the long path to mortgage free freedom

savingholmes

I'll look that up - thanks. I don't follow anyone's rules exactly - must be the rebel in me - still doing pension while paying down CC debt as it is all on 0% and I can repay it before rates change. Overpaying slightly on mortgage too.

moneysavingfamilycomp

savingholmes thats what I have been doing don't have a pension as such at the moment but I am looking into it. i'm a sahm doing a couple of very low income self employed jobs. DH works full time so has a pension through work but I need to get a private one I have a small amount in a works pension from before kids but I don't think it's great so I need to do my research. I finished paying off our 0% CC last month :j it feels so much better to not have to think about it.

The first month of the new budget is proving challenging:o
we eat TOO MUCH food I knew i'd under budgeted for food as we used to waste money on snacks and treats. my new plan is to limit the amount of junk we eat and to make my own cakes etc so this month was a bit of a trial to see how much we actually needed for food.

I have set myself work challenges this week which i'm actually enjoying. it's very satisfying :rotfl:

so this week :

1) put out 100 flyers through doors promoting my online store. i'm aiming to keep doing at least 20 per day in the hopes of atracting new business.

2) increased my posts online to also promote business

3) bank switch has gone ahead so hopefully will generate a cash switching bonus by next month just need to check i've covered all the t&cs.

4) made a list of everything the kids need for september so i'm not tempted to over buy uniform. i'm hoping a few odd bits will still fit them.

5) another yellow sticker shop to fill the freezer again.

6) made myself a planner. I love the fancy planners you can get but I can't justify spending out for them and I wasn't sure they exactly fitted what I wanted so. one file, pack of dividers, some print offs from google and a few printed sheets I designed myself along with a hole punch and hey presto a personalised planner. ok so it doesnt spark joy in my life to look at but it does the job and i'm happy with it :money:

after last weekends big sales push we managed to add another £95 to the emergency fund so it now stands at £286.77 I can't wait to get that to £1000 then every spare penny goes into the mortgage fund.

Working_Mum

Sounds like you have a lot on your plate atm msfc!
When my kids were little I used to make cookie dough in big batches, roll it up into fat sausages and freeze - I'd pull a sausage out when the kids wanted fresh cookies - you can defrost or cook straight from frozen after slicing up.

At least by baking things yourself you know exactly what your kids are eating and not filling up on additives etc!!

Your comment about your folder not sparking joy made me smile! I have a little "command centre" (inspired by Pinterest) in my kitchen and it is a rag-tag-&-bobtail of all sorts of systems etc but it keeps me and the family organised!

Good luck with your journey!

savingholmes

You sound like you are getting very organised. Well done on finishing off the cC and cancelling it

moneysavingfamilycomp

thank you working mum and saving holmes

i'm a naturally organised person so that helps. you can't beat a list
the kids love homemade treats the only problem is they love them so much they only last a day I need to get a box that locks for the school hols.

a bit annoyed today ( I think i'm just stressed it wouldnt normally bother me) one of the small businesess we have we sell the items from our home and people collect. someone has asked if we deliver, we don't normally as we don't have time but have said if its over £15 we will deliver for the cost of diesel. we work this out at 45p per mile which is what HMRC class as travel costs, then round it down. she has replied with an angry face emoji but no comment. i'm guessing she was expecting free delivery for any order amount, but 1) cars don't run for free so we need to cover our costs and 2) it's really not worth our while delivering orders less than £15 when that time could be spent more productively. I don't think i'm being unreasonable

On a more possitive note both kids have now won blue peter badges :j i'm very proud of them and it means they get free entry into lots of places so we can do more with our budget for days out. They have also brought home booklets from school with whats on in the local area and they contain a few 2 for 1 vouchers so along with the book of 2 for 1 vouchers I bought our summer is looking like much more fun. I just need to do a search now for vouchers for the area we are visiting on holiday. :cool:

savingholmes

Getting blue peter badges is a real winner when it save you money! Sounds fab

moneysavingfamilycomp

more positive today

managed to make a few more sales so that will help towards emergency fund i'll add it up next week when I bank it again. I also decided to sell some of my excess stock (some things packaging has changed etc so I can't sell them as current stock) listed them on FB selling sites and have made £23 already i'm adding that into the general budget for this month as it's school holidays so it's going to be more expensive even if I try to keep things cheap.:j:j

spending a few days at the inlaws next week sort of a mini holiday only an hours drive from home but in the middle of the countryside :T DH is still at work but he works half way between the 2 so no difference to travel from there and its closer to my family as well so can take the kids for days out together.

moneysavingfamilycomp

well first day of the school holidays !
I need to collect in customer orders today, put out some more advertising flyers and we have dentist appointments. I have to do it all with 2 little people in tow I can see lots of stress

at least it should be a nsd/cheap day :money:

moneysavingfamilycomp

busy start to the school holidays including last weeks few days away.
daughters birthday today so we have planned a meal out.
heres a few of our saves

1) tonights meal brewers fayre feed the family for £11 offer.

2) picked up coat for son for school in CS that looks brand new for £2.49 :money:

3) found airer so drying clothes on that in bad weather = no dryer :T

4) almost finished first month of new budget proud of myself

5) submitted meter readings again can't believe it's been a month already :eek: hoping I can reduce DD a little bit more.

6) we now have a jar for spare cash which will go towards mortgage it won't be much for now and i won't be counting it till it looks like enough to make a payment with. started it off with 90p I had left in my purse :T really trying to stop myself from working out how much interest we would save if we payed off an extra 90p :rotfl:

moneysavingfamilycomp

a busy few days again but mainly with the kids and not work related. our local council puts on a free 4 day long festival each year in and around the town centre with performers from all over the world. It's an amazing oportunity to watch top class performances from across the performing arts everything from theatre, dance and acrobatics to slapstick comedy and treasure hunts. so that has kept us busy and we are looking forward to tonights finale. managed to add £101.10 to the emergency fund so it's starting to look a bit healthier now at £387.87 my first target is £500 so we are nearly there. a bit of a shock from our council tax though we qualify for a small amount of council tax benefit but they had overpaid us last year by just over £100. I was happy to pay this back and pay the extra each month however I wasnt expecting them to take the whole overpayment off one month. I thought they would of added it in to the monthly payments. I've managed to juggle the budget without dipping into the emergency fund but a few of my sinking funds for non essentials have taken a hit. on a better note my £75 for bank switch has been paid so i'm using it to pay for the kids school uniform. i'm only buying them one new sweatshirt each as last years still fit and at a cost of £23 for the 2 !!! they will have to make do. The rest of the uniform I can get from @sda. off to sort out dinner now from my yellow sticker hoard.