Trying to get on track

A question about : Trying to get on track

I've been browsing for some time and am mightily impressed by all that is achieved by the members. In some ways, I'm incredibly fortunate with both me and my OH being in reasonably secure, reasonably well paid jobs. Apart from a credit card that we generally clear ten months of the year, we have a mortgage that has just dipped below Ј120k for the first time. The issue for us appears to be that as our disposable income increases, so does our spending. I haven't made any pension provision for a number of years, we don't have savings and, at 45, I realise that the plan to be on track with mortgage pension and savings by age 40 isn't going to happen. I have also had various health issues over the past 5 years and want / need to draw a line in the sand and tackle things moving forward. Today, inspired by various threads, I gathered up various pots of change from around the house, rounded up and made a Ј40 overpayment to my mortgage. I also decided it was time to stop lurking and to go public with my plans, progress or lack thereof. Over the next month, I hope to crystallise my thinking and to start setting some targets. Until then, be prepared for the ad hoc drivel. Thanks for taking the time to read.

Best answers:

• Happy shiny new diary
  Keep posting!
• Well today didn't exactly get off to the greatest of starts - damn you ach1ca though I did get free postage plus Ј10 off my spend. Only prob was I had to add an extra Ј7 to qualify but in essence got a free gift and Ј3 off. Then off to mr s to take advantage of week 4 of my vouchers and gain additional nectar points. Only went Ј2 over my minimum spend, got some reduced items and extra 400 points for a Ј10 spend on needed cleaning items. Also got a valid to 21 jan voucher for Ј15 off a Ј60 spend. Need to keep an eye on weekly offers to maximise savings. Also resisted the urge to spend Ј2 on a notebook as I have several unused ones so Ј2 to start the savings.
• Just had a look through old emails and discovered a hotel stay voucher bought three months ago. Having trouble getting this booked so have emailed to ask for a refund. Fingers crossed
• Happy new diary and happy new year. With planning and determination you can get there.
• So, instead of a NY brunch, today will include making soup from the on the turn veggies. Hopefully, it's the little things that will make a difference
• Best of luck with your shiny new diary! Little steps have helped us a lot, with encouragement from folk on here. We are also eating up randoms from the fridge today
• Back to work today which means entering the spending danger zone. Am bringing some of yesterday's soup which will hopefully deter spending. Am also going to raid the cupboard for uneaten bought for Christmas treats so I shouldn't have any need for the shops.
  On another note, jumped on the wii scale thing yesterday. While I had a relatively pleasant surprise, I still need to lose about 3.5 stones to get to a healthy weight. First 2014 target is for 7lb loss by 01 march. Not only do I need to drop the pounds but I have a wedding to go to in march and the weight loss would enable me to wear a previously purchased but unworn outfit as opposed to panic buying at the last minute. Fingers crossed
• Just managed a spend free day in the office resisting the call of the chocolate vending machine. Arrived home to find a card from Royal Mail saying I owed custom duty plus Ј8 handling charge for items ordered on line in December ~ gutted.
• Did some digging for my mortgage agreement as other than making monthly payments, I've paid little attention. The scheduled date for repayment is February 2029. This would make me 60 and my OH 61. Not great. Over the past 2 years we've overpaid by the ridiculously small amount of approx Ј100. Because we remortgaged, to consolidate debts(that we ran up again, but that's another story) just before the bubble burst, we did really well out of a base rate tracker loan to value mortgage. We are probably in a tiny minority who can earn more interest than we pay on our mortgage. That's always deterred us from overpaying. Unfortunately however that argument only stands if you save, we haven't been. So, in an attempt to be mortgage free by 2020, this is the year of change. We are both due a pay uplift at the end of January and we've agreed that half of this will go to overpaying. I have also decided that this is the month that I join the company pension scheme. As I have a company car, I currently am in a higher tax bracket and my employer will match up to 5% of my salary in contributions so this really seems like a no brainer. Both steps however could make for a frugal year.
• Have just made my monthly credit card clearing payment which is a ridiculous amount. Serious need for that to be reined in. I also made an overpayment of Ј4.07 to the mortgage as a rounding on the current account. Am also aiming to do this when I make use of any voucher savings. Will see how that pans out
• Welcome on board in need of...
  Good luck meeting your targets of wealth and health!!
  x
• So annoyed. Having set out my 2014 goals, wrote a very long post which disappeared. Is this MSE's way of building tenacity?
• Ducked a non recurrent outgoing of Ј27 today so overpaid that amount to the mortgage. Target is to overpay Ј691 by end of March. Here's hoping.
  Ј31.07/691 4.49%
• While wishing for a tidier living room, I spied two ebay prospects. As I have deliberately never set up an ebay or amazon account, now just need to persuade other half to do the needful and set up the listings. Fingers crossed.
• Just noticed that I've got a star. Go me!
• Was so annoyed yesterday. We had planned a 2 for Tuesday dominos day yesterday and OH was ordering on line. I pointed out that he hadn't checked for cashback and was greeted with a oh, is this how it's going to be while you're doing your money saving thing. Doesn't he realise that this is a joint mortgage? Grrrr.
  Anyhow, one a positive, I persuaded him to list one of the ebay items as a similar was selling for Ј40. Fingers crossed that I will get something similar to put off the mortgage.
  Also, had a bit of a funny LBM yesterday. I realised that I was giving myself the equivalent of 2 pay days a month. One was when I actually got paid, the other was the first day of the credit card billing period. Really need to lose that mindset.
• Realised yesterday that I'm not just in need of direction but also in need of restraint. No sooner had the travelzoo email hit yesterday but I was trying to convince OH that we could manage an additional 14 day holiday this year as it was such a good price! Thankful reason prevailed. Also, DD produced a box from the loft of random bits and pieces. Identified 1 item for sale, 2 for charity shop, some rubbish, some recycling and some I'm clueless what to do about. Suggestions?
• Got a parcel today that reminded me to transfer an additional Ј3 to the mortgage as I ordered an additional item priced at Ј7 to avail of a Ј10 off voucher making my original purchase Ј3 cheaper.
• Unexpectedly got a 5% discount on a workshop. Another Ј2.95 to mortgage overpayment.