The final countdown to June 2026

HotDog2020

carboot_karaoke said:

l have just made our main October payment, of £1999 so our new balance is £68,000  

£5000 left to reach 2024 target. Its going to be tight  because we're also trying get money together to decorate the kids bedrooms, if need be I'd rather miss the target and see them happy.

Going to list as much as possible on vinted and ebay to hopefully claw some of the money back.  

That is a hell of a chunk towards the Mortgage well done, you are really nailing it...Good luck on your e sales.

carboot_karaoke

Evening all,  well that month just flew 😳 past. 

Although I haven't posted in a while, l have tried to keep on track. 

The £50 credit from my energy provider has been greatly received.

Sold a few bits on Vinted, I'm not making a lot of money, but I'm grateful for the space it creates. Speaking of decluttering, I also decorated my children's rooms (finishing touches left to do), which prompted a "tip run," good for the soul 😆. 

In financial news, l have just made our monthly regular payment plus overpayment that makes a total of £2500. Our new mortgage total is £65,500 . 

Although I know for a lot of people that's a small balance, I can't wait for it to be zero. There is some uncertainty about my work situation (current business owners are thinking about selling up and retiring). I'm the highest earner so losing my job would have a big impact. I need to update my CV and maybe look at some courses l could do in the new year.  

CK x 

carboot_karaoke

Evening All,

Well another month has flown by, cant believe its nearly 2025 !!

Since my last post not much has changed, l guess consistency is the key.  l managed to make another £78 from sales on Vinted which I've added into the kids fund. Then l brought new football boots and a coat which came to £61.55, so kind of broke even.

I have just made the last overpayment to the mortgage, for the year, so our new total drum roll please ...£63,000

Really happy with this progress.

beanielou

Well done 

carboot_karaoke

Evening everyone,

I have been enjoying a lazy day, before returning to work.

The Xmas break has given me a chance to plan for the future. And set priorities, financial and otherwise. 

This year the aim is to reduce our mortgage balance by £28,000 that's more than my annual gross salary 😳.

I know it will be tough, but l also know it's the best opportunity I have to get a big chunk paid.  Things can and do change quickly.  Everyone at home is working atm, and the property has tenants for another 6 months.  Income wise, this is as good as it gets.  

In preparation, I've set aside some money that's divided into a kids' pot, food spend & utility bill float,  car insurance & mot, rental property emergency fund and our own Emergency fund. With the planned overpayments this year there won't be funds to save the equivalent for 2026.

I'm currently waiting for the new water rates and council tax bills to come and other utilities to amend the monthly costs budget. I hope we can absorb the rises or I'll have to use the emergency fund.

I would like to find ways to make extra cash, I've never really got anywhere with surveys. Vinted sales continue to come through l sold another 3 items in the last few days. It's not much but will cover a trip to McDonald's for the kids. 

Experience has taught me it's important to have nice things to do, all saving and no spending can get miserable.  We have a £2000 holiday fund, and we've booked two UK self-catering holidays costing a total of £932.20. The remaining money will cover petrol and food. 

We also joined the National trust last year so plan to make good use of it for days out and free parking. 

To keep morale up I'm going to continue with the monthly grocery challenge it's been really helpful and reduced my spend on food.  I have also joined the MFW 2025 Challenge for a bit of company on the journey 😊. 

CK 


 

carboot_karaoke

Afternoon all,

I'm still alive  although l haven't posted in a while l am still committed to the journey.

Between Jan/Feb we managed £6200 in over-payments bringing our new mortgage total to £56,800.

Hoping for another big payment in March, before slowing down a bit to cover school holidays in April/May.

I've raised a bit of money by selling things on Vinted. I want to investigate surveys (l notice a lot of people mention them). I am looking for other ways to raise money either to overpay or towards a treat.

In the meanwhile, the Grocery Challenge is keeping my food spend on track. Just waiting for the house insurance renewal quotation, and the council tax and water rates new bills to arrive.

Have a good day 

carboot_karaoke

Evening all, 

Its been a lovely sunny week here.

We took advantage of our National trust membership for a cheap day out. I brought some extra treats, and the kids didn't say a word as walked past the restaurant, full of yummy cakes.

I did buy them an ice cream 🍦 from the local supermarket on the way home, saving £8 compared to the ones on sale there.

Grocery shopping has been a bit " spendy " this week, I brought the treats for the day trip (still cheaper than eating out) and a lot of meat but l will need to rein things in now to avoid over spending.

Speaking of which, my house insurance renewal came through +£400 for the year. l will do a comparison but since we have a mostly flat roof I'm limited for options. Thankfully l do have the money saved in the "insurance pot"

Water bill followed...a whooping 20% increase 😱 l had to double check. Its never gone up that much before !!

I'm expecting a 8% increase in my council tax, so overall another £35 ish extra to find each month.

Our income hasn't increased so, for now l'm going to reduce our grocery budget to cover the cost. We've been comfortably underbudget for Jan & Feb

Still haven't looked into market research to raise money but, l did look into some short courses to help me in my current job role that l could add onto my CV if/when l need to look for another job.

I mentioned them to my boss and there happy to pay for them. Just need to work out when ill have time to complete them !!

carboot_karaoke

Afternoon all, 

I have had a very lazy day resting up at home.

I've been feeling unwell the last few weeks and its beginning to get to me.
l had been going to the gym regularly, eating better and l felt my mojo was returning, l feel like I've taken several steps back🙄 . Lack of sleep (up at night coughing) is leading to tiredness, low energy and I'm turning to high sugar, comfort food to get through. 

Need to re focus - get some sleep !! and get back on track.

On the moneysaving front today l ...

Went through my receipts for the rental property. I entered all our actual spending onto a spreadsheet while we were renovating, but l need to group into the relevant categories for HMRC i.e. ground rent, rates, utilities. Made a list of things l need to print off, like online orders and statements from the letting agency. So half a job done but at least its started. 

I also booked an appointment  for the engineer to go out and renew the gas safe certificate (not money saving, but still important). The existing tenancy finishes at the end of June, l wish l knew what they plan to do, stay or leave? we should find out in May.

I did a home insurance comparison but to be honest there wasn't a big difference between the quotes and our renewal. I still called up and asked for a discount. The result is £35 cashback to be given 60 days after the renewal 😊

I have also recommended another friend to Octopus, so if that goes through another £50 will be credited into our account. 

I also emailed my Gym to request a £5 refund when l changed packages but they still took the original amount out - it all adds up 😄

have a good day. 

CK

carboot_karaoke

Afternoon, 

Had a bit of reality check trying on a few things yesterday and discovered I'm the heaviest I've been for +40 years excluding pregnancies.😲 Not V happy. 
 
I'm still not 100% but decided to push myself and go the the gym this morning, l feel good for making the effort although, l could tell I hadn't been in a while.

l also treated myself, ordering some new M&S underwear/ shapewear hope it fits. Aiming to give myself a manicure later today it makes my nails look better and stops the snacking wet nails and crisps don't work 😅 before getting an early night.  

Despite the little splurge, it's been another NSD because l used gift vouchers to pay for the underwear. Doing the manicure myself will save money, too.

Right, I'd better go and make dinner. 

CK 

carboot_karaoke

Evening all,

A quick update, today has been another NSD. I've spent most of the day at work and brought lunch from home. 

l was up at 5am  to go to the gym before work so l should sleep like a baby tonight.

On the MS front l switched my sim only deal from £10 a month to the 80p one recommended by MSE. That's a £95 saving across the year even allowing for the price increase after the introductory offer. Told Mr CK and he's going to do the same with his phone contract.