They definitely do add up, and showering at the gym makes good use of your membership as well. I'm more into running than the gym, but I've been washing my running kit with me in the shower after I've finished a run and trying to stretch a t shirt and shorts for more than one run - not easy in the heat! I also have got into the habit of turning the shower off whilst I'm lathering up my hair or putting on conditioner etc. I'm on a meter so the savings do count.
I've been doing some research into sim only deals and think it's the right way to go, as I have a reasonable personal phone out of contract and a work iPhone with unlimited use that no one ever monitors, so don't need loads of data etc. I tend to use my iPad more than my phone anyway, so I'm not a heavy user. There are lots of suitable deals for less than £5 per month, so will sort that out soon.
However, I've been driving around with loads of heavy files in my car for work, so they're probably worse than the buggy. At least I get paid mileage for this!
March 2016 - £178,914.59; July 2017 £146,160.38
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
I've been doing money saving things every day this week, including popping home to make my lunch when a day-long work event with lunch was cancelled at short notice, paying in a £10 cheque I've had in my purse for months, working an additional day, click and collecting my shopping rather than paying a pound for deliveries, and rolling up our sleeves today and cleaning our entire rental flat ourselves after our tenants moved out and didn't bother even attempting to tidy. We've got new tenants moving in on Tuesday so we're charging the old ones the going rate for last minute cleaners and paying ourselves for our time at £15 per hour.
I've been reading MMM a bit more and worked out that once the mortgage is paid off and when I no longer need 4 days a week plus childcare, I will only need about £900 a month to live a similar lifestyle to my existing. My partner would need a bit more, but not much. Given we're pulling in approx £1100 a month in rent on our btls after mortgages collectively already, this seems entirely feasible. Makes me realise that FI and ER may well be closer than I thought and is a real possibility. Indeed, when I started this diary, I was all for increasing our borrowing to get a better house. Now the idea of dramatically reducing how much we work sounds very attractive.
We've used the inheritance to pay off most of the flat mortgage, so will now start hammering down the house mortgage. We should have more to throw at it now and are saving harder.
March 2016 - £178,914.59; July 2017 £146,160.38
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
I'm also setting myself a couple of challenges for the next year:
1. To take lunch with me to work every single day until next September unless there is a free or on expenses lunch at work (hence popping home to make lunch when my work event was cancelled).
2. Not using my tumble drier for clothes at all for a year. I'm excepting drying pillows from this as I usually wash them a couple of times a year and they require tumbling. I've got a washer drier so don't use the drier much, but will ban myself from any useage at all (except pillows).
Let's see how I do, will report on my progress.
March 2016 - £178,914.59; July 2017 £146,160.38
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
I'm working hard on cutting costs. Today I phoned up Vodafone to get my PAC number to switch to a Virgin sim only deal for £5.00 a month. They offered me the same deal for £4.50 on a 12 month contract, so I'm well happy with that. I've not officially upgraded for 4 years, so I've been chucking £11.25 a month away for ages for no reason. I have an iPhone for work which is unlimited and not monitored, so I don't need fancy upgrades, just a basic deal and have I have a reasonable personal phone.
I'm slightly annoyed that I've forked out £35 already to get my phone unlocked for Virgin, but the savings make up for it in 3 months.
I've got all my annual insurances etc coming up for renewal soon, so will really work on minimising costs. So far, that's a 72% reduction on my first bill, so hope I can make great savings on the rest!
In other money saving news, my DS, who is 3 this month, has finally done his first wee in a potty. He usually cries, throws a tantrum and wees on the carpet if potty training is even mentioned, so this has given me hope that nappies will be gone in the near future. I can't wait - for many reasons!
March 2016 - £178,914.59; July 2017 £146,160.38
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
Disaster! I've dropped and cracked my iPad! What a first world problem! £175 to get it fixed. I'll have to do a bit of shuffling, but it's cheaper than a new one.
March 2016 - £178,914.59; July 2017 £146,160.38
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
I've managed to slash my car ins from £398 to £185 and got £45 cashback. I'm very pleased with that, a considerable saving.
Next up, slashing our home insurance. Our renewal is £216...I think we can do better than that!
My iPad "only" cost £100 to fix in the end, got it done at Timpsons as they were a lot cheaper than Apple.
March 2016 - £178,914.59; July 2017 £146,160.38
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
This isn't my first dealing with the SLC, I had one of the original student loans from an earlier attempt at university, though thankfully I only took out one year so I only owed them about £1,000. Just before I went to university the second time I decided to pay off the balance. In a he period between them telling me how much it would be and them receiving my cheque I managed to accrue 8p interest which they persued me relentlessly for. I don't have a high opinion of them!
Hi there, I'm just reading through your diary and I saw this. The SLC drives me nuts! I paid it off two years ago, but they calculated the owed interest wrong and I was left with £1.23 still to pay. I tried to pay this online, but they won't accept anything under a fiver, call them and get told the same thing. So now I have to wait for it to get to that level before I can pay it off.....so so frustrating!
MFW Start:[STRIKE] Sep 2014 - £110,844[/STRIKE], July 2019 New Home £190,995 :eek: Current: £82,999.69, £190,972.18, £188,091.57, £180,026.25 2021MFW #97 OP Goal £296.36/£3000 2020MFW #97 OP Goal £3104.09.09/£3000 2019MFW #109 OP Goal £1024.99/£1000
I feel your pain, the SLC are awful. I'm so glad I've finished my dealings with them now.
I was on track to save over £1000 this month... Until my sons nursery decided to increase his fees by more than £120 a month, despite him moving up to a supposedly cheaper age category next week! I've queried it, as I wasn't expecting that at all.
March 2016 - £178,914.59; July 2017 £146,160.38
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
My son's nursery haven't got back to me yet, although they've taken the extra money... Will have to query that again.
I have managed to save another £100 on getting new home insurance, so I'm pretty happy with all my savings to date.
I'm also on track with not buying lunch - 100% perfect so far . We've also not used the drier, so feeling smug about this.
However, my oh did put the heating on last week when it really wasn't very cold, so he's had a few disproving glances and it's turned off again for now!
March 2016 - £178,914.59; July 2017 £146,160.38
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
So today, my OH and I have been making future plans about how to get rid of this mortgage and what to do next... The good news is, he's fully on board, rather then just pretty much on board. If we mange to both save consistently and chuck it at the mortgage, we'll aim to get it paid off by October 2021... Just five years away.
That'll open so many options for us, undecided at present, but will be exciting to see where it takes us!
I've also opened. S&S ISA today and invested £500. Although I'm primarily focuses on the mortgage, a little diversity can't hurt too much.
March 2016 - £178,914.59; July 2017 £146,160.38
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
Replies
I've been doing some research into sim only deals and think it's the right way to go, as I have a reasonable personal phone out of contract and a work iPhone with unlimited use that no one ever monitors, so don't need loads of data etc. I tend to use my iPad more than my phone anyway, so I'm not a heavy user. There are lots of suitable deals for less than £5 per month, so will sort that out soon.
However, I've been driving around with loads of heavy files in my car for work, so they're probably worse than the buggy. At least I get paid mileage for this!
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
I've been reading MMM a bit more and worked out that once the mortgage is paid off and when I no longer need 4 days a week plus childcare, I will only need about £900 a month to live a similar lifestyle to my existing. My partner would need a bit more, but not much. Given we're pulling in approx £1100 a month in rent on our btls after mortgages collectively already, this seems entirely feasible. Makes me realise that FI and ER may well be closer than I thought and is a real possibility. Indeed, when I started this diary, I was all for increasing our borrowing to get a better house. Now the idea of dramatically reducing how much we work sounds very attractive.
We've used the inheritance to pay off most of the flat mortgage, so will now start hammering down the house mortgage. We should have more to throw at it now and are saving harder.
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
1. To take lunch with me to work every single day until next September unless there is a free or on expenses lunch at work (hence popping home to make lunch when my work event was cancelled).
2. Not using my tumble drier for clothes at all for a year. I'm excepting drying pillows from this as I usually wash them a couple of times a year and they require tumbling. I've got a washer drier so don't use the drier much, but will ban myself from any useage at all (except pillows).
Let's see how I do, will report on my progress.
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
I'm slightly annoyed that I've forked out £35 already to get my phone unlocked for Virgin, but the savings make up for it in 3 months.
I've got all my annual insurances etc coming up for renewal soon, so will really work on minimising costs. So far, that's a 72% reduction on my first bill, so hope I can make great savings on the rest!
In other money saving news, my DS, who is 3 this month, has finally done his first wee in a potty. He usually cries, throws a tantrum and wees on the carpet if potty training is even mentioned, so this has given me hope that nappies will be gone in the near future. I can't wait - for many reasons!
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
Next up, slashing our home insurance. Our renewal is £216...I think we can do better than that!
My iPad "only" cost £100 to fix in the end, got it done at Timpsons as they were a lot cheaper than Apple.
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
Hi there, I'm just reading through your diary and I saw this. The SLC drives me nuts! I paid it off two years ago, but they calculated the owed interest wrong and I was left with £1.23 still to pay. I tried to pay this online, but they won't accept anything under a fiver, call them and get told the same thing. So now I have to wait for it to get to that level before I can pay it off.....so so frustrating!
Current: £82,999.69, £190,972.18, £188,091.57, £180,026.25
2021MFW #97 OP Goal £296.36/£3000
2020MFW #97 OP Goal £3104.09.09/£3000
2019MFW #109 OP Goal £1024.99/£1000
I was on track to save over £1000 this month... Until my sons nursery decided to increase his fees by more than £120 a month, despite him moving up to a supposedly cheaper age category next week! I've queried it, as I wasn't expecting that at all.
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
I have managed to save another £100 on getting new home insurance, so I'm pretty happy with all my savings to date.
I'm also on track with not buying lunch - 100% perfect so far
However, my oh did put the heating on last week when it really wasn't very cold, so he's had a few disproving glances and it's turned off again for now!
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560
That'll open so many options for us, undecided at present, but will be exciting to see where it takes us!
I've also opened. S&S ISA today and invested £500. Although I'm primarily focuses on the mortgage, a little diversity can't hurt too much.
Mortgage end Sept 2043; Target - pay off by March 2022, now Sept 2021
Target balance July 2018 £112,560