misstara's mortgage free diary

misstara

Woke up really early this morning so thought I'd update my much neglected diary.

I've been off on holiday for the last week so have had a nice time hanging out with OH at the allotment, meeting up with various friends and we went down to Glasgow for a night.  Fairly low spends as meeting with friends consisted of either going for a walk or a coffee.  OH paid for the hotel in Glasgow and I paid for meals and the petrol.  Lovely to be off especially since it was a tough few weeks at work before I left - someone new has started and I'm really struggling to get on with them.  Usually I can get on with anyone but we have very very different personalities/approaches and it's been hard going.  Hoping I will go back refreshed after my holiday and things will seem better.

Mortgage overpayment account now has £15.15 in it so slowly making my way to the next £50 overpayment.

Got my payslip a few days ago so need to make a budget.

Plan for today is an overtime shift at work and get a food shop.

misstara

£19.75 spent on food yesterday.  On a long shift today and have got all my meals with me so it will be a NSD.

_Dolly_Rocker_

Hello you!

Congratulations on the house! You're smashing the OP already. 

I'm gonna try my best to start chipping away at mine from September.

misstara

Thanks Dolly

Yesterday I spent £8.20 on some cleaning supplies.  Today should be a NSD.

On a late shift today so going to head over to the allotment for a couple of hours this morning before work.

_Dolly_Rocker_

Oh fab! There's a community garden near me which I thought about heading up to for a bit but honestly I don't have enough hours in the day. 

Think they still let you go up for some fresh fruit and vegetables though. 

They also sell jam and honey.

misstara

Community garden sounds lovely dolly.  We took on the allotment about 6 months ago and both really enjoy spending time there.  It's a great feeling eating a meal that's made up of produce we've grown

Payday yesterday although still haven't done my budget for September so must do that over the weekend.

Had a day off yesterday so treated OH to some breakfast out (£23) and then we went a long walk along one of the local beaches.

Allotment this morning and then late shift, it's been a NSD.

Double shift tomorrow so should be another NSD.

misstara

Budget for September has been done
- £100 emergency fund
- £12.99 overpayment to mortgage (rounding up usual payment to £700)
- £300 roof savings
- £100 Christmas
- £50 holiday 

Roof savings would have been more but got someone in to do a full strip-down service on the boiler which was £177.  Happy that's done as no idea when it was last serviced and at least I know all is fine and we'll be cosy during winter.

Have over £1000 saved in the car fund which should hopefully cover insurance renewal and MOT in November.

YNAB renewal is coming up, so expensive but it does keep me on track and I put aside money each month to cover it.  Maybe need to look at a cheaper/free alternative for future though.

Made a £50 mortgage overpayment this morning through a mixture of cashback and surveys earnings

Better go and get ready for work - it's supposed to be my weekend off but I did a shift swap.  Really not in the mood but at least I'll be off next Saturday instead.

edinburgher

I stopped using YNAB for a while and went back to my own (relatively complicated) spreadsheet. I lost track again and went back to YNAB after about a year? It is the only app I pay for aside from entertainment apps for music and TV.

misstara

Thanks ed - I probably wouldn't remember to keep a spreadsheet updated and completely lose track.  I like with the YNAB app, I can quickly input spends as I go (although don't always mind to do that either )

Spends since I last posted are £37.65 on food, £17.98 on washing powder/toilet rolls, £14.50 on toiletries and £28.32 on the dentist.

£1.07 into mortgage overpayment account from ch@se cashback.

Day off yesterday so allotment in the morning, dentist in the afternoon.  Made a lovely blackcurrant cheesecake using blackcurrants from the allotment.

_Dolly_Rocker_

Oh that sounds delish. 

I spotted a community garden when I was out with the dogs a couple weeks ago and me and my pal went up there on Saturday. Got apples, raspberries, plums, chillies, peppers, courgettes! She was the happiest person ever. 

Got the call yesterday to pop in and she had made homemade jam and an apple pie - was so good!

She's still buzzing so she is.