but at least we have the capacity. I have a super secret savings account stashed where I don't know the balance with my mum (£500 at least ) so I can call on that to cover additional costs. And we'll just have to cut back a little. It's doable. And temporary.

But, we have damp in the house which needs addressing. 1st quote £750 and another company coming tomorrow. This is what we've been emergency saving for right? Our savings pot stands at over £23k.

Am looking forward to stepping away from work and turning off that email account. It won't be time off as I've still got a full time mum role to do :-)

I'm disappointed we won't reach our op target but we're pretty dang close to it :-)

NSDs need to increase dramatically too.

Reckon I'll be here more often over the coming months to stay on the bandwagon

MIB x

Maybe_its_because

Back from a visit to see the family to help out and offer much needed support. Needed to pay for hotel and travel so not many NSDs (in fact none!) but needs must where family are concerned.

Must update the spreadsheet with our costs over the last week but have already forecast the next 3 months of expenditure against my zero salary. Budgets, savings and OPs cut mean we can squeeze Nov/Dec and poss Jan living costs out of my October Salary.
There is a very small chance of an OP or addition to the savings account but just going to focus on trying to avoid using our emergency savings.
Luckily xmas won't be an expensive affair as our DD is still too young to understand and we've somehow evolved into presents-as-you-go kind of parents. We're staying with the folks for xmas - trains booked and paid for. Then visiting the inlaws in Jan - flights booked and paid for.

Disappointed in having an OP standstill but looking at plan Bs. OH has already signed up to a bit of overtime. Not much though, no point in me reducing my stress only to divert it to him.
Need to go through some of the old baby things to see what can be sold.

MIB x