A Year in the Life of...

EssexHebridean

Woo - PB win-twins! Great news - well done! You've also reminded me that I should probably set some non-financial goals for the year too - I have stuff in mind but haven't really articulated them anywhere other than in my journal yet.  

I'm glad your Christmas ended up being a good one and that all your efforts with the food were appreciated too! That was a lovely idea to put the things into proper dishes so it felt more "normal" for them too - lovey that you thought of it! 

girlatplay

beanielou said:

Fabarooni 

Thank you 😊 

savingholmes said:

Always great to get a win! Good luck with the healthier eating too.

Thank you ☺️ 
The healthy eating was much easier when I was off work.

EssexHebridean said:

Woo - PB win-twins! Great news - well done! You've also reminded me that I should probably set some non-financial goals for the year too - I have stuff in mind but haven't really articulated them anywhere other than in my journal yet.  

I'm glad your Christmas ended up being a good one and that all your efforts with the food were appreciated too! That was a lovely idea to put the things into proper dishes so it felt more "normal" for them too - lovey that you thought of it! 

😁  my mum won too, £50 for her but she has much more in there than us.

It was Christmas, it had to be more special than normal and I just couldn't bear the thought of them dishing up from old takeaway containers.  We were all disappointed as it was.

girlatplay

My thoughts have been turning towards January payday (I'm sure I'm not alone in that).  With the council tax break this month I have a bit extra to put away.  Just looking at my mortgage balance and I'm thinking that I'll put it to that instead to get under £86k.  It's always nice to see the figure going down and to get under another £1k line is motivating.

The grocery budget left at the moment is not looking too healthy.  I do have a small amount left in the slush fund but with no events planned for the rest of this month so I'm hoping between the two budgets we can get to the end of the month without having to dip.  It's ridiculous really, I get paid in December at the same time as all other months in the year and I didn't have to pay back any Christmas spends so I have no excuse.  I have been writing down all of my spends (in categories too) so far this month so it will be interesting to see what I have spent on.  I have bought doubles of some things (shampoo, toothpaste, etc) but I reckon it's only about £10-£15 worth of stuff so can't be that.

savingholmes

Hope you track down the cause

girlatplay

savingholmes said:

Hope you track down the cause

I think it's safe to say that not meal planning properly is a huge contributor.


For the first time ever I had a little play with a mortgage overpayment calculator to get a better idea of how my overpayments will affect my end date.  How have I never discovered this sorcery before??  I have seen so many people mention it but I've never ventured to it.  Mortgage affordability calculators, loan calculators, spreadsheets, all yes, but this is a different ball game.  It tells me that if I stay on the interest rate that I'm on (I won't, it's a 2 year fixed rate) and overpay by the £250 that I have started with then I could be mortgage free in 23 years instead of 25.  If I up the payments to £300 it could be 21 years.  If I end up on the lender's variable rate as it stands right now and overpay £300 it could be 18 years!  How exciting 😃

So, my current plan is to push my £250 payments to £300.  I can do that comfortably and still put away a small amount of savings, plus still live.  This will all change when we buy somewhere else but it gives me something to focus on in the meantime.

EssexHebridean

Oh my goodness yes - OP calculators are FUUUUUNNNN! Do be warned though, you can lose countless hours typing in figures and projecting how that could change things, then further rabbit holes of "But then what if I try this, or this..."

We used to routinely pay the council tax "free" months off against ours once we finally started OP'ing - it was always a little sneaky thrill knowing we had that extra bit of money so early in the year to chuck at it! 

girlatplay

EssexHebridean said:

Oh my goodness yes - OP calculators are FUUUUUNNNN! Do be warned though, you can lose countless hours typing in figures and projecting how that could change things, then further rabbit holes of "But then what if I try this, or this..."

We used to routinely pay the council tax "free" months off against ours once we finally started OP'ing - it was always a little sneaky thrill knowing we had that extra bit of money so early in the year to chuck at it! 

Plan number one when I get paid is to reduce to just under £86k by using the council tax month off money.  It was planned for savings but this is just as good in this instance.  Next month I have some other bits to use this money for which were already budgeted, knowing the free months were coming, but I will manage a £300 payment and the same going forward.  Even more excited for payday now!

beanielou

That's amazing 

savingholmes

Great. Yes the overpayment calculators are fun to play with. They should also help show the mortgage company when you come to move that you can afford the payments.

girlatplay

beanielou said:

That's amazing 

I'm quite pleased 😊

savingholmes said:

Great. Yes the overpayment calculators are fun to play with. They should also help show the mortgage company when you come to move that you can afford the payments.

They really are.
I've got a different mortgage broker for the move than I had for the mortgage transfer so I'm feeling quite positive.


New smoke alarm regulations are coming into force in Scotland at the end of January so bf and I spent some time tonight looking through various options.  We finally settled on ones we think are suitable at a reasonable cost.  None of them are cheap but we checked the legislation and did comparisons so we think we have ordered the best ones for us.  We bought them together to get free delivery.  (We live in separate houses). I've had to use money from the dipping fund but although it's annoying having to buy them, it's also important and it's a good example of what I have money aside for.