I have a dream...to be a MFW

ajmoney

I made a good start with the Christmas shopping on Wednesday, 6 hours but I didn't manage to finish it. Apart from 2 things online we have done everything else today, I will get the other 2 bits later on today. I haven't bought Mr AJM's present yet but I know what I am getting so am not worried about this.

I am halfway through the Christmas card writing, I did the one for Australia this morning and posted it as I knew Mr AJM wouldn't have time through the week. I am having a quick break on here and will then finish the cards. Mr AJM has said he will help with some present writing after that.

I need to pack to go away tomorrow but that shouldn't take too long, I have already got my work stuff ready which helps a lot. I treated myself to some new PJs today in the hope they will keep me warmer as we are not staying in the nicest of places this week.

I am feeling quite low at the moment. I have always struggled at this time of year since I was a teenager but this seems to be a little worse this year. I have a lot of things going on which aren't helping but they should all be under control in the next 2 weeks. I don't think things will automatically be better after but hopefully some time will help me to feel a bit happier within myself and my life. I may rant a little bit on here about nothing particular to see if that helps as there is not really anyone in my real life that I can talk to without any repercussions and I am hoping I am just having a slight blip. I have been thrown many curve-balls this year so I guess it is not surprising that eventually things would get me down.

Anyway, I need to get back to Christmassy things to try and help me mentally. I will be back in a bit.

I hope everyone is ok x

115K

I'm sorry that you are feeling low, I am sometimes the same in the winter. Have you ever tried a S.A.D. lamp?

ajmoney

115K wrote: »

I'm sorry that you are feeling low, I am sometimes the same in the winter. Have you ever tried a S.A.D. lamp?

I haven't tried one yet, maybe I should. The low feeling is only ever the end of November/first week (ish) of December, by my last week at work I am normally fine again. It coincides with the busiest time within work each year which doesn't bode well for a long promotion course that is due to finish this time next year so I will need to find a way of dealing with that. I know this year it is likely to last a bit longer due to a few things going on that have left me in the land of limbo a bit but I am hoping that being away over the next week will allow me time to deal with things.

I have now finished the Christmas card writing :j and Mr AJM is doing all the ironing I am going to pack my stuff and then start on present wrapping. I thought it was a lot later already which has given me a bit of enthusiasm to see what else I can do before I go away.

ajmoney

Halfway through my week away with work. It is very tiring as we are working long hours, I haven't seen daylight since Wednesday morning but we have a bit of time off this morning so I am going to rectify that. I have got the sniffles as a result of sharing a room/tent with 20 other people but hoping I can get rid of them before I get home to Mr AJM.

I am feeling a bit happier but it was to be expected as I have left all my work/Christmas stresses behind. I am trying to work through a couple of things while I am away in the hope they don't hit me like a freight train when I get home.

Looking forward to a walk along Embankment this morning, I love London

ajmoney

I didn't get to embankment yesterday but did investigate Fulham for a bit. A big group of us went looking at all the Christmas lights last night starting at Covent Garden and ending in Hyde Park at the Winter Wonderland. It was such a lovely night, loads of laughter and great to be away from our temporary home for the week. A few of us are going for tea and cake at the Hummingbird bakery this morning before work starts later.

It has been quite an affordable week considering we were paying for all our meals at the start of it. I can't wait to set off home tomorrow night though.

newgirly

Sound lovely aj, I was looking at the winter wonderland online just today actually, did you do any of the paid activities there as they did seem very expensive, Or if not was there plenty of free stuff to look at ? Hope you don't mind the nosey questions

ajmoney

newgirly wrote: »

Sound lovely aj, I was looking at the winter wonderland online just today actually, did you do any of the paid activities there as they did seem very expensive, Or if not was there plenty of free stuff to look at ? Hope you don't mind the nosey questions

I really enjoyed just absorbing the atmosphere so didn't pay for anything. I was tempted by the fun house as you walk in but then found a hat stall and had far more fun trying those on with my friends. Some of the other guys went to the fire pit and said that was good fun. In the end we arrived an hour before it shut so didn't have enough time. The organisers are mad, the place was packed at 10pm when it shuts, it is a shame it doesn't stay open longer, especially at weekends.

ajmoney

I have got my penultimate physio appointment today, there are some niggles from last week's work so I will have to see what he says and how things go as I exercise there later.

I have just caught up with the ironing and have done a tidy around ready for our cleaner who has just arrived. I have made a bit of a list for today but the main thing I am doing is re-evaluating our finances. We are both struggling a tad, although Mr AJM far more than me and I want to check where everything is going.I have checked everything I believe goes out of my account and our joint account and everything tallies up, although we have an interest free payment that is about to start going out so we will need to up the money going to our joint account. I will double check everything later and make sure I am earning enough to cover all our outgoings. I have made a list of everything I think Mr AJM pays out and will get the figures from him later. I need to try and educate him in savings for his insurances etc throughout the year as I think that is what has crippled him recently.

The re-evaluation should help us as I think I am trying to do too many things money wise. Once we have worked out where the money is going and am going to discuss with Mr AJM what is important to us and what we would like to achieve with our money etc. I think it will be an interesting conversation as I know we both have different views.

ajmoney

I have submitted my MFiT update, I think we will be way off for sometime. I have been looking at our mortgage figures:

Original MF date February 2030
Current MF date September 2029
Planned MF date with OPs November 2023

This is still quite a way off where I would like to be, to allow me to have any job I want when I finish my current employment we need to be MF by September 2022, especially as this is all based on our larger mortgage, we will have about £18k left on our smaller mortgage by this point. Looking at the spreadsheet we would need £39369.69 in savings in September 2022 to clear the rest on both mortgages.

I can see this figuring in our conversation about money later. I am currently on a wage of about £33.6k a year and there is no way I could find a job that would pay that away from my current employment.

ajmoney

I will definitely be getting discharged from physio on Friday. I think he would have done it today but we were running out of time and he wanted to go through my reconditioning programme and running programme. Seeing as I already have an appointment booked for Friday he said we would do all that then and do a couple of final tests to see where my strength has got to. It is a scary time as it means I have to go back to doing everything on my own again but the progress has been amazing. When I first went to see him about my knee he said treatment would normally take 16 weeks but he hoped we could do it in 8. Even with the motorbike incident and my resulting sprained ankle I will still be discharged in just under 13 weeks :j

I need to do some of my list but am going to potter about on here for a bit first, enjoy some of my day off and find a gym that I can use during my Christmas leave that will still be open.