A Country Cabin

IAAM

Hello Noblet and fudgecat. Thanks for the tips and the lovely welcome :-)


I discovered I've got a tea and cake voucher from John Lewis downloaded to my phone so that's a bit of a saving this week. Although I love their carrot cake, I could actually have one of their gorgeous cheese scones as a lunch instead (especially if I take an apple and some nuts/raisins with me). If you haven't seen the scones, they're absolutely huge and gorgeously cheesy and wash down very well with a cup of breakfast tea. Yum!


I am still filled with excitement at my new regime and, as it's pay day this week, it makes it really easy to start my MF plan. However, it did occur to me that this enthusiasm might be short lived, once the reality of having to think twice about spending money kicks in. So, I realised I need some motivation lined up, and to know what my ultimate goal is:-


Motivation to keep going - I'm going to print off an inspiring picture and put it next to my credit cards in my purse. Some credit card companies used to let you personalise your credit cards with a picture but I suspect my credit card companies - Capital One and John Lewis - don't do that :-(


Ultimate dream - when I'm mortgage free, I would love to rent out my house and go travelling.


Action I'll take today - find a picture which reminds me to rein in my spending, and reminds me of my ultimate dream.


I'd love to know how you keep yourself motivated to keep going with your mortgage-free journey, and what is your ultimate dream once you're mortgage free?

IAAM

So, I've found an inspirational photo and it's now in my purse, next to my credit cards.


I've also been given some extra tea & cake vouchers for John Lewis by my lovely sister (who's just about to go on holiday and will then be going on a new health regime).


I've also been given some great new lunch ideas by the lovely people on the Old Style Board (thanks again Newgirly) and I think I can achieve my goal of reducing the cost of my lunches out. It's funny how things turn out as I told a friend that I was on this new mission and she said she is thinking along the same lines. I guess that, sometimes, we assume that we might be the only ones who have a big mortgage or want to/need to reduce our spending but more people seem to be thinking along the same lines - and not always the people you would expect.

IAAM

As you know, I've started out as keen as mustard but I hit my first obstacle a little earlier than anticipated!


I pay for 99% of things with my credit cards so that I can earn cashback or John Lewis vouchers. However, when I was buying things over the last day or two, it has actually made it a bit of a chore trying to keep track of my spend and how this compares with the budget I've set.


So, I've taken the plunge and do what some of you already do. I have little envelopes for each type of expenditure (petrol, garden, parking, birthdays etc) and I've put the budget in each envelope (minus the money I've spent on that item in the last day or 2). Already it feels far easier to keep track of and control.


I did think about the money/vouchers I will lose by paying for things in cash rather than card but, in reality, it's not that much. My total budget for the "smaller" things is less than £300pm which would only have generated £1.50 in cashback.


The plan now seems back on track, although there's still another 4 weeks until payday......

IAAM

Hi

I mentioned using little envelopes to put my separate budgets in, to keep track.

It has to be said that the envelopes are very dull and, worse still, the ones that were the perfect size are actually wage slip envelopes! Hardly the most inspiring thing to help me save money.

So, I've expanded the idea of inspirational photos and have found a few more pictures, as well as some inspirational sayings. which I've glued each one onto the brown envelopes.

It was quite fun finding the right photos, and the right inspirational sayings but I can easily change them to keep me on my toes and serve as a reminder of what I want.

Happy MF journeys everyone :-)

newgirly

Glad it's all going well, even better if friends don't mind cutting costs with you too :T

I used to use cash envelopes but have more or less given up it due to how much is bought online here, I used to quite enjoy it though. My mum even bought me a petty cash tin last Xmas so I can organise change, one day I shall buy myself a 1950's wooden shop till with a bell to properly store my cash :rotfl:

julicorn

Hi IAAM, and a slightly belated welcome and happy New diary!

I use that sort of envelope system, but with an app called YNAB. It treats credit cards pretty well, because whenever you spend on your credit card, it removes that money from the 'envelope' you had allocated it to (e.g. clothing) and puts it into essentially a 'credit card' envelope, so it's ready and waiting by the time you have to pay off the card. Just mentioning it just in case you want to go back to using cards (but then I'm not a cash person).

IAAM

Thanks very much newgirly and julicorn.


Newgirly - it will be interesting to see whether I have any success with my envelopes as, like you say, a lot of stuff is done online these days. I like the idea of the envelopes and the fact that I have to open them up and bypass the inspirational photos / sayings that I've got on the outside to access my money. So ar, that's made me think twice about what I'm buying.


Julicorn - thanks for the info about the YNAB app. That could prove extremely helpful if the cash method doesn't work out for me.


One thing that has occurred to me this week is how does everyone manage those around them? I'm guessing that most people understand what you're trying to achieve, but there will be others who don't. Have you any tips or experience?

newgirly

It depends who it is really! Some people would totally understand and are happy to pop round for lunch instead of popping in a coffee shop for example, I didn't used to go into details with anyone really about cutting back to overpay. I think a lot of people may not really "get" why you can't afford to do xyz but you can afford to overpay your mortgage - it's an unusual priority for most

Personally if I really don't want to do something, I'll say either it's not really my cup of tea (years of practice has made this easier!) or else "I'm having a tight month due to xyz, I wish I could come but sorry I can't".

In general though I would say most people don't really understand why you are bothering to op.......

IAAM

Hi newgirly. That's what I suspected.


I guess a lot of people nowadays would say that they live for today but, personally, I think it's actually that they don't think about how much money they're spending. Some of these people will also say you're "lucky" when you manage to pay off your mortgage early; they won't have acknowledged that it took a lot of saving, self-discipline and creativity.


For a few years I've avoided group functions unless I could choose the meal and pay in advance. I've been bitten way too many times on this one - the worst time being a £10 pizza which ended up costing me £21!


I'm hoping that, by taking this new route, it will make me have a renewed approach to spending, and to really appreciate the things in life that should be treats.

IAAM

Ok, the title is probably a little over-generous!

The money saving is going pretty well. If nothing else, it's made me stop and think of:
a) what I'm spending my money on (and the existence of a budget gives me a chance to think of how much I actually want something, or whether I'm getting a bargain)
b) why I want to be MF. (I thought this was just so that I had more disposable income but, going though the task of looking for inspirational photos, I realised I'd actually quite like to rent the house out and travel some day).

Today, I managed to increase my "income". I used topcashback to compare car insurance quotes (£2.08 income), and I signed up for a free Graze box (£2 + a free Graze box :-))

I also received my John Lewis voucher so I'll be able to use that for my plants, and put th money I've saved into my MF savings

How about you? Any savings you've made today that you're happy about, or any income you've managed to achieve?