I’m continuing to simplify and reduce our belongings and now I’m faced with something I haven’t really thought about before; why, when I’m clearing our house of unnecessary items, am I keeping something that I only use once or twice a year?

In our house I’m talking about the crockery set that I bring out mainly for Christmas dinner and gathers dust the rest of the year.  Why do I hold on to something that hardly ever gets used? Yes it’s nice to have a lovely table setting that day, but it makes no difference to the family arguments over the bread sauce! Also I’m not even sure if anyone else in my family notices the plates. This is all down to my former consumer self who had to buy things to make everything look nice!

So I need to decide, do I use this dinner set all year round and get rid of everything else. Or do I sell this one, make a little money and keep the one I already use everyday, after all when I’m in Portugal, am I ever going to use a gravy boat?

{photo credit: catface3}

I’ve hardly mentioned the mortgage this year, probably because we stopped overpaying it and concentrated on building an emergency fund. However it’s time for a re focus as we’re starting to make {small} over payments again next month.

The current balance is £121,581.65 and we still have 20 years and 8 months to make payments! Originally we had hoped to clear this balance by 2012, however due to work situations changing {all the bonuses got stopped!} we changed our goals and our priorities. We still want this debt gone though!

Anyway, from December we are making a small over payment of £57 a month, which will bring the monthly payment to £600 and reduce the term of out mortgage by approximately 2 years. In the new year any extra money we make, above our budget, will be split 50/50 between the mortgage and our travel fund. When I get a new job, all my earnings will go into these two pots. If we can at least up the overpayment to £100 in the new year, this will reduce the term of the mortgage by 5 years; it’s amazing what even a small overpayment can do to your term.

Mortgage Snapshot;
Mortgage New  Pyt   Act Pyt  Int       Balance
1st Nov £542.34 £542.34 £102.60 £121,581.65
1st Dec £542.34 £600.00 £100.00 £121,081.65
1st Jan £542.34 £600.00 £100.00 £120,581.65
1st Feb £542.34 £600.00 £100.00 £120,081.65
1st Mar £542.34 £600.00 £100.00 £119,581.65
1st Apr £542.34 £600.00 £100.00 £119,081.65

 Are you making any mortgage overpayments?

 {photo credit: Fr Antunes}

Our grocery spending is never the same from month to month and I’m always going over budget. Yes, compared to four years ago, it’s reduced by over 50% but I’m still not happy with what we spend, what we eat and what we waste. I feel that we can do so much more to cut costs and improve the quality of our food choices. So here’s what I’m doing to get it under control:

To cut costs I’m updating our price book and taking advantage of all the supermarkets I have available to me by stockpiling items when they are on sale.

To make our meals simple and healthy I’m learning to cook everything from scratch and cutting the junk from our diet.

To eliminate waste I’m sticking to our menu plan and only buying the right amount of fresh items.

What are you doing to keep your grocery budget in check?

{photo credit: nataliemaynor}

I’m a little late with my Christmas preparations this year and with just over 7 weeks to go I’ve done nothing in the way of present buying.

Last year I had an attempt at going back to basics with Christmas, to make it more about our family than the gifts, which worked to a certain extent, but didn’t go far enough. This year I’m attempting it again. I’ve had conversations with family members , which was easier than I thought, and there will be no more ‘voucher in envelope gifts’ only for us to receive one in return; habits that have built up over time that miss the point. Don’t get me wrong I love to buy and receive gifts, but it needs to be with the right intentions.

Still To Do:

• The Budget
• The Menu
• Food shop
• Decorate Parcel Wrap
• Buy ribbon
• Buy gifts

Things I Want To Do:

• Reduce the amount of cards sent
• Reduce the food waste (to zero)
• Use all recycled paper products
• Buy thoughtful small gifts

What about you, how far along are you with your Christmas preparations?

{photo credit: allerleirau}

Hi all. Sorry for my absence, hoping to catch up on my blog reading soon, but I’ve been laid low with the lurgy! Very unlike me to not be able to get out of bed, but something got hold of me; I’ve even been unable to use my computer. That’s how hubby knew I was really ill

See you soon!

How do you approach saving money? Do you work towards one goal or do you save for multiple things like us?

This week I’ve discovered a wonderful blog, Married With Luggage where site owners Betsy and Warren have been saving towards one goal, a year long, round the world trip; it just shows you what you can achieve if you put your mind to it, just look at their planned trip!

We have two saving goals at the moment; an emergency fund and a 2012 trip fund. The emergency fund has taken priority this year, but it’s also been important  to us to save something towards our trip, it keeps us motivated. We’ll continue with these two goals until both accounts are fully funded and then decide what to do next. You have to do whatever works best for you.

Blog updates: I’ve updated our goals page to reflect the changes that are coming next year, have a look, let me know what you think and I’ve also added some savings meters to the sidebar to monitor our progress >

{photo credit: fire engine red}

I’m continuing to reduce our belongings and last weekend turned my attention to our already quite clutter free lounge and dining room – fireplace mantles or small tables seem have a habit of accumulating items; vases, candles and photo frames in our house.

Anyway in an effort to get back to basics and only keep anything I really, really love, I cleared the surfaces. I only put back any item I’m willing to pay shipping on. It didn’t leave much! The result is a lounge that makes me feel calm as soon as I enter it.

Also, as I’m not buying anything at the moment and in an attempt to stop us getting bored of our surroundings, I moved all the pictures around downstairs. It’s made a big difference and the house feels all new again; all it took was a hammer, a little wall filler, and some paint.

What frugal things have you done to liven up your home?

Further Reading:

Simplifying and Reducing My Clothing

 {photo credit: I Timmy}

Where do I start with my cooking skills, they’re not good. Yes I can make things and I can do breakfast really well, but after that, I’m hopeless; can’t cook, won’t cook, springs to mind. I think the last cake I made was for my daughter in 1990, it was a My Little Pony one out of a box. Just plain embarrassing!

Well things are going to change in 2010. I’m going to teach myself to cook. At the age of 40 something  I’m going to learn how to make things from scratch. It’ll be better for our health and for our budget.

There are so many helpful resources on the Internet,  it can’t be that difficult can it?

Further Reading:

Frugal Breakfast Date

{photo credit: ulterior epicure}

Now that I’m over the initial euphoria of quitting my job, my mind has been spinning with all the changes it will bring to our life. We know that our goals for the next few years will need to be adjusted, but this is ok; we are looking forward to having time to breath as a couple, and as a family.

To stop my mind working overtime I’ve started to create a ‘post it note’ to do wall. When I think of something I need to do, I write it on a post it and add it to my wall; it’s stopped the late night insomnia that was creeping back in.

Blogging To Do:

• Update goals page
• Update about page
• Add a budget page
• Fix some minor glitches
• Upload photos to flickr

House To Do:

• Finish all jobs on list
• Clean from top to bottom
• Re arrange furniture/pictures
• Reduce furniture

Financial To Do:

• 2010 budget
• Update our price book

Other To Do:

• Get a part time job
• Do a car boot sale
• Photograph the house
• Look into house swapping for holidays
• Buy all Christmas gifts

That should keep me going for a little while, don’t you think? I know that having less money will mean changes, but we’ll adjust. Our needs, outside of my compulsion to be in NY whenever I can, are very simple.

My husband is in Portugal on a break with a couple friends and my daughter is staying at her friends, so after work tomorrow I’m taking the opportunity to get some quiet alone time. Bliss. What are your plans this weekend?

{photo credit: McNamara}

As I’ve moved towards a simpler, greener lifestyle there are certain things that I’ve tried to do, that make a small difference to how I live my life. Not massive things, just little stuff.

Lately I’m finding myself slipping back into bad habits; this is my public declaration to improve things-

• I will no longer forget my tote bags when going to the supermarket
• I will no longer use the car on small journeys
• I will no longer waste food
• I will no longer buy the odd ready meal

I was going to put eating cake on the list, but I’ve never stopped doing that!  

Your turn to confess….

{photo credit: ginnerobot}