XSpender Speeds it Up - £0 to £60k in 27 months

XSpender

Slight downward movement on the scales and have kept up the exercise this week. Too much sugar has been scoffed as usual

It is my last week in my old job this week which has involved lots of driving about tying up loose ends.

DH has finally got around to submitting his expenses but has been informed that they wont be paid until the end of October :mad: I must have asked him to submit them every other day and was looking forward to adding part of this money to my ISA savings mini target which now stands at £80.14/£250.

I have found another mobile phone to sell and will either post them off or take them to the man who mended DS tablet who also buys phones, depends on how much I am offered.

No progress on home improvements as not sure when kitchen man can do the work. We have decided on the fabric for the living room and dining room curtains but are going for poles instead of rails so need to have this up before measuring for new curtains.

DH is also talking about new sliding wardrobes for DS room which would need to be done before we put the carpet down. I was hoping to have his room decorated and sorted in half term week.:(

I think we need to bite the bullet and make a start even if it means using a bit of the 0% purchase card and paying it off with the next bonus. It isn't the funds so much as the motivation and time in buying materials etc.

XSpender

I have had a bit of a mad 2 weeks finishing one contract and then starting another.

Progress has been made on the kitchen makeover in that we have bought the worktops, hob and all the paint and materials needed and work starts 1st week of November although the worktops will not be fitted until 1st week of December. It will then just need tiling. Oh and we need to buy a sink and tap and order the blinds.:eek:

We have also had a new quote for the curtains and the lady who makes them has come up with a great idea (odd shaped windows) and we have bought some lovely curtain poles to make this work. We need to reinstate a curtain track on one of the windows before we can get final measurements/quote.

New light fittings and 2 pictures have also been bought for the sitting room.

The 0% purchase card has taken a hit.:o

I have rearranged DS bedroom and it is looking a lot better so we are going to put his new pictures up and leave it until next year.

I haven't added much to the ISA as part of my mini challenge for the rest of this year but DH got a letter yesterday to say he had a £500 tax rebate!:j The only thing is he wants to spend it on new clothes as we have both lost weight due to the training we have been doing. I can get back into last winter's jeans and have knitwear and don't need anything really, maybe a couple of lighter tops. DH does need jeans though. I would prefer to save the money or pay something off the card we have used for the kitchen.

Food spends are much lower this month as I did not do a food shop last weekend and am hanging on until Thursday before I do another shop.

DH couldn't get any time off for half term so DS and I have planned to visit my mum and sister and the dentist! It should be a low spend week as we have some craft stuff to do and will go swimming on one of the days. I have planned to meet up for lunch with a friend when DS is at DPIL but this will come out of my personal spends.

Suffolk_lass

Well done! You are really packing things in and keeping really active.

I know what you mean about the grocery spend. It really makes a huge difference if you can have a make-do week with tiny top-ups. I plan to have a store cupboard and freezer week starting today, because we will both be home, and doing the pre-winter jobs while the windows are all being replaced over half term (DH teaches).

We had signed for the windows on a 2 year 0% interest deal with 35% deposit shortly before DH crashed and wrote off our commuting car. So instead of looking forward to my car being paid off at the end of November, I am looking forward to an extra £600 on top of the regular things, including the extra to pay for his new (to us) car. I definitely need to have a serious look at everything we are spending and pare-back wherever possible.

My savings target is looking slightly out of reach and the mortgage free ambitions are receding into the distance. I could really do with a promotion or new job!

Are you still planning to pay down your mortgage by overpaying, after phase one of the work on the house?

SL

XSpender

We have agreed to have a frugal fast in November as this month we have just been spending and spending. I don't mind the spending on the planned refurbishment it's the extra spending that is getting me down and I have had to 'borrow' £200 from the ISA savings to cover everything and am fed up. I can make it up with next months bonus but that's not the point.

Grocery spends are looking better down from an average of £158/week last month to £113/week average so far this month. My goal is to be at £100/month and includes al food eaten at home, booze, dog food and fish food, toiletries and cleaning supplies. I don't include protein powder even though I use it in recipes as it is a bulk buy that lasts months.

DS is at DPIL today so I have been playing on YNAB. We should hit our savings goal by February using salary and bonuses. This is the goal to fill our bigger emergency fund.

I really want to start OPing the mortgage but at the moment the savings, refurb and debt goals are taking priority. I have calculated an OP goal for 2 years time when we are due to remortgage but it is unachievable to be honest on our current budget. DH loves the idea of being MF in 10 years and has even told a couple of people this is our goal but I don't think he wants to commit to the cutting back now to achieve this.

I struggle to prioritise savings, debt and OPs and want to do them all but need to slow down a bit and focus on one thing at a time rather than trying to do them all at once. Our money will only stretch so far! Plans for 16/17 are:

2016 - kitchen refurb., sitting room and dining room curtains, focus on achieving emergency fund goal

2017 - DS bedroom makeover including carpet and new bed, external refurb/maintenance, interior doors and possible redecoration of downstairs including plastering everywhere. Purchase double bed for guest room. 1 week holiday in the sun and clear family loan.

Our house was originally on the market for £25k more than we paid for it but didn't sell due to it being dated and needing a new kitchen and a lot of maintenance and these houses are so rare to the market I don't think the EA knew what to put it on at. By the time our remortgage becomes due in 2018 we will have done a lot of work and it should have gone up in value which will help the LTV% depending on if they do a paper based valuation or a physical visit. I know d!cor doesn't impact a valuation but it will go from 'needs updating' to 'well maintained'.

Plans for my week off:

Process DH tax rebateTick
Swimming with DS -Both local pools are closed!!!
Craft/chocolate maker toy DS got for Christmas! - Painted mask instead
Visit DM with DS Tick
Visit DSis with DS Tick
Strip wallpaper from kitchen Tick
Prepare walls and paint wash new plaster Needs more work due to state of wall!
Paint kitchen at end of week See above
Put up new kitchen light - See above above
Order new blind and curtain for kitchen and breakfast room
Order new curtain pole for breakfast room
DH to put up living room poles 1 done
Buy new curtain track for living room bay window
Meet friend for coffee and catch up - Friend had to cancel
Order replacement kitchen handles Tick
Send back wrong kitchen handles Ready to post tomorrow
Library
Replace downstairs loo seat Done by DH
PT x 2 - 1 done
Trail run x 2 including a 4-5 mile run as mileage is slipping Not done and when checked race is only 2 weeks away!!!!
Dentist - Tick
Order a specific gift DS wants for Christmas Tick and 3 books and 2 stocking fillers also bought
Batch cook meals as I am away a lot next 2 weeks
Keep food diary and submit 90 day SSS plan questionnaire Done

SueP19

Wow you're busy

I struggle with food spends too, no matter how hard I try it's always buy buy buy :mad::mad: I don't waste, cook partially from scratch and don't buy luxuries either

I have a very similar situation to you.............we have debts BUT at 0% so the mortgage is technically our highest interest rate, we have a house that needs serious fixing and we would like to OP and get rid of our mortgage asap, it hard to know where to start and I do suffer from procrastination too. I have long since realised that focusing on one thing is the key BUT which one thing :rotfl::rotfl:

I have just started with YNAB and having spreadsheet budgeted for many years (playing with forecasted money) I am finding YNAB a bit hard, I get the principles and the software but struggle with trying to force my old way onto it. Hopefully time will make it easier :D

XSpender

Hi SueP19 Its good to hear someone else has the same challenges as we do! Oh and I have to admit I still do the money forecasting thing with YNAB Old habits die hard :rotfl:

I had a lazy day yesterday; finished my book, pottered about a bit and did not look at the laundry pile once. DHs tax refund was processed and I I then made my favourite enchiladas for tea ready for when we got back from our PT session.

The DOMS have set it on my arms and I could hardly move the gear stick on the way home from visiting DM and DSis today!

Dentist tomorrow and I will try and get some of the small jobs ticked off my list while DS paints a Halloween mask DM has bought him.

SueP19

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
Glad it's not just me then on YNAB :D

XSpender

DS and I have been on a lovely long woodland dog walk this morning, trying to catch falling leaves. The dog is now flat out asleep.

I haven't done anything towards actually decorating the kitchen which we will have to do this Sunday and then finished next weekend just before our friend comes to paint the cupboards!

DS has his swimming lesson this afternoon and I am going to do an easy run when DH gets in.

DH tax rebate has hit the account so I have repaid what we used from the savings.

Yesterday I listed the contents of our freezers and was shocked by how much we had in. I thought we would need some chicken next week and I have 15 chicken breasts!:o This should help us with the frugal fast we are dong in November. The only thing that might impact this is my Body Coach eating plan will start in a couple of weeks but as this is really just clean eating and carb cycling I shouldn't need to buy anything specific but fruit and veg.

Hoping to meet a friend tomorrow for a catch up but should have time to get more jobs ticked off my list.

Suffolk_lass

How are you doing against your other targets (in your signature)? I am struggling personally. Our mortgage is just sitting there, huge and lurking, while I have three loans running (all for cars) and a new DD about to start next month for the replacement windows that have been fitted this week. And so much dust...

Your activity against targets really motivates me to be a bit more disciplined against my own.

SL

XSpender

I haven't been tracking the MFi3 target since we bought the new house in June. A quick tot up puts us on about 75% across the 2 mortgages which is actually a lot more than I thought. Thanks for the reminder as I will update my targets on the thread.

Savings target we are struggling with too. We are at about 50%, but we have actually more in savings than we have had in years. We should have our emergency fund complete by March.

I have added pensions to my list of financial goals to flit between and worry about. DH has no pension to speak of except the last couple of years in the compulsory work one. It looks like he may be changing companies soon and the basic is a bit higher so I am wondering if this is the time to increase his contributions or whether it would be better in an ISA in case he moves jobs again as I have about 4 pensions none of which will pay out much so I wonder if this is the best way to save. 12 years in one scheme and with several years of AVC and I will be lucky if I get £100/month!:mad: