Getting a Grip and Saving towards the mortgage

themadvix · 14 February 2018 at 11:03AM

Sorry to hear you're still not feeling great - I hope the cough doesn't linger for too long.

The outcomes of the retirement summit sound great!

It must be really motivating to be so close!

Busy_Mee1 · 18 February 2018 at 9:09AM

Well it has been another week and another set of symptoms. I don't feel like I will ever be well again. I have managed to get myself through work this week, including a couple of days away but I ended up feeling exhausted yesterday. I managed to go and get my hair done ( cancelled the week before because I was so ill) and nipped to L!dk to get teabags ( 6 boxes) as they were on their weekend deal (69p for 80). I also did some lacklustre cleaning and baked a cake, but that was all.

Financially, it has been fine. I ended up spending while away but can claim a chunk of that through expenses. Meal planning is going well and this helps with the cost of the groceries.

I have received a couple of gift cards out of the blue....a surprise £10 Tesco voucher as a thank you gift and a £5 JL gift card. This was a voucher if you spent £50 ( which I did in the sale on DDs birthday gift). I don't normally shop in either of these stores so will need to remember I have them.

I baked a cake yesterday to use up some odds and ends (raisin and honey cake). A new recipe, not sure it will be a keeper though. My go to cake recipe is Auntie Helen's sultana cake - it is very much a crowd pleaser. I made a loaf but chopped it into two and put it in the freezer, I always like to have a home made cake in the freezer, always comes in handy and makes me look organised :A

I need to the meal plan for next week and go shopping. We then need to do the epic journey to go and see elderly step parent which will take up the rest of the day. Thankfully next week is a short week at work and then we are off for some winter sunshine. It can't come soon enough for me:T

themadvix · 19 February 2018 at 10:57AM

I know the feeling (about never feeling like you'll be well again).... you will... but it's awful when you're in the middle of it - you have my sympathy!

Enjoy your short week at work - winter sunshine at the end of it sounds just wonderful!

Busy_Mee1 · 20 February 2018 at 4:12PM

Thanks MadVix I am starting to get on my own nerves with the coughing.:(

Grocery shopping was done on Sunday and came in at £77.22, and I have been to B&M today to stock up on baked beans. (Heinz 6 = 2.75, so bought 12 cans ) So the total for February is a smidge under £200 (£198.58).
I am really getting into this buying in bulk thing when certain items are below a certain price point. For example Heinz beans ( I am a baked bean snob I am afraid- I just don't like the cheaper ones), I buy when I see them under 50p a can. Not huge savings I know, but the savings on some particular items (for example washing tablets and dishwasher tablets are much bigger. I made the school girl error in running out of @ldi washing tablets a couple of weeks ago (1.89 for 36 washes) and the cheapest option in Sainsbreeze was £4.00 for their own brand.
More than double the price - the branded options were even more :eek:
I am trying to always keep a stock now.

try_harder · 22 February 2018 at 1:57PM

I do hope that you are feeling much better now Busy Mee1 i had that bug the second week of January and i didnt think the cough would ever go it must have been a month before i started to notice an improvement .

Well done for keeping on top of the finances mine went a bit to pot over January due to not feeling well it was only because i had forgotten about a family loan that was then repaid to me and a good sale on Ebax that i stayed on track i think .

I like the idea of another budget for bulk buying ,i think i might try that in March as when i buy something in bulk i then have much less money to spend on everything else obviously so yes i think i will have a think about that tonight and budget monthly ,i think that was one of the reasons i struggled this month as i stocked up on items that will last for months. You are doing great though on the food budget .

Busy_Mee1 · 28 February 2018 at 9:32AM

Well end of a nice short month.
I have updated all the financials as follows:

Monthly savings. £1639.00
Total savings. £63272.08
Mortgage. £239637.46
Savings:Mortgage. 26.4%
Savings offset Mortgage to. £176365.38

So managed to beat the £1600 savings target this month and the mortgage is now in the 230's. Next month my target will have to be £65k in savings, I can't resist a nice round number........but this will mean finding £1727.92 this month. This should be doable as we have some annual interest from the NW regular savers to come in March.

I am also thinking of starting a new diary in April to track the final two years to retirement.....this is all becoming very real now :j.

I am going to start a new odds and sods account in April and want to start paying down the repayment mortgage with this, to try and reduce the term. We will still be paying this part of the mortgage when we retire until I am 60, so anything I can knock off the term will be a bonus. I just need to ring the mortgage provider to make sure I can make small payments, what the limit of OPs is and whether it will reduce the term and not the monthly payment.

Current status of the mortgage is:

Repayment. £70,367.46. 1.19% interest and 6 years and 2 months term
Interest only. £169000.00. £63,272.08 saved/ £105,727.92 still to find. This will be £100k savings target + OH pension lump sum.

Ye gods how sad am I, I love running the numbers at the end of the month....it is my favourite post of the month:D

Tropically · 28 February 2018 at 10:05AM

I also love running the numbers. Great job! That's an incredible target.

Busy_Mee1 · 28 February 2018 at 12:11PM

Thanks Tropically, the fact that we are fast coming to an end of our employed earnings is focussing my mind now. The more we can do now the better off we will be when we finish work : )