Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

South_coast

Definitely a proud Mum moment! Setting them on the right path as adults is the best gift you can give them 😀👍

themadvix

Of course you’ve had an amazing influence on them growing up! But clearly the money saving is the best bit 😁 

daisy_1571

Wow, I've taped it so will watch with special interest,  you will definitely have had all sorts of influence on them but it definitely sounds like your money chats and example has sunk in    


Daisy xxx

newgirly

Well at least something rubbed off on them I guess 😆

I’ve still not updated this months figures or shuffled money around as I’ve been busy spending 😬 I cracked open the vinted pot finally and have had a whale of a time! 

2 new cruises booked for 2026 - I know it’s very far in advance but they are movable , low deposits and it’s a waaay cheaper way of cruising! 

We are doing an Easter cruise on a small adults only ship we have been on before as well as another northern lights one on Cun@rd which we have yet to try (they cancelled the last cruise as we were loading the car due to bad weather). Both are in the cheapest of the inside cabins though so I’m going to say it’s still mse 😂

Other things I’ve spent on are : 

A new smart winter coat , it’s a lovely long berry coloured one from n@xt, I had terrible trouble finding a coat as they are all rubbish and thin nowadays ☹️ nothing suitable on vinted either, I’m happy with this one though as it will still be wearable if I lose a bit of weight.

A trip to the hygienist next week as they had a cancellation 😆

A large danish m@ileg pixy, I have wanted a pair of pixies for a couple of years now, I’ve ordered the girl version as it’s on offer this week hopefully the boy one will be soon too, I wanted something special to keep 😬

So a lot spent and still best friends birthday to pay for - this won’t be cheap as it’s a joint 50th something special which is still undecided! I need to scour the house and get listing again….

newgirly

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙MONTH 25 OF THE 33 MONTH CHALLENGE💙💙💙💙💙💙

Balance at start Oct 2022:           £61,452.11

Balance at 2nd Nov 2024:           £12,478.98 


Total since start:                           £48,473.13

Total for Oct:                                 £2458.19 


Well that’s a much better month than September 😊 £2124 is the exact overpayment I need to make each month over the £396 normal payment to finish the end of March, which I’ve managed.

The grocery budget of £1000 Oct-Dec this year aka £333.33 pm has gone over on the first month, by £40.93 so a total of £374.26 spent /£1000. I shall try and claw back to £292.40 in November if I can, xmas has a seperate savings pot though so it won’t be so tricky on that front. We have ended the month on lentil curry a few times though so I mustn’t go crazy at the start of the month with big shops, plus I must keep making bread as the bakers round the corner are thieves 😂

£1 a day savings for said Xmas pot still on track, lots of spending done this week as per the above post and now the vinted pot is about £300 😩 still it’s cleared a lot of clutter and I’m now organised with trips booked for when we are mf at the cheapest prices possible 😬

Plans for November are visiting an old friend of dh’s who has divorced and moved away for a night followed by two nights in Manchester right by the Xmas market (I’ve found £120 for a motel in the centre, so dh is paying the spending on this one, no petrol costs now woohoo!) then one night in Winchester with best friend and hubby for the market, hotel already paid for for us and them as a thank you for the sofas and mattress they gave us as well as being the most supportive friend this year and bring untold food I might fancy to hospital etc. so £165 pit by for spending as we will eat out.

Need to look into switching utilities when I get time, I should ask ds1 about this as he was on martins show this week 😆 but the heating is still off for now, it’s not been too chilly yet. 

South_coast

Cracking progress on the mortgage, NG 😀😀😀! Just think, only 4 more months to go now!

And I wouldn't beat yourself up on spending the Vinted pot. It sounds like you've made some considered purchases - and after all they didn't really cost you anything 😀

newgirly

Thanks sc, it’s five months but still feels a bit unreal after so long trying to pay if off early for so long, I’ve had a diary since 2010 and the original term would have ended in March 2026 if we hadn’t have doubled our borrowing along the way in the early days 😆 still back then we had extended to 34 years so would have had a total term of 43 years 😱 so I guess 24 won’t be so bad if I look at it like that! 

Dh is painting the staircase this weekend , I’m hiding upstairs as it’s chaos. There’s three things dh hates and its DIY, going to the tip and going in the loft (luckily we converted the loft so that’s fine now) usually I do a bodge job of most diy but I’m not up to it at the moment still, last week was the worst as he was adjusting to the fact he said he will do it finally 😆 this week it’s more unhappy acceptance. He actually started late Friday night and then left the cats wandering after he painted the primer 😳 so we now have lots of white paw prints all over the downstairs. So todays plan for me is hiding in the loft room, maybe wrapping up a few Xmas presents and perhaps watching some tv and a bit of forward financial planning to see how big a bill I’ve lumbered us with booking too many holidays 😬 

newgirly

Dh has been doing so well painting the staircase,  im not sure how it I’ll fare long term painted but probably better than carpet with
 two oriental cats whose main pleasure is clawing things 😆  it’s a bit of a pain getting up and down at the moment with a dodgy back and having to walk on every other stair though, but we are getting there! 

My new medical test kit came that I ordered, it will measure my levels on warfarin in the gaps between my hospital visits to put my mind at rest (if it drops too low I need daily injections) managed to do the finger !!!!!! test on my own which is a big achievement, I’m so squeamish, I can cope with most things but only if I don’t have to look 😬

Yesterday I also took mum out and lack of time due to the kit delivery meant no time to pop to Lidl, so I got a trolley in m@s 😱 I mean mainly due to the fact I can’t carry much at the moment, however it did make me feel quite rich 😄 I spent under £30 as it was basics like veg and and cheese, chicken thighs etc. I have to say I’ve had a fair bit of wastage from Li@l lately on the fruit and veg front with squishy onions and bruised apples, so I was quite pleased with the quality compared to Li@l  even if it was a bit dearer. Some of the prices of ready meals though were so high. They used to be treat prices for us , we don’t eat out really except when away but might have had the odd dine in deal when the kids were little on a Saturday night, but wow how things have gone up in the posh ready meal world! 

Today I’m out with mum and Aunt for Aunts birthday and we are going to a garden centre with a great little German Xmas market in it, I’ll be driving the new car for the first time, actually the second as I have to go for a hospital appointment first thing, I shall be parking at the shops further away and walking though as I’m not ready to tackle the hospital car park packed multi-storey until I’m used to it, I used to be a very confident driver but since the op I’m weirdly more nervous. It’s a lot bigger and more modern than my bashed up nineteen year old Aygo 😆 

South_coast

I don't think it's that strange to be a less confident driver since you've been ill. With everything you've gone through, you're bound to be more conscious of your own mortality. And driving someone else's car always takes so much more concentration/comes with concern. Reminds me of when I hired a car for a couple of days a few years ago and after declining all the extra insurance they wanted to sell me, the man said "Ha, good luck". I was SO paranoid I was going to damage it (despite usually driving a much bigger car and not damaging it in an average 3 days of driving)! I ended up parking it in the emptiest part of every car park and having to walk miles to it, then being alarmed when I got back and found another car parked next to it, worrying they might have dinged the door etc, not helpful!

(Then when I dropped it back, it was pouring with rain and the woman had the very briefest look at it from under her brolly and sent me on my way 🤦‍♀️!)

newgirly

Hi southcoast, what a cheek wishing you luck 😳  I’ve had so many misogynistic comments over the years about cars from salesmen it makes my blood boil! 

Well yesterday was a little stressful as first ds2 blocked me in and then went for a run, then when he got back the car wouldn’t unlock so my dad come over to drive me to hospital as I was late, then it did unlock 😆 so we went in ours then drove to hospital then dhs work to get his key, then dad fitted new batteries on both keys. The car was good to drive though and we made it to the German Xmas market ok 👍

I spent £9.99 on some Maldon brewery beer for ds1 for Xmas and £7.98 on two packs of Dutch apple cake for mum and aunt, I really wanted one too but I knew I would stuff the lot and I’m waiting for dd to deliver the winter brack from Bothams of Whitby where she visited last week 😋

Talking of which dh has agreed to take more time off this month, he’s not allowed in December, so we will tag on a few days in York after visiting a friend then driving to Manchester Xmas market next Sunday and Monday, he has taken the weds/thurs/Friday off too now. I need to do a money shuffle as it makes sense to go as we can’t go to York before Xmas now otherwise, (even though we are going for new year 😳) I love going to the Xmas market 😊 for some reason I’m pretty sure we didn’t go at Xmas last year. Plus he’s very stressed at work again, usually this means more work, but there’s been a bit of a shift this year in his views in work life balance - I should hope so 😆 

So a shuffle somehow needs to be done, dh is broke at the moment and a little stressed about the paying for the car and wanted to pay off the finance as quickly as possible, plus he’s emptied the business account so it all needs working out, I’ve said let’s just take it out of the offset but he’s said no leave the mortgage to clear. So I think it needs a good looking at. I’ll also need to send him some money as he had to have a new tyre as he drove over a nail from the staircase after loading up to go to the tip -£80 😩