Mortgage Free ASAP

gerbiljo

cor you've made some huge overpayments, i can really see that purple line dropping to 0 quick, how do you do those charts?
good luck, great diary

Queen-Bee_2

Hi there Gerbilo - I love it when people drop by and say hello!!

Yes, especially as saving rates are so dismal, I am taking the opportunity to overpay substantial amounts. As these exceed the 5% a year allowed by Nationwide, I shorted the term. Given how swiftly I am eating into my reserves however, and the fact that shortly I'm gonna have to start eating into my ISAs, I am not sure for how much longer I can continue on this basis. Time will tell - I'm monitoring everything from month to month.

Every time I do a chart, I have to go back to first principles! Basically, I do a standard chart in Excel (or Excel for Mac), and then import it as an image into Photobucket (I'll just go back and check that) and then create a link to that image from within my post... Financial Bliss kindly explained it to me... I'll have a rootle around and see if I can find his instructions and post them here..
QB

gerbiljo

Queen-Bee wrote: »

(or Excel for Mac)
QB

hmmm i do have a mac but not excel, i shall have to just look on in envy and carry on scribbling on my scrappy sheet!

will follow your progress

Queen-Bee_2

Hi Gerbiljo, although you don't have excel, the following instructions are from Financial Bliss's diary, and helped me with my charts. Hopefully, the principles will be the same...:

"The charts are quite straightforward and can be summarised as follows:
1. Create chart
2. Export chart to Paint
3. Upload to an online storage provider
4. Link to online storage

Create chart. I use Excel to chart various bits of data I’ve collected and analyse about the mortgage. Create a chart, line, bar chart etc, and format this as you would normally do a chart.

Export chart to paint. Once you’re happy with the chart, right click on the chart image in Excel and select ‘Copy’. Fire up paint and paste into the blank canvas. Save locally on your own PC as an image – I tend to use .PNG or .JPG formats. What you're doing here is extracting the screen to an image.

Upload to an online storage provider. Once you have an image, you need to upload this to some online storage. I use http://www.photobucket.com. This is a free to use service, but you can upgrade to a paid for ‘professional edition’ which I think allows larger or more files to be stored. There are also other free online storage providers, their names escape me right now.

Create an account with photobucket, log in and then select local files from your PC to upload. I’ve got two accounts with photobucket, a personal one and a MFiT-T2 one!

Link to online storage. Once they are uploaded, they will get an online URL / address. Take a copy of the address and then paste into a MSE post to show the image

May take a few attempts to get this right, but it’s quite straightforward to do."

Actually, it took me more than a few attempts, but I got there eventually!

Thanks for following my diary BTW, it's always good to know there are people out there reading it
QB

Queen-Bee_2

Despite my efforts to the contrary, I have just booked a holiday, which most definitely does not comply with my MFW principles.

To be fair, I have shopped around to make it as MSE-friendly as possible, but still... 12 days in Egypt cannot possibly be classified as a necessity in any way, shape or form!!!

I'm still not working, but guess this is a classic example of either having the time or the money but not both...

In mitigation, I used to be quite the globe-trotter and not having gone anywhere particularly exciting for the last couple of years has given me itchy feet. Anyway, the way I see it, although the initial outlay in air fare is more expensive, choosing somewhere outside the Eurozone, could well reduce costs overall. Well... possibly!

Anyway, it's done now, so I might as well stop fretting and start anticipating. :rotfl:
QB

mummyofonechild

When are you going QB?

[Deleted User]

I think holidays can be good for the soul so will refresh you to attack the mortgage again once you are back- that is my professional opinion!!
and if it is done in a MSE way then even better!
sounds like you deserve it after all your hard work and efforts ... and none of us can do this by depriving ourselves of everything ... I am definitely shuffling money away for a MSE holiday somewhere hot once the income starts flowing my way again!

pammyj74

A holiday, how exciting, You need to treat yourself every now and then, you deserve it hun. Dont fret about it. you cant completely live your life as a MFW.
Going with anyone special

Queen-Bee_2

Thank you everyone - I am off in less than two weeks' time! The holiday is rather more of a luxury than I should allow myself really, but I have been very frugal these last 12 months.

I guess that my biggest worry (alas, I'm a chronic fretter!), is that my current state of unemployment will persist and then I'll run out of money and then I'll wish I hadn't gone... But it is also true that I may come back refreshed and raring to go!

Hopefully, it'll be the latter. It needs to be. Apart from a little bit of consultancy where someone tracked me down and asked me to work on something, I've not been working at a 'proper' office for nearly 18 months. :eek: Doesn't mean I've not been busy, but I am feeling the need to get back in the swing of things... Whilst not a naturally gregarious person, even I recognise I lead quite an isolated life!
QB

mummyofonechild

Hope you have a wonderful time QB