Getting shot of the mortgage sooner than 2049!

Baileys_Babe

Your emergency fund is building nicely. Have you had a chance to think what your revised EF & mortgage OP could be? And how that affects the mortgage.

The cost of your phone still makes me wince.

Bluegreen143

@Baileys_Babe can’t do anything about the phone til early July but I’ll be on it then. I remember when I first got phone contracts they were all 12 months as standard but now it seems the norm is 24 months (which my current one is). I will definitely be buying my handsets outright from now on to avoid this trap. I feel like we’ll end up seeing 3 year phone contracts on the market next because the companies are relentless in wanting to trap you in!

I think I may make it very simple, and take whatever my budget for long term/saving and investing is each month (after the £100 for help to save) and just split it equally between the cash fund (E fund) and overpaying the mortgage. If I get to the point that I think the cash fund is getting too big I could reevaluate. But realistically I’m sure an emergency will be along long before that to use up some of it 😆

Did my Lidl shop yesterday so will be back with a spending update later.

The house is very quiet today! Red is working, Monkey is at MIL’s and Bambi is at nursery. I’m working at the kitchen table rather than my bedroom purely for the novelty factor and also because it’s gorgeous weather, so when it heats up I can open up the back door next to me and enjoy some sun ☀️🕶😍

Baileys_Babe

Bluegreen143 said:

@Baileys_Babe can’t do anything about the phone til early July but I’ll be on it then. I remember when I first got phone contracts they were all 12 months as standard but now it seems the norm is 24 months (which my current one is). I will definitely be buying my handsets outright from now on to avoid this trap. I feel like we’ll end up seeing 3 year phone contracts on the market next because the companies are relentless in wanting to trap you in!

I think you are right about phone contracts increasing to 3 years and beyond, partly to keep people trapped and partly as some phones get bigger and bigger price tags it means people can afford the monthly payments to own more expensive products.

I bought my phone a couple of years ago and managed to get it for half price in a black friday deal or similar, which was a great bargin as even full price it was within budget.

I'm with giffgaff so no contract and I can change my package monthly or go pay as you go for a while if this suits my needs better.

I'm currently playing around with figures to see the quickest yet also realistic way of paying our mortgage.

Bluegreen143

Lovely day today. Friday is like the weekend for us as the kids and I are all off (until Monkey starts school that is) and Red was off today too... another week and then he will be back off furlough though!

The last few weeks e’ve decided on a loose routine of “projects/playing at home in the morning, outings in the afternoon” for weekend days and it’s been great as I often find weekends can kind of drift without a plan. 

So the “projects” focus for this morning was garden work - planting out peas, sowing kale, spinach and rocket, Red made a trellis for my sweet peas with random branches he had lying about etc. Kids helped a bit and played in the garden.

Then after lunch & clearing up we went for a walk. We are now allowed to travel outwith our local authority area in Scotland so we took advantage and drove out for 30 minutes to do a walk more out in the countryside/near a small village where some friends of mine live so they had recommended it. 

Honestly it was lovely and we both agreed (again as we’ve had this conversation a lot) we would really like that general area for living in the future (basically the triangle between Bishopbriggs, Milton of Campsie and Stepps for those who know Glasgow). It’s not terribly far from where we live now in terms of miles, but pretty different in that we are basically in the heart of Glasgow at the moment and while city life has a lot of positives, it has negatives too, and I do feel a bit fed up of the crowds, litter, antisocial behaviour, being unable to just leave the door and have nice walks on our doorsteps etc. On the other hand, there are a lot of good reasons to stay put until the kids are through school, especially if we want to pursue GME all the way through, and we are really close to lots of family and friends here, plus I’m not keen to increase our mortgage at this point in time. We’ll see! If we do move it certainly won’t be for a couple of years at a minimum.

Had a “fake Nando’s” for dinner using the own brand spice mixes and sauce they are selling in Lidl just now and I have to say it was delicious. Red made some lovely piri piri chips and I made red cabbage coleslaw plus some cut up tomatoes (to ensure the kids ate something else other than just chips!). I will pick up more of the sauces and spice mixes in Lidl next week if still there as they are considerably cheaper than the Nando’s brand stuff they sell in Tesco (45p for the Lidl spice mix v £1 for the Nando’s one). In fairness we could probably try making totally from scratch but it tasted great and made for a quick and easy meal too.

Sarahwithlove

Virgin already offer 3 year contracts on mobiles.

Your budget is coming along so nicely. I love using ynab it helps so much with pots and stuff. 

Bluegreen143

@Sarahwithlove do they! Not surprised - I can see it a few years it’ll be the norm!

Thanks, I love YNAB so much too, makes such a difference. As well as the emergency fund we have pots for home & garden, car, gifts & celebrations, kids, holiday, annual bills and a conservatory and they are all starting to accumulate. 

Had a lovely end to a great day - Red and I had a couple of drinks sat outside at the chiminea (burning offcuts of wood from his projects plus our Christmas tree!) and playing cards. The best things in life are free or almost free!

Baileys_Babe

Sounds like you have had a great day with your family @Bluegreen143 eas the sky clear this evening where you are?

Honeysucklelou2

Found your new diary and read through...really interesting to see your grocery breakdown and a good reminder to have falafels on the menu 😋!

Bluegreen143

Ooops, sorry for my absence diary! Have had a very busy (and stressful, at least at the start) week. Will do a full financial update tonight.

Changes to the budget will be needed as MIL isn’t going to be watching Bambi on a Monday anymore - she cancelled on us this week so I had to work with Bambi at home which was VERY stressful. She’s just not well enough and clearly didn’t want to admit it so we took the initiative and booked nursery in on Mondays from the 10th and MIL was then relieved when we told her. But it will mean an extra £150 or so a month on childcare 😬

In much nicer news, I made myself a pair of leggings this week from a free pattern on the internet - the fabric was £20 but I have enough left to make something for Bambi, was thinking either leggings for her or shortie PJs. They were quick and simple to make so I’ll be buying more fabric in a different colour when I get paid to make another pair 😊

Baileys_Babe

Sorry to hear about your stressful week. It is probably a relief all round Bambi being booked into childcare, despite the extra cost.

The leggings look great 😊