Getting a Grip and Saving towards the mortgage

try_harder

Yorkshire ,my number one favourite place ,its bringing back wonderful memories now ,the first place i visited on a school trip aged about eleven was Staithes i remember staying in some kind of old Nissen hut and visiting Flamborough Lighthouse and Whitby Abbey ,years later we went as a family to Scarborough ,Whitby or Robin Hoods Bay,oh how i wish i was there again just beautiful

themadvix

As I said on Jess's thread - this country has so many nice places! (But I'm definitely agreeing with BusyMee - it's the coast that appeals most to me, I love water).

Busy_Mee1

It is a beautiful morning here and the forcast is for a glorious weekend - I just love it when the sun shines.

I have had a manic week this week, working away from home for four days and putting in some long hours. Funnily enough I have really enjoyed it, it has been quite buzzy and exciting - I think I might be getting my mojo back for work.

I haven't mentioned on here (at the risk of it being TMI) that I have been having some health problems which are now sorted out. It is only now that I feel well again that I realise how awful I have been feeling and that was impacting on all sorts of things, including work. I actually feel like a new woman

I was up early again this morning. I am not very good at sleeping in, so I sorted all my receipts out for my work expenses. I have spent quite a bit of money staying away from home this week, some of it I can claim back but some of it I can't, rather annoyingly. It looks like I will be away for most of next week, so I need to think about how I can minimise the cost to me. There are some daft rules about what you can and can't claim and a fairly tight cap.

The N@tionwide saga continues...if you remember in the last instalment I had to send copies of letters from the direct debit recipients to prove the direct debits were in force before the switch. NW wouldn't let me email scanned copied of the letters for security reasons......well guess what...they haven't received the copies I sent by snail mail. You just couldn't make this up ! I now need to schlep into town on a Saturday morning to take the copies of the letters. Mr Mee's correspondence is getting quite terse :rotfl: I had to tell him he was being quite terse because of course I am pretending to be him :rotfl:


In other news DS should be getting the keys to his house in 2 weeks :T I am not sure we will actually believe it until it happens. This did actually send him into a mild panic because he was expecting the end of July, but as I pointed out to him he doesn't need to break his neck to move in two weeks, he can get his big items ordered, things like white goods and sofa and move in at his leisure.

The diet isn't going particularly well. I have only lost 1 lb, I am finding that I am really having to cut back on the calories to shift any, which is hard. Being away from home hasn't helped and I have only managed the gym once this week. I must try harder this week :A

Think that is all my news this week. Have a great weekend in the sunshine :T

EatingTheElephant

What a busy week! Glad you are feeling better.

Exciting news about getting the keys soon.

Enjoy the sunny weekend

shangaijimmy

I'm not sure which bank i had an issue with, or the exact details, but they basically contested whether the copy i had sent of a council tax bill for proof of address was a copy of an original or a copy of a copy! They insisted they needed a copy but it couldn't be a copy of a copy. I said that's fine and asked them politely "but if its a copy how do you know if its a copy of the original or a copy of a copy...?". Bizarre...

Busy_Mee1

Morning all - I am up early as usual. I wish I could manage to sleep in later at the weekend, but getting up early does allow me to catch up on my diary.

So I have had another week spent down in London and boy was it hot, or at least it was when I managed to leave the office. Inside the office they had the air con turned up to "Arctic" and I had to wear my jacket.

It was lovely when I did eventually get outside, I do quite London in the summer, it has a real holiday feel about it. My hotel room was a typical London broom cupboard though and was like an oven and unfortunately the aircon unit was too big for the very small space, so when it was turned on was like being in a wind tunnel ! I seemed to spend all week being either too hot or too cold.

Anyway back up North now and the weather is much cooler, which I am glad about as DD is walking 27 miles today as part of a charity challenge. We are going to meet her at the 17 mile point and taking extra supples and will probably walk with them for a few miles.

DS is still supposed to be getting the keys to his house on Friday, although the house didn't look very ready when we popped round on Thursday night. The house looks finished but there is no road or driveway up to it yet, just piles of builder rubble, so they will need to get a wriggle on to get it finished by Friday. He has decided not to move in straight away as he is busy for the next couple of weekends- a charity skydive :eek: next weekend and abroad for a wedding the following weekend. So it will be probably the weekend after when he properly moves out.

I feel as if I have lost the plot a bit financially this month. I seem to be endlessly spending money when I am away. Luckily I can claim a lot of it back, but there is currently a big hole in my bank account while I am waiting for my expenses to be paid (£243). I also don't have as much time for the food planning and preparation- there has been no Sunday cookathon for the last few weeks because I have been working and that makes a big difference to the food budget. I am probably going to continue to be flat out at work through July but I am hoping it will quieten down in August.

The good news though is that N@tionwide have finally said that they will pay the switching bonus - the bad news is they can't do it until 30 June which is their next payment run apparently. I have been deeply unimpressed by them tbh, and I have given them that feedback :mad: . Anyway I am expecting an extra £200 next Friday :T

That is all my news I think, I feel a bit of an MFW lightweight at the moment. I don't have very much to report on the money saving front and it is normally all the small MSE things that make the difference but they are just not happening at the moment Hopefully normal service will be resumed in August

EatingTheElephant

Life does sound very busy at the moment, August will be here before you know it!

I've been taking a fleece with me to the office I've been working in, madness when it is so hot outside to have it so cold inside that you need warm clothes on. I've been going for a walk at lunchtime just to warm up!

Busy_Mee1

This month has flown by and despite me declaring June as diet June, I have only lost 1 lb. I am really struggling with my eating at the moment- I just can't seem to stop ! I need to do something different I think but not sure what yet.

Things have gone surprisingly well on the financial front and despite feeling a bit out of control at times with my spending I have still managed to save £1,466.64. This includes the £200 switching bonus from N@tionwide which finally paid out yesterday :j

The totals for June as as follows:

Monthly Savings £1466.64
Total Savings. £51,595.70
Mortgage. £246,685.36
Savings offset mortgage to £195,089.66
Savings:Mortgage. 20.9%

The average monthly savings over the last 6 months have been £1,596.90 per month, the highest ever :T This has been largely inflated by annual interest that paid out in March/April/May on regular savings accounts and of course hardcore May . There are no additional interest payments to come over the next 6 months, although I do have a performance bonus due in August. I have started to prepare another switch to FD which will probably take place in September and I haven't yet done any fleabaying this year and I may need to do so to keep my saving totals up.
I am still on track to achieve my next target of £60k in savings in December, provided I can save at least £1,400.71 per month over the next 6 months

In other news, DS got his keys for his new house yesterday and we will be starting to move him in today. He bought the house off plan over a year ago and it was great to finally see it finished on Thursday. It is in a great position with a decent size garden, so worth waiting for. I was pleasantly surprised by the standard of finish too - you hear so many horror stories of shoddy new builds, but they have been quite meticulous in making sure everything was spot on. The only thing he is waiting for now is the turf to be laid - it has been too wet this week !

Have a great weekend, I am off to the gym early this morning :A

EatingTheElephant

Those savings figures are looking fantastic :T

Great news about the house, sounds like a busy day ahead.

try_harder

Another month of great saving totals Busy Mee1 ,a target of £60,000 by December is amazing and i know you will do it i have no doubts about that .
I am so pleased to hear that your sons house is ready and i expect he has moved in now and loving it ,he has done really well.
I hope you are Ok i am looking forward to hearing your updates .