For Sunshine and a Sea View .... eventually!

Lexi-lu

Hello,

DH came home with a Christmas hamper from work yesterday, a little late but as it was unexpected a nice surprise.

I have decided to set us the challenge of only shopping at ald1 this month. DH doesn't mind it but there are some things I prefer that they don't stock. Will see how it goes as on the occasions we've been in previously we have spent much less.

LL

Lexi-lu

Hello

First overpayment of 2016 made today, £7,800. I did raid the EF for £5k of this which I plan to replace later in the year.

Quick update for this week - dentist appointment £89 to be told everything is fine, seems a lot. DH worked o/t last Sunday and is working again this Saturday night which is keeping us on track financially. I spent last Sunday cooking a large batch of chilli con carne, a lasagne and a chicken curry for the freezer. No unplanned expenditure so far.

We have been out for a walk this morning in the sunshine at a local NT property, no money spent and had a lovely time. DH is now out on his bike and I am enjoying the peace and catching up on a few diaries

Goldiegirl

Well done on the overpayment - that's a good chunk of money!

Lexi-lu

Hello,

It has been a quiet week, DH was working away for a few days so the food shopping was a little less this week. Yesterday we visited a local NT property again, definitely getting our money's worth from the membership. It was nice to be outside and I find it a great way to stay away from the shops. I caught up on some housework, ironing done and my least favourite chore, cleaning the bathrooms whilst DD was at orchestra this morning, however, she came home and requested a new book for her music practice. I will have to be very disciplined whilst tracking it down and ordering online as I often get distracted by the little pop-up ads for stuff that I really don't need.

LL

Lexi-lu

Hello,

This week unplanned spends were £23 on 2 music books for DD. These have been balanced by a saving of £11.41 when stocking up on hair conditioner this week whilst on offer, finding a 10% discount code for it and using TCB. Also purchased another product that I order every 4 months or so and found it on TCB which will pay £20.79.

This morning whilst submitting the monthly electricity meter reading saw that the account was now £200.44 in credit, requested a refund and £200 should be paid back into the account in 3-5 days:)

DH working 2 overtime shifts this weekend which is good for the bank balance but unfortunately means no nice trips out to local NT properties.

LL

Lexi-lu

January Summary – Month 1
Mortgage Overpayments total £7,800
DH Overtime on January payslip 113 hours
Grocery spends £389.26
Electricity used 300 units
Gas used 211 units
Clothes/Accessories/Haircuts etc for me £0
S&S Isa £500
Pension fund extra contribution £80

Mortgage overpayment – learnt that paying off the IO part and reducing the term rather than the payment reduces the term of the repayment part of the mortgage which I didn’t know was possible so an extra £22.68 coming off the balance each month now.
DH overtime hours great but clearly not sustainable long term and not expecting this many again, very appreciative of his efforts.
Grocery spends for the 3 of us plus “the girls” (read 2 tiny dogs) way too much but does include some stocking up of products that were on offer.
Transferred gas to cheaper tariff with the same supplier
Last year whilst clearing the debt and building the EF I spent a total of £80 on clothes and £60 on hair cuts for the year for myself, would like to get close to this again this year.

LL

Lexi-lu

Hello,

DH working overtime today. I have cleaned the house and baked a cake for DH birthday whilst DD was at orchestra this morning. DH has turned 42 recently and it has made me realise just how little time we have to save if we want to retire early :eek:. An extra £80 to my pension fund this week but now seriously considering increasing the monthly amount. This would reduce the amount that we can overpay the mortgage by though so a difficult decision.

I have renewed our NT membership this week, definitely worth the cost as whilst I!!!8217;m out walking around the parkland of the lovely properties I!!!8217;m not online shopping. Local NT property was closed yesterday due to the high winds forecast so drove out to a little village and joined the canal path there. Spent a few hours walking and it was great to be out even in the rain and wind. Passed a very quaint looking little pub but couldn!!!8217;t pop in as neither DH nor I had any cash, maybe next time . !!!8220;The girls!!!8221; were very wet and muddy and had to be bathed as soon as we got in, also had to turn the heating on to dry them off.

A slip up late last Sunday evening as I had forgotten to check we had all of the ingredients DD required for cooking at school on Monday, had to buy jam from our local shop at a cost of £1.90, usually around 70p for shops!!!8217; own brand from the supermarket !!!8211; not a good start to reducing the grocery shopping cost this month. My Dad visited yesterday afternoon though and turned up with a pork pie and sausage rolls from the local butchers, 2 packets of biscuits, a pack of chocolate bars and some oranges. The oranges will come in very useful as DD likes them with her pancakes, the other goodies are not going to help me in my attempt to shift the few extra pounds gained over the Christmas period.

DH usually has his hair cut and coloured once a month at the hairdressers at a cost of £55. However, as the hairdressers rang to reschedule the appointment and DH was too busy working to fit it in DD has coloured it for him and it looks just as good as when it!!!8217;s done at the hairdressers and the cost of the dye was so much less, very happy with this and may give DD a little something for doing it so that she continues as this would be a great cost saving. Perhaps if I get DD some scissors she could cut it as well ...:rotfl:

LL

Lexi-lu

Hello,

A little late with the update for this week as I was working most of the weekend, won't get paid for it nor will I get the time back but a rush job that needed to be done and I am on annual leave all of this week with DD:) I will have to keep an eye on the spending as it's when we break with our usual routine it tends to creep up.

DH worked one overtime shift this weekend so we did get a lovely morning out to a NT property, gorgeous.

I have asked DH to sort out the boiler cover renewal, an increase of 30% on the premium, we won't be paying that:D

Emergency visit to the dentist for me this week £45:eek:, really not good but it was the only spending that wasn't planned this week.

DD went to the cinema with her friends yesterday and I let her pay for herself out of her pocket money - £6.95 which she took in loose change :rotfl:

Grocery spends were a little less this week as DH was working away Tuesday to Friday.

The challenge this week will be to try not to turn the heating up or increase the time that it is on for. I woke up freezing cold last night, found an extra blanket and filled my hot water bottle, hope the weather warms up soon.

LL

Lexi-lu

Hello,

Received my annual mortgage statement from the large spanish bank today, had been looking forward to this to see the reduction in term and the reduction in the monthly interest resulting from the overpayments made last year.

However, they have now removed the concession that allowed 20% overpayment on an interest only mortgage whilst on a fixed rate product as of December 2016 so this will affect our overpayment plans for 2017 unless we want to pay the 5% ERC.

Also, it was previously free to transfer an interest only mortgage loan to a repayment and interest one. I can't find any details on this in the booklet just that there is a £75 fee to change a repayment loan to interest only which we would not want to do.

The other option would be to reduce the term on the repayment loan to increase the amount of capital being repaid for which there is also a £75 fee.

If it were not for the 5% ERC we would have parted company with them before now, especially as our fixed rate is 3.49% and we have approx 27% loan to value.

More incentive to push ourselves and pay off the balance as soon after March 2018 when the fix ends as possible.

LL

shangaijimmy

Just found your diary. Ambitious plans make great readings. The frustrations of being locked into a mortgage must be frustrating, but I'm sure you'll find a way ahead and being at 'peace' with it! I know when we remortgaged last year a major aspect for me was the ability to make unlimited overpayments, however it'd taken us a few years to get to the 60% LTV stage and be able to access a wider range of products.

Great progress, and I'll enjoy following you.