Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

killerpeaty

Gutted for you regarding the cruise.

I work in a town and just wear my mask whenever I'm in town because people just don't socially distance regardless of masks. It makes me feel better but more importantly at this time of year, it warms my face.

newgirly

Quite a few of the markets are not on again this year, so perhaps that’s making it busier Vix, I hope Manchester is not too bad. We went for an early coffee about 8.30 and wandered around the market first thing which was had about half the stalls open (shops closed obviously) and it was ok, but an hour later it was busy. Still unsure of whether to go to Birmingham Friday, I think I am a bit worn out after a fairly stressful week so not sure I want to, will let dh decide 😁

themadvix

I love going early when it’s quiet - good idea!

 Don’t blame you for abdicating the decision making - can totally see why you might not want to go. I say we’re going to Manchester, but by then we might not be going anywhere/they might be closed etc. etc. It seems we could soon be back to almost square one…

the_end_of_the_rainbow

Sorry to hear about the cruise.

Not sure how you are planning on getting to Birmingham but trains from Euston on Saturday were packed like sardines - people crammed in aisles & doorways- absolutely no social distancing and very few wearing masks. 

May be different on a Friday & now rules on mask wearing have become tighter though. 

newgirly

Hi end of the rainbow, thanks for popping by 😊 that sounds awful, I’ve still not been on the tube yet since Covid. Well we’re on our way to Birmingham now, did two nights at York and decided to do one night in Birmingham on the way back instead. Surely a Monday has to be a lot quieter?! Plus the same hotel is now about £120 I think instead of the £315 it was going to be for two nights ( and that was cheap as it was far in advance 😱) 

Hi Vix, I doubt anything will be closed since the added mask wearing rules come in, it’s just how comfortable you feel I think. I have not been worried for ages really, but this last week I have felt like I want to be a bit more cautious. But who knows really, everything can change so fast now. 

Ds2 is most disappointed, who knows what he had planned at the weekend, but we have spoilt it 😂  

newgirly

Oh my goodness I’ve just  lost a huge post twice 😂

We enjoyed Birmingham market on Monday and I’m glad we switched it from this weekend as everything has been so hectic, dh has caught up with some work today and the Xmas decs are all up now. The kids actually got everything out while we were away but waited until I got back so we I could help 🙂

I have had a look at what we have managed this year financially and it looks like we will just about scrape in with the target hopefully, although £15k of that was given to the kids so we have not really achieved much 😆 I would like to do a LOT better in 2022! 

It’s getting late so I think I’ll post next years plans tomorrow now as I keep deleting them accidentally 😂

newgirly

💚💚💚💚💚DECEMBER UPDATE💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

START BAL JAN 2021 :                £66,472.32 

END DEC BAL 2021:                    £64,938.05

CASH GIVEN TO KIDS:                £15,000
(counted in mfw challenge) 

NET REDUCTION 2021:               £1,534.27

TOTAL FOR MFW CHALLENGE:  £16,534.27

We have scrapped by and managed £134.27 over the target set for this year, it’s been a terrible year for ops in the second half of the year 😱 
The £20 a day budget is still going ok, there’s currently £453.68 left in the pot for everything for the rest of the year and presents are covered except one for one friend. 

I’ve haggled our sky package as it was about to renew, unfortunately it’s still very high as it includes multiroom (for us in the loft) and multi Netflix which we use a lot, plus broadband and phone. So it’s £84 instead of £91 now. 

Our gas /electric has been put up from £150 to £182 from jan , but we are still in credit so I’ll keep an eye on it, we are not using too much as it’s freezing here 😆 Martin says not to switch at the moment as the government cap is lower.

No other movement is really available on any direct debits except the garage which needs emptying so we can stop paying rent next year, that’s a massive job I need help with due to the seriously large spiders that live there 😂 

Back later with a 2022 plan 😬

newgirly

Challenges are now updated and based on the minimum (20 year-19left) term usual payment including interest is £347 pm adding another £800 pm overpayment means a yearly reduction of £12,530.77 which I will round up to £13k meaning another £39.10 pm to make or save extra. 

Next year is already costly in terms of travel budget as we have 1x centerparcs weekend and a one week and a two week cruise booked (two weeks for dhs 50th) plus hopefully a cheap weekend in Europe at the end of the year. I also have £1k saved for wedding costs for ds2 and dd, not for actual costs or gifts more outfits/hair/ hen dos etc. Other than that it needs to be a very tight budget all year or we won’t make the op targets.

So it’s back to being a bit more old style 😁 

killerpeaty

Hi NG. I think you've done incredible and you've been very generous with the kids. Is £800 extra a month realistic given what's going on next year? Weddings are so expensive and don't want you to be stressed if you can cut the 800 to 700 and give yourself wiggle room for this year.

I'm very jealous of your travel plans, maybe one day!

newgirly

Hi KP, I’m not sure yet if it’s realistic 😆 I’m going to be fully tight as much as I can on everything else so hopefully I can build a small surplus. 

I  managed to book our third jab Tuesday night and got it last night, I must have accidentally booked as they were about to flip to a three month cut off from six month being allowed so soon and getting an appointment quickly. Ds1 has been told to work at home again full time and all Xmas party’s are cancelled there. 

I went to to the sistene chapel exhibition Wednesday with a friend, was not as good as I expected really, in a freezing old factory 😆 did persuade her to get the tube from our town rather than rail as it’s so busy in rush hour, so although longer it was less packed. 

I’ve dipped into next weeks budget as I bought bottles of wine on offer at Sainsbury’s last night (25% off) which we needed for Sunday’s cheese soirée 😬 and also Xmas I guess! Will update the budget later.