Frosty melts the mortgage!

PennysIntoPounds

I would have thought you'd be able to spell my name by now @beanielou 😂

Hope you've had a better day today Frosty

beanielou

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81997427#Comment_81997427

There’s no hope 😹

FrostyFrosty

Thank you for your advice @PennysIntoPounds - it's definitely something I need to address but I just don't know how to do it without sounding like I'm complaining. Maybe I will bring it up at our next 1:1 - mind you, he seems as keen to get those over with as I am.

Budgeting took a slight hit at the weekend - I went to a concert with my friend. Hotel, dinner and breakfast were all already paid for, so it was just a case of extra drinks, and there weren't that many of those. The venue was SO HOT that I was just drinking tap water with ice, so that worked out pretty cheap!

However, I had completely forgotten to build into my budget the congestion charge for Birmingham and the cost of parking at the hotel. Completely my fault… and there I was thinking I had everything so well planned!

On the positive side of things, my spending on mobile games has gone way down. I do play several games on my phone and so this month I bought a £15 Apple gift card and decided that was my budget to spend on those games, and once that was gone, it was gone. I'm pleased to report that my plan worked! It did go quite quickly (whoops) but I have not spent any extra so I'm really pleased with how that strategy worked.

Work are sending me somewhere later this week. I have never claimed any expenses in my time there, but you'd best believe I will be claiming the cost for the car park and train travel! They might be a bit shocked to see a claim from me - I actually need to look up how to do it as I've no idea!

Nothing on my Vinted was selling, so I took it all down. I think I need to take better pictures, so I'll wait a month or so and then relist. It does slightly irk me when I'm selling a brand new with tags and never worn dress for £8 and 15 people like it hoping the price will come down. It was originally £30 and I don't think £8 is too much to ask :(

Picked up my food shopping yesterday. I get paid on the 27th and I'd like to avoid having to do another food shop before then, aside from things like milk and toilet roll and that kind of thing. So I've semi meal planned and got some bits for the freezer and will see how I go. I am presently under budget on my food budget for the month and I'd like to keep it that way!

ladybird1106

unfortunately frosty it’s a buyers market at the moment on lots of buying websites as they are awash with stuff. Probably due to the CLC.
love 🐞

FrostyFrosty

Just looked back and I'd managed to make overpayments of £7,000 when I was in my old flat. That was over a period of 8 years and if I could do it then, when I was earning less, I can do it now.

Anyway, it's payday and after shuffling all my money around, I had £500 ready to overpay! However, it turns out because my new deal is scheduled to start in August, I actually can't make any overpayments until that comes into effect. I mean thinking about it, that's common sense I suppose, but I thought I would try.

So my £500 is sitting in my account and will stay there, and I guess over the next few paydays I'll continue to accumulate some money, and once I can pay off a lump sum - which looks like it will be mid-August - then I will. I really wanted to feel like I was making progress! But I suppose having some money ready to pay off is making progress, even if it's not affecting the mortgage balance yet. And also maybe it will feel super satisfying to pay off a big chunk in one go, as I've got June and July paydays to save from 🤩

May was a super lean month for me and it was very boring. But we go again in June and continue to focus on the bigger picture (although I am going on holiday so that will be fun!).

FrostyFrosty

I haven’t managed to have a NSD this week. Monday I bought some books ready for my summer holiday, Tuesday I bought croissants for breakfast and this evening I need to buy a birthday card and Amazon voucher for my nephew’s birthday. Friday will also not be a NSD as I’m picking up my food shop and the money will come out of my account. So I’ve only really got tomorrow left, whoops.

I’ve been applying for jobs. Seems to go through stages where there are loads to apply for, and then there’s nothing to apply for.

I have read a few more books so have sold a few more to World of Books and sent them off today… that’s another £13 or so for my savings.

I go on holiday soon, so I’m looking forward to a couple of weeks of not being at work, and hopefully some nice weather.

I’m trying not to spend a lot, despite my NSD fails this week. Last month I was really under budget on my food shop, but looking at the sums I’m not sure that will happen this month. I have been buying more than usual and making the most of offers on fish and chicken to stock up the freezer. 

That’s about it really. I probably won’t have any more updates until I get paid again. 

FrostyFrosty

Back with a July update.

I’ve been paid and set aside another £500 to make an overpayment. I’ve got £1,000 now ready to go when I can actually make an overpayment.

I’ve got good news and that’s that I’ve been able to swap to a lower interest rate for my upcoming 2-year fix than I had initially signed up for. I guess if you take a higher one but one with a lower rate comes up before the fix starts, you can swap to that? So I’m fairly pleased with that.

June wasn’t quite as lean a month as May was. Partly due to it being my birthday, partly due to a holiday and partly also due to me being really bored of micromanaging my finances and spending a bit more. So need to nip that in the bud this month. 

I’ll have one more payday (July) and then at the beginning of August my new 2-year fix starts and I’ll be able to make an overpayment. Aiming to have £1,500 ready to go.

PennysIntoPounds

Great work setting aside money from pay for an OP, and getting the lower interest rate

Good that you've highlighted to yourself about nipping in the bid getting bored with micromanaging finances. It can be quite boring but if you can keep yourself excited about the end result then it is much easier. Having said that, I'm all for enjoying your birthday month! Happy belated birthday 🥂

I would add though that recognising wins and achieving aims is so much more likely if you post more often, obviously use your diary and the forums as you wish, but I would really recommend getting involved in other people's diaries for inspiration and to feel part of the community so it's more at the forefront of your mind to be mse where you can iyswim.

I try to post on my diary daily even if I've not got much to say because I know that what I want in life needs money and without that focus and my mse friends that is much less likely to happen, and it's motivating too to find something to say about what has been a good mse thing!

FrostyFrosty

Thanks @PenniesIntoPounds ☺️ I guess I don’t post every day as I’m just not sure it would be that interesting 😂 It would mainly be me saying how fed up I am at work and that’s kind of miserable to read about lol.

However I really do need to nip spending in the bud so maybe I’ll try and have a no spend week next week and post every day about how I’m getting on.

I do pop into other peoples diaries as it’s nice to see what they’re aiming for and how they’re making progress. And of course in August finally I will be able to post into the 2026 MFW thread when I make an overpayment 😄 But I know there’s lots of other boards to explore so maybe I’ll bop about and see what I can find.

The good news is that I am set for books now for quite some time due to my birthday! So no spending needed in that particular area 🥳 I just read The Names by Florence Knapp - an incredible read. Definitely 5 stars.

FrostyFrosty

Well it’s Monday. My first day back at work after my holiday and my GOD it was soul destroying. I just don’t want to deal with the work or the people anymore.

Successful NSD today though as I haven’t been anywhere or done anything apart from work. I’ve had the fan on all day though as it’s getting hot!

I’ve been watching the World Cup and I’m looking forward to Spain v Portugal tonight… think it might be a scrappy one. I didn’t stay up to watch the England match last night after it was moved to 2am. I wanted to, but I was falling asleep. I should have had a tactical nap earlier in the day. But I did watch the first half on catch up in my lunch break. A great game!

I am waiting to hear back about whether I’ve got an interview for a job I applied for. I’ve got a few irons in the fire but the one I haven’t heard back from closed a week ago today… hurry up! And, well, I don’t want to say it’s the job I want most out of everything I’ve applied for 😂 But it’s the one that would make the most sense and would at least give me a change of scenery. So we shall see.