Getting shot of the mortgage sooner than 2049!

joedenise

The card is lovely @Bluegreen143, your mum will love it because you have made the effort.  It doesn't look as though you've mucked up the word day!

Do you make your own falafel?  If so have you tried the Tori Avery version which you make from just soaked chickpeas rather than cooked?  Link https://toriavey.com/?s=falafel; I bake them rather than frying them so that they are healthier.  I think they're really good and they are great for a healthy snack.

Baileys_Babe

I like the card you made.

We have android phones and have always bought the handset outright which saves us a fortune, I bought my current phone for less than half price as a black Friday deal a couple of years ago. When we get a new phone we always fit a glass screen protector and a case before using it, mine is clear silicone, OH's is a wallet style, ds' is rugged and dd has a dumb phone. 

Each month we save towards replacement handsets. When buying a new phone we don't buy the latest top of the range models we look for something offering the features we like. I had my previous smartphone for 6+ years and I only replaced it as the security had stopped being supported 😒

Well done on getting things achieved first thing this morning, it always makes me feel like I am winning at life when I manage it.

astrocytic_kitten

Loving your mealplans Bluegreen, giving me loads of ideas for things I might like to eat. Now I’m off to google chocolate overnight oats...

Bluegreen143

@astrocytic_kitten here’s the recipe I make - this makes enough for me plus two very greedy littles! Or would do two adults.

1 cup porridge oats
1 cup any milk (I use whole)
1/2 cup Greek yog (again you could use other types)
Big spoonful peanut butter 
1 large mashed banana 
Couple of spoonfuls cocoa powder (I just do this by eye tbh)

Mix in a tub and leave overnight, in the morning I give a quick whizz with the hand blender as we like the texture a bit more blended, but that’s optional. 

EDIT meant to say it’s amazing with chopped strawberries or raspberries added in the morning 😍

Bluegreen143

@joedenise I do, I usually do a BBC recipe with beetroot added as we all like it and it gets another veg portion in! Will check out your recipe 🙂

@Baileys_Babe I need to start a savings pot for a new phone! I think I’ll do that once I’m out of this contract & keep paying the difference into a savings pot. Yeah I’m not bothered about having the latest, this is an iPhone 7 and I think they had 2/3 newer models out when I got it. 

Red is up now & the kids are out in the garden so need to get off my bum and join them! I’m slightly hiding from Bambi as she is VERY whiney/tantrumey this weekend and it is doing everyone else’s head in 🙈 trying to maintain sympathy (as I think the root cause of her feeling out of sorts is her starting nursery) while also being consistent on the rules... I’ve found if she does have a tantrum what works is to offer her a hug, reiterate she isn’t getting whatever she’s tantruming for, and telling her we will go upstairs to her room til she is calm. 8 out of 10 times she doesn’t want to go upstairs so calms herself down. The other times she is genuinely melting down and past the point of no return so I think going to a quiet space benefits her anyway plus saves the rest of the family’s eardrums. She is much more difficult to calm than Monkey was as he always liked to be held/cuddled while upset but she gets more angry v upset and storms away shouting “no cuddles!” 🤦‍♀️

QueenJess

Hello.  Dropping in to say I like the card you made

I always make my own cards (although I am lucky I don't need to send that many in a year).  I've been doing it for about 10 years and I think it's much nicer for the recipient to receive.  Plus I think the price of cards are outrageous for such a short lived item.  I usually make mine mainly out of salvaged packaging/spare buttons etc so they have a second life before being recycled.  Managed not to buy any card making materials for 10 years now!

astrocytic_kitten

Thank you for that recipe - I know what I’ll be having for breakfast tomorrow! 

Good luck getting through the day patience intact! You sound like such a good mum 😊

Porridgecat

Hope I'm okay to join in, I've read some of your diary over on DFW and glad to have found you here. I'm another YNAB user and love it. I've found as I've gone on I've started loads of extra pots on it, some I'm only putting a few pounds a month in but its great when you want to spend from that pot and the money's there. It also made me really think about how much "real" disposable income we had.
Are you tracking your mortgage on YNAB, I didn't for ages but its really spurred me on doing this.

Bluegreen143

@Porridgecat welcome and thanks for coming to find me 🙂

Always good to find another YNAB user - I love it but nobody I know uses it in real life.

Like you, I find the savings pot thing very eye opening as you do have much less disposable income as you start filling them, but in fact this is a reflection of the reality of life and pre-YNAB you’re just unaware of it! 

At the moment I put aside for annual bills (car bills & home insurance) and subscriptions (eg TV ones etc) and also have pots for:

- Car (repairs & replacement)
- Home & garden
- Gifts & celebrations
- Holiday
- Health (free prescriptions in Scotland I get the cheap glasses so it’s mainly just so I can start saving for any dental needs. Crazy to think if we live abroad especially in the US this might be one of our most vital pots!).

Thinking I also need to start a pot for replacing phones/electronics too - at some point I will need to buy a laptop for example as I imagine kids need them for school nowadays.

Then our current savings goals are the emergency fund, conservatory fund and Monkey’s new bedroom furniture. However we are keeping an eye on Gumtree and FB marketplace for a cabin bed so tbh we might not need much. Our next priority after his room is a new living room rug - currently we use those foam floor mats so babies don’t bump their heads on the wooden floor but now the kids are bigger and potty trained we’d like an actual rug again! 

I also have a master category in YNAB called “wish list” with a big list of stuff we’d potentially like to save for but aren’t funding currently. And once we have Monkey’s bed + our rug we will move another “wish” up the list and begin funding it.

I just added my mortgage to YNAB actually and I think it will be motivating! Only thing is my mortgage hasn’t got an online account so I’ll need to phone each month for the up-to-date balance 🙄

Bluegreen143

Thank you for your lovely comments @QueenJess and @astrocytic_kitten!

A great idea re saving bits and bobs for card making - will keep an eye out for packaging etc I can use!