Time for me to start a diary .

I work 2 days a week, dd is at school and dh was made redundant in the summer. We are living carefully, although the redundancy money is being nibbled away at of course. We are fortunate to have no debts other than the mortgage, so I would like to get rid of it! We'd also like to have a savings buffer - about 6 months' worth seems to be the rule of thumb.

So, to the numbers:
Mortgage £77, 051.99
Offset savings £13,768.73 (£10,000 belongs to my mum and will be used to extend her lease in about 12 months' time)
Interest therefore charged on £63,283.26
Interest pcm about £78 (shame on me, not knowing the %!)

At the moment we are only paying £100 to the mortgage, and any leftovers at then end of the month are going into the savings.

I joined the 52 week money saving thread where you put away £1 on week 1, £2 in week 2, etc. But I started the other end with £52 first and have been paying it off the capital, so that's having tiny nibbles taken out of it.

Where would I like to be in 12 months' time? Oooh, tricky! Realistically, I reckon we could maybe, hopefully, possible save £4000. I'd like to get our part of the savings up to £6000, so save £2,232. And I'd also like to knock some off the capital, so £1,768. Hmm, not v much then! Hey ho, every little helps...!

There is a vague possibility that I may have 4 days work for 2 terms. This won't double my income, as I've used up all my tax benefits already, but it's not to be sneezed at! And if dh is able to find a job, than all the better! And I'll definitely have to revise my goal! But I'll not be complaining at that!

However, if dh cannot find employment and I don't get extra work, then we will have to seriously batten down the hatches, as the mortgage has 9 years and 9 months to run.

I've joined the NOvember challenge with Ninjasavingkat, which is super helpful, useful, motivating and challenging. Love it!