The Crumpet family's journey to Mortgage Freedom:-)

A question about : The Crumpet family's journey to Mortgage Freedom:-)

Hi there,

Long time lurker here, I've been inspired by so many diaries on here that I thought I'd start my own. After just spending an exhausting half hour working out this months Morgage overpayment on the very complicated financial system we have in our house, I thought a diary might help me to organise my thoughts better

A bit about myself, I'm a SAHM to my lovely 3dc and my dh is a self employed web developer, so money can be a bit erratic coming in. We have been overpaying our mortgage a small amount pretty much since we took it out in 2007 with gaps here and there. This year though we have decided to live as frugally as possible (without missing out on fun times with the kids) and throw everything spare at the mortgage. We've done pretty well too so far, but I can feel myself getting complacent so here's where I hope my diary will come in useful

Anyway that's it for now

Crumpets

Best answers:

• Welcome and good luck!
• Hi, just wanted to wish you good luck
• Good luck on your journey
• Hope all goes smoothly for you and enjoy the journey!
• Thank you all for a lovely welcome..I knew you were a friendly bunch on here
  At the beginning of the year when my dh and I were talking about seriously tackling the mortgage we initially set ourselves a target of overpaying by Ј5000(this is extra to the regular op we make by so each month) I'm thinking we could possible increase this to Ј7000. It would be a stretch and would depend on dh's wages remaining as they are but I'm hoping it's possible.
  I'm off to add up how much we've op'd each month
• So I've just added up all our extra overpayments up to the end of May and the total is Ј2952.29. Maybe the Ј7000 target is a little ambitious but I'm going to give it a jolly good try!
• There's nothing wrong with a bit of positive thinking! Go for it and good luck!
• At the beginning of the year I made a list of all the ways that I could save/ make the target of Ј7000. I think I'll list them here and then I can take great pleasure in crossing them off when they're done.
  Try and save Ј100 per month on groceries
  Try and save Ј20 per week from the 'sundries' fund
  eBay/amazon/car boot sale
  Switch bank accounts
  Use vouchers/points
  Switch mortgage deal
  Find bargain Christmas/birthday presents
  Use cash back sites
  Switch home/car insurances
  Use dd2's pre-school fees when she receives funding
  Sell DH shares
  Close old bank accounts with money in
  Limit clothes/ haircut spends
  Any lottery wins
  Any bonuses/wage increases
  Wow looking at that typed out seems quite a lot to do. Some of them are ongoing and will be done throughout the year so won't know full amounts till the end of the year.
  I'm sure there are more ways to claw back the cash so will have to wrack my brains and think of some more ideas.
• Spends today so far is Ј2 for playgroup for my two little ones, they get a good snack there and a lovely environment to play in so is definitely worth the money.
  This afternoon I will have to go shopping in A!di. I have a Ј400 budget a month for shopping and try to spend Ј50 a week in a!di and I usually do a monthly shop in te$co where I try to spend no more than Ј100. It's usually much less than this though as a!di have increased there range so I don't need so much from mr T I've been struggling to get my weekly shop under Ј50 recently though but maybe this is because I'd slipped a bit in my frugal ways. I do include Nappies and wipes etc in this though.
  I'm going to have a go at making some cheese twists for dd1 lunchbox as she loves those. I've not made them before but will give it a go. I'm pretty sure I have all the ingredients in so I can cross those off the shopping list
• Hi just wanted to day good luck
• The cheese twists are great and easy to do. Mix it up and put some marmite on some, honey on others etc. Makes a really nice snack! Another good one for little ones is Pitta Pizza's. They are also lower fat - just get some wholewheat pittas and put them in the toaster, afterwards put some tomato puree on them and add cheese and any toppings you want then grill them for a couple of mins. Literally takes 7 minutes and my kids love helping me make them. Costs next to nothing
• Good Luck with your journey
• Good luck. And wanted to say I love your name
  (especially with butter and marmite)
• Evening all, so lovely to have so many people pop over to my diary, thank you
  Thanks Shelleyc I love crumpets and agree with you about the marmite...my dh loathes the stuff though so I make sure I give him a big sloppy kiss after I've eaten the stuff
  Bufger thank you for the tip about the snacks and the pitta pizzas, I've done naan bread pizzas before but not pittas, will add some to the shopping list
  Well the two little ones are in bed and am just waiting for dd1 to return home from Brownies then the evening will be my own. Not that I'm planning much, catching up with ironing in front of the tv with a little bit of chocolate as a reward
  Well I didn't go shopping this afternoon so that job can be pushed over to tomorrow. I did however make the cheese twists, except they're not twisty they're cheese straws but I'm sure they'll go down well in the lunch boxes tomorrow. And they didn't cost me a thing as I had all the ingredients in
  I did however break the lid thing on my food processor that I was considering selling so that's made my mind up for me. It's still useable luckily
  I'm also scouring eBay for costumes for me and dh for a fancy dress party that we're going to next weekend. I was going to go for a proper costume but my frugality won out and I'm going to put one together using stuff that we have and eBay/charity shop bargains. We're going as cowboy/girl so should be quite simple
  That's it for now
  Crumpets x
• Well what started as a slow morning ending up quite a busy and productive day. Firstly I overslept which is not good when I have packed lunches to make and children to drop off at various places I really need to get in the routine of making packed lunches the night before, it's something to work on
  Then I went shopping to A!di and managed to spend Ј60 I was shocked at this actually because the only meat I bought was a pack of bacon. I did spend Ј8 on Nappies and I brought a bottle of wine though so I guess that explains some of the over spend. It's a good job I have a well stocked freezer at the moment.
  I then spent a lovely afternoon in the garden with ds and dd2, picked some radishes from the veg patch and ended up mowing the lawn so all in all a good day. I also picked some rhubarb from the garden, does anyone have any suggestions of what I can do with it? I can only think of crumble and it's too warm for that
  Our car also went in for it's MOT today and failed on 4 points not surprised though really as it's pretty old it's not our main car, just what mr C uses as a run about for work. It also had a major service so all in will cost about Ј450 all in. It's all budgeted for thank goodness
  Other than the car and the shopping no other spends for me, mr C took ds for a biscuit in the cafe at morissons after dropping the car off do a LSD for him
  I'm helping my friend in her shop this weekend and next so more for the op pot also means I get to be me for a couple of days instead of mommy so I'm looking forward to that
• Morning
  I've just been having a quick mooch whilst having my morning cuppa and i've come across the Ј1 a day challenge, this really appeals to me so I'm definitely going to give this a try for this month and see how I get on.
  Crumpets x
• Morning Crumpets and welcome!
  Sounds like you have some fab savings already and I like your list of things to do to save money (Im a big list fan so may even steal the idea of a list from ya! )
  Food shopping seems to be harder and harder to budget for I find - I don't know if its that food prices have gone up hugely or if I am getting less frugal/careful but I hear your pain!! I do find inspiration on the eating out of the freezer/cupboards thread on the food shopping board- but haven't delurked there for a while now!
  Like the Ј1 a day challenge idea too - I may have to sign up for that!
• Good morning Crumpets, just wanted to pop by and say good luck on your MF journey. You`ve made a fantastic start already.
• Morning all
  Early get up and go for me this morning. Got to be out the house in 10 minutes to go and help with my friends shop, it's going to be a long day but should be good fun. Everyone else is still asleep and I'm really relishing having my first cup of tea of the day in peace and quiet
  Yesterday ended up quite a spendy day, I had a 15% off voucher for homeb@se so i got the paint for the fence, some of the bargain 49p mugs and some sand for the sand pit. We have the 'house fund' where the money will come from for this. Also bought dd2 her very own cycle helmet and bell for her bike. As she's having a hand me down bike the least we can do is get her some nice accessories she must be following in my frugal ways though as she chose a very smart red helmet that was Ј9.99 rather than the character which were Ј19.99. T
  Right got to scoot
  Crumpets x