I have a dream...to be a MFW

Luckyinlife

That is a lot wow still great work tho :]

ajmoney

Happy New Year everyone.

I have done a partial money shuffle, the rest will happen on Monday when the online banking catches up with reality. I have made the first OP of the year, the first monthly payment has gone into my RS and I have also swept the remaining current account money into it aswell.

I need to remain positive through January with my spending plans and diary. Based on the money I have left after all the bills have gone out I have £17 a day available to me, I want to work at £10 a day for January which should give me a nice amount to save at the end of the month. This should be achievable with my food shopping when I get back to work, especially as I shouldn't need to spend too much before I head back in 9 days time. I don't know to work with cash so I am more aware of what I am physically handing over or use my card, any thoughts?

I am starting the year as I mean to go on and heading out for a run soon. I had wanted to go to the local parkrun but didn't get up even though I was awake.

ajmoney

Had a lovely run this morning, no route planned in advance so I just made it up as I went along and I saw some amazing views.

Today has been a no spend day however I am saving the first 3 days to pay for entry into a running race in February so I need to try not to spend any money before Monday.

We nearly started the year giving in and getting a takeaway but after a discussion realised we have something easy in to make and can have our roast tomorrow. Unfortunately we got back from my step-son's too late to put it in the oven. A visit to them means that over the last couple of days we have managed to give away most of the chocolate we were given for Christmas. We felt a little ungrateful but we don't really eat it, now all we have left are a few remaining roses, some truffles that we will eat and a box of milk tray that will be given as part of a birthday present next week.

I hope everyone has had a good start to the new year x

edinburgher

Happy New Year AJM - great to hear you sounding so positive :j

I have decided to turn over a new leaf in terms of health etc., so ordered the Micros0ft Band 2 on offer yesterday from Am@azon. I'd hoped to get an activity tracker for a while, but the first one that I purchased was a bit of a dud. Got some cheap scales on the way as well

I understand what you're saying re. chocolate - we have three cupboard shelves of the stuff! :eek: :rotfl:

ajmoney

I have worked out how much it will cost to enter the 3 races I am interested in and if I entered now from the overall monthly money I will still have my £10 a day to spend. If I stick to it I will also be able to put £155 into my RS account at the end of the month. The first will be the most challenging as it is a trail race and will be the first I have done, the other 2 are races in Southampton (before I hopefully move home) and Glasgow (as I hopefully move home). If I enter them before Wednesday I pay £20 for each of the last 2 instead of £30 each so it is an MSE way of doing it. The problem is I don't know if I am free for the first one so need to have a look at my work schedule. I am hoping someone can give me the info without me having to go into my old work up here this week.

ajmoney

I have left it too long and the race I wanted to enter in February is full I am now looking to see what I can enter instead.

ajmoney

Crisis averted, I have entered the Resolution Run in Dundee that weekend instead. It was £10 cheaper to enter and will be a lot easier to get to it just won't be as much of a challenge. I am now looking for a trail challenge and have learned my lesson and will book things earlier rather than wimping out.

ajmoney

Our large mortgage is now under £110k and the daily interest should now be under £12 a day

Not including the entry into the race in Dundee I haven't spent any money so far this year and today should be a NSD again today. I am also hoping to plan ahead with our food shopping so the only money I spend this week is for any swimming/gym sessions I do at home. It will go a long way to transferring a decent amount of money to savings at the end of the month. I am really committed to this at the moment, I just need to make sure I keep the enthusiasm when I get back to work next weekend.

I am starting a 4 week session with an online personal trainer tomorrow. I am ashamed to say I have done no strength training since I finished with my old PT just over 3 weeks ago although that is partly to do with being at home and I have been keeping up with my running so haven't been completely lazy! I have also signed up to an 8-week programme to introduce and prepare me for triathlons as this is what I am looking to challenge myself with for the first part of this year. Neither of them cost too much money but should also mean I can put off my new PT sessions at the gym by a few weeks which should save more money in the long run.

The Christmas tree is coming down today and we also need to put up a a new light at the front door. I am looking forward to more space in our living room.

ajmoney

Although I am concentrating on savings rather than OPs I am still making small OPs. I would like to achieve a reduction in our large mortgage over the year of £10k, to reach this I need to reduce my mortgage by £833.33 per month. How do I calculate this to make sure I am going to meet my target? I know what my rough daily interest is, my monthly payments and my projected OPs for each month so is this all I need to work out any shortfall?

Does anyone have any experience of blogging? I am very tempted to start writing one but don't really know where to start.

ajmoney

I am going to make a start on my list today. Having a quick cuppa and then see if I can knock a couple of things off.

Make sure all clothes fit, CS the ones that I don't want and see if any others can be altered.
Sort/organise cupboards in spare rooms
Make a list of Christmas stuff we have ready for next year
Tidy kitchen cupboard
Tidy coffee table
Sort through all paperwork