Getting a Grip and Saving towards the mortgage

try_harder

Thats my problem too themadvix ,our money comes in daily ,it would be so much easier if we got a once a month payment then i could do the majority on the same day .Maybe i should try something different and take the months income from my savings and put it in my main account to cover the months income and outgoings then i know its all in there ready but yes i must write a list out but then of course i must remember to look at it

Busy_Mee1

Well we have snow again this morning, but not as much as they were forecasting, thankfully. I can at least get off the drive and up the lane, I was thinking that we might be snowed in this morning.

I need to get out this morning as I desperately need to do some shopping, the terrible shop we did last Sunday in M@rrisons has left us with bare cupboards. We have also nearly run out of milk. We are not big milk consumers but Mr Mee likes it on his cereal. As we don't use loads I always use Cr@vendale or @ldis own filtered milk, as it stays fresh so much longer - it is usually dated for 2 weeks. It is slightly more expensive than fresh milk but we don't end up wasting any.

I am also going to get a carton of long life milk to keep in, I have always avoided it (put off by sterilised milk as a child), however Mr Mee bought some by mistake when we were abroad and it was absolutely fine and difficult to taste the difference from fresh milk.

I am going to go to L!dl this morning as their weekend offer is for grated cheese. I will stock up and probably freeze some bags.

In other news I applied for my HSBC account and was slightly worried because I didn't get a decision straight away, so thought they were going to turn me down. I always worry that all these accounts and switching will get me blacklisted one day. However I received an email yesterday with my welcome pack, so I am taking that to mean that I have not been rejected and I will receive the £150 switching bonus now, and another £50 in 12 months time. Winner :j
Mr Mee ( or me disguised as Mr Mee) will be applying for his account today . These accounts will also give us access to another couple of regular savers.

In less positive news, we had our rubbish boiler serviced yesterday and it has a small leak on it that needs repairing. The man servicing it kept muttering that it was a cheap boiler but that parts were expensive, so I am expecting a big bill :mad: We really should replace the boiler, it was a cheap one fitted when we built the house 9 years ago and it really isn't good enough for the size of our system but I am hoping it will limp on for another year.

I also need to book my car in for a service and it's first MOT. I am just hoping that isn't going to be expensive too.

I got a free 10 day pass for DD's gym this week and have actually been twice. I feel like I need to go with someone to motivate me. If it is just me going then I easily talk myself out of it, but I won't let someone else down. My cough has finally subsided after 5 weeks ( still coughing a bit in the morning and evenings), so I want to try and get my fitness levels back up and lose some weight :eek:

The gym is more expensive than the current one (£36.50 v £14.99) but I figure £14.99 isn't cheap if you don't go. I only have a monthly contract with the cheap gym, so can get out of it easily, but will have to sign up for 12 months for the more expensive gym......makes no sense financially I know, but I need to start feeling normal and well again.

TH and MadVix - it must be a nightmare budgeting with inconsistent earnings. I find it hard enough managing all my account shenanigans with regular month income :rotfl:

Have a great weekend everyone.

EatingTheElephant

I hope you manage to get your shopping. There are reports around here of the shops running out again due to everyone panic buying! I was thinking of trying to get Easter eggs today, but maybe I will wait until next week and just enjoy the day walking the dogs.

michelle09

Fingers crossed on the MOT. And hopefully the boiler will at least limp on to the weather warms up at least!

Busy_Mee1

Well we had heavy snow fall overnight, and it is still snowing. We are not going to be going anywhere for a while today.

Luckily I managed to get to L!dl yesterday and we are not in urgent need of anything. I will probably use today to have a cookathon. I am planning on making vats of Nana's magic soup, bolognaise, some hob nobs, sweet potato falafel and humous. All fail safe crowd pleasers :T

I had quite a productive day yesterday and cleared out the shoe cupboard of doom- two bags of shoes for recycling, a bag of shoes that belong to DS so need to be sent to his house and all lovely and tidy in there.....for now !

Mr Mee also tied out his paperwork drawer, so we have a black sack full of papers for shredding. That can be his snow day job ( after he has cleared the drive:rotfl:)

Last night I started planning our finances for 2018/19 tax year to maximise our PSA. It will look something like this:

Regular Savers
M&S. £250 a month 5%. Interest £80.64
N@tionwide. £500 a month 5%. £161.28
S@ntander. £200 a month 5%. £64.52
HSBC. £500 a month. 5%. £161.28
FD £300 a month. 5%. £96.77
£12000 Tesco @ 3 %. Interest. £360.00

This will mean £1750 a month into regular savers which will give us a total interest of £924.49 a year which keeps us within the PSA.

Everything else will be split between fixed rate cash ISAs (paying 2.9 and 2%), S&S ISA and the mortgage offset pot. All very low risk, but this is effectively my mortgage money, so I won't use it for any riskier investments (I am also a bit of a wuss and don't want to lose any of my hard earned money ).

Thank you ETE and Michelle for popping in :hello:

Think that is all I have to report - keep warm everyone.

themadvix

You're so organised with your RSs Busy Mee!

Hope the snow is on its way out now!

michelle09

That is so impressive. I have just opened our first one, hopefully we can organise our finances like yours.

Busy_Mee1

So not only have the clocks changed but the weather has obliged us with a beautiful warm spring morning. I have have just sat outside for the first time this year with a cup of tea and a hot cross bun, with the sun on my face looking out across the glorious Yorkshire countryside.....bliss.

I am going to make the most of it today as more snow is forecast for later in the week :eek:

So is has been a busyish week, certainly work is ramping up again and will be very busy again after Easter ...sigh.. It has been lovely to be working at a normal pace over the last couple of months and it has helped me manage all the extra stuff I have had to do for the elderly step-parent. Still only 24 months to go

In financial news I applied for a HSBC account for Mr Mee and both switch's have been activated. This should mean £150 each now and other £50 each in 12 months time. I just need to set up standing orders to allow a rather hefty £1750 a month to swish through both accounts. Importantly it will also get us two more regular savers.

I am waiting for the N@t West switch reward to be paid ( 15 April ) and then that account will be switched to FD for another £125. I think I will also open another donor account for Mr Mee to switch and get a second FD account. This will give us another two regular savers. Sadly I think that will be the end of my switching career, as I have now exhausted all the possibilities but it has been great while it has lasted

In shopping news I bought six boxes of washing tablets from L!dl yesterday - £1.49 for 20 washes ( weekend deal ) and did the last shop of March today (HB, M&S and @ldi).

I had a bit of an issue in M&S when the £5 off a £25 shop didn't work .....turns out it doesn't apply on reduced stuff and guess what....the majority of my shop was reduced.

Cue a very stiff email to M&S, I am fed up with their complicated T&Cs on these offers....first they excluded wine and now reduced stuff. That is all I buy from M&S :rotfl:

I shouldnt moan really, I got a good haul of YS stuff this morning including five packs of mince. I have noticed Aldi have started doing good reductions too....they just add a red 50% off sticker which makes their stuff really cheap.

The up shot is that I have spent a grand total of £262.61 on groceries in March, so £12.61 over budget. However, we are NOT going shopping next weekend, our freezer is jam packed and we need to start eating some of it. Mr Mee has been warned and actually agrees :rotfl:

Think that is all, I am off out to start to tidy the garden and enjoy the sunshine :T

Moneyfordreams

just catching up after sometime away from MSE pages, a couple of your posts have struck home about my situation. I'm the person with the vested interest in sorting out finances as It's me expected to work longer to cover shortfall.. and the road ahead is running out

anyhow your work at the banking shuffling is amazing, and certainly puts me to shame :T:T:T

Busy_Mee1

Hi Money for Dreams great to see you back :hello: Will scoot across and catch up on your diary later.

I am on my way to London this morning...am making the most of the free WiFi

I have already had a couple of MS wins this morning. I finally bought one of those insulated cups ( been meaning to for ages). The cup will pay for itself today (£2.50). I have already saved £2 on a cup of tea on the way down and it will be the same on the way back. I also brought my porridge pot (33p from HB). A cup of tea and breakfast on the go for around 35p !

I renewed our car insurance last night and knocked £360 of the total for four cars ( kids cars on the same multi car insurance). Amazing what a phone call can do, rather than just paying what they quote on renewal.

I have been determined this month to hit £65k target in savings and was £36.53 away. Cue lots of scurrying around the bank accounts and much scraping of barrels but I managed to find it. Our S&S ISA has been hit again this month, which has made it harder to hit the £65k but we have done it, although it has been very tight.

Our emergency/holiday fund is looking sad at the moment and we go on our "proper travel" holiday in May, so need to find some spending money. I predict a very frugal April

I will be back over the weekend to do a proper March update. Have a good day x