Keeping track of my mortgage - turning a new leaf

DFB35

Hello

I want to start a fresh new diary to keep track of my mortgage and general everyday finances. And also to keep track of myself as I seem to be a bit all over the place mentally and when i used to keep a DFW diary in the past it really helped!

I will start with some figures:

Mortgage is £249,072 as at April (figures from noodle)
Remaining term 34 years 3 months - we are 9 months into the 2 year fix

We are also planning two family holidays which we need to save up for but the long term plan is to focus on overpaying and reducing the mortgage term. We still have some money to return to the mortgage which we took out for an extension which did not go ahead (can give back 10% a year, so its currently sitting in premier bonds). Once all the money have been returned and the 2 year fix has ended we will rethink the mortgage term as well.

I want to go back to being completely frugal as we were when we were hammering down the debts, and any left over money at the end of the month is to be split between holiday pot and the mortgage pot.

Im currently build up the annual bills/car/emergency pot as well.

What we have so far:
Holiday pot - £2,000
Annual bills/ Car/ Emergency pot - £500
Mortgage money pot - 0

Dont expect this diary to be exciting :rotfl: :rotfl: but if you want to follow my progress and see how I get on feel free and welcome aboard!

DFB35

Right Im going to set myself a few tasks to get me started:

1. Starting from Monday, I will bring my own coffee/ breakfast to work as got into the habit of buying a pastry/ coffee every morning which adds up! Im going shopping tonight (but husbands turn to pay yay :j) so will pick up the cappuccino coffee sachets and maybe cereal bars enough for the week, all from Aldi. Will let you know how that goes next week. It sounds very simple but its part psycological as I really look forward to fresh pastry each morning and it almost motivates me to get out of bed (dramatic i know!) as it feels like a treat.. but I cant justify this cost everyday and what Ive learned from DFW is that every small step counts.

2. I will start decluttering the house again, I quite fancy trying Marie Kondo method but dont want to buy the book, so will make it up as I go along haha.

3. This weekend Im out which has been arranged for ages, a bit nervous about it due to some social anxiety and also dont want to spend lots. But I am going and will try to enjoy, I dont have a budget as such but the less I spend the better obviously...

4. After my night out, i will see how much I have left in my account and will make a budget for the rest of the month!

5. Starting next month I really need to sort out my travelcard, as currently paying daily with contactless.

Speak soon :money:

themadvix

It sounds like you've got a great plan there DFB, and it's good to have the holidays in there too - remember it's a marathon not a sprint! (If you really really miss the pastries, maybe you could allow yourself one once a month? You need to build some treats in otherwise you'll become disillusioned.)

Good luck!

Thisgirlcan_2

Hi!
I'd definitely have a pastry in there every now and then - whilst being frugal is good sometimes you don't want it to be completely joyless.

I'd highly recommend the KM method of decluttering, as such. You will make extra pennies selling things you find don't actually bring you joy! Can you get the book from the library?

Our mortgage is a similar amount to yours so I'm looking forward to following your journey

DFB35

I have visitors wooohoo :j :j and hello

I just re read my post and realised how pathetic and sad I sounded about the pastries..... But it's the little things... Basically it's part of a bigger problem/ issues with depression and anxiety, which my work is a huge part of. I'm slowly working through it all and it was another reason why I wanted to re start a diary! To try and keep myself positive and motivated. There is no solution but to continue in my current role for as long as I can, as for various reasons I won't be able to get another job with the same pay and benefits, so to make myself better I got into habits of treating myself. It used to be a 3pm chocolate/ drink from the shop to escape work for 5 mins and now is the fresh pastries ... BUT

I am taking control, and it's better for my weight too! I read somewhere that you shouldn't "treat" yourself with food like you are a dog. It sounds horrible, I know, i can't actually remember where I read this?! Might have been a dieting book.

Anyway I stopped the 3pm snacks ages ago, and have lost a lot of weight as well, which has crept up on me overtime. It was all part of the same journey, getting rid of debt and the extra weight, I have been doing calorie counting through my fitness pal since last November and have lost over 2 stone :T and I'm still recording to maintain it basically

Enough rambling..

Small achievements this evening - I have said no to a takeaway = money saved and better for weight. And I have got the coffee and cereal bars for my breakfast next week all in all for less than what it usually costs me for one day!

I'm feeling very positive at the moment :A

Kittenkirst

Good on you for harnessing that positivity!

I also resisted the siren call of the Chinese takeaway that Ive been fancying. Feels good to have eaten at home instead and I now don't feel so bad that I'm having a homemade dessert as I've got the cals left

Well done on Your weight loss- that's truly fantastic!

Have a lovely weekend DFB35

bexster1975

Hello DFB35 and welcome. :hello:

Very good luck on your journey. I would echo what others have said about treats occasionally. I do agree however with your idea of avoiding using food as a treat.

Could I just say re: the job. I don't know how bad it really is for you, but my previous job made me so ill I ended up with a disability which is still medically treated. I was off sick for almost a year ( although that was mostly awaiting treatment). I should say that this is a physical disability, believed to be brought on by chronic severe stress. I returned for 12 months, then got another job. It actually pays better but that wasn't the plan. More importantly it's a much better job in a much better environment. The only good thing about my previous job is that it motivated me to want to be mortgage free. What I'm trying to say is, if the job is that bad, explore all the options to get out.

Bexster

Miss_D_Meanour

Hi DFB35

Popping in to wish you all the best with your plans and your diary.

I look forward to a hot chocolate every morning. I used to pick one up one the way into work, then I moved to Options. But I never found a breakfast that worked. I've now replaced Options and the mishmash of breakfasts with a chocolate flavoured protein shake (obviously hot water added not cold). Finally chocolate and breakfast all in one cheap, easy to do, still feels like a treat, bundle. So I know you will also find the perfect alternative to your morning pastries.

Definitely try the KonMarie method. I watched quite a few people on YouTube tracking their progress through the method and their homes before I gave it a shot. I love the concept of deciding on what to keep based on what makes you happy. I opted for reading the second book Spark Joy, mainly because it had simple diagrams and I often need to see something before it makes sense. There is also a KonMarie uk Facebook group and a KonMarie thread on MSE as well. So lots of support available close to hand.

Major congratulations on the weight loss to date. WOW! Sometimes it is easy to forget how much we've already achieved and I wanted to say you have already achieved so much.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how things go for you.

Take care
MissDM

DFB35

Hi everyone, thank you for popping in and reading my diary

I'm up early after my night out, quite shaken and angry after reading the news now obviously I was only out locally yesterday so didn't even realise what was going on in London.

But it was nice catching up, and I really enjoyed myself. Also didn't have any anxiety at all and was able to join in conversations and felt heard etc.. Which is very positive.

On the money front I spent 10 on taxi, 25 at the meal and another 20 on cocktails so quite an expensive night really...

So the remaining money for the month is now 879, out of this I need to pay for travel (I pay daily by contactless, stopped getting an annual season ticket from work as hedging my bets in case work really gets to me and I have to quit). In some ways I like paying as I go as when I work from home/ holidays etc I don't have to pay. But it is more expensive than a monthly travel card so I need to re think that the only thing I cannot find my old oyster!!

So travel for the rest of the month - £8.60 a day = £163.40 woah so yeah def more expensive! As the monthly travel card is 158.30! Right I need to stop making excuses and find that blimming oyster (otherwise 5 for new one)

I also need to do two family shops, say 70 each and maybe couple of top ups, so let's say 160 approx.

Then I have a car payment of 166 and I have a credit card with 300 on it so will need to pay toward that. I haven't decided how much yet, tempted to just clear it and then start afresh next month!

Total is 790 if I clear the card or 490 of essential outgoings and then whatever I decide to pay towards the card. This leaves me between 89 and 389.... Ok just decided to halve the card.

Summary
879
- 164 travel (or cheaper once I sort oyster)
- 160 food (might be cheaper this is max allowed)
-166 car payment (those who followed my dfw journey will be :eek: but yeah we just paid off family car and I took another car, the reasoning behind is that once we pay this car off we will be sorted on the car front for 10 years plus hopefully. And my daughter will be driving soon so we did need a second car).
-150 to half the credit card bill (another oops as took the eye of the ball, but I will clear this in no time and will be back on track)

Leaving 239 - half will go to holiday savings and half to the new mortgage overpayment pot.

We also won 50 on premium bonds so I will put that in emergency pot.

Now I have a plan, let's see how my budget really plans out over the month!

DFB35

Miss_D_Meanour wrote: »

Hi DFB35

Popping in to wish you all the best with your plans and your diary.

I look forward to a hot chocolate every morning. I used to pick one up one the way into work, then I moved to Options. But I never found a breakfast that worked. I've now replaced Options and the mishmash of breakfasts with a chocolate flavoured protein shake (obviously hot water added not cold). Finally chocolate and breakfast all in one cheap, easy to do, still feels like a treat, bundle. So I know you will also find the perfect alternative to your morning pastries.

Definitely try the KonMarie method. I watched quite a few people on YouTube tracking their progress through the method and their homes before I gave it a shot. I love the concept of deciding on what to keep based on what makes you happy. I opted for reading the second book Spark Joy, mainly because it had simple diagrams and I often need to see something before it makes sense. There is also a KonMarie uk Facebook group and a KonMarie thread on MSE as well. So lots of support available close to hand.

Major congratulations on the weight loss to date. WOW! Sometimes it is easy to forget how much we've already achieved and I wanted to say you have already achieved so much.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how things go for you.

Take care
MissDM

Thank you for your message Miss DM, I will check out YouTube and Facebook and start decluterring! I also love the idea of sparking joy!

DFB35

bexster1975 wrote: »

Hello DFB35 and welcome. :hello:

Very good luck on your journey. I would echo what others have said about treats occasionally. I do agree however with your idea of avoiding using food as a treat.

Could I just say re: the job. I don't know how bad it really is for you, but my previous job made me so ill I ended up with a disability which is still medically treated. I was off sick for almost a year ( although that was mostly awaiting treatment). I should say that this is a physical disability, believed to be brought on by chronic severe stress. I returned for 12 months, then got another job. It actually pays better but that wasn't the plan. More importantly it's a much better job in a much better environment. The only good thing about my previous job is that it motivated me to want to be mortgage free. What I'm trying to say is, if the job is that bad, explore all the options to get out.

Bexster

Thank you for your message Bexster, sorry to hear your job made you ill! But so good you found another and even better one, this gives me hope!

One reason why I think my current job is the top for me is whenever I job search, which is quite often, jobs with my skill, seem to be paying a lot less! And I know a few people who left they did have to take a significant pay cut.

It sounds really crazy, but I got very lucky as due to length of service really moved up the pay scale but unfortunately don't have qualifications etc. And I have fantastic pension package, which the company actually regretting as every time someone changes their hours etc they get a new contract with much less % contributions (as all new people get about half what the longer serving staff do!). And they not replacing people that leave.. I recon they want us gone to then hire graduates on lower pay/ fewer benefits.

I'm trying to hold on for as long as I can (actually hoping for redundancy which be great for me due to the length of service), but if things get much worse and I just can't cope, I will have to rethink and just take the massive pay cut.... Health is much more important you are right!