Baby steps to mortgage freedom for beanielou.

Impressive mortgage balance there Beanie. If you can't up the income how about a complete overhaul on the outgoings? There's normally a few pounds to be shaved here and there. Look at each DD going out and see if there's a way of making it cheaper.

I'm drawing out my grocery budget in cold hard cash now as it really makes me focus on just how much I can spend. I'm bulk buying at the beginning of the month (after checking where's cheapest) on things like cat food/tinned toms/pasta and then dividing up what's left for the amount of weeks. Our budget was £80 per week and I was spending it easily but since focusing more I've got it down to around £55.

Knowledge is power, beanie - for the mortgage, and for those coffees out - you know what Martin says about them! They're social time though, aren't they. Is there another way you could have that social time?

Mortgage total sounds good Beanie, heading in the right direction. Even if you can't afford to overpay large amounts remember small amounts all add up. If you enjoy a coffee out, rather than cut it out could you go somewhere cheaper? For instance Pret's coffee is £1.85 (black Americano) and Costa's is £2.30 - and (dare I say it) Pret's is nicer!

Brilliant mortgage balance beanie and I like your decision to OP every month even if just a bit.

I am even finding one lodger a bit of a strain.. (I just need to adjust again after 6 months without one.) .but do know people with more. But in bigger houses which I think makes all the difference.

I had lodgers for quite a few years in my centrally located 3 bed terrace house - a couple was in the next room, but she lived in the same town as we were in, so they weren't often there. The really powerful thing about that house is that it was on three floors, and I was on the top, I could never hear anything that was going on on the bottom floor, in the living room. But its no joke having a lodger, and at the moment, as I've been going on about, I'm desperate to have my house to myself.

Beanie, are you in an area where a Monday to Friday let would be feasible? Meaning you get the place to yourself most of the time. My niece is planning on that as a backup, if she gets into financial problems - she'll be near Gatwick Airport, and there are 3 month training courses run all the time, with the attendees being people who can't wait to get home at the weekend. Any good?