misscousinitt's MF Diary

A question about : misscousinitt's MF Diary

Hi all

I have posted on here before about becoming MF, but not alot was done as we had the wedding last year and that seemed to take up most of our time.

We are debt-free, have savings and have a tiny mortgage compared to most (approx Ј19k) - but on a fixed rate of 6.29% until June 2012 - so not a huge scope for overpaying, but we want to make a start.

Mortgage and house has now been transferred into both our names so I thought that it was now the best time for us to start overpaying.

DH is on board, but as I deal with all the day to day money then it will fall to me to decide how much each OP will be and down to me to actually go and make them.

I've only set a small target for this year - just Ј750; but we will see how it goes as we could overpay up to approx Ј1800 under the terms of the mortgage.

Overall goal is get the mortgage down so when we do move we get into less debt. The ultimate goal will be MF by the time I'm 50 (11 years and 1 week!) but that will all depend on how big our next mortgage is and how circumstances change.

First over-payment made yesterday of Ј70.

Best answers:

• Welcome and congratulations on the wedding
  Great news about your first over payment. Have you played with the over payment calculators yet? It's amazing how even a little regular over payment makes a big difference, I really find it helps keep me motivated.
• Hi Wildfrog and thanks for the welcome - the wedding seems such a long time ago now.
  Counted up my 50ps last night and i've got Ј38.50 - when I get to Ј50 going to put Ј25 in my isa and Ј25 towards OP.
  Discovered that I've got Ј51 left in my savings account from last years Christmas Food budget - this is mainly because we had a Ј50 waitrose voucher which paid for alot of goodies, so that can go towards next months OP.
  Just thinking of small ways to increase the OPs.
  I like would like to strike a balance between fun, savings and overpayments. I have always split up whatever 'extra' money I get (birthdays/christmas etc...) between treating myself and savings - now I am going to split it three ways - I think the important thing is not to feel deprived while still doing the right thing by your finances.
• Thanks uzubairu for the welcome.
  Just 50p in the penguin pot (yes it is shaped like a penguin) making it Ј39.00.
• Got Ј75 left in the grocery budget (the reduced one of Ј200 anyway) for this month making a weekly budget of Ј18.75.
  Only spent Ј3.96 in aldi last night and anticipate a Ј8-9 spend in Mr T's later so there is potential to add to March's Virtual Pot this week.
  Virtual March OP Pot Totals Ј101 so far made up of:
  Ј51 left from Christmas Food Spends
  Ј50 definate grocery underspend - potential for more from this budget
• Welcome on board with the rest of us.
  I wish you the very best of luck!
• Start to another week and the virtual March pot has grown again.
  Spent Ј14 of my Ј18.75 grocery budget and will not need anything for the rest of the week. Also it was my birthday at the weekend and I have decided to put Ј30 into the virtual pot for March.
  This is really begining to stack up - never thought I'd be paying this much off in one month and still 3 weeks of the month to go!
  March OP Pot now stands at Ј135.75.
• Nothing very exciting today. DH was away on business last night and although I had time to go through the finances and make some MFW plans, I was so tired I fell asleep on the sofa and ended up going to bed late.
  On the MF front, just 2 x 50p in penguin pot this morning making Ј40 of my Ј50 target.
  We have been talking alot lately about decluttering - though we are along way from getting sorted! and doing a car boot, selling on e-bay etc... will have to get DH on board and see if at least a portion of the proceeds can go towards OPs.
• great progress with March OP pot! Hope decluttering goes well..... I tend to quite enjoy the decluttering process. Less stuff = less stuff to clean/put away IMHO!
• Thanks Wildfrog, agree about the putting away and cleaning thing! I just don't seem to have time to sort stuff out - got to make time...planning a little bit each week - so busy usually.
  lincoln-potter - thanks for the welcome its nice to have the support.
• Not much to add today except going to the bank today to pay my birthday money in so I can divide it up into savings, isa, mortgage OP and of course some money for me to SPEND!!!!!
  Going to do some basic chores when I get home tonight and then DH is taking me out for my Birthday meal (birthday was at the weekend, but he's been away).
  Going to sort my shopping list out for this week too - hopefully some more savings to go in the virtual pot!
• 50p in penguin pot today making Ј40.50 of Ј50 target.
  We are going to do a review of our bills at the end of March when the Council Tax bill has come in.
  Our current arrangement is that DH pays me and I pay all the bills and buy food etc... It works this way, he's always been a bit carp with money and since the house was bought by me originally and all the bills were set up by me, we have just carried on with this arrangement.
  When we do the review, I'm going to see if I can persuade DH to up the amount he gives me so I can OP a little more!
• Spent less than Ј2.50 in Aldi last night and tonights Mr T shop will be small - so will definately be adding to the March Virtual Pot this week.
  Oh, and another 50p for penguin pot making Ј41.00 of Ј50.00 - at this rate will be there in no time.
  I realsie now that the momentum is going to start dropping already and I need to keep focused. Doing the diary really helps - even if I'm talking rubbish some of the days....
  Very aware that I have been too busy so far to spend any of my birthday money or vouchers - really must do that and treat myself - another thing to focus on.
  Need to get some travel insurance too for when we go to Turkey for a friends' wedding in July, found some for Ј20 for the two of us!
• We can all have good and bad days with our motivation. Just remember it is a long time thing. There is no easy path to MF or everyone would be doing it.
  If you want to join us over on the all the small things thread we tend to have a bit of friendly competition over there as to what we do every day to be MF.
• Thanks for the invite cha97michelle. I'll pop over later.
  Just an update on my Virtual March OP Pot:
  Spent Ј10.14 on groceries this weekend and anticipate I will need some milk later in the week so going to call the total Ј11 for ease.
  So, the March Virtual Pot stands at Ј143.50.
  Another 50p in the Penguin Pot over the weekend making Ј41.50 of my Ј50 target.
• Nothing to add really, but have posted on the small things board to keep me inspired.
  Thanks everyone for your support so far.
• Another 50p in Penguin Pot today making Ј42.00 of my Ј50.00 target - seems to be stacking up quicker now I'm keeping a log of it...
  Spoke very briefly to DH last night about him contributing regularly towards OP and he was very receptive towards to idea - we are going to have a proper char at the end of the month when all the bills have come in and he will go to the bank and alter the amount that he pays me every month to take extra OP into account.
  Good news on that front - I'm really pleased....going to show him the OP calculator and what a difference it makes. My thinking is that we might not always have the money to throw at savings and OPs and therefore we ought to take advantage while we can while striking a balance with our current lifestyle.
• Hi misscousinitt - just wanted to say hi and good luck back to you .
  It is good that you have your DH on board, I do too which makes it so much easier!