Up for a laugh? A 23 year old's guide on how (not) to be mortgage free

themadvix

It's a great feeling, isn't it? Well done! Now you've truly got the bug!

Kittenkirst

Blibble wrote: »

Quick progress check; latest monthly payment has taken us down under £126k, and with £200 or so OP just made as well we're nigh-on £125.5k this month. OP made up of most of SLC money, bank account reward x2 (as forgot to last month) and £20p/m saving on energy.

First month I've looked at it and felt like we've made a real dent in it :T

Great work Blibble! Such a satisfying feeling seeing the numbers start to drop :beer: keep it up!

Blibble

Spurs us on to want to reduce the numbers further . We've had an expensive week as I had works' night out on Saturday, and we had to buy some flea treatment for the cat which seemed terribly costly for what it was! We've also picked up a IKEA shoe-cabinet, as the previous rack we had from B&M was more of a shoe-slide in the end.

Good news is we're under budget for food and petrol so far this month, so hopefully there'll be a few bob to put towards OPs at the end of the month too.

themadvix

Have you checked out prices for flea treatment online? Depending on what it is, it can be much cheaper! Fetch.co.uk usually has good prices if it's Frontline, or if you need a prescription it can still often be worth it - in a *big* way! One my cats has flea tablets (he is like a devil possessed if he hears the click of the top of the spot on pot) and we managed to get them for about half the price online even with a prescription charge from the vet.

themadvix

(And don't forget TCB/£co when buying online!)

Blibble

Oh my word, that's ridiculously cheap! :eek::eek: We paid £61 for Broadline (6 months worth) last week, and it's literally half the price for Frontline on there!

OH has pointed out that local vet has said Frontline is less effective - apparently, fleas are building up an immunity to it, cheeky sods. May be doing some research on that one; worth it for £60p/a saving. Thanks themadvix :j

Blibble

Just started reading through your diary themadvix before leaving for work - are you still using Financial Bliss' spreadsheet? I've found their posts & can re-create the sheet fairly simply when I get home, just wondering if you've made any changes or improvements to it since 2012 (blimey you've been at it a while, kudos!).

themadvix

Wow, Broadline sounds expensive, although we were paying £10/tablet for the fussy cat (Comfortis). I know some people have had trouble with Frontline but our cats are largely indoors - we let them have a run around before meal times, but it's not safe where we are for them to be out much longer - so flea issues are less of a problem. Might be worth looking for Broadline with a prescription from the vets. I've used Pet Drugs Online and Viovet in the past - I'm sure there's others too. It makes a *huge* difference to vet prices! I was a bit nervous about asking for the prescription at the vets, but actually the receptionists were fine about it and completely understood!

Not using FB's spreadsheet any more - I think we lost it during the 'hiatus' (You'll get to that if you keep reading, but honestly, you're not missing much if you don't!). I'm happy to send you what we use now via email if you PM me your address. It was one we downloaded and it definitely has more bells and whistles!

We have been at it a while, but considering we've had two trips to the Maldives, one to Guadeloupe and plenty of other living in the meantime, we've managed to knock quite a bit off the mortgage (not as much as some people, but then we're all different in what we have coming in/what we want from life). It's amazing how focusing on where you spend your money makes such a difference to quality of life overall! Keep at it - you're only just beginning to see the benefits, but they just keep coming (and it gets a bit addictive too!)

Blibble

PM'ed you themadvix!:). Only on page 5 of the diary as have only had a chance to read for a little while after dropping OH off at work this week & before I set off, so will properly catch up this weekend. I'm in 2016 though *tabs over to check* so have made some progress with it!

This week at work's been a breeze - can confirm I've never had a chance to say that before this year. Since the new position though, my role is much more behind-the-scenes, and had some good news today that we've won our pilot contract with one of our clients. Hopefully not a niche team for (too) much longer!

Have a trip to our head office tomorrow on a training day, so working through the pre-work for that now with a very hefty glass of wine. Feel a bit like the "I don't know what I'm doing meme" with the dog, but there we are. Slightly short on money this month, but there's nothing else pricy planned until pay-day with the exception of OH's little brother's birthday, but have more than enough budgeted for whatever the latest xbox game is this month .

themadvix

Glad work is going well

Did you get my email?