£170000 in 10 years

Thank you themadvix.I am feeling slightly low today ,money seems to be running away like water and after all my hard work this year i feel very upset with myself ,i obviously did not budget enough each week to birthdays and more importantly christmas. Also we have just booked a very cheap caravan holiday for next year which although cheap was not budgeted for so has had to come out of savings .I am very lucky of course as i have saved the money this year and was hoping to reach £13000 by the end of December ,that figure is now looking more likely to be £11500-£12000i know i should be very grateful i have never had any savings in my life before i just feel worried by the speed it seems to be disappearing.I love christmas and normally dont worry at the amount i spend but this year after being money obsessed for months i feel panicy ,im sure it will be fine as i still have lots more money than i started the year with which was nothing.

Ah that is so very kind of you ,i had forgotten that i had written my thoughts down ,i am always so busy reading everyone elses posts i have never reread my own ,that has made me feel much more positive and so amazing that you knew that too ,i have the worlds worst memory i think i should read through my diary again .Thank you so much ,you have made me feel a lot happier today ,i think i felt that i had failed and got stuck in the moment of failure but all is not lost of course ,i am still miles ahead of where i would have been ,probably with a thousand or two in debt and no holiday booked.

Hi sue ,i understand what you are saying but i havent spent any more money this year than any other year but i think i just hadnt realised how much i have spent over the years ,not that i mind ,i love christmas and dont regret any of it ,i think its just that with 5 children and their partners and all the rest of our family plus the fact we take some of our friends and people my husband works for out for meals it all adds up but i do agree ,i do try making the presents very personal ,you dont have to spend a lot on each person and my children are all grown up and never want me to spend money on them as they all have everything ,i just think they i had underestimated how much i spend overall and next year i have to make the birthday and christmas budget bigger than this year ,i think its all the extra things like invitations out to dinner and drinks and parties that add on a lot extra to the budget .I think because we booked our holiday this month too that added to the shock of the amount of money seeping out .

Hi J16 .Thank you so much for your words of support ,i hadnt realised how close in mortgage outstanding we are ,how great ,we must support each other from now on .If i remember correctly you had to buy a new car didnt you?We have two cars my car is fine but my oh doesnt think his will last much longer so the aim is for him to have my car and i shall have to buy a new to me car .I am hoping to buy it with my 0%CC.rather than take it from our savings but it will ultimately have to be paid for and is another cost unfortunately.Even with paying out monthly for your car you have done a great job.
I am feeling a lot more positive now thanks to everyones support ,i want to think about next year and think about what i am going to do to keep up the momentum ,i think i said that i have a ten yearish plan within the ten year plans i have smaller plans ,i am hoping to be mortgage neutural by the end of year 21 although i am making the £1000 per month savings the priority ,i need to overpay my mortgage by £1150 a month also to reach the target but have no idea where this is going to come from at the minute .What is your outstanding mortgage J16?

Morning themadvix. Of course im not offended ,i am very grateful that you have taken the time to share and help me with your thoughts and ideas ,it is always good to have others points of view.This year i wont see two of my children as they are still away for several months with their partners travelling ,it will be the first time ever that we will not all be together at christmas in nearly 34 years ,so i shall be giving them both money ,not a huge amount between each couple ,but to add to their travelling pots .My other children i do buy gifts for and my grandchildren who overall have the most of course but i dont buy a lot for their parents as i buy for their children .I understand what you are saying ,i think my children are just used to me but i think as you said it could be more uncomfortable for the partners ,so i will definitely cut down slightly.I think the way i look at it is in the same way as someone would pay out for a holiday i love this time more than a holiday but i have to budget more for it as £520 a year was just not enough for 5 couples 2 children various friends around £5 each for friends ,birthday parties ,other peoples birthday parties ,cards ,wrapping paper ,meals out then the same with christmas plus a tree we also take some of my husbands customers out for meals too so have to add this into the equation .I do already try to keep most of these things as frugal as possible but i just think in 2017 this category will have to have more than £10 a week so next year i am not so shocked .The problem arose too as i paid for our holiday from savings too and i had no budgetset aside for that ,next year holidays will have a set amount put aside each week too .