It's mortgage day tomorrow :O)

Thank goodness for the website simplesavings.co.nz . Without it I was wondering if I was a freak. I mean nobody else I knew got so excited at mortgage day. I only pay monthly seeing as I have an offset mortgage and if everything goes to my 10 year plan after tomorrow I have only 366 payments left to make. Imagine my surprise when I joined the above site and found others who are counting off the payments. So while I may not fit into the normal category at least there are a lot of others out there like me. I am aiming to knock $1520 off the principal this month. I'll keep you posted.

Holiday stuff seems to be falling into place. Tomorrow I will ring the accommodation and pay the deposit and then it's really all go. Need to look into rental cars too but were super impressed with the pricing and the service of the place we used last time. Not to mention the location is super super easy to hit the highway and also to find on the way back to the airport. Seeing as I will be the main driver this is important.

Still need to work on the math. Realistically we will be totally covered it just depends how much spending money I want to take. I want to take as much as I can figuring it's easier to bring some home than it is to clear credit card debt.

One challenge I have set myself for these savings is not to buy anymore clothing or toys for the boys or myself. Realistically I may need to get Mr8 another long sleeve top but will try hard to avoid it even if it means using school skivvies (just plain navy blue ones no writing) in the holidays. He has 2 non school ones which is normally sufficient for the weekends so it seems silly to buy him anymore. The only other thing I can perceive us needing is maybe another pair or 2 of school trackies. It seems the lads have just hit the stage when these things get holes in the knees. I will try and mend first though and hopefully can avoid that purchase too. Other than that there is nothing we should need and then I can shop at the outlet stores while away to get great deals for future seasons.

My other challenge is to see how much of my sanity money I can not spend and therefore save for spending money. I get $25/week and if I don't have a night out usually spend maybe $10. I'm going to try and have $10 each week put aside.

And the boys are up for the challenge too. Often on Wednesday we have sasuage sizzle at school. Usually they are allowed 1 or 2 items each, maximum spend $4. Tonight I told them they could have 2 things or they could just have 1 and put the change in their holiday money tins. The verdict? Just 1 please Mummy. Clever boys.