Shaving off the years at Sleepy Hollow

CreditCardJunkie

carboot_karaoke said:

Hi @CreditCardJunkie I've just read your diary. Your making great progress but l warn you reducing your mortgage term can become quite addictive 

I agree with the other MS to focus on reducing your mortgage before building up the savings for your children especially with mortgage interest being so brutal at the moment.  

Your family situation reminded me of the first time we set out to be mortgage free with a young family, l admit at times l didn't get the balance between wanting to overpay, and enjoying the here and now quite right. I wished I'd been a bit more flexible. 

Now we are on the MF journey again I've set a few ground rules. I save in everyway l can that WONT negatively affect my children. for example, using comparison sites for utilities, insurances etc you can save a fortune.

Always doing a food plan cuts down on extra trips to the supermarket and food waste.

I buy good quality, new or nearly new clothing from Ebay or Vinted - no one knows.

We very rarely have takeaways - we mastered the fake away during covid. Instead we save the equivalent of a few takeaways and go out for dinner instead. No cooking and making memories at the same time   

I'm sure you'll pick up lots of tips on your journey 

Thank you so much! Just reading your signature you haven't long to go at all!

We've just shaved another month off today 🙏 feels like we're doing a lot of spending and not a lot of saving lately 🙈 We've the kids room both fully decorated now, I must admit I'm super pleased with them and they both love them! 

carboot_karaoke

Every journey has a beginning @CreditCardJunkie your making real progress for the long term benefits. But also decorating your children's rooms will bring an instant joyful reward. I think you need that to keep going. 

I'm hoping to decorate our younger children's rooms before the end of the year,  but don't currently have the money,  or time with the school holidays looming.

Our mortgage balance might be smaller than others but we're modest earners and already been paying it for 21 years It's the third time we're clearing it and hopefully the last.  

I do gain alot of motivation from all the MS and this time round decided to create a diary to keep myself focused.  I hope your diary does the same 

CreditCardJunkie

So DH has made another overpayment but I've just noticed in the app we've been charged interest twice in July? Every other month the interest is charged on 1st of the month and July is 1st and 17th?! We're nowhere near the overpayment threshold amount. Tried ringing but mortgage team aren't in until tomorrow.

CreditCardJunkie

So rang the bank and apparently it was a random security check that we shouldn't have been able to see and it's now all righted itself!

Another month shaved off the mortgage!

CreditCardJunkie

I've been so disorganised lately but we've still been making our overpayments. We've now shaved an extra 16months off our mortgage in just 6 months.

Our savings are dire. Really struggling to get these back up, I'm not really sure where the money is going to be honest, in the past we were guilt of spending a fair amount on food on the go or takeaways but it's definitely not that. I'm going to keep track of every single spend on my spreadsheet just as I did when getting out of debt, this will quickly show me where the money is going.

carboot_karaoke

You've made excellent progress 16 months shaved off already is a real achievement. 

Don't be to hard on yourself Its really hard to, save, overpay and live!!.

You've already got a good plan to identify and address overspends.

All the best.  

CreditCardJunkie

carboot_karaoke said:

You've made excellent progress 16 months shaved off already is a real achievement. 

Don't be to hard on yourself Its really hard to, save, overpay and live!!.

You've already got a good plan to identify and address overspends.

All the best.  

Thank you ❤️ yeah I think you're right. Currently we're saving much more on interest on the mortgage that what we're accruing in savings! And yeah with 2 wee ones that are always needing something. To be fair this summer was the first year we've been paying out for summer schemes and school uniform too!

CreditCardJunkie

Another 2 months shaved off the mortgage taking us up to a total of 18 months off the mortgage 🙏

Savings are still terrible 🙈 the majority of the kids christmas presents are bought though. My eldest started school in Sept and we're at birthday parties every week 🙈 I like her getting socialisation with the children but it's costing a fortune! Not sure whether to start being more selective as to which ones we go to!

We've also decorated our bedroom and finally got some lamps for our bedside tables, I'm absolutely delighted with how it's turned out. We could do with some decorative cushions and a throw for the final touches but we're holding off til we've some extra money in the bank.

I had really wanted the living room done for Christmas but it's not looking likely with the funds! It is very inoffensive so will have to make do.

LadyWithAPlan

Well done on all your OPs

 tracked all my variable spends for Oct /nov/dec on a spreadsheet and posted here - where even I had to admit I wasn’t being anywhere near as frugal as I thought 
this lead to me to using YNAB which I had resisted for years and it has taken me next level on budget, saving and knowing where my money is going plus it highlights when I am spending money against my own stated priorities 

11 months into using it I feel I am never going back - 
there is a 34 day free trial (& we both get an extra month free if you use a referral link - to then sign up - dm me if you want mine) 
I advise  watching the videos or reading the set up guide before set up as it takes a bit of clicking for some - cost is 109 dollars annually 

CreditCardJunkie

LadyWithAPlan said:

Well done on all your OPs

 tracked all my variable spends for Oct /nov/dec on a spreadsheet and posted here - where even I had to admit I wasn’t being anywhere near as frugal as I thought 
this lead to me to using YNAB which I had resisted for years and it has taken me next level on budget, saving and knowing where my money is going plus it highlights when I am spending money against my own stated priorities 

11 months into using it I feel I am never going back - 
there is a 34 day free trial (& we both get an extra month free if you use a referral link - to then sign up - dm me if you want mine) 
I advise  watching the videos or reading the set up guide before set up as it takes a bit of clicking for some - cost is 109 dollars annually 

Yes please send me the link! I'll have a nosey at your post now!

I finally got paid so have knocked another month off the mortgage 🙏