light bulb moment again

karren

after an emu approach to our fiances last few years we've really gone back to basics big time to overpay mortgage and reduce my hours

put balance of credit card on 0% ( we had a Tesco credit card for the points and paid of every month anyway but lost track of spending as so easy to pop things on the card and then every month I was scratching my head how the bill was to high


had splinter accounts for years for hols and Christmas etc but now weve envelopes and the food money goes in and petrol and childrens hobbies etc
so now every penny is accounted for unlike in years past


the bongo camper loan is finally paid off so its ours

we've just arranged with finance company to hand the car back a year early so its going next week and going to use the 140 a month to put off mortgage we wont be car less as my son was lucky enough to have car bought for him by grandparents (but hes 16) so will use that as it will be sat on drive otherwise and if need be ill use the money saved to buy him another.
I' ve bulk cooked and frozen for years but now shop from freezer to as in I menu plan


looking where else I can make cutbacks as want to reduce to 30 hours from my current 37.5 for more family time.....

asparagus1968

wow, sounds like you are doing a great job!
The only other things I can think of are:


using cash back sites for stuff you would be buying anyway (insurances/clothing etc)
home working in the evenings-surveys etc
dropping brands in groceries
dropping one meat meal a week /more veggie meals
bank accounts- switch for an incentive, also cashback bank accounts such as Santander 123. monthly fee is £5 I think but you can make a profit still.
will keep thinking...

karren

is the 1123 account like the virgin one?
where the mortgage and savings are merged?


I work shifts and in process of looking into swapping to long days so home more as my 2 are 12 and 16 so its difficlut to balance up the home life balance in last year but ill see how I go
in time I can do bank or agency shifts but cant at the mionute as gcses etc looming


I already bulk cook and freeze and have a freezer that's stuffed with soups etc which I use as soup or curry base etc
and its a huge time saver as well as cheaper way ( they don't know its got loads of onions and lentils etc, put it this way they have their 5-7 a day without knowing....


Ive learnt about the rubber chicken etc pulled pork etc


im not familiar with the cash back sites so I will look into it as really want to make a start on actually having some savings