And so it begins: The Pig Vs The Mortgage

EatingTheElephant

It was wonderful thank you PP

pinkypig

Today is my month end and therefore my year end. Even though last January I wasn't officially on my MF journey, I had it in my sights as I ploughed through other stuff that would put me on the road to independence. It was a difficult and upsetting time and not one I'd like to repeat but what a difference a year makes. I'm not certain I thrived but I certainly survived:)
I don't do resolutions but I do like goals and one of last years was to get a true picture of my running costs so on January 1st 2017 I began my spending diary. I've kept it up to date (sometimes a bit retrospectively:o) so here goes!

Grocery, toiletries, cleaning and pet food - £1,915.55 so an average of £36.83 per week. On the whole I'm really pleased with this but looking at my ever bulging freezer and cupboards I know I can squeeze it further if I try. Also £199 was on wine:eek:

2018 target £32 average per week. If I succeed that will be £251 I could os

Fuel £826.30 so an average of £15.89 per week. Changing to a super economical car was the best decision I ever made

I can't control fuel prices so my 2018 goal is to lift share at least three times a week to try an minimise my commute costs.

Personal spends £638.49 so an average of £12.27 a week. Delighted with this:). Will continue to entertain at home, take packed lunches and picnics and only buy second hand wherever possible. I've found some lovely, top quality clothes. When I think of the money I've frittered away on clothes in the past I feel sick :eek:

2018 goal - £50 per month for non essential wants and the odd essential need

Holidays - £1,569.86. This included a holiday with ds to the big city, a week and a bit in the sun and a couple of weekends away. It's a bit of an extravagance but I do love to travel and I always try to root out the best deals and watch the pennies whilst I'm away.

2018 goal £1000. This should be doable as both the kids are holidaying independently this year Looking on the brightside I can please myself and save some money:rotfl:


Car costs £302.05. This includes insurance and breakdown. Road tax was nil but it won't be under the new rules:(. I haven't included depreciation as its just too depressing!

2018 target £500. This should cover road tax and a bit more maintenance as it gets older.

House and garden. £359.11. This included coal, wood,chimney sweep, insurance and bits and pieces of diy.

2018 target £300

Gifts. £575.40. This included Christmas but its way too high. Both kids will be working next year and I've got to cut down on the little extras that creep up by stealth as they have way to much stuff. I'm going to start giving them a fixed amount for their main presents and limit the number of 'little things to open'. I need to accept they have more disposable income than me and so do they! This category was the biggest shock:(

Target for 2018 £375


In addition I had £1400 in legal fees which were a one off. The BTL had £2007 of annual costs which I can't really control other than to shop round and use tcb etc which I will continue to do.

Much food for thought:). My next goal is to work out how I'm going to achieve my goals and how I can translate this into os/pension boost goals. I may be a while ...:eek:

PP xx

pinkypig

The leftovers are gone:j. Well some are lurking in the freezer but they've been dealt with. Considering I only did a meal Christmas eve and desserts on Christmas day there seemed to be a lot.
The remaining duck got eaten in wraps for lunch and duck fried rice for dinner. The carcass, lo veg and gravy were used for soup and the duck liver pate was split in two and is in the freezer. Nice easy lunches for when we are back at work and school:D
Yesterday I just pottered. I put mine and ds's money in the bank, he's spending half and saving half and I'm still not sure about mine so I'll pop it in the os pot until I've decided - it'll save me 11p mortgage interest a month while I'm thinking about it:rotfl:

Yesterday's successes included:

9 champagne flutes and 4 DVD box sets for £2.50 when I dropped a bag of ds's clothes at the charity warehouse. They are having a clear out before the January donation deluge:)

Did a spin class

Made a large batch of dhansak sauce in sc and portioned up for the freezer.

Raked up leaves for hopefully the last time

Ate normal, healthy meals at the right time of day

Fails included not drinking enough water - must try and make this a habit but its not coming easily!


Today is pay day so although I can't do my month totals until the mortgage updates on the 1st I can finalise my expenses.

Grocery. £173.31/£175. Really pleased with this as it included two bottles of foundation while they were on offer and a £20 stock up of razor heads. They are usually £10 a pack but they had loads of them down to £2.50 in Asda so I got 8 packs which will last me years:D

Personal £56.95/£50. Not bad for December, once upon a time you probably could have added a zero on to that:o. It was mainly used for pre Christmas catch ups but I did treat myself to a bargainous new to me long down coat for winter playground duty and Aldi had reduced dressing gowns to £5 and slippers to £2 so I replaced mine as they were quite well worn (read tatty:eek:)My new ones are lovely:D

Fuel. £55.40/£130 - you've got to love lift sharing and holidays


There were also £78.84 of annual spends which included some Christmas gifts, a prescription, a hair cut and a kindling stock up for the wood burner whilst they have it in Aldi.

I'm unsure about gas and a electric as my smart meter reader doesn't work with my new supplier so I'm back to monthly readings until they fit a universal smart meter. They have raised my dd from £58 to £72 but the heating is on at the moment so I'm hoping that will come back to about £60 e eventually.

Next steps are long term plans for 2018 and targets for Jan. I know where I want to be in a year, I just need to work out how to get there

PP xx

pinkypig

Another day of normality, a few chores and regular meals at regular times (well almost, breakfast was a bit late:o).

Nothing much to report money wise other than I've paid the December cc bill and transferred what was left in my current account to the os account so financially I'm done for December and ready for January. Just waiting for my mortgage totals which I'm hoping will bring me a squeak under £95k which would put me a month ahead of target. Trotters are crossed:D

I've had some spends today but good ones. I needed an anniversary present and got a lovely metal planter full of exotic plants reduced from £12 to £3. I also cleaned up on 5p blueberries which are in the freezer and grapes which get eaten very quickly here. There was also 5p cream so I've made two big tubs of butter but best of all was loads of extra special carvery meats down to 10p. I got beef, turkey and chicken and because they are thick sliced I thought they'd do for a sort of mock roast dinner on busy week day nights. Less interesting was 4 light bulbs as the kitchen has had a spotlight out for weeks. Seems dazzling in there now when you put the light on!

Three loads of washing are done so there is wet washing everywhere. It does however include a coat, four tops and two pair of jeans I liberated for myself from the bag of stuff DD had sorted out for the cs:)

Other than that its been a nice, lazy day but I did finish off with a killer spin class - I felt quite wobbly legged coming across the carpark. Rest day tomorrow thank goodness.

Still pondering the way forward in 2018 with the ever present mortgage repayment v extra pension contributions. It makes my head spin:eek:

Hope everyone is having a super duper end to the year.

PPxx

wishingthemortgaheaway

PP you are AMAZING you are the ultimate 'live a good life on a budget' poster piggy. I'm so impressed and you clean up on the bargains. I'm never that fortunate.

Sounds like a fabulous Christmas all round. Is DS in debt to you or to someone/something else? (I hope you are charging interest??)

Have a fabulous new year & 2018
Wish.

Downshifterella

Well done on those bargains!! And getting the leftover sorted ...we are still finishing the last of the turkey ..with another lot in the freezer!!
Yay on sub 95k!! Such a good feeling! :beer:

pinkypig

wishingthemortgaheaway wrote: »

PP you are AMAZING you are the ultimate 'live a good life on a budget' poster piggy. I'm so impressed and you clean up on the bargains. I'm never that fortunate.

Sounds like a fabulous Christmas all round. Is DS in debt to you or to someone/something else? (I hope you are charging interest??)

Have a fabulous new year & 2018
Wish.

Awww what a nice thing to say:).

He was in debt to me for his Christmas shopping. Its all paid back now - the garden looks great:rotfl:

All the best to you and yours, looking forward to watching your plans unfold xx

pinkypig

Downshifterella wrote: »

Well done on those bargains!! And getting the leftover sorted ...we are still finishing the last of the turkey ..with another lot in the freezer!!
Yay on sub 95k!! Such a good feeling! :beer:

Good to see you back Ella:). Hope 2018 is everything you want to be xx

pinkypig

Just a quickie as we are off for a nice long walk and a chat about summer holiday plans:)

Today's aims will be:

Walk
Relax
Read
Eat out the fridge and freezer (in other words no effort)
Wine and a box set.

Is it obvious the kids are visiting dad?:rotfl:

PP xx

wishingthemortgaheaway

A question... how are you so awesome at the reduced food shop? I was in the supermarket yesterday. There were masses of ys but they were all rubbish, 10p/20p or a max of 50p off. I was very money saving and didn't buy any.