I want to be Debt and Mortgage Free by 35!

lorriedriver1988

I am starting a new diary with four aims:


1) To clear the £7000 loan my husband has taken out to buy a new car in 18 months rather than the original 48 months (for a car he hasn't even bought yet)


2) To clear the 20% Help to Buy loan that we acquired in October 2013 by Oct 2018 before we start paying interest on it- we currently owe £35,800


3) To clear the remaining mortgage of £80,837.62 by the time I turn 35 in approximately 8 1/2 years. The mortgage currently has 33 years left on it.


4) To save an emergency fund of £1500 asap.


Some of these seem impossible, but I am quite a determined person.

lorriedriver1988

I am 26 and DH is 26 nearly 27 in 2 weeks time. We have two DS's who are 28 months and 15 months. DH currently works 22 hours a week and I work 5 hours a week. In total we take home around £20,000 per year


Our current house is currently worth £179,500. We are in the middle of having an extension built that has been paid with savings. I am very proud of the fact that I managed to save £11,200 to pay for this in 18 months.


I currently have a figure of £227.27 to save every month to make £10,000 by October 2018 to pay towards the 20% equity loan. I have to earn this money separately from our income via surveys, facebay etc. I will disclose more information on my income streams in another post.


Any other debt repayment/ mortgage overpayments will come from tightening our belts and no uneccessary spending.


I will definitely have to work hard.

lorriedriver1988

I have been updating my outgoings and working out what money we have left over for food and fuel. Let's just say it looks dire for any savings. Our total income is £1478.91 with outgoings of £1025.14, leaving £453.77 for food, fuel and other necessities such as clothes etc.


I am trying to control food spends to £50 per week for two adults and 2 children, £80 for fuel a month and £40 for other necessities. This would leave us with £133.77 for op's on the loan.


In the last few days I have done a few MSE activities which are:
* Switching tariff with the same energy that came in second cheapest on the MSE Energy Club
* Switched life insurance policies after using comparison sites to get the cheapest deal meeting our requirements - saving roughly £4
* Bought an item on bay of e for £20 including postage that a few weeks ago I paid £57 for brand new, the brand new version will be returned.
* Started online shop on Mr T earlier so that I can plan what I buy and get as much as I can for my budget
* Carried on with the usual completing surveys and using cashback sites for purchases.
*Thinking before I buy and researching items I do need to buy in the hope I can use money off vouchers I received in the post yesterday.

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary
Keep posting!

lorriedriver1988

Things are still plodding along here.


Trying to be as MSE as I possibly can, but at times I find it time consuming and quite a drag. However, I know it is necessary as I REALLY have to make every penny stretch so that I can offer my boys a brighter future.


DH collected weekly food shop from Mr T after finishing work yesterday. £52 spent which didn't include the £4.87 I spent in A*di on a whole chicken, two packs of bacon (from the super 6) and a loaf of bread. I know for a fact these items cost more in Mr T, so some money saved. Part of the food order was a joint of lamb, so I ordered the cheapest joint at the lowest weight which was £2.80 per 500g, but it still came to over £6 for the joint. So annoyed. Overall, I am £7 over budget and will still need to spend at least another £1 on bread and milk later in the week.


Other MSE activities that I been doing include:


* I went to t*ys r us to pick up Tommee T baby bottles which were exceptionally cheap yesterday. I originally bought some for half price on b**ts for £12.05 for six. But on the t*ys r us website they had the same bottle in a set of 4 for £5.99. I reserved them online, went through TCB first. When purchasing them I used a £5 voucher from surveys, so it only cost 99p. Bargain.


* Used weekly bus ticket to get around, rather than getting DH to take me- so saved some diesel.


* Reserved a half price steriliser at Ar**s, that comes with steriliser, more bottles (will have the six I need) and other accessories. I have a £10 voucher from Emma's diary to use, plus a £10 A**os giftcard from survey site to use. I will also redeem nectar points. Original full price £59.99 down to £29.99, with vouchers and nectar redemption it should cost £7.49 in theory. Fingers crossed.


* I ordered a mattress today from b**ts using points, went through tcb first and free delivery to store.


* Have spent a bit of time researching other items I will need to buy. I am trying to accumulate as many vouchers as I can to help offset the cost of items.


* Rang FD to update standing order for regular saver for Help to Buy loan, very exciting to see numbers growing considering money is coming bay of e, surveys etc.


* Looked at items on Mr T clothing to make most use of £5 off £15 voucher.


* Bought some sleepsuits reduced to £4 from £7 from Mr A using giftcard.


* Bought 2 premium steaks reduced from £4 to £1.80 each plus a huge pack of pork chops reduced from £4 to £1.80. Paid using giftcard, so effectively free. In freezer now




* Redeemed £5 paypal from swagb**ks today- will go into Help 2 Buy savings.





* Emailed kiddicare to chase refund on car seats.


* Attempting to keep up to date with surveys- more surveys completed= more vouchers/ earnings.


* I have had a lovely roast dinner cooked by DH and apple crumble for pudding for Mother's Day. Much cheaper than going out for a meal.


* Was a very lucky mummy to receive flowers, a box of chocolates from DS1 and DS2. Absolutely love them to bits.

killerpeaty

I have no idea when you find time to sleep!

Do you use populuslive? I've found that it's quite good for short surveys (sometimes they drag, but not often), it's actually the only one that I stick with.

I will be following your journey, good luck!

lorriedriver1988

Thankyou killerpeaty for your comment!


Any comments are welcomed, as are any suggestions.


I already use populus and actually I'm awaiting a cheque from them.


Other things to add from today:


* Rang my mum using free weekend calls


* DH reminded me that we will be saving money on broadband around £14 in the next couple days because of switching suppliers.


* Arranged transport to medical appointment for DS1 with mum- no need to spend money on bus fare and DH not using petrol taking us and money on parking. My mum is the best.


* Will continue looking at offers on stuff and surveys whilst watching TV. I have a list of stuff I need and know how much I need to save for each one. I will only buy these items if they are on offer, I can use vouchers and it is budgeted for in savings.


* Also move money around and check credit card amount, can't go over £500.


Have a good evening all.

lorriedriver1988

Back again.


I thought I would make a list of items I need to buy:


* Moses basket and stand -£40
* Moses basket mattress - £15
* Cot- £90
* Cot Sheets- £10
* Steriliser- £25
* Sleepsuits x 16- £25
* Vests x 16- £14
* Blankets x 3- £20
* Cardigans x 3- £20
* Cot Mobile- £15
* Buggy for DS1 - £50
* Phil and Ted's Cocoon- £60
* Sleeping Bags- £25
* Bottles- £20
* Other necessities: £30
Total (if all brand new) = £469


Ultimately, I would like to only £200 hard cash.


So far I have:


* Got Tommee T bottles for 0.99 x 4 from T*ys r us using £5 voucher - saved £11 on cheapest set that was on half price offer for £12.05
* Bought second hand cocoon from bay of e for £20.64 including postage- saving just under £40 for brand new one. Just need to wash it.
* Steriliser- hopefully will cost £7.49 with use of vouchers and nectar points.
* Moses basket mattress- ordered on b**ts using points- was cheapest on all sites I checked.
* Have been researching cots and t*ys r us is the cheapest and have some money off vouchers that I use once savings are at adequate level to pay for it.
* Used Mr A gift card to buy pack of 3 sleepsuits for £4 reduced from £7



Total Amount Goods cost or could have spent= £75.49
Actual Cold Hard Cash: £21.63
Money Saved: £53.86


Items bought so far:


* cocoon for P&T pushchair
* moses basket mattress
* bottles x 4
* sleepsuits x 3


Vouchers I have


* Various money off vouchers for T*ys r us and Argos
* £5 off £15 Mr T clothing voucher- needs to be used 29/03
* £14 left on Mr A gift card
* £30 Amazon gc credit
* £10 b**ts voucher
* £40 N**t gift card
* £50 compliments vouchers


Hopefully these will offset the cost a bit :-)


Checked credit card balance, it currently stands at £412.00. So with 8 days to go I have £88.00 left.

lorriedriver1988

Evening DFW's


Today has not gone exactly to plan.


I had to go to the hospital to be assessed by midwife and doctor, as there has been no improvement in my symptom's since my admission to hospital last Wednesday. I havew been given antibiotics, I really hope they work.


Anyway in more MSE activities:


* Done two washes both on 30 degree washes and put on airers to dry.


* Received £5 from swagbucks, gone straight to savings for H2B savings


* Standing order went out for saving in regular saver at 6%


* Cashed in on app trailers twice- 65p received - transferred to B-savings


* Need to reserve steriliser in Bristol as going to look at car in Somerset and will also return brand new cocoon bought in JL whilst at Cribbs.


* Used weekly bus ticket to get around so no additional fuel used. Although it really help my aches and pains


* Carried on with usual surveys etc trying to maximise
earnings.


Bad things


* As was at hospital for 3 hours, it was 5.30pm before I got out. I told DH to feed himself and the boys to save time. As a result, I went into Asda, I spent £1 on a multipack of rolls and Jaffa cakes for my dinner. I did however pay using gift card, so no real money spent.


Have a nice evening all.

lorriedriver1988

Evening DFW's


Today has been quite a successful day. DH has decided to go ahead with the car we paid a deposit on. Next Tuesday we will have a new car. Exciting times but very expensive as well.


MSE things done today


* All surveys available completed.


* DH and I shared a 6p carton of soup. I had a coupon for £1 off New Covent soup. It was on offer at Mr T for £1.17. DH gets 10% discount making it £1.06- £1 coupon= 6p. It was delicious.


* Went to Cribbs on the way to Somerset to look at car and returned Phil and Ted's cocoon, so £57 refund on the way back to CC.


* No heating on at all for week and half now.


* All meals from stores


* Husband spent 77p on bread and soup today.


Money is going to be extremely tight from the end of month. Will try and keep next week's grocery shopping to £45.


I must go and check income and outgoings for next month, so I can plan ahead.


Other things to do reserve sterilser for the hundredth time and look at registering for other money off vouchers etc.


Have a good evening all.

lorriedriver1988

Evening DFW's,


Today has been a fairly successful day.


I went back to work for the first time today since last week's admission.


So MSE activities for the day:


* Done two washes on 30 degrees and put on the airers.
* Done all surveys available
* Used bus ticket to get partially around, hubby was near town centre so picked me up.
* Finally bought steriliser from Argos, so I did spend the planned £7.49 for it. Much better than the original £59.99!
* All meals from stores
* DH went to collect an order from Asda, so asked him to buy the multipack of Kellogg's cereal which was on offer for 98p for next week's breakfast's. He bought two packs, it should last us 2 weeks. £1.96 spent.
* Looking at income and outgoings- finances look very dire.


Night all.