Mountainlioness' diary: the MFi3 journey

SuiDreams

mountainlioness wrote: »

That must save you 1000s in interest though! Have you used any online calculators to see the impact on your total payments to the mortgage company?

Think it was 3 or 4 K, its not a large mortgage. will hopefully be able to start some over payments next year as well

chickadee

Hi M-L. I just thought I'd drop you a line to say how I have enjoyed reading your thread. I'm glad you were able to identify the electricity guzzler.

I'm 40 and had a £65k mortgage in April and am trying my best to reduce it as quickly as possible. My ability to do this was hampered by DS's school fees which were £500 per month, but which have happily now ended as he has just started at a state comprehensive after independent primary school.

I am now throwing all I can at the mortgage. This month I managed to get almost £500 additional income into the post. £87 from SS's little scheme, £200 from cashed-in premium bonds, £108 from work expenses refunded and £90 back from overpaid electricity showing as a credit balance on my statement. I'm also planning an ebay extravaganza this weekend, so I'll see how much that raises.

I enjoy reading about what you are all doing to reduce the balance and it is nice to be able to share experiences and ideas with like-minded people!

Keep it up,
chickadee

mountainlioness

Hey Chickadee!

Thanks for your post and glad you've enjoyed the thread

Sounds like you're doing sterling work there... the additional income is what makes the biggest difference I think.

At the moment we're overpaying by budgeting well but there will always be a limit to what you can get from your regular income. If we're serious about our MFi3 ambitions then we're going to have to think about some additional income. We've decorated the spare room for short-term lets to visiting profs and language students so need to get the ads out next week but other than that we haven't been too successful. I 'resigned' from a couple of on-line panels after spending a lot of valuable time doing surveys only to be told they'd closed... :mad: DH and I both have demanding jobs so the last thing we want to do is spend precious spare time entering duff surveys. I'm on Pigsback too but have been waiting a while for piggypoints to be credited so I can get some vouchers and save on shopping.

BTW - are you saving/have you got savings as well as throwing money at the mortgage or are you solely focused on the mortgage? I've been trying to put divide up our extra money into different pots as am a cautious type and like to have a safety blanket but not sure that's actually the best plan... be interested to hear what you and others think about priorities

Anyway, a bargain weekly shop tonight as we only have £35 left in the joint account til DH gets paid on Tue and I will NOT dip into our float! Hopefully that salmon offer will still be on at Sainsburys and the bargains will be coming out at Waitrose! We resisted a takeaway yesterday so hope to keep the halo polished tonight

I've also now set up an e-savings account for our annual bills, my car insurance and tax and our house insurance. I was going to divide by 12 but then decided to do it properly and work out the monthly payment, starting 1st Oct, based on when each one was due, so I know for definite it's covered. Then I'll switch to /12.

chickadee

Regarding the savings question, I have a One Account so I just pour everything in there. I have instant access to it if I need it in an emergency and in the meantime, it is reducing my interest payments. I try to maximise my balance by using a cashback credit card for all my purchases during the month, then paying of the balance in full. This way my mortgage balance isn't dwindling during the month it just gets one big hit at the end of the month.

I'm not sure how much of a difference this really makes but it all helps I suppose.

I know what you mean about online surveys. I did a couple but like you, I never seem to fit with the required profile so I just delete them now.

I have just been accepted for a Capital One 4% cashback card so I'll be using that for the next three months (Including Christmas ). I use it for all fuel, gifts, clothes, in fact anything I have to buy every month.

Last summer I was successful in selling a load of books on Amazon. They were old uni text books and sold really well, so this made me quite a lot of cash at the time. It may be worth a try if you have any lying around, especially at this time of year when all of the new reading lists are out.

I hope you are lucky with your spare room. It sounds like an easy way to make some money if you are in the right place.

I don't have separate pots for different things, everything is tied up in the one account, but I have quite a sophisticated spreadsheet that I use to monitor my finances on. I update it every day or two so I know if i am going astray in one area how much I need to cut back in other areas to compensate.

Karmacat

Hi ML
Is that right, that your budget per week for food is £40 between you and Mr ML? (eyes popping out on stalks here)... thats .... Good! Very Good!!!

mountainlioness

Chickadee - am impressed with your system! I have tended to have different pots (they are e-savings linked to our joint flexaccount so at least they earn some interest) just because I kind of need to see where everything is, all nicely labelled with its purpose, even if it might mean not making as much, which is silly really! :rolleyes: DH has the same CC as you (I got turned down :mad: ) so definitely worth caning that for all it's worth! We did do Amazon but have found recently I'm away too much - I used to pride myself on customer service and emailing customers as soon as I received the order with when it'd be posted etc. Now I'm away overnight or so busy I don't have the time to monitor my email so much... but I do have an portable DAB radio and a few other bits to go so I might just get back into that....

Karmacat - yep, £40 but we try to go under that. We tend to spend about £20-25 in Sainsbury's , which is fruit n veg, basics like pasta, yogurt (now Sainsbury's Basics plus stewed fruit from my Freecycle fruit-picking expeditions!), cheese etc. Then maybe £5-10 in Waitrose late on a Friday night (v rock n roll) as they seriously reduce meat and bread (and pastries - mmmm) We also try to include in that £40 any toiletry or cleaning products if we need them (Wilko's generally).

Having said all that we don't keep much of a stock of anything in - we buy what we'll use for the week or so and we do a rough meal plan. Which is quite economical but can mean there's nothing in if plans change or something.

mountainlioness

Hi All

Just back from yet another work trip and feeling thoroughly used up and wrung out Just too much on and no chance of a let up for a good 3 weeks... am planning to snatch a day off then though and have an MSE-style pamper day at home - bath, manicure, pedicure, facial etc. OK it definitely won't be salon-style but am hoping the effect on how I feel will be the same!

Paying off the last of our holiday this month but the credit card bill is a lot less than last month (when we bought all the kit) so we can make our £300 overpayment target :j Once I'd worked out the budget I set up an automatic payment so it definitely went out before anything else - also the first payments into our holiday, annual expenses and xmas funds...

Another top freecycle fruit grab, with about 10lbs of apples at the weekend Going to stew about half but hoping to store the rest in the garage (don't suppose anyone knows how best to store apples??) We're hoping to grow some of our own veg next year - maybe start small with tomatoes and see how we get on.

cazmanian_minx

mountainlioness wrote: »

(don't suppose anyone knows how best to store apples??)

Dad used to make sure each one was dry, then wrap it in newspaper and carefully pack it into a box. Check them over for bumps and grub holes before you put them away, if one goes bad it can turn the rest.

~daisy~_2

if you were any nearer id offer you a massage in exchange for some apples - or something - to go with your pamper day !!

enjoy it non the less i think youve earnt it !!

mountainlioness

"Dad used to make sure each one was dry, then wrap it in newspaper and carefully pack it into a box. Check them over for bumps and grub holes before you put them away, if one goes bad it can turn the rest"

Thanks CM! Just what I needed - job for the weekend methinks!

"if you were any nearer id offer you a massage in exchange for some apples - or something - to go with your pamper day !!"

Daisy - that would have been a deal!

Just checked my online bank and it seems my recent overpayment hasn't kicked in yet so am delaying reporting to TG on the mortgage figures At the moment, as we're at the end of the month, it looks like we're worse off than my sig suggests as the interest has been accruing over the month so am going to wait until the last moment...

Was just sent down to waitrose (which is our corner shop - terrible for MSEing!) by hubby who is cooking me a nice dinner to ease my stress - managed to get a bottle of wine, white wine vinegar and a loaf of bread for under a fiver so am well pleased with self... the reason I went and not him is he is currently in an apron and not much else (also part of the stress relief programme heh heh!)

Anyway - must go...!!!