I'm going to buy a ski lodge.......

daisystar

Hi everyone, I'm back!! :wave:

So, Christmas happened........and then we've had ourselves a sneaky little holiday between Christmas and New Year which is why I've been away from the boards :) I didn't confess to it before we went away as I was feeling a bit sheepish about it in view of all my grand resolutions and declarations :cool: However, this one was all booked and paid for before I came to the boards, i.e. Pre-LBM, and we managed to spend the grand total of £8.70 while we were there as we took all our own food, so I feel I can own up to it now......

I'm well and truly back on the MSE wagon now, and after the hecticness (and also proper loveliness) of Christmas I am ready to knuckle down and do everything I can to hit 2014 hard I've been sorting figures for the 2014 frugal living challenge and making goals for the year and I'm feeling super positive.

Brizzle - thanks, and if you could find a ski in ski out detached lodge with a wrap around veranda that is still MSE then just let me know :rotfl:

Hi Daisy 1571! :wave: Thanks for the tips. I have done something similar but on a two week basis, my day is a Thursday and if all rents come in then I only really have to worry about every other Thursday. However, we're still in a position where an unexpected bill can upset our bills account so we're trying hard to build up a small savings pot to deal with those without affecting our entire month.
As for putting the rent up, we'd LOVE to, but the rent is still the going rate for the area and the tenants have recently asked for a reduction. We said no and pointed out we haven't raised it in 5 years. So as soon as we reasonably can, we will!!

Feeling the fear with regard to the tenants more than normal this week, any non-payments always seem to be in Jan and after not being in touch for MONTHS they've started reporting all sorts of problems with the house and questioning their tenancy agreement - this is usually the pre-curser to them not paying. Time will tell.

Well that's quite enough waffle - it just feels so good to be back!!

daisystar

Right, fortnightly and monthly financial planning done, annual mega-spreadsheet done for the 2014 Frugal Living Challenge done (this pleased me more than I'd care to admit to), goals for the year set, lets do this thing!!!


Happy New Year everyone!!! Bring it 2014............. xxx

Knit_Witch

So are you up for getting the ski lodge at the end of 2014 then

HOK3Y

Just stopping by to wish you a wonderful New Year and lots of positivity for 2014! You are doing so well and I know it will continue for you - plus your annual countdown begins tomorrow! Just think where you will be this time next year! WHOOP!!!

daisystar

Knit_Witch wrote: »

So are you up for getting the ski lodge at the end of 2014 then

HahaI wish!! Even with my skills for creating ridiculously crazy goals that would be out of my league!! I may treat myself to a travel magazine at that point though

HOK3Y wrote: »

Just stopping by to wish you a wonderful New Year and lots of positivity for 2014! You are doing so well and I know it will continue for you - plus your annual countdown begins tomorrow! Just think where you will be this time next year! WHOOP!!!

Thanks HOK3Y - and right back at ya!! I'll be hanging around on your diary for inspiration over the coming year - infact I thought of you the other day as I found my first roadkill - 2p!! Have a fab New Year and here's to a tonne more positivity in 2014 x

Knit_Witch

daisystar wrote: »

HahaI wish!! Even with my skills for creating ridiculously crazy goals that would be out of my league!! I may treat myself to a travel magazine at that point though

Good idea


Thanks HOK3Y - and right back at ya!! I'll be hanging around on your diary for inspiration over the coming year - infact I thought of you the other day as I found my first roadkill - 2p!! Have a fab New Year and here's to a tonne more positivity in 2014 x

I hope you and yours are successful from now on in

daisystar

So, it's the 1st Jan 2014 and I think it's time for a summary of how exactly I'm planning to go from my current situation to 'ski lodge homeowner extraordinaire' Well, it's more a rough plan of events rather than exact plans but it'll be good to get it down to maintain some focus. Here goes (in vague chronological order).....

1. Pay off the debts. this really warrants more than one point on the list as it's such a massive task but there it is

2. Buy a car. Where I live is proving really tough without a car; public transport is not up to much, my house is up a mega steep hill and is tricky to access with a pushchair, and it's really quite hazardous for me to try to go anywhere on wet and frosty days while I'm pregnant. However, there is NO WAY I'm going to even think about a car until I've paid things off, as even the cheapest ones are a financial drain. Plus it's been a massive help shift the first lot of baby weight so I'm hoping the same will happen with Number 2!!! :rotfl:

3. Plough money into the mortgage(s). I'm not sure at this moment where we would be best channelling our money, but I will look for advice regarding this at the time. The aim will be to gain enough equity to enable us to........

4. Move house. The dream for this house is that it will be big enough to accommodate the family, with a garden and somewhere for an office. It won't necessarily be a massive financial leap for us, just somewhere more practical for a young (we WILL still be young by then ) family. Once we are settled in there we can focus the finances on saving saving saving, and then look to investing in..........

5. THE SKI LODGE!!!!! :j:j:j:j

You see?? Simples!!! Also along the way I will return to work once the baby-making is done, but when this will happen I don't know.

So the dream is huge but I think it's definitely achievable, and with the lessons I am learning from here I hope to get Number 1 on the list done sooner rather than later I will be on here a LOT more over the next couple of years as I'm really going to need the boards to chart my own progress and to continue to be inspired by other peoples.

Happy New Year everyone!!!! _party_ 2014 is ours for the taking, let's go and make it our year!! :j:j

daisystar

Phew - rents in!!! :):):)


I honestly thought it wasn't going to happen, all the usual signs were there, and I felt sick all morning until I saw it had been out in.....after all the micro planning for the year I really really need things to run as planned for a while!! And they did, hurrah!! :j


So, the spending diary is in full flow, I managed to buy 3 birthday cards for less than £2 today and bought some food shopping for under £6 which should mean we have a weeks worth of meals in stock now, with all the leftovers from the festive period. I'll still have to buy milk though as me and the toddler are guzzling it!!


In slightly annoying news, the invoice arrived for the boiler work we had done before Xmas and it was £77 over the estimate. Because of this I'm not going to make the regular OP from this fortnights rent, just to make sure we don't leave ourselves short if the tenants don't pay next time. Honestly!! I feel like January is "getting straight again" month, sooner rather than later please!!


Right, time for some leftover festive chocolate and a browse through the trailfinders brochure that happened to drop through my door this morning........temptation or motivation?!!!

daisystar

Well, trailfinders turned out to be inspiration, as did the Lapland brochure my mum gave me yesterday More for DH than me - he's full of enthusiasm for the whole challenge at the mo, lets hope he can keep this up when the dining room at his work is calling!!


I've been up for a while, I'm finding it hard to stay in bed at the moment as the bump is getting so big now, but happily DS is having a phase of lying in until 9am so I'm making the most of it as I know it won't last!!


Spendy day yesterday, but it was v sensible, I used a B**ts giftcard to buy all the pregnancy vitamins I'm going to need for the next few months, along with vitamins for DS. I also started with the card collection, buying a couple of wedding cards I'm going to need in order to get some loyalty stamps at my local shop of loveliness - 1 more stamp and I get a £10 voucher, woohoo!!!


It should be a NSD today, the only plans are to pop round to friends for a cuppa with DH and DS, we haven't seen them since before Christmas so it'll be lovely. Lunch and dinner from stores - again


Happy Sundays everyone!!

Knit_Witch

Ah you didn't see the Michael Moseley programme that showed that Vitamins are a waste of money then! Unless you are disabled/elderly and don't get out then Vitamin B is helpful - or you need extra iron in which case you should get them from the docs to get the right dosage!