Future Proofing my life: Deposit saving then MFW journey in under 13 years

LadyWithAPlan

End of month -Aug review:

 NOTE - I have yet to move my underspending in grocery and entertainment into my savings as it encourages me to work on being frugal - will be £45.68 Grocery and Entertainment £61.96 so I will update figures.
I also did not do a MB bookies review of monthly as yet

- other pots such as bulk, tech, vacation, toiletries, gifts.. and other funds I leave alone to build

NSD 16/13 Woohoo (helped by being in the countryside where i had to drive to get anything)

Grocery Challenge - first one in months 
Grocery August 22
£130.42/£170     + 17.50 Sains card    
£4.50/£30 bulk - 
Helped by being away and clearing out family members freezer and eating it down.

Sept - £160 goal
£30 extra 

TT - just transferred final £2 today over .

So TT totals  are £34.13 and £4.03 = £38.16 and just moved over - so I have added £25 more to PB and £13.16 to baby van isa

House deposit and all savings 31/07/22   £96,940.90

Hse deposit savings now
31/08/22  - £101,955.71/£125k target

EF £1k/£15k

Hse buying fees £1950/£15,000 - h2b 25%

Thus August savings in month as some overdue invoices paid is
£6,014.81

Deposit has dropped from mid month as £20k of it is in a S&S isa  which is down by £163.74

I do have further cash in my bank accounts  but not been paid by various so its enough to pay rent and other bills.

SIPP Total  
31/07/22  £34,926.67  
31/08/22   £35,315.76 
So increase + £389.09 MOM 

However £560  was invested by me this month into my Sipp and  my SIPP is down from mid  Aug month  (minus £704.94)

31/07/22
FIRE   exc home 12k pa 11.64%, 16k pa 8.73%. Current spend inc rent 9.98% FIRE

31/08/22 
FIRE  7yrs - ex home 12k pa 11.77%, 16k pa 8.83%. Current spend 10.09%  

Suffolk_lass said:

savingholmes said:

Great news on the win.

Ouch to people not wanting to pay the bill.

Sounds like your other plans / side hustles need to ramp up accordingly but sure you're on it.

Your fruit haul sounds nice. They could always have a go at bottling fruit or making jam if they have no freezer space. Some people on MSE are apparently even making fruit vinegars...

I am guilty of bottling. It saves on the freezer costs but you need to keep an eye on the jars for any failures (some of my clip top jar seals are old and I am having to build in use-ups of winter stored fruit). They taste better than frozen and keep better if they are sealed right

@Suffolk_lass my dad always bottles stuff - I have never tried.. May need to google how to

savingholmes said:

Great news on the win.

Ouch to people not wanting to pay the bill.

Sounds like your other plans / side hustles need to ramp up accordingly but sure you're on it.

Your fruit haul sounds nice. They could always have a go at bottling fruit or making jam if they have no freezer space. Some people on MSE are apparently even making fruit vinegars...

@savingholmes Yes its a kick  to get me moving - side hustles, update my CV and get another contract part time ideally to add. I have a flat deposit to save for whilst dealing with this cost of living crisis.

The fruit vinegar sounds fun - I have a huge haul of what I can only describe as Snow White red apples, organic picked off tree by me - no pesticides, just wonderful crunchy sweet.. so I will have a play at fruit vinegar, bottling, making some compote and also freezing some.

I made at my parents (as I am educating them on the instant pot type cooker they have) a pressure cooked after sauteing beef rump top roast - it was delicious with fresh stock, mushrooms and onions.

Hope everyone feels like they won on some level in August - I know MFW is a long marathon so end of month check-ins are great motivators.

savingholmes

Food sounds gorgeous as always.

Sorry markets aren't going you way - hopefully they will pick up for when you need them.

Good luck with finding a new part time contract or extra income from other sources - and of course getting your invoices paid.

LadyWithAPlan

savingholmes said:

Food sounds gorgeous as always.

Sorry markets aren't going you way - hopefully they will pick up for when you need them.

Good luck with finding a new part time contract or extra income from other sources - and of course getting your invoices paid.

Tx - the director who I have know for many years and is arguing about an agreed invoice I can see he has just spent a 5 figure sum on a jolly. As I can see the cash going out! Grrr...

I need some extra contracts indeed!

I am up 12% or so on my S&S isa so - up over £2.5k  it has been better there than in cash (especially now all savings income will be taxed at 40% this year for me)  so a few movements either way is ok. I have basically under 20% of my hse deposit  in my s&s isa  so it feels balanced.
I have been reading and they are saying there may be a price correction in houses for the next 2 yrs. Of course london gets a lot of overseas investment so I am not getting too excited

Either way I have decided I need a deposit of 25% as the cost difference between me putting 20% down vs 25% is over 1% per annum extra  additional interest
3 yr fixed 2.69 on 25% deposit v 3.89% 20% deposit..
so £3-4k a year extra interest - so all eyes  and focus on the house fund - so spending needs to be frugal, cost of living needs to be kept low plus income up.

I may stop drinking for 3 months to save money and a few pounds - or say I am only drinking alcohol when its free - so openings or when I win experiences/meals. As that will save a fortune on my going out.

On food in the autumn  I always  start making more Eastern European food as they know how to use the land, be frugal  and its super warming food - I make borscht anyway but also bigos and platzki.
i will try making a bigos in the pressure cooker and all stocks now made in the pressure cooker.

September Goals
Grocery challenge £160 + £30 in bulk (bulk total = £55.50 left after last month's £25.50 left)

NSD 16 DAYS  -  2 dd's went out today but no spending but I will be travelling and taking mum for a coffee

Invoices paid up to date

Get my hse deposit up by another £6k (loads unpaid invoices so very doable if they pay) so to £108k

Side hustle money extra £500

CV updated and get a new PT or short term contract

Do budget for Sept 

Look at my bookies on Aug profit

No alcohol unless at free event or I win an experience for Sept month

lots of comping - win Xmas gifts (won a waitrose cookery school and a private football coaching session for my nephew in Aug) 

Make £400 at MB and Happy Wheel

Get my new company PAYE sorted

Get my accts from S/E to Company organised

Do a DIY course - hopefully the free one

Do my course I paid for an hour a day

Look at other courses I might want to do for happiness and mental health

Declutter 20 mins a day 

Ebay - make £300

Get up to date with work for companies - behind due to the 16 animal/Ms Doolittle experience..

Gym 5 days a week including daily swimming

Freezer/larder  inventory and meal plan for month (my first time ever to try this - any tips welcome!)

Go on a few dates (!)

savingholmes

Lots of great goals there

LadyWithAPlan

Sept 1st

£8.44 barc h2b isa interest (always pays on 1st) so finally hit over £8k which includes over £200 of interest

£168.81 MB  + casino profit - always up and down as I do medium risk casino and £1 spins now - so bigger volatility on offers - so my £200 monthly  for my h2b isa is largely covered by the £168.81

Just moved £62.14 as unspent from Aug pots of entertainment and subs- into van isa and PB £25. I will leave the rest

Not heard from Agent Million as yet for Sept but I am hopeful.

Back in London just - woohoo exhausted but happy to be home. I have a lot of apples with me - yet to unpack... 
I did listen to over  2 hours of my paid for course on way back.

I have excess £90 cash from grocery and petty cash from last month - so I am  using that as the start of my Sep £160 grocery challenge + additional £30 bulk - happy to see coffee here from last months bulk spending  

I have not done my  Sep budget forms as yet as I have not been paid any more. I will do it tomorrow and I had kept over £1k back in my bank to cover plus my £1k EF

When I get paid I need to apportion money, put money in Sipp, tax worked out and up both savings and the EF - I need a £1k float in my current acct it seems to smooth these invoices.

TT 14p

NSD 0/16 Wed

I spent today
- dds including rent and  an annual subscription - for over £170 - i had in my dues pot £110 already so will have used £60 from sept budget for that.
- nearly £20 on cab but so much heavy luggage . Plus £2.40 bus earlier.
- Also coffee for myself and mum £5.60 - she has 2 x  25% off caffe nero voucher daily cos of compare the meerkat - so we saved over £1.50 there.
I took that out of my entertainment spend - plus sweets £1 for train.

Hse deposit £101,995.15 01/09/2022
EF £1k/£15k
Hse fees £2000/£15,000 - h2b 25% so extra £50 once DD gone out for the £200. 

ARGH - I have just realised I only get this extra  h2b  if my house price is up to £450k in London - I thought it was £500k limit - so that may change my plans unless house prices come down... as pretty low interest on this money.. hmmm
I do know if my London flat is more than 500k I lose my FTB stamp duty exemption on the initial £300k ... 

savingholmes said:

Lots of great goals there

Now to complete them

Suffolk_lass

There is of course a balance between having the property at the today price and paying slightly more interest on that, and postponing the purchase only for London prices to continue to grow.

I don't know what it does to your other finance (H2B ISA, eg) but you could consider buying a (slightly cheaper) house in the suburbs and let it out and carry on living in your low rent flat in London. Just thinking that with inflation, that interest rate you mention won't be very sticky unless you have a fix for it

LadyWithAPlan

Suffolk_lass said:

There is of course a balance between having the property at the today price and paying slightly more interest on that, and postponing the purchase only for London prices to continue to grow.

I don't know what it does to your other finance (H2B ISA, eg) but you could consider buying a (slightly cheaper) house in the suburbs and let it out and carry on living in your low rent flat in London. Just thinking that with inflation, that interest rate you mention won't be very sticky unless you have a fix for it

Indeed, if only I had a crystal ball I put a couple offers in last autumn when offered rates were 1.64% - grrr - but with this shocking lack of paid up invoices it obviously was not meant to be. The flat also needed 10's of thousands of upgrade work.

Part of me is thinking just go for it hardcore on income and savings as I could make more than I do now .. and see where I am at next summer or even summer after as if my rent stays low and I work FT I can and indeed have been massively outsaving house price increases.  Its just I will have to go find a new contract job but I can get a very high day rate so all about me getting CV updated.

Plus I am getting a very good annual interest on about 50% of my house deposit as part of an investment. Friends are thinking london house prices will not be shooting up and maybe a correction - the world is having economy/GDP issues   including  China (with their potential property crash issues with their govt decisions on new builds funding etc)  

A real wild dream would be to save and work hard for 3+ years - as I should be able to stay here for that long and get a (wildly optimistic) 300k+ deposit and buy cash - maybe an auction flat a bit further out. Massive potentially ridiculous idea but one never knows in my lines of work and where I focus I do win. I just need to think what I am prepared to sacrifice for and for how long.

I have never bought a flat so not sure I want BTL responsibility unless I paid cash for it with other bills such as rent to come out - so once I hit a £150k deposit I may look at a small outside London flat for BTL for cash.

Happy Friday all - a slow start today as finally back home after 3 weeks and I could not sleep so I was unpacking my case at 4am ..

No more Ms Doolittle! I did get some nice earrings and a handbag made of cork. Plus an asked for bottle of pink champagne that I left there as we didnt drink it

Hse deposit £102,000 again  
I got there last month but my s&s isa (£20k) is up and down so I have just added £4.73 plus the 12p interest  from Marc**
I got to colour in 4 x  £500 squares on my house deposit savings fund so I had to hit the £102,000 round number .
Next target £105k once I get some invoices (plural) paid - chasing today

Free Money £35
I do Holla**&Barr*** subscribe and save - so I get every 5th item free - so just been sent a free huge vegan protein pack - so I have enough in now for next 3 months - I add it to cakes to make them healthier/higher in protein and also to DF yogurt and fresh fruit or frozen blueberries for a protein heavy delicious snack.
- They £35 each so

TT  £1.03

NSD - I was thinking of buying food for home today as been away but I may wait til I have meal planned and there is stuff in freezer for next week to be honest!. 
Currently 0/16 as of yesterday NSDs. 

Sweets/crisps
I have moved £1 from my 'fun money' pot for my travelling sweets yesterday - I don't want to add sweets and crisps to my grocery pot this month - so I will track it as a different cost.
Reading  the very wise Jackie 0 on the Frugal challenge 22 thread she spoke about never buying crisps as her mum had once cut a tiny piece of potato to show her brother what he had paid for in his pack of crisps
Crisps is my ultimate downfall - I may try making them in my halogen! I have found this recipe - now just need to try to cut them fine
https://www.eatthelove.com/how-to-make-potato-chips/


Food
Anyone had a go at making spicy mayo? I love the Nandos Perinaise one but its expensive for a small amount and I figure its probably mayo with spices ...

Just took a turkey and mung bean chilli mix out the freezer from a pre-batch. I am trying to not buy food til I have done inventory and meal planned.
I think I may have become sensitive to pulses - so I am going to see how I feel after. I love cooking and eating dal so really dont want to have to cut pulses out - some family members have  had to.

I have a Low Fodmap book to read I have borrowed but really dont want to know I am allergic to things I love, like tomatoes and onions as much of my family are. Being GF is one thing - and I am definitely Dairy sensitive as I produce a lot of mucus but I am prepared to work around that - but no onions !!
I am thinking of stopping my DF milk unless I get a great offer - its getting expensive and I can get through a carton in 2 days with lattes..

Aims today
Unpack and reset up from trip - largely done
Make lounge look restful again
Give all plants a bath - 
Decluttering 3 things today
Sept budget - personal
Invoice clients
Work client a - 2 hrs
Work client b - 2 hours
work client c - 4 hours
Gym and swim this eve
Whiteboard my Sept todos
Wash  and vacuum floors as been away for 3 weeks.
Clean fridge as empty before refilling!
Freezer and larder inventory
Follow flylady thread so do boudoir today 30 mins
Meal plan for Sept before shopping!
Brought back some chicken wings which I had yesterday - will make a soup from bones and rest of meat - will add what veg I do have into it 
Deal with few bits receipts
Do course for 30 mins 
Organise seeing a film for national cinema day tomorrow - only £3 a ticket - maybe Elvis and 300 years of longing

I read somewhere on here about why we are paying supermarkets to stock their food - and it really struck a chord with me. So I have started to really look at what I buy and going to get strict on buying for my meal planning - which I have never done before only batch cooking - unless things are hugely reduced in terms of meat and veg I use a lot of I am not buying it.
I am aiming for £160 GC spend this month plus I have a bulk fund - but I can see on Grocery Challenge and Frugal threads I can do much better. I am in London but largely working from home and I can cook well.

I need no fruit as I must have 50 apples which I need to puree half at least. May  try doing that in the pressure cooker as well.
I saw a guide on energy cost and the electric oven and hobs are high.


My mum is having a mare with BT - she is/was on a deal and they still over charging her - and they changed dates of contract - she just spotted it - and she asked re help and they said there is none - yet I have just found she is eligible for the BT home essentials help !! I have told her to get on Resolver and complain and also get back on with BT  and say she wants the BT essentials help.
She is luckily very astute but it shows how these big companies are really not there to help the consumer - just to make money.

LadyWithAPlan

So today was not a NSD as I got a notification from Vodfone app and bought for p+p only some succulents - did I need them? No, but there was an hour to claim the code. It is only £3.99 p+p  (I looked they were 14.99 for the plants normally) and I will pot them in a fabulous semi circular pot I have but a bit annoying to ruin my NSD. I may then gift them  or take from my home or treat pot. I paid it from my paypal where my quidco/TCB  money went.


I am exhausted today - managed to do a few bits but think I just need to be patient with myself plus I did not sleep til gone 4am last night.
Did not get to gym - I will go in morning.
I have largely unpacked, changed bed and looking at Flylady thread on here decided to follow and do 30 mins in my boudoir - then 20 mins in study. Plants all had a shower.
I made stock  and pressure cooked some saggy beetroot  so will assemble soup tomorrow
The turkey mung bean chilli i defrosted I had with peas and was lovely.
I managed to get some work done but not all.

Decluttering
I feel like my home is too stuffed with things! I guess I was away without much stuff and I did not need it. Everywhere I turn its feels argh apart from my lounge.

I have decluttered 2 things into a bag - I am trying the declutter 1 thing on 1st, 2 things on 2nd, 3 things on 3rd day of month. Plus sorted lots of papers out.
Day 2/2
Howevr I need to sell some stuff on ebay or get out of house. Or just throw it all out or give to CS but is that being wasteful instead as I could make some cash from some of it. 

savingholmes

I look forward to reading about your house decluttering. Just see it as another way that you are preparing for your eventual move. All that money you save by not having to move it later.

themadvix

 Good luck with the decluttering. Don’t forget Freegle/Freecycle/Olio for things that might not sell/be charity shoppable but aren’t ready for landfill/recycling yet. And FB marketplace for those bits that are too awkward for eBay.