I have a dream...to be a MFW

ajmoney

Home for 2 weeks

I have cooked/baked for ages so making up for it. We have some friends coming for dinner with their little boy later so doing roast chicken dinner followed by rhubarb crumble and whipped cream, I also have a victoria sponge in case anyone is still hungry!

Looking forward to meal planning for the next couple of weeks.

ajmoney

Morning everyone.

Our meal was lovely on Sunday...Mr AJM likes me being home to cook for him! The leftovers tasted even better the following day.

I haven't done that much over the last couple of days apart from sitting in the conservatory watching the world go by. We have a lovely view which I have missed. I also went for a slow jog the other day along the coastal path so I could take the view in a bit more and see if anything had changed!

I have been going through our bills and apart from maybe the utility bill I think everything is as low as I can get it. The utility one is a tough one as it is the one thing we don't scrimp on so I may leave it for now. It was really stressful changing it last time so would be quite hard to do while I am working away.

Next job is to see what is happening to my money that is not tied up paying bills. I keep forgetting to keep a spending diary but I am sure it would help. I should have my first payday with my new payrise next week and I don't want to fritter it away. I want to start building up my own savings pot again. Operation pay the mortgage off and plan a life after it is really calling to me (or shouting very loudly)!

ajmoney

I have decided that I will start my spending diary in April so I can make a better plan for my money. I may also need to sit down with Mr AJM this weekend and try and organise his finances a bit better. He earns far more than me but because he doesn't put money aside for the yearly outlays he struggles a bit. I am hoping we can work out a plan as most of his outlays have just gone out so he can put some money by for October which is the next large money drain.

I have just under 8 years to pay off our large mortgage. We could clear the smaller one today from our savings but as it is a much smaller monthly payment with a lower interest rate I don't mind leaving that until after. I am still keen that we live well but seeing as we are working/living apart for most of the year anyway and may not get many holidays together it makes sense to try and make a dent in the mortgage. Mr AJM knows I have a financial plan for it which I need to cut by 8 months to finish on target, we just need to commit to it a bit more.

I am hoping I can bolster my savings a bit more too.

ajmoney

So far I haven't managed to tweak our payment enough, I have managed to get rid of 4 months but not the 8! I may have to start over so I can work out the best course of action.

ajmoney

Sister in law and brother in law coming for dinner tonight so looking forward to cooking for more people again. We may have eaten far too much already this week as I am enjoying cooking...lots!

It is a lovely day so I am hoping to get out for a run to make the most of it before we get battered by the wind and rain at the weekend.

I am going to look out a new OP calculator or restart the one I have as I don't seem to be having much success with my OP planning.

ajmoney

I have got Mr AJM hooked on yougov, good as I will get 400 extra points from a referral if he completes enough surverys. I am hoping to get him interested in other things too now!

ajmoney

Looking forward to pay day tomorrow so I can start keeping my spending diary for April. I am looking forward to seeing where all my money goes, mostly food I think that is not always needed but I am sure there are things I am conveniently forgetting.

I have been getting paid slightly early for my promotion but my official promotion date is tomorrow so looking forward to lunch with my mum to celebrate.

ajmoney

Day 1 of my spending diary is starting today and so far I have spent nothing :j
I am concentrating on the money that leaves my account only. I already account for every penny from our household bills account with a spreadsheet that is updated monthly and nothing else leaves the account so I don't need to worry there. I am not in a place where I can keep tabs on our joint account and nor do I want to. It is our spending account for food shopping and fun and seeing as I am away so much I am happy to use it as we need to. We won't have enough in there for this month as we have a 4 day stay in London but the extra will be recorded from my account anyway.

ajmoney

£240.91 gone to my ISA today, £170 regular payment and £70.91 extra from last month. I still have an extra £100 left from last month but I know I will have a more spendy time in London so want to plan for that. If it hasn't been used by the 23rd then I will move it across to my ISA.

I am looking forward to starting to bolster my savings as well as OPing the mortgage. 6 years ago I had £15k more in my ISA than I have now, while I would not change how I/we have lived I wish I had budgetted for the annual costs and holidays earlier.

I feel I have a new lease of life with money at the moment and am thoroughly looking forward to documenting my journey on here...whatever that journey may be. I may even start a new diary when I work out what it is!

ajmoney

I love the first day of the month, the money shuffle and plan making always makes me happy all helped by the fact that during the first day of my spending diary I have had a NSD.

Tomorrow will be a spend day but I am hoping to keep it low. I have a massage booked which is already paid for so I will need to pay for car parking or the train depending on which I use and I am going to treat myself to lunch out. I am going somewhere that I can use my card for cashback with £co though so :money: If I can get by with only spending that then I will be happy.

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