My MFW Diary

DippyHippy86

Kittenkirst wrote: »

I always remember after I've completed my diy jobs but remember that YouTube is fab for how to with all things DIY

Thanks Kittenkirst

We will definitely be checking YouTube out too for the smaller jobs x

tori.k

Good luck with your goal, we are in the same boat ourselves and slowly getting there, finding it get somewhat frustrating how the smaller jobs end up costing a lot more than you really want to spend but such is life.

DippyHippy86

UPDATE - 11.12.2018

Wow time is just flying by at the moment! 3 months already :eek:

It has been a rather busy month so far - even though we are only on the 11th! Lol!

We had our Xmas Party on 8th which was so much fun :-)

I spent £50 on getting my hair & makeup done (not money saving I know) & felt amazing!

First party we have been to in over 2 years, as we have been so busy saving up.

It was nice to let the hair down, although my head & feet weren't thanking me in the morning :rotfl:

Open bar so free drinks all night so that made up for my splurge - my excuse anyway

9 Year Wedding Anniversary tomorrow but instead of getting presents, we are just having a quiet meal in with some Asti & a Xmas film.

We are out on Sunday for a friends catch up before Xmas, which will be lovely.

We have decided to do this every year now going forward as it just makes more sense than buying bath sets, chocolates etc for each other. We prefer quality time these days over presents. Family are also on board for this next year too.

HOUSE

We are going to be getting our roof sorted on 26th December ( I know we like to keep ourselves busy! Lol!).

We have a bit of rot on the wooden overhang, moss on tiles & a cracked tile.

Our original quote for all work to be done was £1050 but I have managed to get it done for £700 - saving £350 - WIN!

This includes all cleaning, wash downs, window & frame clean, moss removal & treatment & replacement tile, wood removal, replacement & treatment, with 10 year guarantee.

I am hoping by having the tile fixed, this might prevent any further wasp issues - fingers crossed.

FOOD

Food budget is still set at £300 per month & is currently being met without going over.

Thankfully we saved via Park for our Xmas gifts & food this year, which has helped us out tremendously. We would normally spend over £100 just for Xmas Day alone :eek:

It's nice to know it has already been paid for without stressing about a budget at the beginning of December.

BILLS

We are definitely overpaying for gas & electric. Just under £45 used in November & we are paying £70 at present. We will be waiting until after March to allow for snow, ice etc over the next couple of months, but this could be reduced to £50 easily.

We have started again with the water as we finally found our meter last month :rotfl:

This meant we didn't have to pay last bill as we were in credit & we are hoping same again this month too.

My hubby keeps on having showers after gym which makes sense.

I don't know whether he is actually being a tight wad or if he is a genius! Lol!

Either way, it is a good idea. He does make me chuckle!

MONEY SAVING

I have saved £350 on roof quote as mentioned above.

I have also started referrals via Nationwide Recommend a Friend Scheme, which will help us towards mortgage overpayments. 3 out of 5 so far have been used, so I am hoping I can continue this throughout the first 5 year fix (this would be an additional £2500 which isn't bad).

January we will be having a clear out of all clothes, products etc we don't wear/use anymore & any extra will be going towards overpayments too.

Currently overpayment obsessed! :rotfl:

If I don't post before Xmas, I hope you all have a good one!

Em xx

FIREdoc

Wow, sounds like you are so organised, super inspiring! Hope the wasps ave all moved on now!

DippyHippy86

Thanks FIREdoc :-)

Yes the little buggars have moved on now, thank god! Lol! x

DippyHippy86

UPDATE - 13.03.2019

Hi everyone!

It has been a while since I have posted an update :-)

6 months have passed already which is insane!

We have nearly reduced term by 1 year already, which is good progress, & equity is currently £2k.

Original redemption date - Aug 2043

New redemption date (on 1st Apr) - Sep 2042

HOUSE

We had ongoing issues with our roofer who hasn't been back to fix our wood rot, only cleaned the roof & replaced tile. He kept ignoring my texts & phone calls so knew something wasn't right...

Got in touch with another company & they have been brilliant.

Apparently when the first company have been in, they have make the tiles slip & some of the motar was coming out of the fittings :-(

The have stripped the wood protection off the timber around the house & also broken another tile as they shouldn't have been using a power washer on the roof.

To say I was mad would be an understatement - lesson learned.

The new roofer quoted £350 to sort out tiles, pointing, wood rot etc.

I have asked him if it would be better for us to have UPVC to protect the wood & he informed us it might be a good idea - £3500 for all cladding, new gutters, facias & sofits in Rosewood.

We are also having a new gate put in in May as (like my husband has mentioned) anyone in the area can pop into our garden to have party at the moment! Lol!

We are quite open at present so would be a good idea for security.

We have decided to take out a loan to cover these costs, which will be paid off by next May.

Not ideal, but manageable at least.

Sometimes you need to bite the bullet in order to have piece of mind, but this will be the only loan for the first 5 years.

Bathroom is currently on hold as I don't think we will be having any more wasp issues now the roof has been sorted.

FOOD

Budget is still at £50 a month but seems to be creeping up slightly...

I think it is the "odd" shops here & there for bars or drinks etc.

I am going to have to keep a closer eye on it to see where these trickles are coming from.

I have seen that cooking from scratch/batch cooking seems to be popular in forums so I will be giving that a bash & seeing if we can save money there :-)


BILLS

Gas & electric have been reduced again to £50 total per month, which we are still under, so I am happy with that.

I have been thinking about changing current account as we pay £13 a month for mobile cover, travel insurance & break down cover package, but we don't really use the cover.

The trouble is all of our direct debits, mortgage, savings etc are linked to the account so I am a bit reluctant to at the moment.

It isn't a large amount per month to be honest, but seems a bit of a waste of our money which can be put towards mortgage??

I will have to have a think on this...


MONEY SAVING

No comment! Lol!

New Nationwide links will be refreshed in April, so hoping to get more referrals - fingers crossed

I am open to any more money saving ideas :-)

I think that it all for the moment!

I hope everyone is doing well in their MFW journey!

Em xx

twinklie

DippyHippy86 wrote: »

HOUSE

We had ongoing issues with our roofer who hasn't been back to fix our wood rot, only cleaned the roof & replaced tile. He kept ignoring my texts & phone calls so knew something wasn't right...

Got in touch with another company & they have been brilliant.

Apparently when the first company have been in, they have make the tiles slip & some of the motar was coming out of the fittings :-(

The have stripped the wood protection off the timber around the house & also broken another tile as they shouldn't have been using a power washer on the roof.

To say I was mad would be an understatement - lesson learned.

This is a big fear of mine. Our roof has been damaged in the recent storms and some of the roof tiles have been broken. Clearly it's something we need to get sorted but nobody has a roofer that they recommend.


We've had previous issues with roofers, whom, took our roof off and then went on holiday for 2 weeks (in our previous house), then just left such a mess and weren't easily contactable. It was really stressful at the time given it was the end of autumn/start of winter at the time.

DippyHippy86 wrote: »

BILLS

Gas & electric have been reduced again to £50 total per month, which we are still under, so I am happy with that.

I have been thinking about changing current account as we pay £13 a month for mobile cover, travel insurance & break down cover package, but we don't really use the cover.

The trouble is all of our direct debits, mortgage, savings etc are linked to the account so I am a bit reluctant to at the moment.

It isn't a large amount per month to be honest, but seems a bit of a waste of our money which can be put towards mortgage??

I will have to have a think on this...

Banks sort all the transfer of your DD's these days so in theory it should be a straightforward and painless process.

DippyHippy86

UPDATE 07.06.2019

Hi everyone!

Not too far off our first year already!

It is true what they say about your first year being the hardest, but we have nearly made it!

We haven't had too many dramas & at least everything we have faced has been manageable.

We still have the loan to pay off but taken a big chunk out of it already - £3942 left approx.

Once this has been paid off we will certainly be happier.

We have also shaved just over a year off mortgage term now too, so although we have been busting away, it has been worth our efforts to see it going down - another step closer to being mortgage free & all that :-)

Original redemption date - Aug 2043

New redemption date (on 1st Apr) - Sep 2042

New redemption date (on 1st July) - June 2042


HOUSE

New gate has now been fitted & it makes such a huge difference!

It is nice to feel secure at night now, plus letting our dog out the back at night has been pleasant (rather than having to put his lead on to take him down path in pouring down rain & gale force winds! Lol!) - this will definitely come in handy over winter.

FOOD

We are still spending too much on food so I need to start properly planning meals for week & crack on with batch cooking.

Hubby has really gotten into making soups recently & these are cheap & can get 2-3 meals each out of them.

I think this is the way forward for us.

Again, seems to be munchies & snacks we seem to struggle with - need to curb the sweet tooth!


BILLS

I have reduced my mobile bill from £10.98 to £6 as I got an offer with Sky for being a TV customer.
Unlimited calls, texts & data rollover - miles better than my current deal so I am happy with that!

Hubby finished his contract too & is now paying £12 on sim only deal so mobiles have gone from £28 to £18 - saving £10


MONEY SAVING

Nothing really to report this time :-)

That's all from me for now!


Em xx