Getting shot of the mortgage sooner than 2049!

TallGirl

Good luck on the diet, wine and soda is really nice and a great way to cut the calories but like the cola you have to get weaned off the full "fat" version. Take a while but now I only drink it neat if it is a very nice bottle. Have a look at bulgur wheat instead of rice. Cooks really easily and taste very similar but lower in carbs.  

Bluegreen143

Quick note to say I’ve reached a milestone with getting paid today - £5,002.72 in my emergency fund!

Feels huge to get it over £5k. Before this year, I don’t think it had EVER been much over £2k 🙌🏼 we do also have £3,000 between our two help to save accounts, but these don’t finish for another 18 months. 

Red asked what we were going to buy with it 😂

Of course an emergency will no doubt hit this month now and reduce it, so I’m taking this moment to celebrate! 🥳🥳🥳

Eventually I might actually start OPing my mortgage. I think I started this diary 2.5 years ago and have OP’d about £200 in total and then of course added £28k back on with our conservatory 😅

Current plan of action:

1. Get emergency fund to £10,000, which still feels VERY far away 

2. Overpay the car loan to my mum. We still owe her £4K interest free and we pay her £160 a month. While it’s interest free, I’d like to get it paid off sooner if possible. She is keen for us to establish a good emergency fund though which is why we’re doing that first.

3. Start overpaying our mortgage and topping up our pensions, which are somewhat woeful…

KajiKita

Awesome milestone 😊 If you are anything like me, the good habits that you are creating, the small cuts to spending here and there, the little extra income that you have now that mostly you aren’t spending etc etc, will give you a quiet momentum that creeps up on you, and the second half of that £5K / paying off your mum will happen a lot faster than you expect. 

Well done 😊

KK

Baileys_Babe

Congratulations on getting the emergency fund over £5000 🥳

Red's comment regarding spending your savings reminded me of my OH if he sees our accounts have a healthy balance he relaxes his money saving ways and has 101 things that he needs to buy, they are usually for the house/family but are likely to be luxuries, not essentials as we would buy those as they occurred whilst saving. This is the main reason I look after the money.

beanielou

Great milestone 

Bluegreen143

Woops, have been a bit absent again! 

Nothing too much to report financially, think we are fairly on track. We are away on holiday from Sat 1st - it’s likely to be more expensive than our usual holidays as we’re away with another family, friends of Red’s, so Red doesn’t particularly want to stint. It also looks like it will be rainy so rather than free days at the beach we will do more indoor stuff. But still excited despite the potential rain! 

Did I mention that Red & I are both on a health kick? He has lost 12lb in three weeks and I’ve lost 8.5 🙂 feeling good for it. I’ve been really trying to avoid ultra processed food as much as practical and I do feel like I have more energy and am feeling healthier.

I’m off on annual leave for two weeks currently. It’s lovely not to have Sunday night dread right now! 

I have asked Red to do the budgeting this month 😳 so I may have less to discuss on here. I think if he at least sometimes has a turn to do it, it will make him feel more empowered/less frustrated and also a bit more aware of where our money goes. I won’t interfere with what he does so savings may be a little lower this month… he is aware of our savings goals and I gave him the sheet I use with the bills & amounts and usual budget categories so he doesn’t forget about stuff. 

KajiKita

Ooh, interesting idea to get Red to manage the budget for a month. It will be interesting to understand what he ‘sees’ from it. Very little chance of that flying here …. 😉

Enjoy your break 😊

KK

beanielou

Happy holidays when they come 

Bluegreen143

Yesterday was our first “official” school holiday day (not counting the weekend as they’d have been off anyway). We had a lovely time - took the kids’ bikes for a cycle on the canal, then met my papa for lunch as he was in the area for something else (he lives 3 hours away). He treated us to some delicious tapas 😍 we then went to the library and for a quick wander in the gallery of modern art. 

Today was pouring rain all day 🤦‍♀️ I’m a bit annoyed with my days off all being predicted to be rainy. I so wanted to get in outdoor adventures with the kids. I took them to softplay this morning, but they only played for about 45 minutes before Bambi was hungry and wanted to go home - she had failed to eat her breakfast 🙄 tbh I think she was a little under the weather so I just took them home. 

It does NOT feel like £17(!!) well spent though. I do find that so many pricey kid attractions, like meals out, are just not worth the money, unless we are going with friends (this seems to hold their attention longer). My kids are just as happy (or more so) wandering about in a forest or paddling in the river, or going to the library, all of which is free. Must remember that these things are generally a very poor use of my money. 

When I was at the softplay I had a quick look at the food on offer. They used to have a bowl of fruit which was extremely overpriced, but they’ve taken that away. 

Literally EVERY item of food and drink available in there is ultra processed and often junk food, unless you are wanting a full meal and buy a baked potato which is genuinely the only healthy meal on the menu (and you aren’t given any veg/salad which I know as I’ve had that before). Why can’t we as a society do better than this with children’s food? I appreciate kids don’t want gourmet meals at softplay but surely we could offer SOME fruit and veg at least. 

Spent the rest of the day at home and managed to declutter our under stairs cupboard - two bin bags of unwanted tat removed. Also cut Monkey’s hair which I’m pleased about. Settled down for a reading session this afternoon which lasted an hour AND did extra bedtime reading with Monkey later - I do love reading to them but my voice was getting tired 😅 Bambi seemed better by bedtime so hopefully she’s less out of sorts tomorrow and we can get out. 

Baileys_Babe

Do any of the museums in Glasgow have children's activities or trails on for the school holidays? 

Can you and Red come up with a list of free/cheap things to do with the children when it is raining?