Toddling to a mortgage free future

Bargainhunter30

Thanks Savingholmes. We had a cleaner for a while after I had my daughter, which helped. I'm hoping that given time to settle our new lifestyle will offer more opportunities for both myself and my partner to enjoy independent hobbies and lots of time to nurture ourselves. I've just messaged my new boss to say I can only work two days a week and in a couple of weeks my OH will hopefully go down to three days. DS starts preschool in September, so I'm also looking forward to a couple of hours free time Monday to Friday, when DD usually naps. I'm already planning my time - making some new cushion covers, trying new meal ideas, reading or a film. Or maybe some much needed cleaning and DIY :rotfl:

Bargainhunter30

Another expensive few weeks, with guests visiting and then a weeks holiday to meet my new niece. Looking forward to getting into a proper routine in September when DS starts preschool. Hopefully our finances will settle down and after a very busy summer so will normal life.

OH is visiting uni today and will start in a few weeks, luckily he'll only be there two days a week and will keep one of his current jobs working two days, so it won't encroach too much on family time. I was hoping to start a college course in our new area, but the fees online were misleading and it's actually going to be double to advertised cost. It would also be a similar qualification to one I already have, which I needed to do to be able to go on to the next level. I have decided to look online instead to do the next level and hopefully save a year as well as some funds. I'm hoping that by the time my DD starts school I will be fully qualified and just need to gain some work experience.

I started using a budgeting app Money Dashboard after a recommendation on here, but I'm struggling with it a bit. I don't think it's allocating all the payments to the right categories, so I need to have a play around with it. My target by the end of September is to be on top of our finances, knowing what is coming in and going out each month. Our mortgage is due for renewal at the end of September and I'm hoping that our recent move and crazy few months of finances doesnt affect the application too much!

Bargainhunter30

Not having a great MSE month. My mortgage fixed rate finishes at the end of September and with all the changes we've just been through it seems it's going to be hard to get a mortgage. The lenders are questioning our affordability with our now reduced income and we are having to provide lots of evidence that we will receive our income. It’s so frustrating when I know that we will both earn more than I have said we do, with picking up extra hours and my partner will inevitably end up doing two jobs because he just can’t say no to people. I just don’t understand how banks can say we don’t have the affordability when we have managed to pay and overpay the mortgage for five years, yet if we don’t remortgage, we will have to pay an extra £130 a month and incur more than double the interest. How is that more affordable, surely that’s inviting us to get into trouble more...

Anyway rant over!! So I have been scrutinizing our finances this month and I think they’re almost at a normal level, so hopefully when September is over I can post a new SOA.

Had a difficult start to September maintaining a good work/life balance. OH has been working way too much, as well as starting uni and volunteering every Sunday morning, so I have been left looking after the kids (harder work than going out to work!) and working evening shifts, which really disrupts my sleep. I’m super grumpy at the minute and have made the kids grumpy too :rotfl:

I’m hoping from next week everything will calm down and we’ll get into a normal routine. OH finishes one job (although they are understaffed, so I don’t think this will last) and will just be working two days, with two days at uni. I’ll also work two days, but as we’re coming into winter it’s getting quieter and the shifts are getting shorter. My income is also reducing but instead of working more and inspired by Cheery’s fantastic start, I am going to begin Matched Betting. I’ve been trying to look into it for a while, but hopefully now I’ll have some time to properly investigate.

Loving the Money Dashboard app now that I've figured it out! It doesn't always update on my mobile, so I go on the laptop. Love that I can view separate budgets and see what amount/percentage I've spent. I think this will really revolutionise our spending.

Bargainhunter30

So our fixed rate ended at the end of September and I rang to use our savings to pay off £8000. That takes our overpayments this year to just over £15,000. Our emergency fund for the next month or so is dire, but I have some fixed term savings accounts ending in November and a small inheritance coming my way, so I’ll try not to panic too much. I’m hoping the monthly mortgage payment will now not rise too much, as our interest rate is more than doubling :eek:

The remortgage is really starting to get to me now, we got told the mortgage had been approved in principle, so I rang up to make an appointment to get it all confirmed only to be told they need more evidence. :mad: Working for small employers, in a more rural location means that they don’t always follow correct HR procedures and getting any information seems to take ages, if they will even give it. I remember it being a long process last time, which was why I was applying for a 5 year fix this time. Hopefully it will be sorted in the next couple of months. Before any rate increases and so we don’t incur a lot of extra interest charges.

Loving using the MoneyDashboard app and it has really opened my eyes to the areas where we spend and waste money. Our budget for the next year is looking extremely tight, so OH and I have talked about stopping the amount of treats we buy, when popping out for milk. I have just started running again, so the lack of chocolate will do no harm. Managed my first 5k run non stop last week, after doing a couch25k program with the local running club. My aim for now is to go out with them twice a week and get to a 10k race next year.

Life is hopefully settling down a bit for now. OH is getting into uni life, DS is loving preschool and I have started to go to more playgroups and meet more people. We are all loving rural life and living by the sea. We are definitely all fitting in more hobbies and spending quality time together, rather than just working and recovering. Today I’m going on a craft course and leaving OH to take the kids with his family to a free local festival. Hopefully the rain will hold off long enough not to ruin it!

Also starting my Matched Betting career today, wish me luck! :eek:

Bargainhunter30

Well having a lovely lazy Sunday here. OH is away volunteering for a few hours, so we have been down walking the dog on the beach and climbing on a washed up tree. It’s amazing how kids love the simple things and the imagination they use, even when so young still! Then back home we made a lovely chocolate and banana cake using up all the half eaten bananas. Now DD is sleeping, DS is having a bit of screen time and I’m looking at the finances with a cuppa and updating you guys!

It’s actually been a good week, I was a bit worried because I only worked a few short shifts last week, so my wage was down about £50. But.... my Matched Betting career has started with a bang! I only started on Tuesday and profit is currently at nearly £70 and I’m hoping to exceed the £100 mark by the end of week 1 :beer::j I can’t recommend it enough, for anyone that’s ok with figures. I read all the info on here a few times and then saw a recommendation for the Teamprofit website. Anyway they guide you through it, have a fab FB group for help and advice and its completely free. It took a while to do the first couple of offers, but now I’m flying through. Managed to make a mistake though when DD decided not to go to bed one night and just scream, obviously full concentration is required! I can’t wait to see where it leads, there are so many good stories of how well people are doing and randomly all the dogs people are managing to buy with their profit :rotfl:

Bargainhunter30

Another relaxed week here. DS was really tired at the start of the week and acting up at preschool, so we have been taking it easy around the house and missed our new favourite toddler group. He’s improved over the week after lots of bribery and treats for good behaviour!

Matched betting is plodding on nicely and hoping to achieve £200 profit by the end of the weekend. I have a quiet moment now, so I might even start on next weeks welcome offers early.

We have an appointment booked in with the mortgage advisor next week to hopefully get the re-mortgage approved and save us £££'s. Fingers crossed it all goes well and he doesn't need any more information.

Expecting next week to be busier and spendier, as my mum has booked a last minute flight to come and visit. Can’t wait to see her, but I already have a shopping trip and several lunches out planned :eek: Luckily we haven’t spent any of this months budgeted fun money yet :T

Bargainhunter30

Once again I've neglected my diary and several months have flown by. Life has been crazy, looking back over 2019 I can't believe how much has happened and how far we've come. As usual in life there have been many ups and downs, but as a family we're starting 2020 on a high, with lots of positive goals and aims for the next decade.

This year my personal goals are based around self care, self development and quality family time.

Self Care: So far this is going well, I have been back out running regularly for the last couple of weeks and hope to start a yoga dvd. I've also planned a night out with friends, a weekend away with friends and a date night.

Quality Family Time: Again this seems to be going well, probably with OH being off uni and having more time at home. We are planning a weekly family swim, which we started this week and we all enjoyed. I've also been enjoying spending time with the kids, after having a tough time with my mental health towards the end of last year. I know we will start getting out more as the weather improves and I'd like to start doing a monthly craft activity. I have loads of ideas saved online, I just need to make an effort to do this. We've also started to go to more toddler groups, which again we are all enjoying.

Self development: This is based on my personal education, which is not going so well. I have all the books to do a course, but struggling to find time to start with DD now not napping and also not liking to sleep on a night time

I haven't included any financial goals for 2020, as I'm happy with all our existing goals and feel these are going well already. I have been waiting to get an overview of our finances with all the changes we have been through. We have consistently been earning more than goes out, which is good, however our budget changes monthly at present, so it will take a few more months to get a grasp on.

We have had some positive financial news this year, firstly our re-mortgage finally went through yesterday :j This means our interest rates have more than halved, as has our monthly payment :j Our term has increased back to 26 years :eek: and we had to make another OP, but we intend to save the extra from reduced payments and overpay the 10% allowed over the five year fix. In five years this means we will have £25,000 left to pay. Ideally I'd like to have this saved ready to pay off in time for my 40th birthday :beer:

I have also just received an early inheritance after my mum sold our family home. Rather than overpay the mortgage, we have decided to do some much needed home improvements, including new windows, boiler and bathroom (all of which were 25 years old). I'm so happy for all the work to start and am really starting to love the house now and the area. I really can't wait to 2020, I feel like it's a new start and so positive for the future!

Happy new year everyone

Bargainhunter30

I did 2 months Bluenun and made £600, but life has been a bit crazy, so not done anything for a couple of months now. Really need to start again, but motivation is low ��

Bargainhunter30

So in MS news the bathroom replacement has started and the plumber has found a leak in the pipes in the concrete floor. After several hours of drilling and digging, we're hoping it's fixed and will hopefully save us money on heating all the lost hot water :money:

I've also made home made wraps for our fajitas for tea and they've turned out great. So cheap and also environmentally friendly! lol

Bargainhunter30

I'm liking the new forum now I've got used to it.  Mainly because I could never log into the old forum on my phone.  Not very good for the amount of time I'm now spending on my phone  

I now have a rough monthly budget.  Our incomings and outgoings are varying a lot month to month, however after 5 months of using MoneyD*shboard, the figures seem to be balancing out and the months we don't spend as much in some areas make up for the months we spend more.  The area I'm struggling with is food, I've overspent by nearly £180 in the 5 months and I'm not trying hard to reduce it.  After a mention on another diary I've watched the batch lady and have been doing a huge batch cook making 40 portions at once and my freezer is now full.  I like the way she has certain meals on the same day, so beef Mondays and Chicken Tuesdays.  This seems to help me a lot with determining what to pull out of the freezer and to make sure we have a big enough range of meals.  The meal planner is done until the end of the month and I'm hoping I won't need to do another big shop, which would make us £100 under budget this month (I can dream  ).