Climbing the Mortgage Mountain step by step

savingholmes

Buying lamb is not that extravagant - they put the prices down around Christmas anyway. Well done for all you have achieved. You'll get there. I finished work for xmas break today and am sat here just feeling wiped. I hope to put up the proper xmas tree and sort other decs tomorrow. I do have a few lights up but not much

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi everyone

Blimey how the time has flown since my last post!  We had a lovely chilled Christmas, DD was very happy with her presents even though I spent less on her than previous years I don't think she noticed as I shopped very wisely and got several bargains 

I am due to make another lump sum payment to the mortgage this week and am determined that the frugality starts now, I haven't spent anything since Christmas Eve and intend to keep it that way for a while, we have lots of food still and plenty of alcohol and smellies etc from presents, the only thing I will be splashing out on is a takeaway for OH's birthday but as we should have been on holiday (damn you Covid) I feel this is justified!  

A lot of family and friends are currently struggling with Covid and I am really pleased that we stuck to the guidelines and actually went out of our way to avoid people who had mixed with others (put a few noses out of joint but at least we are currently Covid free) as I have my elderly parents to think about.  I have offered to do shopping for those who are isolating but I will leave their bags at the doorstep and they can transfer me the money electronically.  The situation is definitely getting worse in our area and I can see another National lockdown coming soon.  This all seems so surreal 

So back at work today after a lovely few days, best get my thinking head on!  Have a great day all

MvTMM

savingholmes

Glad you were able to stay safe and still have a good time

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

My goodness how time has flown, can't believe I haven't posted at all this year and we are now in to October!

I'm pleased to say I have maintained my overpayments to the mortgage but things have slipped a little in other financial areas.  My loan is still coming down but credit card debt has creeped up and needs addressing.  Having said that we have done quite a lot of work in the garden over the summer, new fence all round with concrete posts and gravel boards (30+ panels!!), new raised decking and gravel 'Mediterranean' style garden with pots and a large pizza oven and a solid granite water feature. Apart from the fencing a lot of this was free/cheap from facebook or upcycled so we managed to make our money stretch.  

The outside of the house has had a freshen up, moss cleared from the roof (8 bin liners full) and the walls repainted and then treated with a herbicide to prevent the algae we get through being surrounded by trees, both of these jobs should last a few years and make maintenance easier.

I have also updated the bathroom with some stick on mosaic tiles in neutral tones to compliment the exisiting tiles, these are 3d and look and feel like real glass mosaics but were dead cheap (£land actually sell similar ones although not in the colours I wanted) with my bargain cupboards (£10 from facebook) and some cheap faux plants the bathroom is looking fresh.

Even the utility has had a mini make over, there were no work tops in there, things were just placed on top of the white goods, then I spotted some lovely wood block effect off cuts on Facebook, just the size we needed so now it looks like a proper utility.

So a busy few months and I think we have made the house more desirable/saleable even if we have not added any real value, house prices around us have gone crazy (we are rural and everyone seems to want to escape the cities and head our way) and properties, both selling and renting, are being snapped up before they are even advertised.  Not that we are thinking of selling, we aren't, we love our home but you never know what is around the corner and it's good to always have your eye on what is happening in the market.

So finances.....Wills are done and life insurances in place.  OH debt all on 0% interest.  My credit card is 0% but has gone higher than I would like so I need to address this, payments of £300pm are in place so will eat into it fairly rapidly.  I do need to increase my rainy day pot though so money saving head is back on;

• I've sorted through my wardrobe and, apart from replacing my worn out chelsea boots, I need nothing else so limited spend on clothing for 12 months, I'll allow myself £10pm, so £120 for the year in case anything breaks or desperately needs replacing.
• I have been indulging in take away coffees when on early starts at work (£1.60 from local independant as opposed to £3.50+ from Costa/Starbucks) which obviously builds up.  Had a lucky find at the charity shop last week, brand new Bodum travel mug/coffee press, retails at approx £30, I paid £2.  Used for the first time today with some Italian Ground coffee from Lidl £1.09 and I'm really impressed, stayed hot for an hour or more, which included my 20 min walk to work.
• Walking to work as I became too reliant on jumping in the car, again due to early starts, have been walking for the last couple of weeks and really starting to enjoy it again, plus it's helping with the weight loss!
• I'm aiming for a Too Good to Go Box once a week from Morrisons, this will help stretch the food budget.  We have plenty in the cupboards/freezer and so need to use up our existing stocks, however, will continue to buy reduced meat/fish to stick in the freezer when I see it.

I will update my signature now and aim to record my progress weekly.

Take care all

MvTMM

powerspowers

Welcome back mvtmm, well done on your progress so far! 

savingholmes

Welcome back and well done on your progress.

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Thanks for the welcome back powerspowers and savingholmes.

Had a lovely bargain arrive this week, ordered my replacement chelsea boots from a £5 website and when they arrived they were real leather from White Stuff and originally £79.99!  Even OH was well impressed.

Keeping up the walking to work and homemade coffees.  

I'm going to try and avoid spending during the week and use things up instead of popping to the shops on my way home, we try not to waste food anyway but sometimes its staying late at work or lack of inspiration as much as anything else that leads to these ad hoc shops! 

Last night we had a courgette, broccoli and blue cheese flan which used up some bought puff pastry (2 days past date but still ok) and leftover odds and ends of stilton and Shropshire blue from our purchases at the EAT festival.
This is a Jamie Oliver recipe and we love it, I've made it several times for family and friends, it always goes down well and is a good way to use bits and piece up, I throw in whatever cheese we have and sometimes mix up the veg or like last night use a slightly bendy courgette.

Tonight is a mexican inspired veg pasta bake which I also cooked last night as I am meeting my longest standing friend after work for long awaited drinks and a catch up.  I sautéed some red onions, garlic, peppers and homegrown baby aubergines, mixed them into a tomato sauce added pasta and topped with a mix of leftover mozzerella and the mexican chilli cheese we also both from the food festival.

Things I need to do:

• Sort out the loft and either throw away, donate or sell unwanted items.
• Sort through toiletries and prioritise what needs using up, I have a lot of travel size or mini items which I normally save for trips but due to covid these haven't been used as much and I'd rather use them up than they go off.
• Sort through the Xmas present stash, I buy things during the year as I see a bargain but I need to sort through what I have make a list of who we still need to get something for.

Have a happy hump day everyone

MvTMM

LadyWithAPlan

You look like you are well on track and have a focused workable plan  especially after starting again.

 Do you have a recipe for that carrot kofta, it sounds delicious. 

I am eyeing up a part interest only mortgage again to keep my monthly outgoings at a safe level. I don't have enough of a ltv to do it all  but as a self employed single person if I can do it I will. I have enough discipline to do the op. 

I only got a credit card this year to help push up my credit score ahead of buying a home and I definitely see how it's so easy to just swipe and bump up the balance. I often pay it off within a few days as seeing a balance on it annoys me. 
I need to use it to keep that pesky score but have started leaving it at home as 

savingholmes

Great win on the shoes and the home cooking
When you've done your loft can you sort mine for me please?

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Savingholmes, yes, I'll be round once I've sorted mine, how is 2030 looking for you?   

Ladywithaplan - the part interest only seems like a good option.  It is re-assuring to me that if my income dropped I could keep the mortgage payments up, even if it meant cutting back the overpayments.  I've been very disciplined with my OPs, I've set up a monthly standing order and am determined to pay off as much as possible during my 5 year fixed period. 

The carrot koftas are yummy and very simple, boil some carrots with chopped onions and dried apricots until soft, allow to cool and then blitz until fairly smooth but leave some small lumps for texture   Place bread, fresh garlic cloves and lightly toasted pecans in processor to make bread crumbs.  Chop some fresh coriander.  Mix together and then form into either balls or quenelles and then bake until golden.  Sorry no measurements as I just use up whatever I have to hand.  You can add dried herbs and spices to the mix, I've used curry spices in the past but prefer the coriander version, I've also used hazelnuts when I didn't have pecans at home.  I make a batch, open freeze and bag up and then cook straight from frozen and serve with flat breads, salad, houmous etc.

I had a lovely evening with my friend, shared a bottle of wine and put the world to rights.

Going to try and avoid a big shop this week, we are away on Saturday and there is quite a bit still in the fridge to use up.  Will need bread etc but might just get that on my way home to avoid the supermarket.  I'm just trying to think what to cook tonight, there is still pasta bake left but I've frozen that for another day as I'm on lates all of next week and it will be easy meals for OH and DD.  I think today may be a chicken curry (either indian or chinese style) as we haven't had one for a while and we have all of the ingredients at home.

Any way, have a great day

MvTMM