Hiya All
How many of you play Bingo Scratchcards? I've been playing on one since January 09 and the other since about June 09. For those of you who aren't aware, a number of Bingo sites offer a free daily scratchcard and you can pocket the cash once you reach a certain limit (either £5 or £10). I was working out earlier this evening that even if I earned the minimum of 10p per scratchcard, per day then I would earn a well respected £78 per year. This is clear profit with no outlay - well, there is a bit but you get it back pretty much straight away!
Since the beginning of the year, I've won £5 on a scratchcard on at least 3 occasions and I've won £5 on the Bingo on at least 2 occasions - I'm already £25 up!! I have done really well with these scratchcards and more than that, it's a real buzz to play. Even better, it doesn't cost me a penny but it takes me a step closer to my goal of being mortgage free. I now use this money to make overpayments on my mortgage!!!
Px
Monday 26 October 2009
Friday 23 October 2009
Spending went down the Bowling Alley - postal strike partly to blame
Ok, so today hasn't been the best day in terms of saving the pennies but we had a great time and you sometimes have to put this mortgage free challenge into perspective. My eldest is having his 2 friends over for a sleepover tonight and the idea was to take them Ten Pin Bowling (during hapy hour - of course!) then out for a meal at Bella Italia courtesy of Tesco Deals Vouchers.
All was going well. I booked the lane for 6pm - these lanes usually sell out very quickly, Tesco vouchers converted on-line, and table booked at Bella Italia. All looking great for a fun filled evening. However, by this morning, slap bang in the middle of the postal strike, no Tesco vouchers materialised!! We had to use money that we hadn't accounted for but at the end of the day, there were 6 mouths to feed and we were at a bowling alley - it was never going to be the cheapest, most healthy set up but do you know what, we all loved it!!
Oh well, this was a one off and like I said to begin with, we all had a great time and I know my eldest will treasure the memories for many more years after I've paid the mortgage off
Px
All was going well. I booked the lane for 6pm - these lanes usually sell out very quickly, Tesco vouchers converted on-line, and table booked at Bella Italia. All looking great for a fun filled evening. However, by this morning, slap bang in the middle of the postal strike, no Tesco vouchers materialised!! We had to use money that we hadn't accounted for but at the end of the day, there were 6 mouths to feed and we were at a bowling alley - it was never going to be the cheapest, most healthy set up but do you know what, we all loved it!!
Oh well, this was a one off and like I said to begin with, we all had a great time and I know my eldest will treasure the memories for many more years after I've paid the mortgage off
Px
Wednesday 21 October 2009
Start Raiding the Penny Jar!!
Hi All
Ok so keeping my 12/12/09 mortgage challenge in mind, it struck me tonight that I was about to go to the cash machine to withdraw £10 to buy a loaf of bread. Instead, I decided to raid that money jar that I'm sure we all have that contains loose change - you know the one, it contains 1p's, 2p's, those dreaded 5p's (are they even worth anything!!) etc, etc.
I mustered up just enough pennies (£1.45's worth) and went to my local shop to buy what I needed - and that was it. No 'buy one get one free' or 'half price' offers - I got what I needed, nothing more, nothing less. OK, so the loaf of bread may have been cheaper at the supermarket - but it would have cost me a whole lot more!!
So back to my point, start raiding that penny jar on occasion and you'll be amazed at how much you can save - it saved me withdrawing £10 and wondering where it all went within 24hrs.
So go on, give it a go :-)
Pintsized1 x
ps - I was out on a cubs fundraising night last night and won a grand total of £1.05 - yeahh!!! OK, so the £1 went into my money saving tin and the 5p went into the pennies jar :-)
Ok so keeping my 12/12/09 mortgage challenge in mind, it struck me tonight that I was about to go to the cash machine to withdraw £10 to buy a loaf of bread. Instead, I decided to raid that money jar that I'm sure we all have that contains loose change - you know the one, it contains 1p's, 2p's, those dreaded 5p's (are they even worth anything!!) etc, etc.
I mustered up just enough pennies (£1.45's worth) and went to my local shop to buy what I needed - and that was it. No 'buy one get one free' or 'half price' offers - I got what I needed, nothing more, nothing less. OK, so the loaf of bread may have been cheaper at the supermarket - but it would have cost me a whole lot more!!
So back to my point, start raiding that penny jar on occasion and you'll be amazed at how much you can save - it saved me withdrawing £10 and wondering where it all went within 24hrs.
So go on, give it a go :-)
Pintsized1 x
ps - I was out on a cubs fundraising night last night and won a grand total of £1.05 - yeahh!!! OK, so the £1 went into my money saving tin and the 5p went into the pennies jar :-)
Sunday 18 October 2009
£100 paid off the Mortgage this w/e :-)
Hiya All
Just a quick update before I go to bed. I manged to pay an extra £100 off my mortgage this w/e!! Adding it to my spreadsheet was a real buzz. I keep playing about with the figures and it's great to see the final balance coming down.
I've also put about £3 away in one of those tin money saving containers (that you have to open with a can opener!) I feel like I cheated a little here because my husband gave my eldest some money for the disco and (bless him!!) he came home with £1.20 change (he's 9 and will soon learn not to own up to having change left over!). Anyway, before he could pass the money back to his dad - I hijacked the £1 - it all counts and takes me a small step closer to being mortgage free :-)
Pintsized1 x
Just a quick update before I go to bed. I manged to pay an extra £100 off my mortgage this w/e!! Adding it to my spreadsheet was a real buzz. I keep playing about with the figures and it's great to see the final balance coming down.
I've also put about £3 away in one of those tin money saving containers (that you have to open with a can opener!) I feel like I cheated a little here because my husband gave my eldest some money for the disco and (bless him!!) he came home with £1.20 change (he's 9 and will soon learn not to own up to having change left over!). Anyway, before he could pass the money back to his dad - I hijacked the £1 - it all counts and takes me a small step closer to being mortgage free :-)
Pintsized1 x
Friday 16 October 2009
Can you get Obsessed with Overpaying?!!
Ok, so how am I going to prepare for this challenge? I have 56 days left until the Mortgage Free Challenge begins. I have been reading posts on the www.moneysavingexpert.com website for quite some time and have gained some invaluable advice. I've been overpaying on my mortgage for quite some time now (but not long enough!!).
We got our first mortgage over 10 years ago and honestly, if I knew then what I know now, I would be in a far better financial situation. If any of you feel inspired to pay a little bit extra each month then that's great. Honestly, every penny helps. Don't think you have to overpay by hundreds each month. It doesn't have to be like that. With the present levels of interest rates, if your payments go down, then leave the payments as they are - the difference is classed as an overpayment and means you will pay off your mortgage months, if not years earlier.
I have created a fabulous spreadsheet (curtesy of the challenge founder) and it's amazing! It lets you complete the figures relevant to your own situation. You can then test out the impact of making overpayments - even by paying £10/month, you will make a big difference to the length of the mortgage term, hence how much you re-pay for the mortgage over the years.
So in answer to the question in the title - yes you can get obsessed with overpaying. Once you realise what an impact overpaying can have to the term on your mortgage, you too could start giving in to the obsession.
If anyone would like to know how to create the fabulous spreadsheet I'm referring to, please let me know and I will post some instructions on.
Thanks for reading!!
Pintsized1 x
We got our first mortgage over 10 years ago and honestly, if I knew then what I know now, I would be in a far better financial situation. If any of you feel inspired to pay a little bit extra each month then that's great. Honestly, every penny helps. Don't think you have to overpay by hundreds each month. It doesn't have to be like that. With the present levels of interest rates, if your payments go down, then leave the payments as they are - the difference is classed as an overpayment and means you will pay off your mortgage months, if not years earlier.
I have created a fabulous spreadsheet (curtesy of the challenge founder) and it's amazing! It lets you complete the figures relevant to your own situation. You can then test out the impact of making overpayments - even by paying £10/month, you will make a big difference to the length of the mortgage term, hence how much you re-pay for the mortgage over the years.
So in answer to the question in the title - yes you can get obsessed with overpaying. Once you realise what an impact overpaying can have to the term on your mortgage, you too could start giving in to the obsession.
If anyone would like to know how to create the fabulous spreadsheet I'm referring to, please let me know and I will post some instructions on.
Thanks for reading!!
Pintsized1 x
Wednesday 14 October 2009
My Mortgage Free Challenge
I have joined a challenge that begins on the 12th December 2009 via the the http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ website - the 'Mortgage Free in 3 Years - Take 2 Challenge' I suppose it's literally what it says on the tin other than you set your own target.
I can't imagine for one minute that I'll be mortgage free in three but am aiming to plough every hard earned penny I have into making overpayments so that I can make a dent and reduce the mortgage term by years!
I hope you enjoy following me on my big challenge and I will provide updates most evenings so make sure to come back and see how I'm getting on - you never know, it may give you the incentive to give it a go yourself!!
I can't imagine for one minute that I'll be mortgage free in three but am aiming to plough every hard earned penny I have into making overpayments so that I can make a dent and reduce the mortgage term by years!
I hope you enjoy following me on my big challenge and I will provide updates most evenings so make sure to come back and see how I'm getting on - you never know, it may give you the incentive to give it a go yourself!!
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