Spendy Wendy to Saver Savvy

Spendywendywoo

LzzyIsGod said:

Following your progress (I'm only slightly ahead of you). Did you manage a workout? 

Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I managed a walk at lunchtime, 40 mins. I ended up helping a family member, then running some errands after work so I opted for a bath and whilst in there I started to review overpayments on mortgages and now I’m down a rabbit hole and considering how much I can chuck at my mortgage and when I can aim to be mortgage free…… I totally blame @redofromstart as it was their diary I was reading that led me to the mortgage free wannabe pages (I didn’t know they existed until today) 😂…only joking as it’s obviously my responsibility. 

Going to get up and exercise in the morning, assuming I’m going to be awake early as I’m looking to be in bed and asleep for 10pm 😀, plus I have to wash my hair tomorrow anyway as I’m on day 3 of having it on top of my head. Wish I was as motivated about exercise as I am on my DF journey lol x

redofromstart

It is a fascinating rabbit hole though, I started off with a debt free diary when I was working part time and spent most of my time and money being mum, then cleared the debts and then just planned to do the 1% and it got kind of addictive. 

Absolutely with you on if only I had the same interest in exercise. 

Spendywendywoo

Morning, Tuesday already, the weeks are flying (though it feels like it’s been January for a long while). 

Weigh in this morning sees a total loss of 7lbs this year (18 to go to my ideal weight and within a normal BMI)! Lots to be said for home made food and less alcohol! Well, that spurred me on to do quick 20 minute workout, and I will go for a walk again at lunch, if meetings allow. 

Todays plan; 
* coffee and chill until 7am
* wash and dry hair
* make DS lunch (was lazy last night)
* dishwasher put on and emptied
* one lot of washing done 
* research more re mortgage free plan (taking notes from MFW diaries and currently reading @r@rtandon27s diary from the start) 
* set together a realistic plan and confirm desired mortgage free date
* work out how to actually make an overpayment on our mortgage, it’s not as straight forward as our last provider, it seems (we are with Halifax)
* research slow cookers as ours can’t be trusted on its own (more my trust of it has the trust it has in itself lol) 
* oh and work 8 hours…busy atm so day should go fast

I think that will be all for today, anything more will be a bonus. 

Todays meals will be;
cereal
leftover stew
sausage egg and chips

All from stocks so hopefully another NSD today (I should start recording these). 

Hope everyone has a great day,
Wendy x 

Spendywendywoo

redofromstart said:

It is a fascinating rabbit hole though, I started off with a debt free diary when I was working part time and spent most of my time and money being mum, then cleared the debts and then just planned to do the 1% and it got kind of addictive. 

Absolutely with you on if only I had the same interest in exercise. 

Oh you are certainly right there. Can believe I’ve got to 40 and can only really now see the savings to be had by overpaying. We were overpaying until we started this new fixed term mortgage last year, the rate shot up from 2-4.38% so we are paying more now than we did previously which included a few hundred overpayment. I’ve worked out that we can comfortable knock a good 8-10 years off by putting in a regular overpayment so that’s what I’m going to focus on setting up . I also have half the monthly mortgage payment sat waiting for next month so I can make it a full payment and add that as an overpayment too. I thought the year ran from the start of our mortgage deal but Halifax works over a calendar year for overpayments x

Cara_

You sound very positive. 8-10 years off your mortgage would be great and it looks like the mortgage ending would be around the same time that your DS would go to uni, so if he does decide he wants to go, then you would have some money available to help him.

Re the grocery spending: you have made a good reduction in saving on takeaways / weekend activities so I wouldn't make drastic cuts to begin with, as I think with your change in mindset, it will all fall into place naturally. I spend around £60 per week (food, toiletries and cleaning products) for two which I could reduce if needed but I'm happy with the current amount.

Suffolk_lass

Yes, I echo what Cara_ said, it is worth taking it a little slower than going full on, or you will get fed up and lapse. For me, there are certain brands I don't compromise on but I also rarely pay full price for. If it is on offer, I use my stores allowance to stock up and if I run out and an offer has not come along, I buy just one or try something else, despite my preference. 

I also keep a separate treats and entertainment heading, that for me is outside my grocery challenge total. I do see why you have it in currently but in the future you might want it outside. I count it so I see if I am out of control, and I include things like cake, chocolate, ice cream, alcohol, take aways, drinks and meals out. In 2024 the total was £1152.44, so under £100 a month.

I was just going to suggest two things for your football spectator sessions. An insulated beaker or flask of coffee and a (fisherman's) charcoal hand warmer (or modern equivalent thereof) - you light the carbon stick, close the warmer and keep it in your pocket. Proper old-school, I used to have two for  skiing in Canada and some parts of Europe for on the lifts

Spendywendywoo

Thank you @Cara_ and @Suffolk_lass for your comments and suggestions, I really appreciate them. 

I have given every £ that we earn a job, this includes savings, entertainment, petrol, groceries, personal spends for all 3 of us, annual expenditure so any annual costs including an additional overpayment on the mortgage, Christmas, birthday gifts, holiday and spends, emergency fund, home maintenance, car maintenance and also date night (very important). Even when I have done that, there is money remaining so the remainder will be put towards the mortgage overpayment I want to make next month. 

The budget categories are all trial and error at the moment and if I need more in some then I can make some changes, I will leave the ones where we are spending less, for now as I am mindful that I am in a good mindset about this.  Also, being in this mindset this month will be good to see where we are spending over, even when I am being super good as clearly I have underestimated. There should be money left each month, we are just too uncontrolled atm.  I want to enjoy life, and we will, but there are so many ways I can save money without even really trying as we have been unorganised and also quite gluttonous over the years - and our bank balance and waist lines are showing that. This change can only be for the better, though I know there will be blips along the way, I'm quite a realist.

Thank you for the suggest re hand warmers, I'll look into that.  I have a hot water bottle and also a really good thermos coffee cup that I use all the time...for some reason I failed to take either with me on Sunday as I was so focused on getting extra jobs done with the extra time I had 'found' 

I just love this forum, you're so helpful, realistic and just blooming marvellous - thank you  

joedenise

I also have a savings pot for things like OTC medicines, opticians and dentist.  These things certainly add up over the year!  Glasses for example cost in the region of £300 each for DH and I, obviously if no one wears glasses it’s not something you need to think about.

Spendywendywoo

joedenise said:

I also have a savings pot for things like OTC medicines, opticians and dentist.  These things certainly add up over the year!  Glasses for example cost in the region of £300 each for DH and I, obviously if no one wears glasses it’s not something you need to think about.

Thank you @joedenise, I have recorded dentist as a monthly payment as we pay for a dental plan, which covers check ups and hygienist twice a year, I'm am waiting for some dental work (quite costly) so have a line on the annual expenditure for that, and a buffer for any other dental treatment. We're very lucky that only I need glasses but I have a strong solid pair that don't leave the bedroom as I only wear them to read at night, and I wear contacts during the day which are accounted for in the monthly costs. Prescriptions I have a pre-pay cert, due to having a chronic condition (another reason to get the mortgage paid off...) which I pay over 10 months a year so again is counted for in the monthly spends. I hadn't considered OTC meds so will add that in. 

Thank you for commenting and highlighting - I am worried that I will have forgotten something fundamental, that will really hit the motivation, so it's good to be kept aware, and reminded of these types of things

Spendywendywoo

Another great day of research and planning...

I did everything on the list as well as an hours walk (3.63 miles) after work. I wanted to walk at lunch but it was raining so I drove to the next town (circa 30 min round trip) to purchase DS some....boxers! He was saying at the weekend that they were getting a bit tight, and then declared this morning that, 'they are giving me a wedgey Mummy!' (said whilst laughing!). I have always bought them from Nutmeg in Morrisons so he has become accustomed to them, but there isn't one near us (I usually go to the one near work) but not sure I will have time to go tomorrow so drove to the next village to buy some (very productive lunch break). The whole trip took 34 minutes as I literally walked in, picked up the boxers and walked back out after paying...I didn't look at anything else so I wasn't tempted to buy. Bonus was that I have £5 on my Morrisons More card which I didn't know about, I've added that to my reminders list, which I look at everyday to remind me what I have / any discounts I'm aware of etc. 

Today has been incredibly productive in terms of looking at our currently situation and helping our future selves... so...Halifax do allow us to overpay but I have to ring, or complete a standing order (this makes me nervous). I plan on setting up a monthly overpayment of a set amount, and also pay at least one extra month a year in March.

Mortgage free debt date has been set, at the latest, as March 2043 (18 years and 2 months, as opposed to 28 years and 4 months). 

Our car finance has 10 payments left, and then we owe £12,243.60, or we can part ex but the interest rate is currently 6.9% minimum, or we can hand it back - which seems daft when we have paid so much for it so far.  The sales rep was trying to sell me another car but I think we need to be realistic and see what is in our best interests (especially with the current interest rates and situation). We do have the money in savings and investments, and there is also another 10 months to chip away at saving, so it's a case of working out what is the most sensible option.  If we do pay off the car, it is ours, it's current value is towards £20,000, and it's only 3.5 years old so we would have many years left with it, if maintained properly. 

I hope everyone has had a good day? x