Pavlovs_dog starting as she means to go on...

pavlovs_dog

Hi gang,

hope you're all well and that you've all enjoyed the festivities. As the year draws to an end, I know I'm not alone in reflecting on what has gone and conjuring plans to make the new year more magical.

2012 wasn't without challenge. Work has been manic, my nan has been very poorly (finally appears to be on the mend thankfully), OH has had to take a substantial paycut to avoid redundancy through the back door, and we've been trying to keep mum afloat through her various issues. Upon seeing it written down, I suppose it isn't surprising that I feel like much of the year has been spent existing and surviving rather than living.

On the positive side, I did manage to keep one NY resolution, which was the mortgage OPs. I'm yet to finish off the final bit of banking for the year, but we set the target of OPing £1500 and finished in the £2ks, which is no mean feat on our income. Almost half of our capital reduction this year has been thanks to OPs. Frustratingly, we'll have to wait until February when our annual mortgage statement turns up to put exact figures on it, but the proof is there that little and often makes a difference.

I've spent a fair bit of time on the forums the past few days skulking and harvesting plans for 2013. New year, new start and all that so I'll save them for a new post. Lots of challenges and mini goals are the way forward I think to maintain focus.

Onwards and upwards, MFWs!

Lois_E

Wow. You've had such a lot to cope with this year, which makes smashing through your OP target all the more impressive. Well done you. :T

pavlovs_dog

I'm sure I won't be the only one here who could pretty much copy and paste 2012's soon forgotten resolutions and start again! However in the words of Cicero, Any (wo)man can make mistake, but only an idiot persists in his error.

My goals haven't really changed from last year. In a nutshell, by the end of the 2013 I hope

* to have a mortgage balance in the region of £115/£116k
* to feel fitter and healthier
* to live in a cleaner, more organised house

What I want to change is my approach to achieving those goals. I'm going to try a combination of monthly, quarterly and long term goals to give me something to focus on in the interim.

January Goals

1) I have committed to 16 No spend Days (NSDs - January thread HERE)

2) Have joined the January Grocery Challenge with a budget of £160 for the month. Inspired by theshineyone (post 208), we're going to run stocks right down and use the money saved to restock at the end of the month. Want to try and get shot of some of the bits that have been in our stores since the dawn of time.

3) There are 19 working days in January. I will take a packed lunch on all 19. No canteen spends AT ALL.

4) No clothing purchases (wardrobes full to bursting).

5) To drink a litre of water a day

6) Maintain progress with Swagbucks. Continue to earn at least 30 SB/day. I'm a very passive user of the site, but this is an easy £5 Amazon voucher a month for little effort on my part. (If you want more info or a referral give me a shout)

7) Seize our finances by the danglies. I'm ashamed to say I have no clue how much we have in our various savings, no accurate measure of what our bottom line is, and were one of us to be run over by the no22 bus tomorrow, the other would be up the proverbial creek without all the necessary info. We will save every receipt, track every penny and create a master sheet of account numbers etc to be kept in a very safe place in case of emergencies.

8) Diary post at least once a week and 1 end of month review post.


Quarterly Goals (Jan - March)

1) Establish and maintain a very basic flylady routine (with view to getting house shipshape by end of year)

2) Decluttering goal (specifics to be determined once I've drawn up my master plan)

3) Fitness goal (specifics to be decided once I decide what I'm going to do about my gammy knee)


Long term goals

1) Have signed up to MFW 2013 with an OP target of £2000 for 2013.

2) Have signed up to the Mortgage Free in Three Take 3 (MFiT T3) challenge with a pledge to reduce mortgage balance by £15k through normal and overpayments by 2015 (which conveniently coincides with the end of our 5 year fix).


Plenty to keep me busy :eek:

QB_Wolf

Well done with the OPs and good luck for next year I could copy and paste your goals for me.

*Jellie*

Well done on your OPs in a tough year.
I did chuckle about your tip on copying and pasting last years goals- I expect to do the same.
I love the way you've looked forward to the new year and set goals for it. I might have to 'borrow' your format

Frugaldom

Good luck for 2013 and thanks for the Cicero quote reminder - I couldn't remember who it was that said it!

moneycurious

Well done in 2012..... i may have to borrow some of your NY resolutions!!!!
xx

pavlovs_dog

Phoned the mortgage company to check our balance, as of last weekend we were in the £120Ks for the first time. I *think* by the end of the month we'll be out of the £121Ks for good. Checked with them and they had us down for £2014.82 of OPs for the year. Not sure how I managed to miscalculate (I had £2092.17)but regardless it is still an improvement on our original aim to OP £1500.

Won't get our 2012 statement until mid February, so can't do exact figures until then. However a cursory glance at last year's posts suggest.....

Year/Opening/Closing/capital reduction/OP/OP as % of CR /Daily interest
2011/£131,911.11/£126,985.62/£4925.49/£1800/36.5%/£14.81
2012/£126,985.62/£120,984.06/£6001.56/£2014.82/34%/£13.92

Pretty pleased with those figures. Assuming nothing unforeseen happens we are well on course for hitting our MFiT-T3 target of a balance in the £105ks by June 2015 when we are eligible to remortage.

pavlovs_dog

out of the starting blocks for 2013. Just made our first OP of £172. Best part is, £96.72 of it was 'free' money thanks to P*necone surveys and Quidco cashback :j

Cashed out another £5 Amazon GC on Pinecone on NY eve, and am on target to cash out again in about a week.

Managed 3 NSDs so far, and grocery challenge currently on track. We've done really well at sticking to the meal plan this week. Need to plan for next week ready to shop tomorrow.

Today I am attacking the study and my mountain of school work, trying to ease myself back into the zone ready for next week.

Happy new year one and all :beer:

pavlovs_dog

Fairly productive day all told. Have begun rediscovering the floor of the study, done odds and sods for school and have had a new life assurance quote through London and Country. Looks like we will be switching providers. Premium has stayed the same give or take a couple of pence, but the level of cover has improved.

Hit daily SB target (trying to do 7 days straight for the first time ever, it will definitely tail off once I'm back to school and I'll go back to aiming for my target of 30 SB a day).

Think I might go poach my achey old bones in a hot bath and read my book, exciting life I lead