Buying a little piece of Middle England; Manifesting my way to mortgage free.

debtfreewannabe321

Oh I forgot to add I think I opted for the council tax to be paid over ten months so if I am right I have Feb/March as spare money- that will go straight to my emergency fund. 

killerpeaty

It's so good that you're both on the same page tree finances. It sounds like you're both really determined and making really strong inroads already!

debtfreewannabe321

killerpeaty said:

It's so good that you're both on the same page tree finances. It sounds like you're both really determined and making really strong inroads already!

Ah it really is good to be on the same page killerpeaty! It makes such a difference.

I didn't make the cottage pie yesterday, DP was under the sink most of the day fitting my new reverse osmosis filter. It is done and I hope we have used the distiller for the last time now! It was costing a small fortune. Hopefully in a couple of months the meter readings will be showing all these changes we have made. 
The water tastes amazing too compared to a normal water filter so I am very happy (the water around these parts is foul )

Today I will make the cottage pie before work. We had another quick dinner yesterday before going out to pick up a computer part so that DP could fix a broken one he has. 

I am starting work an hour early today so that is another extra hour in the pay. I have made a small start on the emergency fund, every day I go onto my banking app and round down the figure to the nearest £1 or £10 depending on how flush I feel I have around £5 in there now from doing this a few days already.

I had a quick nose at my old diaries on here on the DFW board, I was hardcore on my frugalness back then and realised I have changed my mindset somewhat since then so I hope it doesn't impact too greatly on how quickly i can make progress. This time I refuse to give up organic veg & fruit (& wine), my expensive filtered water and organic toiletries  sometimes you have to have a few luxuries to get you by. 

The next few weeks will be quite frugal as January is a 5 week month and I do NOT want to be in the overdraft like we have been the last few months come pay day. Excited for pay day so that I can start paying things down but until then enjoying each day with a new mindset. 

On a totally different note, I've been suffering with hot flushes in the night for months and it has really been getting me down. Last night we re-visited the '80s by throwing the duvet off, getting a flat sheet and a few throws and sleeping like that. I had two very mild flushes that lasted less than a minute and I was able to get straight back to sleep. Poor DP though, he was freezing his dooby chats off as he likes to say, and had to put the heating on at stupid o'clock oops, perhaps tonight we will try that again but try to have the room a bit warmer before going off to sleep, it was absolutely freezing last night! 

DD was upset last night her and my DS's had a loss on Christmas Day, their step mum passed away after a long illness the funeral is next week ( youngest DS stayed down there after Christmas as he is currently home ed so could do work down there) and I think DD was quite teary after speaking with ex yesterday. She wouldn't let me console her which makes me upset

So anyway, I need another cuppa, then tidy the house, shopping from the cupboards and fridge and freezer to make sure we have enough for my meal plans and then I need to pop to the shop for a few items like bread. I also need to do another wash as there is lots of wet tea towels and towels from where DP did the plumbing under the sink yesterday. Will try and walk the dog too as well as get the dinner pre-cooked as I work stupid shifts that take me right over dinner time and I don't get in until after 6 which is when we want to be eating not cooking. 

I do like to ramble, I think it's because I type so quickly. Sorry!

Catch up later

ladybird1106

Totally agree with your reasoning on the organic side of things, we're the same. Everything else with befrugaled within an inch of it's life before we cut those.
Love 🐞

debtfreewannabe321

ladybird1106 said:

Totally agree with your reasoning on the organic side of things, we're the same. Everything else with befrugaled within an inch of it's life before we cut those.
Love 🐞

On my DFW phase I gave up EVERY luxury aside from my toothpaste and water filter. I used to buy everything I could as cheap as possible, including fruit and veg and all I could taste was chemicals in it. No one else could mind you, just me  but this time it is one thing I won't budge on. I will cut out other non essentials first as you said 

debtfreewannabe321

Good Morning MFW board

Well today I took a meter reading, I didn't put it in to my online account because that just triggers (another) bill. And, well, I've not paid for the last one yet because I didn't have enough cash on pay day to do so!

My last bill was £250 approx, since then as I stated before I have cut out the fish pump going 24/7, my distiller is now (hopefully) obsolete, the oil heater has gone, DP tried the other smaller heater and  it actually cost even more, d'oh. So we got out the dehumidifier as that heats a room nicely as well as trapping any excess damp from the garage office and that only cost something like 4p an hour  so hopefully DP doesn't mind that one going instead. 
I also have cut a few other things like the amount of washing, tumble drying and other bits and bobs which escape my mind atm. SO anyway, we did a preliminary mock up of what our bill should look like at the end of this month and I believe I may have my £100 savings I was looking for! For 12 days we have spent approximately £51 - this is without standing charges added. So am hoping for a final monthly bill of <£150. We can dream huh considering how high the last one was!

Yesterday I made a lovely lentil and leftover veg cottage pie, I used up all the old veg that was on the turn. It is all expensive organic stuff these days so I didn't want to throw anything, but I did throw a few carrots that were mushy. Anyway I made enough for two dinners to feed four of us and I had some leftover which has gone into a smaller pot to feed DP and I when the kids are at their dad's house this weekend. I always make the mash fresh on the day but yesterday I had lots of potatoes growing arms and legs so I mashed the lot. I wasn't sure about freezing mash? Never done it before and I had a quick search on the internet and it said it was okay if you use fats like milk- I use vegan milk and butter so wasn't sure about that. I used what I normally would on the pie for yesterday and used ramakins to portion the rest. There was enough for three portions which was perfect for DP, DD and myself for today! This evening we will have that reheated with sausages and veg. I even saved the leftover gravy from last night -DD was telling me it would grow mould but I said I was willing to take the risk to save a few pence  haha. It is parent's evening today so DD will eat before she meets me at the school for our booked appointments and then we will take her home quickly before dropping her at air cadets. Her new parade shoes turned up yesterday so she has one full uniform now
There was some stale bread this morning which I would usually chuck straight in the bin, I air fryed it for a couple of minutes to dry it out totally and blended it for 30 seconds. So I have breadcrumbs now and am unsure how to store them or what to do with them  I'm sure I will figure it out.

Today I am starting early I think, I need to check. Dog has already been walked. I am already up and showered and hair washed and I slept really well last night (woop) no hot flushes. I have dinner prepped for later, dinner for tomorrow (leftover curry) and I am at a loss as to what to do with myself now. Need to have a tidy around the house really but that won't take long.

I am going to keep an eye this year on household cleaning items & toiletries- well how much I spend to be more specific. I think this is one area I am a bit lapse at right now. I am making conscious decisions and choices to be as (nasty) chemical free as possible and swap everything over to eco friendly as well as skin friendly. I have a chemical burn I am sporting on my hand right now and it hurts a lot. Not even sure how I did it, but I assume it was one of the items under my sink from when I was cleaning last week. I have already this year done a bulk order from Holland & Barret as they had a 24% off voucher and buy one get one half price on the faith in nature stuff which we like to use. So I bought what I think is enough for three months, but I will keep an eye on usage to see. I spent £46 on shampoos, conditioners, soaps, shower gels. I also signed up for a trial of SMOL, I already use their kitchen spray which I like so have washing up liquid, laundry tablets, and bathroom spray now too to try when I run out of my current stuff. Cost me £7 I have run out of my face cream and I have bought a cheaper alternative that looks as good - but I am prepared to buy the more expensive one if it doesn't work out. My skin is so sensitive and finicky. 

I think that is all I have to report today ooo aside from the fact I left 4 items in a basket online instead of impulse purchasing them!!! YAY! I am a bit of a nightmare for an impulse purchase. I will think about it and perhaps go back to them. Okay, I am off for real now.  

debtfreewannabe321

Well I have been paid today I don't expect to have much left by the end of the week though as I need to pay the gas & elec. I am tempted to put that off for a bit- well I will pay some of it, but i think I will divert some to the catalogue I have outstanding. There is a bill of approx £55 left on that and if I pay it this week I won't incur any interest so makes sense to do this and pay the rest towards gas & elec and then just pay the balance with my next pay. 

DD has parent's evening last night, wow, what an experience!
DS1 is 25 now and I recall his parent's evenings in secondary school- most were in the hall, they would always run over, you'd be late for the next appointment, some were in their classrooms so you had 2 mins to traipse across the school- nightmare but was at least spread out so you could hear yourself think. Well DD had hers and this is the first 'normal' secondary school parent's evening she has had aside from year 7. Every teacher was in the hall set up at exam type tables, spaced at maybe a metre apart. There was a "ding ding" and you raced to your teacher you had your appointment was with- well actually I stood there at first thinking eh? There was a timer up on the projector screen counting down 5 minutes - if it took you a minute to find your teacher- tough  :lol you basically got 4 minutes left, talk fast. Woooooooooooow. And I, not realising how this school did things booked them at 6, 6.10, 6.15, 6.20, 6.25  I work in the school so I finished work at a few minutes to 6  and raced to the first appointment. The second teacher was actually free at 6.05 so we ended up chatting to her for ten minutes and it was *ding ding* run!!! chat, *ding ding* run!!! chat, solidly for half hour ha. WOW. I see why other parents were booking one at 4.30, another at 4.45, another at 5, then fifteen minutes later etc. They had time to breathe, get a cuppa and biscuit, find next teacher in the sea of tables and masses of people and relax....
Yesterday I was grateful for having it all done in half hour though it was too noisy for me and I had also spent enough time in there for work as had DD for school. I was also grateful I had pre cooked half the dinner, DD had already been fed by DP and we got her home, changed and to Air Cadets (in her nice new eBay bargain shiny shoes) by 7pm! I could then eat and breathe. 
I walked 4.5 miles in my shift yesterday in three hours. I was pretty tired when I got in.
I am doing a fast today, 22 hour one. I planned to do a 24 hour one but I ended up snacking last night, oh well. 
I have soaked the rice ready for cooking later, prepped and made a salad bowl, and the curry is leftovers just to be reheated.
I need to do a meal plan for next week so that I can continue in this vein of having meals ready to reheat or basic cooking now I am back at work. It is SO helpful to DP and myself.
I have tidied the kitchen, decided there wasn't enough washing to warrant me putting the machine on, so it can wait a day or two. I will pay those bills in a minute and walk the dog as the sun is actually shining. I need to price up a new pair of trainers or boots that are comfy enough for work. I have worn my last pair to death and I am now getting leg ache from them at the end of the day and by the end of the week the pain is keeping me awake. I walk around 30 miles a week on average now so need a decent pair with an arch support. Might try reviving my Qu1dco account again too see if I can find some through there. 
Trying to plan ahead, which is what I wasn't doing before and so would get caught out every month oops, so I have a haircut booked next week to budget for. Also DD has two English trips, I am going to check she wants to do them first before paying for them though. And I need to get DS his Air cadet shoes ordered before he is home from his dads. 
Think that is it for now

debtfreewannabe321

I made a test payment to my mortgage yesterday via my banking app, just £1 to make sure I was doing it right. It's just gone on this morning! YAY I have officially started my mortgage OP Woop.
Paid the catalogue off. I was paid £35 for overtime these last two weeks so that is a little extra in the pot too

LadyWithAPlan

debtfreewannabe321 said:

I made a test payment to my mortgage yesterday via my banking app, just £1 to make sure I was doing it right. It's just gone on this morning! YAY I have officially started my mortgage OP Woop.
Paid the catalogue off. I was paid £35 for overtime these last two weeks so that is a little extra in the pot too

The Great OP’s begin - sounds like a fun game 
I am still in deposit saving mode but I must admit the idea of having a mortgage to game-ify and pay down actually sounds like real fun ! 

(I am not an actual gamer as I get obsessed with them and do nothing else so I don’t own any games or PlayStations etc ) but I think my obsession with winning against the mortgage just like  yours will be v helpful 

debtfreewannabe321

LadyWithAPlan said:

debtfreewannabe321 said:

I made a test payment to my mortgage yesterday via my banking app, just £1 to make sure I was doing it right. It's just gone on this morning! YAY I have officially started my mortgage OP Woop.
Paid the catalogue off. I was paid £35 for overtime these last two weeks so that is a little extra in the pot too

The Great OP’s begin - sounds like a fun game 
I am still in deposit saving mode but I must admit the idea of having a mortgage to game-ify and pay down actually sounds like real fun ! 

(I am not an actual gamer as I get obsessed with them and do nothing else so I don’t own any games or PlayStations etc ) but I think my obsession with winning against the mortgage just like  yours will be v helpful 

I think I get slightly obsessed too  I remember having candy crush and I needed to delete it to save my sanity of not being able to complete a level haha. 
I think it is great that my DP is on board, it does make it fun now, whereas I could never have done this with my ex, we'd have been at loggerheads. When everyone is on board it does make it slightly obsessive as to where you can save some more pennies to overpay the mortgage