MFi3: Mortgage-free by Christmas 2010 - diary of a MFW Martian

Move_To_Portugal

Good luck Marvin!

OH and I have a joint account for all the bills and our own accounts also. We don't even think of the joint account as money. We each put a fixed amount in every month and then everything runs like clockwork. We never argue about money either. It also helps that we both have the same goal and are totally comitted to it.

mtp

[Deleted User]

We have decided to take a slightly different tack after reviewing our payments and a few mini cash ISA offerings.

I've applied for a YBS instant access e-ISA (6.05% AER) this morning, and I'm planning to take some of the money that was going to go towards overpayments (4.95% APR until 30/1/2008, X.XX% APR subsequently) and put it into that instead. Whether we continue to pay into the e-ISA after 30/1/2008 will depend on what products are available from that date, but even if it's only for three and a half months, that's better than not doing it at all

We've also started planning our food budget in a slightly more disciplined manner (usual fortnightly spend around £70-80, last two weeks' spend under £50), and not going to the pub in the week quite so much!

setmefree2

Hi,

When I first came on MSE it cost me a fortune. I cut back on food & booze so much that I had to buy a whole new wardrobe of clothes as I went down 2 dress sizes:rotfl:Good Luck , glad to hear you are still doing well in the battle to get rid of da debt.

[Deleted User]

setmefree2 wrote: »

Hi,

When I first came on MSE it cost me a fortune. I cut back on food & booze so much that I had to buy a whole new wardrobe of clothes as I went down 2 dress sizes:rotfl:Good Luck , glad to hear you are still doing well in the battle to get rid of da debt.

Heh Funnily enough it's not so much the booze as the associated costs of staying out late (take-out, taxi home, transport into town the following morning if I'm feeling a little too rough to walk) that really does the damage to the wallet. So we're trying to keep a lid on that and if we do go out mid-week, cutting back at least to the extent that we can get the bus home and cook.

If we've got it right, we shouldn't be eating any less, just buying more sensibly. I'm currently hashing out a meal plan for the next two weeks in a spreadsheet - oh, happy days

setmefree2

Hi

You can save serious money here, honest. Over the last 5 years we've slashed our food, cleaning, etc spend by £200 - £300 per month. In five years a saving of £12,000 - £18,000. We also stopped eating take away's which at one a week (£30 for 4 of us say) is a saving of about £8k. I can honestly say all these savings have been pain free and the food we eat is gorgeous as we make it from scratch. Our kids think ready meals are horrible and that's got to be a good thing:D

[Deleted User]

Well, we were only on day 2/14 of the new meal plan and we've already fouled it up - but in a good way. We'd managed to come up with a budget of £35 a week (two adults and two cats, which includes absolutely everything including cleaning stuff and other bits and pieces that we buy once in a blue moon, often out of our own individual accounts) that was relatively easy to stick to. The most recent fortnightly shop came in at around £65, so just under the limit. It turns out that the meat we'd budgeted for will stretch rather further than we'd anticipated (read: Mrs Martian picked up a two-kilo pork joint for under £4, and that stretches easily to three meals). So we now have rather more food than we actually needed for the next two weeks. And we've since identified one or two items that we could replace with more sensible alternatives.

I think we're getting the hang of this!

The cats' food budget is something we still have to figure out - if we can get them to kick the Iams habit (we've tried them on other brands and own-brands, and the cats won't have any of it, to the extent that they'll simply ignore their food, and bring home their own "take-away food"), and if we can find some decent material on what constitutes a balanced diet for cats.

Pandora123_2

Marvin_the_Martian wrote: »

The cats' food budget is something we still have to figure out - if we can get them to kick the Iams habit (we've tried them on other brands and own-brands, and the cats won't have any of it, to the extent that they'll simply ignore their food, and bring home their own "take-away food"), and if we can find some decent material on what constitutes a balanced diet for cats.

Try Zooplus for cat food. The organic food we buy for our moggies is less than 1/2 than in the shops. If you go through Quidco, you get another 5% off. We also give them treats every now and then... a tin of pilchards in tomato sauce mixed with fresh breadcrumbs goes down a treat and is cheaper than tinned food.

:A

[Deleted User]

Pandora123 wrote: »

Try Zooplus for cat food. The organic food we buy for our moggies is less than 1/2 than in the shops. If you go through Quidco, you get another 5% off. We also give them treats every now and then... a tin of pilchards in tomato sauce mixed with fresh breadcrumbs goes down a treat and is cheaper than tinned food.

:A

No worries on that score; our cats were weaned off tinned food almost as soon as we adopted them. Unfortunately, they have expensive taste in dry food. Which food is it that you buy?

[Deleted User]

...and it reminded me of one reason why I dislike this time of year. Our archaic heating system only has three settings: 'On', 'Off' and 'Timer'. There's supposed to be a control for switching between hot water/central heating/both but that doesn't appear to be functioning correctly (we either get both, or neither). 'Timer' is one of those ancient rotary dials with plastic pegs that you move around to set the on/off times (and you invariably upset the clock every time you set them). And 'On' means 'full-tilt': no thermostats here!

Which usually means that our winter gas bills come to £40-45 a month for two people, both working, in a three-bedroom house - that is seldom at a comfortable temperature. This is far from optimal, I feel.

So, I need a decent combi (on-demand) boiler, a modern timer, thermostatic valves for nine radiators, and minus one hot water tank. (Heck, I wanted more floor-space in the study anyway, and we never use that airing cupboard.)

Pop goes the weasel...

Anyone know any good, inexpensive plumbers in Bristol who can do a complete makeover?

CHIHUAHUA

Marvin_the_Martian wrote: »

The cats' food budget is something we still have to figure out - if we can get them to kick the Iams habit (we've tried them on other brands and own-brands, and the cats won't have any of it, to the extent that they'll simply ignore their food, and bring home their own "take-away food"), and if we can find some decent material on what constitutes a balanced diet for cats.

Like you i use complete dry food for my 5 cats and will only buy premium food as the cheap stuff is rubbish and not good for them
i usually stock up at Pets at Home every now and then when they have BOGOFs on - the cats are on Proplan at the mo 3 for 2 3kg for 13.99 - so 9kg for 28.00 - the cats are worth it and don't really eat that much anyway
(by the way do a search on Iams and Eukaneuba - put PETA in the search - not such a great company - i would never buy their stuff as don't agree with their research methods.)

good luck with your Xmas 2010 target - i'm on course for October 2010 with same overpayment plan - just need to make sure i can keep my job for the next 3 years!!