Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

CathT

Congratulations on achieving mortgage freedom, you've made some mammoth payments this year to reach your goal. 

newgirly

Thank Jessy, Cath and GG 😊

I might stick something on the Im mortgage free now thread! 

It ended up being a busy weekend, had to post some parcels so as usual parked on best friends drive (parking in our town is actual theft!) so she came with me and we stopped for a coffee as we do 😆 then lunch at the local country park with a couple of friends one of whom I’ve not seen for years as she moved to Devon, don’t really keep in touch to be honest but it was nice to see her. Had a sandwich so nice I ended up back there Sunday with dd, gave her a call in the morning and she was due in London for work in the afternoon but her local station was shut, so a good excuse to insist on getting her, taking her for a quick lunch then dropping her at our station 😁 so no clothes sorting done yet for holiday. 

More parcels to go back though as I ordered some summer sandals, I want (preferably not hideous) comfy summer sandals for walking long distances, it seems that’s a rare thing 😆 will have a look today at the shops when I take mum and have some sk£chers coming today to try, don’t want to spend a lot either really. 

I seem to have got a bit lax with the spending lately, not organised with the food shopping and budget especially. Time to start being a bit more frugal in the day to day management. After we get the next couple of months done (we need that money to clear a backlog) I will hopefully have a budget set once we know where dh is working! We had a chat last night as I want to push dh for what his priorities are, he’s happy to move and to go away but also wants to just enjoy having more money, but also to retire asap, so I’m not sure I’m any further on with what he wants more really 🤔 

I’ve watched a few of frug@l queens you tube videos in France recently (used to read her blog years ago) about setting a budget for the longer term as it’s something we have really just not done while paying the mortgage off , except for Xmas/car ins type savings pots. But never really saving large amounts for “what ifs” or a new car for example. I Think that would be quite something to be so organised and have a decent amount of money as a buffer if the rents not paid in the future. So in the shorter term after the next few months it will likely be wages from his job, then medium term probably wages and rent , then longer term when we are sorted and if the rent is enough then just that to live on until state pension kicks in. 

So I guess it will be a case of do a budget with just wages making minimum payments or not much above for the 0% ccs , plus try to pay towards the trips we have booked for next year. If the rent comes in then hammer the cc’s and trips and then start a longer term savings plan. 

I’m also wondering about everybody’s grocery budget if I can be so nosey? We are currently at about £450 pm for four adults and often having boring fairly cheap meals 😆 how much do you spend for just two? It will be one veggie and one meat eater who doesn’t eat lunch or breakfast but has a meal for four at night basically 🤣 no alcohol really either as he doesn’t drink much and will pop out round the corner and buy if he does fancy a beer, so alcohol is just occasional and more for if ds1 or dd come over, many thanks 😊

Greying_Pilgrim

Dearest *shiny newly paid off mortgage* newgirly 😁

If it's any help, our monthly grocery budget (irrespective of month length or what's going on) is £300 (as long as I'm not doing a daft "challenge myself" - which I currently am).

This £300 is for food and food-like substances for 2 adults and a primary age child.  We are a veggie household.  I do include alcohol in that £300, relatively modest, usually no more than a bottle of 'plonk' and a pack of low alcohol beer (2% abv) - so nominally £8 pw?  I don't buy non-food household things in that £300, that has a separate £50 budget - so, soap, loo paper, toothpaste, fabric washing powder etc etc comes from that.  

I think we eat ok, but we are definitely in camp "frugal meals", with some repetition and sometimes our meals could be described as 'boring'.  We don't do takeaways, and I think "never" eating outside the house (picnics excepted) is becoming our norm ☹️

I think if it was just me and DH we would be 'slightly' cheaper, but not by much - given rising grocery prices.  I think we all have to consider how many meals that is covering - for 2 it's 180, 3 it's 270.  I realise it's cheaper cooking in bulk, but even so, with price rises, you couldn't eat in a cafe for 180 meals for £300, I don't think. I do think I try harder to include more fruit with LG in the mix.  

Greying X

themadvix

We have a budget of £300 for two of us. That includes some household bits, but not toilet paper (because it comes on subscription direct from the company). We usually under spend by £50-70 - unless cooking for visitors. It will be less in the summer hopefully as allotment kicks in - I've only been measuring properly since January. That's mostly vegetarian (some fish, meat only when we have guests) and the vast majority is organic. We do eat out though maybe once/fortnight on average? Very rarely have a takeaway these days. (Neither of these come out of the grocery budget.) And Mr MV sometimes gets fed at work/buys lunch (max once per week, I'd say) - which doesn't come out of my budget.

lulabelle1

Congrats on being mortgage free!!

We're a family of 4; 3 adults and a 15 year old that eats more than the rest of us out together.. our budget is 150 per week for Supermarket spends, so that's everything, including packed lunches, snacks, toiletries, cleaning products etc. We very rarely eat out or have a take away and a have a proper cooked family meal most evenings. Some months we may spend a bit less, some a bit more, but 150 p/w is my guide when budget planning. 

South_coast

NG, I think you need to update your signature....😀😀😀

Jessy103

We're a one veggie, one meat eater (but mainly eats veggie) household and £300 a month is our budget too. This is food and household stuff (cleaning bits and toiletries) and then the odd takeaway or cafe trip x

newgirly

Ok thank you everyone that’s very helpful! Maybe around £300 ish then, I’m thinking we can eat better than we do now on that, it’s quite low for four of us at £450 ish. It’s like all new spending will be, we can afford more soon but there’s no need to waste money and we will be on less again if dh retires early 😊

We think dh has a meeting with bosses right hand man next week, they have spoken on the phone and he asked what time his meeting was to be, only to be told that the meeting is a joint one with everyone  to to discuss the move 😳 dh insisted he needs a meeting to talk about his employment as the others had their offer months ago, this question was basically not answered, but the guy is coming in person apparently, it’s all so strange, I know however  that dh will have something to say!

Some good news is we have a viewing for the factory on Tuesday, it’s in a horrendous state really, but will be stripped and redecorated once they are gone, there’s no price in the advert so I assume they asked before booking?! I need to go in with a mask and soak the bathroom/kitchen with bleach , it’s that bad 😩 put it this way when I visit I take my own coffee in a travel mug 😆 

Not much else to report this week, went to the gym on my own as best friend is away, bought some Easter eggs for the kids/partners etc, wow they have got dearer! The best I found was the £6 ones for £4 on tesc@ express with a fairly good range so I can choose what they like. 

newgirly

Exhausted today, I’ve an early appointment at hospital then a quick shop at Aldi as I park there so need a receipt incase they see me crossing to go to the hospital 😆 lots of parcels returned yesterday at the post office, one for the second time as the post office sent it to the return address ie. Mine 😩 so back it goes, it was a 2 pairs of trousers from pe@cocks and apparently you can’t return for a refund instore and have to pay postage charges, so that would put me off online shopping again there. I’ve also returned the bangle dh got for my birthday as it’s too small, such a great company, they give 90 days return for handmade jewellery, they have a real store in Warwickshire id like to visit one day, it’s family run and they make it all. 

Anyway, I’m skipping the gym today as I’m still pretty achey from Tuesday 😳 must have overdone it as best friend wasn’t there to distract me talking! So a day of hospital, visiting the factory for a quick hello, then cleaning the house and possibly starting to pack for the non-clothes bits for holiday, I feel like that will take half the space up 😆 

Nervous cat has the squits again, it’s been getting worse for a while so i’ve ordered some tests online, last time the vest charged over £100 for just the test and they sell them on am@zon as it’s a common infection. Life is not easy with this cat, she’s a super sweet girl but has tummy issues a lot of the time, she is the most nervous cat we have ever had, she comes over for affection but often runs away half way through stoking her, we have had her for two and a half years and she’s I think about 4 & 1/2, she’s so much happier than she was when she arrived but I doubt she will get any more confident now, although our house is always busy, it’s pretty quiet and everyone is very gentle with her. 

 

Time to get going then 😬

newgirly

Oh dear I’ve just checked the accounts, it’s been a whirlwind of buying sandals and sending them back as they don’t fit, plus a couple of pairs of linen trousers for the trip as my old ones seem to have er, shrunk 😒 Somehow I’ve still got a nice personal spending pot which currently stands at £125.05, in less good news though the grocery spending budget is via cc so needs to be reduced to £400 this month as I’ve decided that’s what we will budget going forwards, It should be plenty and I’ll take the cats food from that too, if there’s a surplus we can go out for breakfast or something with it. Anyway this month we are at £342.78 spent /£400, this is pretty bad 😩

I have put a few non food items on there, like a new covered cat litter tray today plus other bits and bobs, Easter eggs, fancy birthday wrap etc. so it’s made it way worse and I will have to cough up some personal spending money to help out. The good news is we are away from 24th, so that will trim it down a bit, however there is still a large gap to plug. So from now until we go away I shall be trying to not go over the budget and while we are away I will just leave them a bit of money, perhaps from the personal spends or even maybe vinted if I get organised. How close can I get to spending just £57.22 in a couple of weeks?! My guess is not that close, so I’m praying for some tcb money I’ve been chasing up to pay out and need to get listing clothes!