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

debtfreewannabe321

This morning I offered a lift to a friend who was house viewing in the local city, she said no because she was already at the train station when she got my message. Probably good anyway, better for my petrol budget that would have been a 50 odd mile trip there and around the city and back. 
Should be a NSD today, it is windy, grey, wet outside and I can hear the wind howling down the chimney and see trees looking like they are about to snap outside the window. I don't fancy going out, and neither does the dog by the look of it. He has put himself back to bed and looks cozy and snuggled up in his jumper and on his blanket.  

I am up and dressed and have dinner sorted for later, just burgers and chips as we need to feed the kids before 7pm as they have an after school club. I will take the meter readings today or tomorrow, depending on if I can be bothered to go out in the rain  

Two days till pay day! 

debtfreewannabe321

So my bank account may be desperate for pay day but I have £100 in my emergency fund now (plus whatever was in there before!) DP has just given me £100 out of his pot of cash. Since the new year we've both made some cash selling bits here and there, a dishwasher, antique mirror, some other small bits. DP wanted to start up a small side hustle and took the cash out of that pot to do so, so that it didn't come out of our budget. He's made enough now to pay back the pot as he is in profit already
I don't really need anything up to pay day so I am putting it into the emergency fund as I would ideally like that up to £1500 as soon as possible. 

I am out tomorrow with some friends for tea and a natter so will do my monthly round up today. I have done the meter readings and input them on the website. Hopefully that will have been calculated by payday.

What we've done well this month:

* Stick to the food budget ( we are actually under which is great!)
* Sell items in the house in a bid to declutter and bring in some fresh energy
* Cut back on energy usage (although the proof will be in the pudding when the bill is produced)
* Batch cooking and meal planning
* NSDs (not sure how many we've had but it must be at least 10 which is great for us)
* Starting the OP to the mortgage even though I didn't actually make the budget until mid-way through our pay period
* Started the EF
* Opened accounts for savings (with higher interest rates than our usual savings accounts)
* Overtime for me, I have had more of it than not
* Made lots of swaps in the house for more eco friendly, animal friendly alternatives- toiletries and cleaning products 
* Made a new schedule for laundry and stuck to it for the month
* DP has made profit on his new side hustle / hobby within a month and hopefully has the potential to make regular small amounts of profit
* DP has been selected for second interview for a new job.
* I have applied for better jobs but heard nothing yet I am trying though
* Have a budget meaning we should be able to pay at least £4k easily off our mortgage this year (the amount in my signature is a dream amount to pay off and the maximum allowed to do so in a year, £4k is more realistic, anywhere in between will be amazing!)

Goals for next month (Jan-Feb):

* Stick to my new budget with food, pocket money and other spending pots
* Meal plan every week and batch cook
* Cut the electric and gas bill to £150 
* More NSDs than Jan
* Think about a purchase before impulse buying
* Have some fun - we have valentine's day and half term this month coming
* Have cash left at the end of the month in my bank account!
* Have heard about another job either for DP or for myself (both would be great!)
* Have at least £500 in the OP pots
* Have at least £350 in the emergency fund
* Have paid off one loan in full

My money will start working for ME and not the other way round  

debtfreewannabe321

END OF MONTH SIGNATURE JANUARY 2024

2024 Mortgage-free wannabe #17

Overpayment straight to mortgage - 29 / 9,953.11 (the most I am able to pay off)

Mortgage OP savings account 0 / 3000 to be paid later this year 

Mortgage balance January 1st 2024 £99224.13

Loan 1 - 0 / 768.80

Loan 2 - 0 / 2,495.34 

Emergency fund £116.37 / 1500

Toiletries & Cleaning products spend 2024 £83.48/ 250 

Food Budget - JAN 484.44/500 

Goals 2024 -  Reduce Gas & Elec to £150 per month (currently £245!), Reduce water usage to £50 per month (currently £61)

beanielou

You are doing so well. 

Be proud 😊 

ladybird1106

Fantastic results for January 🎉
Love🐞

debtfreewannabe321

Morning all, 
Thanks @beanielou & @ladybird1106
This morning I am up and dressed and ready to meet friends in about an hour. My friend is having a bit of a wobble with her mental health, so last night I sent her some meditations I recorded for free. And it was at that point I realised why I am stuck in a rubbish paid job because I give away everything in my business (I started a business and that's where it got to....I have no clue on marketing, I don't like putting myself out there and it seemed safer to hide away in a cr@ppy job sigh...) Anyway will see if she downloaded any and listened to them perhaps she can leave me some free feedback on my website then it is a good exchange  

So this morning I logged on to my gas & electric account to see if they had worked out my bill. They had, and my goal was to cut it from

£245 to £150,

well my bill for this month is *drum roll please*

£123!!!!

Totally smashed my goal!! I am so happy with that!! I totally recommend going through everything plugged in with an electric reader thing if your bill is too high, as it really opened my eyes to where we were wasting money! I actually had £20 still owing from last month that I just couldn't pay so I have to pay £143 this month but that is still under what I was hoping for. I budgeted £250 because I wasn't sure if we had made the changes quick enough in the month, plus I owed money from this month. So I will rework that extra into the budget and maybe be able to do another OP to the mortgage or the EF ...I would like to see my total for the mortgage well below £99k ..£98.3 is my goal for Jan but with some of that being offset into a savings for now I won't see that in reality on my mortgage app until I make the payment end of the year. Unsure how to document this in my signature here. I might take it off the total because I don't intend on spending elsewhere, but then if there is a real emergency....hmm.. I will have a think about that. 

Need to find my meal plan to see what is on the menu for tonight. I can't remember.
I also need to organise today what is going on with wages tomorrow (what is coming out in cash, and how much is going to what bank) The only thing I want left in both my DP account and mine is our pocket money! That way we know what we have to spend. Payday is a dangerous day when we think we are flush, then by week 3 we are like, where is the money, why don't I have enough to pay t@lk t@lk  

ladybird1106

That is a fantastic saving 
Love 🐞

beanielou

Awesome. Be proud.

ladybird1106

Sent you marmalade recipe to your messages. 
Love 🐞

killerpeaty

Amazing saving! It sounds like you've got more time now as well which will really help you along.