Getting back on the MFW Wagon

Needhelpsaving

Evening all - i'm so ready for the weekend!

Grocery shop has been done for the week and included a bottle of wine for OH as a treat and a cupcake set for LO to do in the half term.

The couple of pounds underspend along with around 30p of interest on one of the savings account have been swept to the emergency fund to keep it growing.

OH has made the biggest impact to savings - his car repairs bill is due to come out of his account after his next payday, so he put the £350 that was sitting in his current account into the emergency savings so that it wasn't squandered. So with this the emergency fund is now sitting at £3241.01/£5000 :j:j

earthgirl

You are so dedicated with sweeping to savings! Yey to the weekend!

Needhelpsaving

Evening all.

This weekend has been a no spend weekend for my accounts; although I think between going to the rugby yesterday (free tickets) and taking us out for a family lunch to celebrate my birthday, OH has wiped out his personal spends. Its a good job he is on overtime next weekend then!

I have this week off with DD and have £20 for activities. We will be going to the cinema tomorrow using vouchers my mum gave me today (free entry to Vue cinemas from Lloyds bank); this will make the budget stretch even further :T I am hoping the weather is nice enough that we can get out and do free activities like a trip to the park.

In other news, I have put together a budget for the year ahead, which whilst it will still need some tweaking gives me a good idea of where we will stand in being able to continue towards our goals.

Needhelpsaving

Yesterday's film was a hit with DD, we went to see Coco - excellent film (even if we were both crying at the end!).

We did also grab some lunch while we were out (£6 spend), but took our own treats to the cinema.

I was a bit naughty and took a detour to the nearby Dunelm Mill to buy 3 sets of curtains that OH and I discussed buying from next months budget. It was a week ahead of time, but means that as I am on holiday this week, I can get them up and that job ticked off the list (but sods law will say they will then turn up! )

We have also started spring cleaning the house which will continue over the course of this week and helps us prepare for baby's arrival.

I have requested a gift card for £13.84 from quidco to put towards the baby monitor we are saving for. I am also around 20 points off of another £3 voucher on Swagbucks. I will then need another £9 before I can purchase the monitor, so need to crack on with earning the remaining gift cards.

Needhelpsaving

It's payday!

Money moves have been made in my accounts - OH yet to do his.

Any spends made on Credit Card/Joint Account have been settled (this was the new curtains and baby's cot mattress). I have also moved £523.49 to the emergency savings, bringing us to £3764.50/£5000.

I am pleased that we are further along with our yearly goals than I had expected to be two months into the year!

I received the amazon vouchers from Quidco last night and added them to my account. I am awaiting the £3 voucher from Swagbucks and am already on my way to making another £3. It's not going to change the world overnight, but it is making a dent in our being able to achieve our goals.

Needhelpsaving

Needhelpsaving wrote: »

Finalised 2018 Targets;

- Get Mortgage down to £65,000 (as per MFiT Target) by 31/12/18

- Get Savings Up to £5,000 by 01/06/18 Currently at £3764.50/£5000 :j

- Cashflow trip to sisters wedding (we are anticipating £400 including travel down south and hotel rooms for 2 nights) by 01/06/18 £400 Saved end of Jan 2018

- Cashflow blinds and kitchen table for kitchen (£1000) by 31/12/18

- Cashflow re-painting hall, stairs/landing (just a couple of tins of paint) -£75 by 01/09/18 Paint purchased (just need to actually paint it!)

- Cashflow redecoration of living room (inc new carpet) - £1000 by 31/12/18

Update on 2018 targets to track progress.

Needhelpsaving

:j:j:j:j I am currently bouncing off of the walls with excitement!!!

OH has been paid and done his money shuffles - £300 OP to mortgage and £650 to savings. Bringing us to £4414.50/£5000

In addition, he was given the heads up that he is looking at 100% bonus next month (which is the equivalent to 10% of his annual salary). So given this news and the fact that we have made such headway with our annual savings target (which I am astounded by) so quickly, we have amended our target to save £10k by 30/06/2018.

After this we will plough any extra money into the mortgage.

We are hoping that by continuing to push ourselves, that we will make real headway this year in terms of our financial security. Interestingly, we also discussed the lessons we have learned in terms of money management that we really should have applied in our 20's. MSE has been a great source of inspiration, so thank you to everyone who posts as whilst I generally lurk, your posts have proved very inspirational!

Needhelpsaving

Good Morning,

I hope everyone is staying safe and warm with the weather.

I spent yesterday at home as DD school was closed and even though I *could* have walked to work through the snow (around 40 minute walk) - at nearly 8 months pregnant, I refused to risk it and have lost a days pay for this month.

However, I have noticed that the payroll didn't pay me for the 10 hours OT I did last month, so I will need to query this next week.

I have been struggling with tiredness this week, so haven't really done a great deal in respect of Money making/saving efforts.

I did manage to make it to do the weekly shop before the worst of the snow hit and lets face it; the snow is helping with the NSD's (with the exception of the heating bill :eek:). Extra blankets are on the beds and sofas to try to keep the heating to a minimum whilst still being comfortable.

Tasks for today;
- Finish Ironing
- Meet SB daily target
- Check for online surveys
- Clean and list DD ikea play kitchen on Ebay (she will get the money from this sale), as she isn't playing with it anymore.

Needhelpsaving

Good Morning.

Sorry I have been MIA for a little while.

On that note, I have been off my game money saving wise, I haven't gone over budget (I did the last weekly shop of the month yesterday). Books have been balanced and I have a small buffer to get through to payday, but I haven't really done anything to earn more money.

We have been fortunate enough that family members have gifted us with 3 items that we still needed for baby (1 of which I was saving up for) - so the Amazon vouchers I had saved for the baby monitor went towards buying 2 tables that we are using as bed side tables (and I love!!).

On a really positive note, OH has received confirmation of his bonus, which was actually 15% of his annual salary (apparently he went into a new scheme when he moved into his current role); however, we need to see how much the tax man will pilfer before we know how much is left to go towards our savings target

Have a great day everyone x

Needhelpsaving

Good evening everyone. I hope everyone is staying safe in this unpredictable weather.

This weekend has been fairly quiet, as I needed some downtime with everything that is going on at work. The weekend has been spent getting some simple house tasks done and spending time with OH & DD (I have loved this!).

In money related updates,

1. £3 Amazon voucher requested from Swagbucks this morning.
2. Home Insurance renewal completed (£178 on CC to be cleared at month end).
3. £26 spent on some summer pumps/trainers for DD (I know I could have gotten something cheaper, but she has always faired really well with the Clarks Doodles range). This was covered by this months Child Benefit.
4. £13.70 for a school trip for DD - again covered by Child Benefit, with the remainder after the shoes and trip going into a savings account towards clothes/uniforms/trips etc.
5. Chased up an unactioned refund from the swimming baths - they cancelled DD lesson due to a lack of teachers, so are putting a credit on the account to be used for badges etc.

This week, I MUST list DD old play kitchen on ebay (still circulating on my list ) and keep spends within the buffer I have.