Getting a Grip and Saving towards the mortgage

try_harder

What a great diary and very inspiring i too have a similar savings target and am also trying to overpay my huge mortgage. I have never saved in my life before other than trying my luck with a few shares which sadly didnt end up too well but getting some great tips and ideas and following your journey alongside my own is very motivating

Busy_Mee1

Thank you try harder (love the user name). I have had so much help and learned loads from other people's diaries so it would be nice to think that my ramblings could help someone else. Having a diary is very motivating and does focus you too.

I made a shopping list today and managed to get my food bill for the week to £72.39 - the first time it has been under £75 in a while. Aldi's super 6 is great this week - baby corn, mangetout, tomatoes ,mushrooms and chanteney carrots. All things we use, in fact I had a trolley full of fruit and veg so hoping for a healthy eating week. I did my usual Tilly Tidy - £9.45 this week.
I have also joined Swagbucks using the MSE link, £10 bonus when you achieve £5 worth of points. So £15 worth of vouchers - this is looking much better than OnePoll who keep excluding me from surveys ( think I will get fed up before I reach the required £40 ). I am hoping to have a good stash of vouchers by Christmas (Swagbucks and Bounts) which along with my M&S rewards (£180) will cover Christmas. That is good because we are away for 3 weeks in November travelling so it will be nice to have the cost of Christmas sorted when we get back.
Have a good week

Busy_Mee1

TGI Friday again ! It has been a very stressy week, DD has been very stressed because she hands her final dissertation in today and I have been trying to stop her from having a complete meltdown. Anyway it is all done and ready to hand in today - thank goodness ! And then that should be the end of of our kids formal education - no more exam hell or paper writing nightmares:j:j and hopefully from 1 July no more parental financial support:j
DD still hasn't received a date to start her new job - the recruitment and then vetting process has been painfully slow but hopefully she will hear soon. In the meantime she has been offered full time hours in the part time job she has had through university.
I had a very tedious financial day yesterday, sitting with DS and the mortgage broker to sort out his mortgage application on his first house - he has got a nice competitive rate of 2.35% with 1 % cash back from H@lifax. A bit different from when we took out our first mortgage when rates were 13%. I am pleased to report DS intends to start overpaying his mortgage from the start.
I then went with DD to open a HBISA with S@antander @4 % and a TSB account @5%, so she can start building up some savings when she starts work. Anyway we went out for tea and DD paid to say thank you for all the help I had given her, which was so lovely. We also did a bit of shopping for clothes for her new job, but she used a voucher she had for Christmas - so no money spent for me :j
In fact I haven't spent any money at all this week and still have the £20 note that I started the week with sat in my purse - I also found a £5 note in the seal of the washing machine and have claimed it and dried it out in the sun. So I am actually up this week :j

Kittenkirst

Ohhh that's a very good rate on DS mortgage offer!

Good work on the lack of spending and the found money!

Busy_Mee1

Yes there were some good rates available to him and he didn't need to use the help to buy scheme either. The mortgage offer lasts until end December, which is good because his house won't be ready until November.

shangaijimmy

What sound footings and great education you've given/helping with for their financial futures. You should be proud.

Although mortgage rates are much better now, its also much harder to find something affordable and then be able to get a mortgage than it was. Not to mention near on impossible to buils savings pot that is able to keep place with house prices!

Busy_Mee1

Thanks Jimmy, we have always tried to balance wanting to give the kids more opportunities and financial support than we had, whilst not turning them into spoilt brats who do not know the value of money. We have always given them an allowance from quite a young age on the basis that they manage with that and get nothing else, they had to save up for things and been encouraged to save Birthday money etc. They have both had part-time jobs since they were 15, so both have a great work ethic too. As a result, they are both really good with money. In fact DS spent so long at uni as a poor student, that he struggles to spend money now he has a good salary. That is why he has managed to save a good deposit for a house, that and he has been living at home ! DD is also good with money but tends to save up to travel for at least a couple of weeks per year. I am really grateful that I never have to worry about them getting into debt- DD was telling me yesterday that one of her friends has run up a credit card debt already but has gone off working abroad for the summer thinking they won't track her down....it really upset me to think that such a young person could get themselves in such a potentially serious situation without understanding the consequences for later life.

Anyway the good news today, DD has finally handed in her dissertation and we have received bank cards for the Coop, so it looks like we have been accepted for the new accounts, we just need to switch our donor accounts (had to add another 2 DDs each because T&Cs require 4) . We should if everything works get £150 switch bonus+ £50.40 from TCB = £200.40 x 2.
I can't quite believe that this will work - £400.80 free money - feels too good to be true.

Watty1

Awesome free money.... you have inspired me to reconsider bank accounts. Just keeping one because it has such a hefty overdraft which might come in useful in a few months due re targets and plans....

try_harder

Wow yes that is brilliant free money i opened 2 accounts with them but must have missed the cash backs somewhere along the line still i was very happy to be accepted as a customer only ever having a cxxp cashminder account we didnt expect to get accepted anywhere else so was pleasantly surprised

Busy_Mee1

Morning - just done a quick bank account patrol before work and have gained 2x £5 from the TSB contactless cashback and £19.90 interest and £8.06 cash back from S@antander. This has been swept into the O&S account and logged on my trusty spreadsheet.

I have been doing a bit of forecasting with my spreadsheet, projecting where our savings will be over the year and am going to set myself the following goals:

Goal 1 £40k by end August 2016
Goal 2 £45k by end December 2016
Goal 3 £50k by end March 2017

Target £100k by end April 2020

This will be tough, but I like a challenge :rotfl:
Have a good day all - it is nearly Friday :j