Getting a mortgage and then becoming mortgage-free!

Kittenkirst

End of May figures:

May Totals - Payment 20
• Closing Balance - £158,376.54
• Total OP's - £561.67
• Net Reduction - £1033.46
• Daily Interest - £7.19
• LTV - 78.4%
• % Loan Remaining - 92.6%

Length of Diary Figures
• Total Reduction - £24,400.02
• Cumulative OP's - £4849.56
• Ave OP's - £242.48
• Ave Net Reduction - £630.93

From a net worth perspective, savings took a drop of £905 based on £500 deposit for the laser eye surgery and £405 for the tax/student loan debacle which I've now paid to get rid of and claim back the credit when the fees are removed!

Sharesaves and sip plans increased by £240 and pension pot/lifetime ISA increased by £440= £680 overall

Making my net worth movement approx of £225 reduction for this month.

Kittenkirst

Just a quick post to mention that we LOVED the kayaking this morning!

We went in a tandem open top kayak and it was so much fun- we paddled upstream a km (which took quite a while with us all getting used to steering etc and moving out of the way for barges) then played stuck in the mud (well canoe!) which was great fun and then paddles back. We both got pretty soaked through so got changed at the centre. We both loved it so much we have booked in for another two sessions- one in June and one in July :heartpuls

£1.95 credit interest received this morning on our joint bills account so that had been OP'd and started the June OP ball rolling which always makes me happy :A

Some YS salmon sliders for supper tonight bought last month at Tesco's and frozen- think we'll have it with some nice crusty bread leftover from having gfs cousins over on Thursday night, and probably a nice rainbow salad (spinach, red cabbage, carrots, pepper, beetroots etc!)

Early morning gym session tomorrow- we have a joint weights session which I enjoy doing- then it's swimming time and then potentially a yoga session. The coming week is going to be hectic with us both having lots of work travel and long days (groan!) so trying to make sure we get workouts in where possible.

And then on Friday it's Download Festival:beer: I cannot wait!!

Kittenkirst

Morning all, our Sunday plans got a little waylaid as we both woke up with bad backs- think the kayaking activated muscles not often used so we have found some back exercises to incorporate into the gym plans moving forwards.

We therefore ditched our swimming, gym & yoga plans in favour of a more sedate Sunday- a nice gentle morning walk, some light house tidying, some chilling on the sofa with some travel guides and then we went out late afternoon to the local riverside festival for a nice wander.

Gym this morning was also put on hold as both still feeling a bit tender but I'm planning yoga after work to gently stretch and get things going tonight.

Not much financial stuff to report for this weekend other than some candy floss and coffee bought at the festival, however I've been slack checking premium bonds so will check that at lunch today- there's only £100 in there but you never know

MichaelDH

Sounds like you both had a great time on Saturday. Hope you are feeling better soon!

We have been over doing it ourselves the last few weekends gardening. We are building ourselves up to demolishing the swimming pool so that it can be filled in but keep putting it off as will be a huge job just breaking up the concrete, never mind the filling in! At least all this time in the garden is good for our sun tans :rotfl:

How long until the big trip to Oz?

Kittenkirst

Two weeks since I last posted!

Download festival was an awesome weekend- Guns n Roses were spectacular and really put on a great rock n' roll show. I was so pleased to see Rise Against and had a great time in the mosh Marilyn Manson was pretty disappointing- think he was on something and he missed quite a few song ques so I only watched a little of him. Pretty much stuck to the budget and even managed to buy a nice new handbag from primark before for £8 that fit in with the new baggage rules, but is super cute for my normal wardrobe

Mortgage OP made for this month of a nice £ 132.28 to round up our total payment this month. Some cashback from Quidco for travel insurance has been paid out so the £24.92 has also been overpaid making a small total of £159.15 overpaid for June.

Kayaking session this morning, with a friend joining us. We are booked in for a fortnights time too and friends we went for dinner with last week have also booked to join us on that date- who knew kayaking would be so popular!

We decided to get Hugo a cat bed this payday as he seems to nest down in any hoodies left out- the little cutie loves the bed so much but he did get so relaxed in it yesterday he fell out! We didn't think Oscar would use a bed so only got one to see, but he's shown a lot of interest in it so we're planning to head back to Argos to get another this weekend for £12.99!

Consultation for laser eye was had this week: the surgeon advised my eye shape was odd and that they'd need to redo my scans on Thursday - they looked like they still had contact lenses in. If they are the same on Thursday they'll do the Lasek surgery instead which has a longer healing time and has a lens you wear for a few days after.

It's coming around quick and we're both a lot more nervous, but also excited!

newgirly

Glad you enjoyed download festival, don't envy you in the mosh pit though :eek:

Kittenkirst

Had a very mse based day today. Worked from home so ate from the cupboards all day so no money spent on Work food/coffees.

Popped to the gym after work and had a good workout, then called in at Tesco's with the aim to pick up some mini naan breads. The YS items tonight were great- managed to get reduced fat sausages for 62p, cod fillets for £1.25, some spinach pasta swirls for 46p, giant tuna tins for 84p (kitties will be pleased) and lots of bottles of franks buffalo sauce for 45p each. Bargainous!

Our Tesco's usually only knock 45p or so off things, so tonight was Uber exciting, but a little nerve wracking as we only had a tenner in cash. Luckily it all came to £8.45 including a lovely 22p cherry pie (shared with parents and just scoffed!!!)

Also, I managed to finallylist the tent that's been in my car boot for two years on gumtree- sold it for £12 this afternoon so have OP'd it straight away

Also did a small tilly tidy OP from the joint account of £4.33 so it's all mounting up.

Kittenkirst

Morning morning mfw's!
The day finally arrived for the laser eye surgery on Thursday- procedure was definitely scary but over pretty quickly. Lots of stinging and eyes streaming for the day, cured by lots of sleep in the day.
Woke up yesterday being able to see, a little blurry close up (takes approx 7 days to settle fully) but with just slightly itchy eyes. So far so good!

The hard bit is no cardio for 1 week, no swimming for 2, no weight training or yoga for 3 weeks. 3 weeks- what will I do with myself?!?

Had our first check up yesterday morning and we felt good so we started to do a little bit of holiday shopping and also dress shopping as it's 21 days until the wedding in Italy!

I've been saving the vouchers I get from work so we went to Debenhans where I tried a few on. Grabbed a coast dress I thought was pretty but too small a size (size 10) and it fit beautifully. It was originally £179, reduced to £99, then to £79. I got to the checkout with my £96 of vouchers and it had been further reduced to £47.20!!! :T Really pleased as it's just beautiful and feels princess but within the budget totally :money:

Planning to wear an older dress for the pre wedding party- will wear different accessories and hope no one recognised it from social media and comments (some funny aunties may make comments )

Had a good look through the sale's in town and picked up some long floaty trousers and some floaty shorts from fat face that I had tried on at full price but decided to wait. Managed to get both for £35 instead of £68, also as I found the trousers in the John Lewis concession stand I got them with vouchers too so only £15 cash spent.

We also picked up the GoPro ready for holiday that we've been saving the John Lewis vouchers for- still felt a lot of ££ to hand over though. Calmed ourselves with a free coffee (and cake taken home for mum & dads to share) in their restaurant though :money:

Instead of lunch in town we picked up some bread, cheese and ham and made yummy toasties when we got home mid afternoon.

Spendy but fun day, gf and I don't really do shopping together like that so it was nice to wander round town, chatting, talking about holiday plans, holiday wardrobes and just relaxing :heartpuls:

£2.43 OP made yesterday, with hopefully another small OP today to round down the change which should finish the month off.

Off for a morning cuppa and then lots of house tidying today- planning to clear out the wardrobe- hopefully to have a bag to pop on eBay/fb/gumtree :money:

Kittenkirst

The main wardrobe is now de cluttered, nicely folded and organised

Seemed to take forever but I now have a better understanding of what I have and therefore planning different outfits using some of my lesser worn clothes/shoes/accessories.

A big nice pile is ready for the charity shop, and another large pile for Baying/treeing or facebook selling.

Felt inspired so four items have been listed on eBay this morning, will aim for three more this evening.
There's a nice pile that's very winter/autumn based so I'm tempted to stash under the bed until September and then whack it on then when people will want to buy nice sweaters....however, I also want it decluttered and gone! :rotfl:

Had a lovely evening out last night at a yoga social- we had fresh lime with sodas so the pub didn't charge (result!) and then had a lovely meal at Las Iguanas using that voucher we got after the awful service when we went with friends. We had a delicious meal- it was so much better last night even though it was busier- and it only cost £9.70.
A pretty frugal but decadent evening really!

Downshifterella

Hey kittenkirst
Some fab bargains and voucher successes you are doing great!
Bet you are getting so excited for your big Oz trip now!
Love a good shopping trip ..like you it's not something I do often but where you can save money (even with spending some!) it can make for a really enjoyable day out!

Well done on the decluttering too , if you can send some of that vibe this way I have 2 rooms in dire need and no motivation!!

Ella x