Trying to make my dreams a reality!!

giblet1979

Hey IC2D,

Really glad that you've made a decision that will be much better for you in terms of overall quality of life. There is no point having a fully paid off house if you can't enjoy it because you're so burnt out. DH has 4 more working days of his job from hell, and then we'll be 'back to basics' on the money front, but he's already nearly back to himself again as a person, after over 2 years in retrospect of low mood and poor physical health, mostly work related. It's just not worth it!

I'm sure with the extra time available, you can achieve even more than you realise and you've done brilliant as it is!

Sending hugs x

p.s. We owe each other a detox when things settle down, I haven't forgotten x

icontinuetodream

Thank you everyone for your kind words and thoughts

I have had the conversation with my manager now which makes things a lot easier - he is extremely disappointed but understands my reasons so that helps.....

I am feeling better about it now - I am not totally at ease with it due to the reduction in mortgage payments and the increase in the length of time it will take to pay off, but I know that the reduction in stress levels will make it worthwhile!

This month, I have an enormous cc bill to pay off - I have put dd's birthday out meal on it along with a few other things but will pay it off at the end of the month when my final full-time salary hits my bank.....no more going on it after that!!

I have already started to plan my days for when my new working pattern starts- I am going to get the house sorted first, a couple of days cleaning right through will make me a lot happier with my environment; I will do the garden the following week if the weather is okay and then I will have the next week batch cooking for the freezer

Once all that is done, I am going to book a couple of weeks off work (that's the great thing about part time work - don't need to take a lot of 'holiday' to get a long break!! ) and just totally relax - the minimum amount of effort will be needed for day to day stuff because I will already have done the work and I won't have anything to detract from a total chill-out!! :T

Just two more weeks to go of full time hours now and then all these wonderful plans can start to be put into practice!!:j

Right, need to go and sort the puppies....will catch up on diaries afterwards....hope you all have a great weekend!!:D

purplefran

I too recently left one very well paid job because of stress etc. I now have a new job that gives me more freedom and more flexibility. I love it, it was the best decision I ever made. Good luck, you have made the right choice x

giblet1979

Hey ic2d,

Sounds like a great plan. Really glad it's sorted now, and that you're so focused. Nothing is worth that much stress. Glad it worked out well for you too purplefran. Exciting times all round! x

icontinuetodream

Final week of full-time!! :j

I have finally come to terms with the reduction in the overpayments and am re-doing my budgets accordingly. Most of the op's will now come from everyday savings - I just want to have a few months where I am not actually considering anything other than my personal well-being.

I am going on a detox from tomorrow - I have got everything in ready for it and am desperate to feel better I have been eating better over the past couple of days, but tomorrow is the final push - hopefully, I can show the same amount of resolve to sort myself as I had for getting rid of as much of the mortgage as I could while I was financially able.

I am excited about the new direction and although I am not certain that this thread is an accurate reflection of my new aims, I am going to keep going with the mortgage reduction (however slow that may be in the future) so will still keep it up.

Roll on tomorrow!

mortgage_girl

Wahoo! You're free :T It sounds like you have made the right decision for you and I'm sure you'll feel so much better for it.

Enjoy your new pace of life

MGx

icontinuetodream

Thanks MG!

It's nineteen days since I last updated and a lot has happened in that amount of time.....I am still full-time - agreed to an extra month to help them out and have spent the past couple of weeks sorting out a new work system on top of my normal job so totally shattered now!!

Detox didn't happen - came down with a weird flu type thing which prevented me from eating pretty much anything at all! :oUnfortunately, this led to an awful lot of waste from my fridge as I had been out and stocked up on a load of fresh fruit and veg - I may as well have just set fire to a fist full of tenners!! :mad:Not happy about that at all but I am feeling better now though, so will use up what I have managed to salvage over the next week or so and then look at getting myself physically sorted.

I have been really struggling with the whole frugal living/mortgage reduction over the past month really - I think once I had decided that I would be going part time, I knew that getting my mortgage cleared in the next twelve months or so would no longer be an option so it seemed a bit pointless going all out to do it anymore. However, on the plus side - I get paid next week and my mortgage will then begin with a 2!!! :j:j:j

I have decided to increase the amount of 'pocket money' that I allocate myself - I miss just having spare cash in my purse and being able to drop in somewhere for a drink after work or having an impromptu lunch with a friend.....despite the fact that I did really well on the op's, I think that now I have reduced the mortgage to a decent level, I need to think about living a bit more.

I have two weeks holiday at the beginning of next month and I am really excited about it - I feel that it will be the perfect springboard for the new chapter of my life and this is what I see the next month as - a new chapter. I am going to sit down and really think about what I want out of my life - what makes me happy and what makes me miserable. It sounds simple, but I feel that I have lost sight of what is really important to me. I am taking the opportunity of having two weeks when I don't have to go anywhere or do anything to really focus on me and set myself some new goals for the next twelve months.

I have two weeks to get everything up to date house and job wise before the fortnight of fabulousness begins!! Guess the first thing on my list will be cleaning the house....:o:rotfl:

icontinuetodream

Its just one week before my new year begins, my job returns to part-time and my holiday starts- so I have decided that I will start a new diary on 1st November....:D

I have spent time today reading through this one and realising that lots has changed in the years since I began it despite much staying the same ;) I am incredibly happy with what I have achieved, but I know that I feel very differently now from how I have felt over the past few years.....

I do feel that I am currently standing at the beginning of a new chapter in my life :think:....my desire to pay off my mortgage is much more tempered than it was previously - it still features heavily in what I want to achieve, but it no longer holds that sense of all encompassing purpose that it used to enjoy - the urgency has definitely diminished and a greater sense of balance prevails :shhh:

I don't feel that this is a bad thing, merely a progression now that I have reached what I personally feel is a manageable level :T so starting a new diary seems like a good thing to do on the final stage of my mortgage free journey

I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to the first part of this journey and hope to see you all in part two - my 'less full on' saunter to the finish line!! :D

ETA - new diary if you are interested!!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5103364