Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

newgirly

Up early today again, I went for a nice early walk yesterday although it was freezing! So am back to doing over 10k steps a day, hopefully I won’t roll out of this lockdown now 😬 I’m a bit unsure of if I should be driving to the forest (which I have just bought an annual parking pass for 🤦🏼‍♀️) as it’s 5 miles away? Gov website does not state a distance and you are still allowed to drive to exercise 🤔 I live in a town which is perfectly pleasant to walk around but does get a bit busy with joggers, the woods however you can be pretty much alone, but I don’t want to get arrested! I was hoping to walk in town most days and go early on a couple of week days to the forest when it should be very quiet. I don’t know know now....

Vegan chilli is in the giant slow cooker today, we have dds boyfriends daughter for her weekly visit, so I’m forcing her vegan ways on everyone 😆 those that really can’t manage it can cook their own frozen pies or something. 

I’ve also taking a major and rather shocking life choice - for me anyway 😁 I’m currently NOT IRONING 😱 after reading a few comments on greent’s diary (some very strong views about it 😆) I thought no, I don’t fancy tackling that mountain in the corner from Xmas week, so I flattened and folded it as best I could and handed it all back to everyone. As dh is the only one going to work still and he is in a scruffy factory, it really doesn’t matter at the moment. When they do stay going back hopefully I will have learnt how to make it all look passable! At the moment  it’s going on the heated airer or radiator, we don’t have a tumble, but it’s more time consuming being careful and there are seven of us now (some do their own mind). Still it’s got to be a saving on electricity the iron uses so that’s something mse I’m doing. 😆

newgirly

Finally it’s time to put some new year aims down 😁

FINANCIAL AIMS : 

£16,400 mfw challenge figure 

£5000 grocery budget (currently for 7 adults until after lockdown 😱) 

£800 fuel budget 

£1560 saved towards cruises 

£500 car save fund (possibly to go towards kids driving lessons!) 

£1800 my personal spending budget 

£2400 Xmas /birthdays ( I know, I’m desperately trying to reduce this! It’s actually only £150 each for our kids per time 😱) 

I’m hoping furlough might be extended a bit longer, no idea what the situation is there really. When things pick up I really wish they would have me on an ad hoc basis, seems unlikely though. 

My personal spending budget is for - hopefully one day- tea and toast out, coffees, clothes, hair dye, days out ,home things etc. Actually everything except food, petrol and bills!  

OTHER AIMS : 

Lose half a stone 

Keep sane and don’t get so anxious during lockdown 

Do at least 10k steps everyday (see above!) 

Check into diary daily and update 

Eat three meals a day 

Visit Alton towers (and save for balance due as we lost money cancelling) 

Visit the Harry Potter studios again - I know I went a couple of weeks ago, but it’s 😍

Go to York when possible on a zero budget 😆

Celebrate the boys’ 21st’s in July 🥳

Sell as much stuff as I can we don’t need anymore 

Be nice to people 😬

Stick to the financial goals above! 

newgirly

Monday motivation time 😬 I’ve not felt at all motivated for a long time, but it’s starting to creep back in now thank goodness.
Plans for today include making a meal plan for the next few days and then for the following week ready for the food shop Thursday. Breakfasts-  are mostly toast / avocado or egg on toast for us girls, usually toast for boys. Lunches - I have a good collection of tins for lunches but sometimes make soup, dinners are awkward as some are veggie, some meat eaters, some eat chicken and fish and some just fish 🤦🏼‍♀️ I usually rely on frozen stuff both as ingredients and to plug the gaps if someone won’t eat something, as I get sick of cooking everything and although they are all happy to cook for themselves it makes things tricky as they will take food I had plans for 😆 

Today’s jobs- 

•  Meal plan 
• Go for a walk - via post office to return a gift 
• Ring the in-laws and check in 
• Do a couple of loads of washing 

Plus a bit of cleaning of course 😁

Mrs_Money_Penny

Hi Newgirly I do admire you for cooking for 7 and with all those food preferences. I struggle with 5. My food bill keeps going up. Only cooking for 3 at the moment. What a doddle. Trying to clear 2 freezers to make some space. 
Take care xx

Zola.

I echo the motivational piece, hard to get going, like you I am starting to get back into the swing of things... Its a strange old time!!

newgirly

Hi Mrs.MP and Zola, it is hard to get going after Xmas normally let alone during lockdown 🙄 food prices and availability is getting a bit more hit and miss here too which doesn’t help. 

Tonight’s dinner was a very lazily cooked frozen chicken in the slow cooker, it doesn’t seem to have poisoned anyone yet 😆 plus potatoes with garlic and Rosemary or there was salad with feta or tuna or chickpeas and coleslaw.  

Went for a walk today with best friend and hit 14k steps hooray 😁 weigh in day too and I lost 2& 3/4 pounds this week, not counting just cutting back and getting off the sofa.
Took back the parcel to the post office and also received a letter from lidlll re the Xmas tree being infested with beetles 😱 I can take the letter for a refund in store - I’m currently not going there but for £25 I think I’ll pop in. I’ve been asked to go to work tomorrow to help as dh is not able to do some of my work due to his hand, its extra money but I’m doing it through gritted teeth! I can stop and get the refund on the way home.

themadvix

Totally get the lack of motivation thing - like just feels like Groundhog Day at the moment.... 

Definitely grr to having to go to work today!

newgirly

It was good to go to work today, I may go back to do the odd day but they won’t have me back properly once dh’s hand is better.

I took my Lidl letter in for my beetle infested tree refund - £24.99 and gave he cashier a giggle 😆 will also be getting a refund on some n@xt sports leggings I ordered in the sale I had my eye on last year, horrid on so £11 due, plus £18.40 cinema membership obviously not being spent again, plus a £1.05 Tilly tidy. A grand total of £55.44 which instead of being op has gone to my new shed saving pot. The log cabin needs repair work urgently and I don’t want to dip into my planned payments unless really necessary! Spending update this month:

- Food £165.62 / £416.66
- Diesel £25.01/ £66.66 

Dinner is jacket spuds and or a leftover turkey pie tonight, meal plan needs doing tonight and I have a girls zoom call later- need to be finished in time to watch the Pembrokeshire murders later though. Busiest day I’ve had in awhile 😁

themadvix

Love days like that where you have lots of small wins. Glad work was good.

JohnHealeysavingmoney

I have a sizeable mortgage remaining on a buy-to-let property. When a person could get a reasonable return on savings and one
could claim back more than the paltry 25% tax relief on the mortgage interest it seemed a 'non brainer'.
The question I can't get my head around, would it be financially beneficial to pay off the mortgage or to continue as currently.