Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

newgirly

She usually just freezes with fear and she did when at the vets this time too, it was the first time freaking out. Other cat and her are still hissing at each other so will have problems when she goes back again I guess 😩

Hi Ed, I think she may have ended up inside out if I did that 🤣

newgirly

Last night I posted a long list of our cc debts and costs due for holidays until the end of 2026 and then deleted it as I’m so embarrassed by how high it is 🙄 small mortgage territory basically! 

Without the detail it’s £27,315 😱 if we add DGD to our 30th anniversary cruise next year (Aunt is cancelling her cabin so we could book at original lower price as it’s shot up since, I’ve not asked DGD yet and she’s probably at uni) that’s worse case scenario. 

If we rent the factory it’s achievable, dh is going to pay out about £1k a month while it’s not rented for the next few months but that will soon stop. I’ve calculated that he will earn £2260 a month self employed after tax, in and putting away 8 weeks worth of pay to cover holidays or sickness.

The run down is currently looking like this : 

£32.99  Gym

£1.15 Mobile (rising to £4.88 in 6 months) 

£11.45 pre pay prescription 

£19.99 cinema pass - clinging on to this as our only form of entertainment really! 

£193 council tax

£15 tv licence 

£22.13 life ins. 

£55 water 

£213.44 gas electric - they will reassess in three months 

£49.99 tv and multi room / Netflix for us and the kids too (they pay for Spotify/Disney as a swap 😆) 

£17.99 broadband 

£200 Xmas and birthdays 

£75 car ins /tax/ mot/ home ins 

£50 heart check up privately every 18 months 

£30 vet savings 

£40 dentist -NHS but I also I have to have the hygienist every three months as can affect heart

£125 dh 

£125 myself 

£350 groceries 

£38.09 leeway which will go on food no doubt 😆



Total :£1665.22 

Also we have the minimum payments for the 0% ccs that are currently £53 and £125, I’ve not added those in as debts and holidays come out of the rest.

To still go on every trip booked, clear the 10k in ccs and not borrow anymore to do this we need to find £27,315, which is £1606.76 pm. We would be close to this if we could stick to it and dh continued to pay out money but if it doesn’t rent out  it will stop soon, so we may have to borrow to pay for the family trip. I’m not sure I would cancel unless we really couldn’t afford to pay it off, we cancelled so many trips when they were little as we couldn’t afford them as circumstances changed and we have only taken them away once abroad which wasn’t brilliant 😆so I’m determined we will do this one. 

I have now realised what a challenge this will be and that big family holidays won’t be something we can do going forwards, perhaps in the future the odd air bnb for a couple of nights nearby for all of us instead, but it would mean a lot to get us together (to me not them probably 😆) as it’s now very rare to see them at the same time. 

So the new challenge begins and I will be posting a monthly update as if it’s a mortgage which at this size it could be 😂

South_coast

You can do it, NG 😀! I know you'll probably ignore me, but I'm going to suggest you cut down on the Christmas/birthday budget and use the money for trips instead. If spending time together is what's important, then prioritise that. I promise you no-one will care if they sit down to Christmas dinner with last year's table decorations/didn't get new HP pyjamas this year/etc 🩷 If you could cut it in half, then £1200 would be a useful addition to the trips budget?

newgirly

I’m know it’s a lot sc 🙄 there’s ones that will drop pff
soon, two of best friends kids for example. This is the reduced version compared to earlier years 😂 kids and partners are now at £50 cash snd £50 presents which is lower than ever. Aside from the holiday booked we never really spend on them ever so I don’t feel like I can cut back. My extended family is now a £30 secret santa, but I do really get your point although I’d probably rather cut out a trip as I’d feel bad 😩 the joke is it only covers presents as food comes from the £1 a day challenge 🤦‍♀️

All other bills can’t now be cut back as I’ve just done tv ,broadband and electric is refusing to
reduce until in credit even though it should
drop now there’s just two of us, oh and we now are on a meter for water. 

Saying that I’ve overspent on food trying for £10
a day so I’ve upped the budget to £350 pm (currently on £68.45 this month) Ive been getting price matched or reduced stuff in m@s but to be frank dh has been getting some nice yellow stickered bits, I could
possibly go back basics more with my cooking. Perhaps that’s where I will start…

Thank you for the support ❤️

TallGirl

That is a fair amount but you did want to book the trips and as you say it is a one off having the whole family with you. Could the trip not count as a Christmas present for the kids and just give them a tiny token gift. I know you love shopping bit all these little bits do add up as you know. 

Is there no way you could consider getting some work or side hustle? Just to bring in a bit extra to clear the cards down more or to pay for those extras you want such as present and your trips out. Maybe also think about how you can cut down on the coffees and lunches out with friends and family. If you did work you would not be able to do as many. Definitely keep the cinema card you do use that a lot so seems worth. Hope you do not get offended but I think there are ways you can cut down or get more income. You could always use the card balance like the mortgage balance and treat it like a challenge to clear it. xx

newgirly

Hi TallGirl thanks for popping by, I’m not offended I appreciate when people give me a nudge 😆

I’d probably prefer to trim others Xmas presents rather than the kids, I may talk to dh about trimming ours 🙄 I did start to look online last night at gifts for a friend who I buy for, ended up getting a brand new sewing thing on vint@d she hopefully will like for £13.50 instead of full price £45, I’ll try make some savings with what I’m buying too and cut down that way. 

I could think about work now, but I’d rather work from home really as I do sometimes feel quite worn out but I think that’s more medication than anything else. I’m still sewing books for dh at home but I’ve no idea if that will stop completely or he will carry on once he leaves work as he’s moving his equipment and giving it to a guy he knows who will let him come and go using it from his premises. Ideally he will “retire” in a few years and work part time from there. 

Coffees I could cut down on, lunches I don’t really do it’s more toast for breakfast - this sounds like a list of excuses 🤣 but with nobody home ever now and dh never here it’s good to get out the house and sit in a coffee shop for a catch up in town, I do use my personal spending for that though although that’s what all of it goes on really.

Just drawn out the last of the vinted money £30, I’m soon off to the big yellow store to buy a curtain rail for the new front bedroom /living room, I’ve spotted one that is a double rail but I need to check it would work. You can buy a net there and hang it behind. I’m not a fan of net curtains really , downstairs has transparent white blinds with black normal blinds in front but this could work perhaps, the nets are something like £4 so it would be cheaper and we need daytime coverage as we have double deckers day and night going past. 

I spent all day glossing the room yesterday, now I can hardly move, I’ve overdone it and had to go to bed at 6pm last night 😆 still it’s getting there and on a budget too. Curtains from vinted, armchair from the regifting site, wicker chair from the regifting site, large l@ura Ashley lamp £5 from charity shop,  drawers and bookshelf vintage from granny years ago and l@ura Ashley cushions and blanket to match curtains for ch0ice outlet for about 80% off 😬 I am keen on a rug and not having much luck with that, online ike@ do a large one for £10 so I might check that out and see if it’s any good. 

Greying_Pilgrim

newgirly - in terms of the 'gifts for others', and if we use the sewing item as an example - if you normally budget (say) £50 for this friend for Xmas, now that you have this gift (that you've clearly given a great deal of thought to and time searching out), will that be "THE gift" you present to them at Xmas?  Or would you be inclined to think - in November - 'oh, I only spent £13.50 on X, I must buy more to 'make it up' to £50'?  I'm only asking, as maybe working on 'enough', may actually make some of the savings you require.  You have a gift for your friend, you've thought about it, you will have it to gift come Christmas time - that is enough.  No need for 'extras'.

Again, I sincerely hope you don't take offence at what I've written.  You're a generous soul newgirly, and I know that gift-giving is clearly something you enjoy.  Rather than cutting it out completely, may be it just needs a re-frame to 'enough'.  You've given thought to your friend's gift, and been able to get it at a good price because of your obvious skill in searching out places where good things can be got for discounts.  That is one of your strengths, so used tactically, you can still indulge your friends, without compromising your budget.  If the sewing item normally retails for £45, your chum doesn't need to know that you got it for less, they get something they need/want, and you've got joy from the hunting for the right gift and the giving of it.  

I understand the 'getting out of the house' mentality - especially as you've been used to a vibrant household previously.  Are there any ways you could do it differently?  Would a thermos cup of coffee taken out to the library or to watch a free lunchtime concert scratch the same itch?  Or is the 'chinwag' actually an important part of the deal? (chatting is frowned upon in recitals 😂)

The money needed is a large amount, but newgirly I think you're definitely one person who can budget, budget, shift figures around and budget some more! 😁 to achieve your aims.  And for sure your online friends want you to succeed and achieve all these adventures - whilst at the same time retaining your health and well-being.  

Greying X

newgirly

Hi GP, I usually set a budget per person and stick to whatever that is so if say the budget was £25 for this person I’d buy something else to top it up. The item seemed overpriced if it was £45 if that makes sense, however I may trim everybody’s this year if I can a little. I buy for three friends in total and two of them spend way more money than me that’s I do on them which makes it feel more awkward 😩 

The coffee and chat is the thing rather than the coffee GP, we do go to the gym too so it’s not all sitting supping 😬 but I might suggest a few forest walks as we haven’t done that since before my op - although the parking costs more than a cup of tea so it won’t save 🤔 but my health would appreciate it! I’ve not seen any local concerts, but I did have my first ever solo trip to the cinema the other day which was great so I’ll keep doing that, I would have this week but I’ve been decorating. Thank you for popping  by and taking the time to post 😊

daisy_1571

You know what Martin would say to that.  That's just buying for the sake of buying, no?  Once you have identified a present they will hopefully like, as long as it is within the budget, buy it and there's no need to keep spending to get it up to your £25.  Otherwise you'd be as well just giving them £25 in an envelope?   Its not about the money, its about buying something you think they'll like?

Dxx

newgirly

Yes I guess so Daisy 🤔 it’s tricky sometimes , I’ve a friend who is very generous with presents to the point where she wouldn’t stop buying
 for the kids (and therefore I was buying for hers). I said we should stop and she still carried on a few more years even when I did stop  🤷‍♀️ last year she got me a quite expensive gift (it was also quite thoughtful and personal so not flashy iyswim) and the odd thing is the family is what I would go so far as to say extremely frugal in every other way. It does make me feel a it guilty sometimes 🙄 With the kids I will count and budget so they have the same amount spent, it’s less stressful for me that way to be honest. I need to take a leaf out of ds2’s book, he messaged the whole family chat that he no longer does cards or presents and doesn’t expect any. He will though randomly get the odd thing for no reason though 😊

Went to the bootsale today in search of a very cheap coffee or side table for the new room, nothing doing table wise but I found a little sewing box table which I bought for £7 that I shall use for a side table, I’ve sanded and teak oiled it already. Old work buddy met me there too and I said I’m on the lookout for a tv that is not too ancient too and he said I can have his as he’s just upgraded! I have offered money but I know he won’t accept. This is very handy as we NEVER pay actual money for tvs, I think we once bought a small one for our bedroom but other than that they have all been hand me downs.