Ready to do it all over again ...

benbenandme

I did enjoy today's playoff final, it does seem harsh to end it on penalties but it was good for the neutral to watch

We had trout for dinner tonight, I've never tried it before, in fact if I hadn't read the label I would've assumed it was salmon - same colour, same taste, but hey, at least I tried something new and I liked it

Early night with the laptop tonight. Tomorrow ds is having his haircut and I need to ring the dentist and book an appointment for me. I utterly dread going - my teeth are in a shocking state - my Mum is scared of the dentist and never made us go as kids, so I never saw a dentist until I was about 8 and then only went a handful of times until I forced myself to go when I was at uni I am paying for it now with a mouth full of rotten teeth

benbenandme

I've been very brave and booked my dentist appointment - 20th June at 3.50. I have 3 weeks now to worry about it Glad I forced myself to call, otherwise I would have been worrying about doing it all day.

I also need to check what time ds haircut is and book the dog in for his haircut too.

benbenandme

So I've been playing around with the mortgage overpayments calculator. Ideally I want to be rid of it in about 10 years, this is very very optimistic as there are various things that can (and will) throw spanners in the works along the way. I also owe my brother £30k that he lent me. Now I know he is not waiting for this money back (he's stupidly rich, got a 6 figure bonus this year etc :eek:) however,I would like to pay it back. He's calling me later tonight to discuss this, I think he will say not to and when the time comes he will have a bigger share of Mums estate. However, my concern with this is that having seen Dads savings dwindle away when he was in a care home there is no guarantee that the same won't happen to Mum, and therefore I can't rely on getting an inheritance. I know that sounds a bit grabby and morbid, but realistically just thinking ahead.

So, that's £30k I owe him, I am putting aside £350 per month at the moment towards that, which would mean (2 payments already put aside) that it would be replaid in 7 years, May 2024.

In terms of the mortgage that is currently £74,500ish. Ideally i would like this gone in 10 years. I have played around with rough figures I would need to save each year to hit this target and it is going to be incredibly difficult without some major efforts put in along the way.

There are various curveballs to look out for - eg. ds is now nearly 14, so it won't be too long before the csa / child benefit / tax credits money stops, and that will have a big impact on my income. I will potentially look to earn more money, perhaps working in the holidays etc. I also need to look at some other form of income, eg. possibly blogging? The surveys etc are great but they won't get the mortgage paid off on their own. I am already on a tight budget and there is very little room in there for nice extras, like new clothes / days out. I do need to look at my outgoings and see if/where they can be reduced, although I don't think I live extravagantly at all. I do put quite a lot away in savings (for my brother, xmas, car maintenance etc).

I do have £10k in savings which is for emergencies. All other savings are going towards the mortgage. Hopefully with a clearer plan I might get more focussed on shifting it

benbenandme

I have reviewed my tesco delivery saver, I was paying £7 a month for delivery - this was worth every penny when I lived in the flat as it saved me lugging everything up 2 flights of stairs, now however it seems quite a lot. I have been naughty recently and shopped in M&S, a lovely treat but not mse enough with my mortgage aims :money: So, I have downgraded from the anytime plan to the midweek plan, and have paid for the next 12 months upfront with clubcard points (doubles it up). So rather than paying £84 in cash over the next year I have instead spent £18 of vouchers and that's covered it :money: I will need to get myself into a better routine for ordering as I'mused to doing it at a weekend, but savings-wise it had to be done.

The extra £7 a month will be added to my monthly spends, which at the moment are pitiful. My budget allows me £250 for food, £100 for petrol and £200 for spends (£207 with this saving), although I realised that ds counselling payments haven't been accounted for, so thats £90 a month to come out of the spends budget. more savings need to be made!

benbenandme

Email recived to say my current anytime plan expires on 17th August and then the new midweek one will take over, so I still have a while on the anytime one left

benbenandme

I've also finally got a response from one of the big survey sites - I was on £41 and haven't received a survey for about 2 years. Finally it turns out that I had been blocked as Mr S had attempted to answer one of my surveys when he was here and gave his date of birth etc and it flagged up that it wasn't me so I was blocked :cool: Anyway, after several emails exchanged it seems I'm now unblocked again so can get working on reaching that payout of £50

benbenandme

Here is my updated SOA:

Income:

Wages: £1208
CSA: £360
Child Benefit: £82
Tax Credits: £291

Total: £1941

Outgoings:
Mortgage £346
Council Tax £135 Paid over 9 months this year due to move, will be over 10 next year so will be a bit less
Life insurance £29
Contents & Buildings insurance £15
Water £20
Electricity £76
Car tax £12
Car insurance £27
Car maintenance £30
Mobile £21 contracted until Feb
Sky £60
Tv licence £12
Union £9
Tesco delivery pass £7 June & July only
Spotify £10
Scouts £12

Brother fund (loan) £350
Christmas/ Birthdays fund £50
Denmark trip (ds next summer with Scouts) £15
New car fund £50
Household maintenance £100

Food £250
Petrol £100
Spends £200

benbenandme

Postie has just been and delivered my tax credits renewal - it seems I am now getting £305 a month not £291, so that's my SOA wrong already :cool: Never mind, the extra £14 a month will go into my spends pot as it is already going to be stupidly tricky to stick to that. Anything left over at the end of the month will go into the savings pot

I will complete the renewal later on, I need to take ds for his haircut in a bit.

benbenandme

Always mean to ask you , how are things at school for you both?
Is it half term this week?
If so, enjoy

Sorry Beanielou, I forgot to answer Yes, it is half-term here, catch up time for me
Everything at school is going well *touch wood*. I'm actually enjoying my job again, and ds has had a great half-term, he is on a very tight rein but it seems to be working. He is on a reduced timetable, so spends some of his day in the intervention suite at school, he is finding this a massive help, partly as it reduced the pressure on him but also as it is somewhere quiet and he struggles with sensory stuff, so noise overload does his head in. So far, so good, although I am very aware it could all go spectacularly wrong again at any minute However, we have made it through a whole half-term, one more to go before the summer (6 weeks of lessons), then we will deal with whatever year 10 has to bring our way

TallGirl

Sounds like a tight budget but you're frugal so I'm sure it will work out. I was tempted with the delivery pass for Sainsbury's but ended up not getting it. I seem to be able to get £1 slots late at night and only use it every 4 weeks or so. Also like swapping as I often get sent money off vouchers if I don't use one for a while.

Sounds totally sensible what your brother is suggesting I've kind of done the same with my sister although she's been given a chuck of money now by my mum which means I get more when the event happens. Do you need £10k in savings if you have access to credit. Do you get descent interest or would it be better paid off the mortgage.

Love reading you're diary enjoy half term.