I’m working longer days today and tomorrow and whilst it’s not a really long working day my commute means that I’m out of the house for around 13 hours, i left home at 7am this morning and will get back at 8pm ish if all goes well.
I lasted until 11am before I started on my lunch, bah- I could have caved even earlier but managed to stay strong 💪🏻
This morning I filled out all the relevant forms to start the mortgage overpayments, I’m feeling quite proud of myself as it gives you an estimated saving and mine said I should pay the mortgage off 8 years early!!! Right now interest rates are quite low so if they rise at any point obviously things will change.
I checked my credit score too, after I read a blog and they recommend it, I wasn’t expecting it to be this good and after a difficult time with money in the past it’s a relief to see that I’m doing well, even if it has been a struggle at times.
Online Banking
Last year I opened a Monzo bank account, it was quite random as it’s all online and there are no branches to visit.
They offered a £5 incentive to join and paid it into your account when you first used your card, so I thought I had nothing to lose.
Whilst it’s not my main bank account, or one that I have direct debits and standing orders coming from, it’s turned out to be a great little resource for saving money and organising spending, you can organise your money into pots and I have quite a few on the go as you can see below.
Each month I transfer a set amount from my current account into Monzo and then divide it into the pots shown, the bus fares pot has a hefty sum in it at the moment as the children haven’t been travelling to school since March and I’ve still been putting it aside so it’s saved me a good sum.
Christmas (Shhh... I know it’s July 🙂) should also be well covered by the money I’m saving each month, we only buy for our immediate family, and token gifts for a few friends.
The MOT should also be covered when it’s due at the end of August, any additional work will have to be paid for our of the main account. But at least there will be something to help out.
Our Holiday doesn’t look like it’s going to be happening now - although they’ve only cancelled up until 10th August at the moment, the pot was for spending money so that will just stay where it is for now.
As you can see there’s £19 left in the current account until payday on Friday, that’s what’s left of July’s food budget. Not bad.
All those little bits in pots all over the place equal a nice little £2247.46 (I have one more pot not pictured with £200 in it that I’m saving for a special occasion 👌) I think I’m doing alright!!!
I've not hear of Monzo I'll have to take a look. You sound very organised too. Well done on the mortgage front and having money left near payday.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been thinking about the lady you mentioned who used to save daily to pay off her mortgage and I’ve created a little mortgage overpayment pot, I’ve put the £19 in it to start with and will (hopefully 🤞) add to it every time I stop myself from impulse purchases or manage to make a saving on something! So thanks for that tip 👍🏻
DeleteYes it is, you can also round up your daily spends and the excess goes into one of your pots! So it’s just like saving a few pence every time you use your card 😊
ReplyDeleteHi JoAnna - I am not sure how I made my way here - I think through a comment of yours on someone's blog. I will be popping by again though. My daughter has a Monzo account and she swears by it. We have 2 Nationwide Flexaccounts and one is purely for bills - I add them all up for the year or use last years total then add on 10%, divide by 12 then put that amount into the bill account each month. Some months we have quite a bit mount up when bills are low or fewer and this helps another month when bills are many or higher. It does help to start out with a bit of a float for the first year.
ReplyDeleteOverpaying is one of the best uses for spare money as well as putting more into a pension pot as you get free money from the government to add to it.
I also think it helps to think you have less than what you have coming in so you never spend up to your limit - it is the easiest thing in the world to spend what you have and probably one of the major reasons that pay rises often don't actually help most people.😊