Ditching It

SpendingPennies

Another £1000 added into the overpayment pot for May. It’s starting to really make a difference now. I am so pleased we took this decision just a few months ago and have been  disciplined enough to keep on track.
May continues to be a spendy month as the outside work continues. More deliveries from the builders merchant this week costing £££. Also need to do a bit of shopping for the first of our camping trips which we will be going on in half term. Hoping the weather is going to improve soon so we can get the tent up in the garden, dig out our camping gear from the shed and see what kit  we have already and what we need to buy new. I know we need a new table, mattress and possibly chairs, and am looking forward to going shopping. Careful budgeting in other areas should allow for us to get what we need without over stretching (hopefully!!)

SpendingPennies

So when I started my MF diary at the beginning of the year, I planned to pop on here with regular updates. Six months later I have realised that my money saving exploits are a bit ahem, boring 😊 It all consists of monthly pay day (definitely the best day of the month), paying the mortgage, snaffling  money for over payments, and then whiling away the time for the next pay day to start over again. Pleased to say we are still keeping up with our £1000 a month overpayment. Can’t believe it’s taken so many years to get to the stage where we can overpay. What on earth did we waste our money on beforehand? The answer to that was clearly nothing much except debt repayments. What a difference it makes not to have credit card debts. Not only can we save money, but I feel so much better not being weighed down by horrendous bills.
That’s not to say we don’t use the cards anymore, just that we make a conscious effort to pay off the balance each month before building up interest. Each and every payment is scrutinised now, is it essential or would we rather reduce the mortgage term?. I would have liked to pay off more, but we are still half way through our driveway refurb, and that’s costing loads each month. Once that’s complete I hope we can increase the over payments some more. So for now we plod on, only 16 more days to pay day 😂

SpendingPennies

Ooh a nice badge for 100 posts, I didn’t know that was a thing 🥳

mark55man

Badges don't end at 100 - never too old for a boost

SpendingPennies

Great incentive to keep posting. I love badges and all things shiny.

SpendingPennies

So we are just bumbling on until pay day, almost there now. We have spent quite a lot this month with making the most of  family birthdays now that we can eat out again, ongoing costs for the new driveway, a local camping trip plus ahem a deposit for a much longed for foreign holiday next year (fingers crossed we will be able to travel). So I’m reigning in the spendies for the next few days, whilst looking forward to starting again at the end of the month 😀 Pleased to say we are still making our savings targets and it feels good.

PiggyBankShaker

Popping over to say 'hi.' Amazing work sticking to your £1000 a month overpayment plan! We're trying to DIY tackle our driveway as well but reading back over your posts maybe we should wait until after our extension has been finished if the builders are likely to trash it anyway...? 

SpendingPennies

Hi @PiggyBankShaker thanks for saying hi. Yes I would definitely recommend doing your driveway after the extension. We had 6 or 7 skips last year which were all filled with rubble and most caused a little damage (ground was previously uneven so perhaps susceptible to damage). Builders mixed copious amounts of concrete and plaster which all got ground into the drive and front garden. It was really messy 😩

So we managed to get to payday without breaking the bank. July’s savings snaffles are now done, with another £1000 mortgage overpayment. This month is going to be more expense on the never ending driveway, plus a week’s camping in our bell tent in Wales. Hoping for some sunshine 🌞 please  

I’ve noticed we are spending more now than in the last year on general expenses. More petrol bills, gosh petrol is expensive at the moment. I’ve rejoined the gym, and I’m loving being more active again as well as actually get out of the house. Managed to get a corporate discount through work so its £10 a month less than what I previously paid. Still being reasonably cautious to make sure we don’t slip back to the good old days when we were more spend spend spend.