Creating choices: my MFW diary

mumto2monkeys_2

Busy_Mee wrote: »

Just wanted to say Hi and good luck. You sound incredibly hard working and I am sure you can succeed with your goals. Don't beat yourself up about previous financial decisions - we all make decisions because it seems the right thing to do at the time, but things often change as the financial crash did - lots of people got caught out.

I also work long hours and also struggle with my weight and I think part of that is that I eat because I am tired not because I am hungry. I am trying to ask myself whether I am really hungry ? I have found tracking what I am eating on Myfitnesspal has really helped too.

Good luck with the cleaning - I have also earmarked a couple of rooms for a deep clean ( can't face it all at once !)

Anyway I have subscribed to watch your progress : )

Thank you .

I totally agree with you about tiredness. It is cyclical as you work a lot, feel tired, eat junk and get little exercise, so you don't sleep as well as you should but feel too tired to do anything about it. I'm hoping a huge surge in effort might break the cycle a bit and give me more energy. The holiday seems as good a time as any. I like MFP - it is good to track. I've just gone back to Slimming World as my friend has picked up a group and that is ticking over okay at the moment. I failed in the past because I ended up eating a diet of SW friendly processed stuff, so this time I'm trying to cook from scratch and eat lots of fresh things.

I've just written the list of what I need to do for the kitchen.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Suspect the whole house might be a bit ambitious for 4 days!!

mumto2monkeys_2

Well, bicarb is my new best friend.

Intensive housework is far slower than I anticipated, so didn't get anywhere near as much done on it as I'd hoped. However, I did scrub the grout around the sink splashback and windowsill with a bleach/bicarb mix as suggested on here. It is now dazzling. I am apparently very easily pleased . I sense I will be using lots of this all around the house over the next few days.

If I can get the rest of the place that shiny, it will look like a show home. I will then have to move the children out, so it stays like that. :D

Busy_Mee

Excellent stuff and wasn't there a study done that said the best exercise for burning calories was housework lol

I am up early and off to the gym - be very impressed ! This the third time this week - trying to get there a bit more whilst it was a bit quieter work wise because of Easter. Hoping it will be the same next week too. My eating has bit a rubbish though - too much chocolate around !

How are you getting on on the MSE front ? One of the best things I did was systematically go through all my standing orders and direct debits to make sure that I needed them or I was getting the best deal. I managed to save loads on my monthly out goings.

Have a good weekend and try and have a bit of a rest at some point : )

engineer_amy

Good luck with the mortgage journey, and the other challenges you have set yourself!

A couple of your posts have been describing me perfectly - working long hours, no time for any worthwhile housework, needing to loose a bit of weight. I find myself coming home exhausted, not wanting to cook so ordering a take away, or getting ready meals in my weekly shop which are full of cr4p. Not good for the waistline or the finances.

So from the start of the year I have started batch cooking at the weekend and freezing portions (also watching my portion sizes!) so when I arrive home at 8 or 9pm, 5 mins in the microwave and I have a healthy filling meal. Haven't counted how much it has saved me but I definitely have more money left at the end of the month.

My spare bedrooms are filled with clothes at the moment so my long weekend will be spent going through them, seeing what fits and seeing what can go to the charity shops.

I agree with busy mee, check what is going out of your account each month, I was paying insurance for a mobile phone I didn't have anymore, only a couple of quid but it all adds up.

mumto2monkeys_2

Typed a big post and lost it .

Thanks both of you. We are reviewing spending at the moment and hopefully will bring some DDs down further.

Well done with the gym Busy!

lippy1923

Good luck on your journey I will be lurking with interest.

Lippy

bexster1975

:Hey mum22monkeys! I recognised you from NBI! Good luck with the clean, you are very brave to give up a holiday weekend to get things straight. Even if you don't get it all done, it will be a start. Will keep following with interest.


Bexster

mumto2monkeys_2

Thanks!

My day has not been as productive as I hoped, but still managed to achieve a few things. Lost 2.5lbs this week, so that's good on diet front. I also looked into loans for DH and we managed to rehash his, bringing it down from a 7.8%APR to 3.7%. This means that our two remaining loans are now on interest rates that are below our variable rate on the mortgage. So, the plan is to overpay £500pcm (I've just upped this month's payment) until final CC is gone, then hit mortgage big style in order to try and put 40% equity into it. We have just over 5%, so this is a big task.

I'm feeling pleased that we have a structured plan and am trying to think long-term.

I want all CC debt gone by the end of the year, my weight down, my fitness up and then I will be starting to apply for promotions after January. There is one at the moment, but I'm in the middle of a training initiative and I want that under my belt, plus I do like where I work and a promotion will mean a new job elsewhere as there is unlikely to be anything internal.

Plans. I do like a plan . Hopefully things are looking up for us.

On the decluttering front, took several bags to the charity shop and had a walk to card factory as I hate paying supermarket prices for greetings cards. We have a lot of birthdays in my family over the next couple of months. I made a puttanesca for tea as it is a treat for DH and I. I like salty food, I think that's why I am a pest for takeaway pizza. Puttanesca takes 10 minutes so it is super quick and it is quite salty, so feels a bit naughty. I make mine with 3 cloves garlic, a can of anchovies in oil which I chuck in whole as they melt and the oil they are in is the base for the sauce, then a load of black olives, capers, a tin of tomatoes and some chilli flakes. Love it! It hits the spot and feels like a treat at a fraction of the cost of takeaway.

My next task is to figure out how the heck I'm going to clean the oven...

It's nice to know that people are reading - it keeps me focused, so thank you all again.

MrsPee

Hi mumto2monkeys. Your mortgage situation sounds incredibly similar to ours. We bought in 2007 at the height of the market and we may 'just' b out of negative equity now. We also had a mortgage break in 2008 when DS1 was born and we also have our mortgage with NR.
We have (just this month) cleared our debt, so can finally look at ploughing some money into the mortgage and reducing the amount and term. Are you on interest only at the moment or repayment?
It sounds like you have some good plans to get things moving. I'll look forward to reading your updates.

Courgette

Vinegar and bicarbonate worked wonders on our oven. Might be worth a try.

Was about to suggest tuition as a way of upping your income getting your older child to look after your younger in another room in the house. Then I read the amount of hours you put in at work so hard to see how you'd find the time. Going for promotion might be your best bet

Good luck with your goals!