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I have a spreadsheet and I have a plan!

2

Comments

  • That's good news about it being paid before Xmas we won't get ours until Decembers pay. That isn't paid until the 31st Dec which is annoying. 

    Good news about the pension increase it will be worth it in the long run, just hard sometimes when you could do with extra cash now. 
    *Dad loan - £5300 - £5900
    *Virgin Credit Card - £3552.50 - £1500.00
    *Natwest - £1828.35 -£1166.00

    *Total debt - £8566.00/£10680.85*


    Savings
    *Savings - £3000/£3000
    *Emergency Fund - £500/£1000
    *Mortgage Overpayments - £21/£950


    New diary- https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6474943/the-three-cs-coffee-clothes-credit-cards/
  • Thanks @Sarahwithlove. I've managed to pay into my pension for a while but it's not looking amazing so topping it up with the pay increase will help year on year.

    My plan is to sell the house and downsize with a fair chunk of the equity in the bank which might tide me over till I properly retire. But I certainly won't have the final salary pensions my parents did.

    Another £50 off the mortage today - I'm trying to balance pots and may have just bought a couple more gig tickets so I need to budget for those. 

    Supermarket tonight and it's either Asda for Bluelight Rewards, Aldi for Monzo cashback or Sainsbury's for bonus Nectar points. Sainsbury's is the treat option. It's a throwback to lockdown! 
    Mortgage overpayments £360/2400 (November to November)
  • Final salary pensions are basically non existent now. Since 2014 you haven't been able to pay into that scheme for local government. Not sure about NHS now. 

    I think as long as you are comfortable in retirement that's what matters. 
    *Dad loan - £5300 - £5900
    *Virgin Credit Card - £3552.50 - £1500.00
    *Natwest - £1828.35 -£1166.00

    *Total debt - £8566.00/£10680.85*


    Savings
    *Savings - £3000/£3000
    *Emergency Fund - £500/£1000
    *Mortgage Overpayments - £21/£950


    New diary- https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6474943/the-three-cs-coffee-clothes-credit-cards/
  • skint_spice
    skint_spice Posts: 13,165 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Good luck changemylife, I think it becomes a bit of an obsession making overpayments or it has for me at least!
    Mortgage End Date: Apr 36/Aiming for Apr 28/Current Oct 33

    Mortgage OP 2025 £1850/10000
    Mortgage OP 2024 £7700/7000

    Mortgage balance: £42,232

    39 pay days until freedom!

    ”Do what others won’t early in life so you can do what others can’t later in life” (stolen from Gally Girl)
  • Thanks @skint_spice I am determined to keep it up. It's really shifted the way I feel about money watching little bits chipped away from that huge bill. Every little helps - just added £1.02 to the pot! 
    Mortgage overpayments £360/2400 (November to November)
  • Woke up to a notification that I had won a prize on the lottery. My visions of early retirement on Set For Life at £10,000 a month were sadly dashed when I discovered it was £30 (which is not to be sneezed at and is already in the overpayment pot).  

    Then Quidco paid out on my car insurance cashback so once that's in it'll be another £40 in the pot. The budget is looking OK for the month but there are a few meals and nights out so I'll be hanging on to the market research money I make to pay for those guilt free. 

    I seem to be doing OK remembering to transfer the cash from Monzo to Chase to get the 1% cashback when there's no Monzo offer so that will continue but I just don't spend £1500 a month after bills so will never make the best of that. 

    I think December will be a very limited overpayment month but that's OK - I've already earmarked Feb/March council tax holidays to top up overpayments. I'm also due my first Help to Save bonus of £425 in February but that's earmarked to pay off the tumble dryer (I know, I know but my house was constantly damp and freezing from drying washing and it was so depressing I caved!) 

    So on track for £220 minimum overpayment this month. And proactively balancing the books for the months ahead. 


    Mortgage overpayments £360/2400 (November to November)
  • Just hit the £200 payment mark for the month and am strangely excited for the mortgage app to catch up! 

    I'm not counting the increased direct debit - that rounds up to £700 but is factored into the budget. The rest of this month's extra cash may need to go to other things - Christmas, a private prescription and a bit of PayPal credit for the tumble dryer. But the free cash will be dropped in the pot and if it hits £100 I'll make another payment. 

    Spent an hour last night reading retirement threads then looking at houses on Rightmove with the thought of a simpler life in the future. It's unlikely to be before the end of my seven year plan but it's exciting to contemplate! 
    Mortgage overpayments £360/2400 (November to November)
  • Quietly chipping away with free cash. £4.76 from Monzo for cashback at Sainsbury's- I'm doing the Nectar points challenge too so added a bit to that.

    Asda Rewards are now up to £112 so looks like Christmas shop will be there - but we may be out to eat on Christmas Day so not 100% sure on how much we'll be buying this year. I'm trying to keep eating healthily so the crisp bill has dropped through the floor. Christmas is normally all about the cheese but I've lost 18lbs so far so would like not to fall too far off the wagon. 

    £10 cashed in from Consumer Pulse for an Argos voucher - Teen 3 wanted new fake Uggs so which were on sale so that'll be a saving, plus a bit more Quidco and Nectar points in the pot.

    I've also been transferring cash to Chase and have clocked up a few pounds on cashback - finally worked out how to use Google Wallet properly! 

    Hopefully another £50 off in the next week or so - but I need the market research cash to come in to balance the social spends. 

    I did manage a lovely night out on a fiver last night - not drinking helps the weight and the bills! 
    Mortgage overpayments £360/2400 (November to November)
  • End of a busy week at work and I'm looking forward to a night on the sofa. It's a weekend of returning stuff, tip runs and posting things off, although I do have a friend's birthday tomorrow which is just around the corner. I'll walk there and take a bottle of something out of the cupboard - I appear to be stockpiling booze and the teens appear to be helping me deal with that stockpile.

    This week has been a bit expensive, I signed up for Mounjaro two months ago and have lost 19lbs so far (only another 30-35lbs to go!) But I needed to sort out my next pen so that's taken £130+ out of the budget. I've struggled with my weight on and off for years and it's been a revelation not to live with the food noise on a daily basis. I'm making good choices and saving money on food but it's going to cost me around £2000 this year. 

    Strangely it's taken away some of the urge to impulse buy things so I wonder if it's linked to dopamine in any way. Anyway I'm eating well, saving cash on snacks and booze and I can slowly start to see the weight going. 

    Only planned spend will be a top up shop on fruit and veg - and maybe some freezer food for the kids and lunch out with a friend on Sunday if that goes ahead. I'm sure teen 3 will come up with something I have forgotten - or never knew about in the first place! 

    A couple of Vinted payments will be going into the mortgage pot this week - I've been playing with my spreadsheet and have decided to throw as much as I can at overpayments from November-October then round up to the maximum overpayment of £18000 from savings. I could wait till the end of the three year deal but I need the boost of watching the figures go down to keep me engaged and on track. Happy weekend all. 
    Mortgage overpayments £360/2400 (November to November)
  • Looks like all these small savings and cb are already rolling forward into a snowball that will get that mortgage done way before 7 years ';)

    I am actually an imposter on this MFW board as I still do not have a mortgage - just house deposit savings to grow...

    Sounds like the £2k Mounjaro cost is making you healthier and happier so worth it. I started doing EMS training workouts and it has definitely made me train, as when I pay each week it makes me turn up vs an annual gym membership. Feeling healthy and great is something worth paying for.
    DON'T BUY STUFF (from Frugalwoods)
    No seriously, just don’t buy things. 99% of our success with our savings rate is attributed to the fact that we don’t buy things... You can and should take advantage of discounts.... But at the end of the day, the only way to truly save money is to not buy stuff.    Money doesn’t walk out of your wallet on its own accord.
    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6289577/future-proofing-my-life-deposit-saving-then-mfw-journey-in-under-13-years#latest
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