Dot's Diary - MFW as part of simplifying my life!

elantan

Well done dot, I'm sure it will work out to be one of the best decisions you have made

All the best

El

Dot_Common

Thanks all - I have definitely simplified my life in one fell swoop!

Working notice is always a bit awkward really, especially when I can't point to a shiny new job that makes it obvious why I've left.

I've been adding a few more LinkedIn connections over the last few days of people I'd like to keep in touch with. I haven't yet started approaching contacts about freelance work, I think I need a bit of a breather first.

Courgette

Well done on taking such a brave step, life really is too short to be miserable at work :beer:

Dot_Common

How nice is it to finally have Spring here!

Have had a good weekend - babysat for a friend, so have a free night to be reciprocated at some point in the future. And had a lovely day in the garden today, getting unreasonably excited about setting up and filling my compost bin. First lot of salad seeds are sown (with a little help from the 2 year old, so his half may be a little haphazard!).

And I'm continuing to feel good about handing in my notice - no regrets yet, it feels like a big weight has been taken off my shoulders.

sweetdaisy

Just caught up with your Diary and read that you have handed in your notice. Bet you are feeling so much better now and hope all goes well with your freelance work .

gallygirl

Just caught up on reading your diary. How exciting for you, giving up work :T. By the time you factor in the childcare costs and the money you'll save on being able to cut back on groceries etc as you'll have time to shop around and cook I'm sure it will have less of an impact than you're expecting.

I saw you saying you'd read The Millionaire Next Door, which is fab. I've just finished reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad and can highly recommend that too. Again, a fresh take on things, including how your house is a liability, not an asset (so I'm afraid you're an even bigger under accumulator :eek::eek::eek:). I've bullied DS into reading it, DD has gracefully declined .

Dot_Common

Thanks sweetdaisy and gallygirl (really need to try out quoting properly!). I think I read at least some of Rich Dad, Poor Dad a long time ago, I remember talk about passive income I think - may need to have another look when I won't get so freaked having just jacked in my job!

I'm going to revisit our SOA and see if its possible to still aim for saving 25% of our income with my salary excluded - it'll be a much harder target, and a lower overall amount, but would mean that anything I earn can go straight to OP.

And a wander down to the village shop paid off this morning - I've been offered free school shirts in the next sizes up that are in great condition, so won't need to buy new ones for my ever-growing 5 year old. Just got some name tags to unpick and replace!

Dot_Common

Have done the calculation, and we would need to be saving/overpaying/pension-ing about £950 a month to hit 25% of newly-reduced income. According to current SOA, our income exceeds outgoings by about £250 a month, so that's a lot of ground to make up. But it's something to aim for! And Mr Common is just about to start a big new project that is likely to involve some travel and decent amounts of overtime (which I can be positive about rather than panicking about now I've quit my job).

I have an unexpected day at home without children :j, so I'm doing a big push on sorting/decluttering, and if I can get my head round the new post charges, maybe some ebaying too. I can't find a decent local facebook selling site, which is frustrating me.

And I still need to clean the grottsville freezer that we inherited :eek: At least I've now checked that it works and it has found a permanent home in the corner of the garage.

The boys (and myself) are excitedly watching the progress of our salad seedlings - they grow fast! (easily pleased)

LauraJo

Dot_Common wrote: »

The thing that struck me is that although we have a good income, and have always lived within our means, we have limited savings or assets to show for it, apart from equity - and that came from having bought our first house in 1999 rather than any heavy savings. In the words of The Millionaire Next Door, we have been Under-Accumulators of Wealth, I fear.

Hi
This looks like a good book! £6 on k!indle though so will have to wait until I'm MF to get it :rotfl:

Dot_Common

Big test this morning - Mr Common is in desperate need of some clothes, he's getting somewhat threadbare, so he and I are going to the shopping mall. I get bored shopping for clothes for him, because he's quite indecisive, and so I usually wander off to the ladies' section and end up with more than him. And as I don't actually need anything, I need to resist!