The march to financial freedom

supersaver1000 · 17 January 2015 at 8:16PM

Have a lovely evening Ali.

xx

Ali-OK · 18 January 2015 at 12:12PM

Thanks for the permission to go out Broggers :rotfl: and good wishes from all.

Had a lovely time just chilling, chatting and catching up. My £20 note came back as some oddments of change for the bucket, but well worth a few hours of great company, change of environment and a large roaring open log fire.

Have had the phone call about DS's laptop repair and the news isn't too bad. The hard drive does need replacing and cost is £48. Long conversations around whether to put a Solid State Drive in instead, but then he loses the storage capacity and the cost is much higher (about £200 if bought from them). So have opted for a straight swap and that should be sorted and on it's way back to us early next week. Thank goodness, down in the dumps DS is no fun at all.

They won't do it for free as a manufacturer default but have said it might be worth writing to them and seeing what they reply with.

I'll talk to DS about the longer term too - he'd be better off having a proper gaming console and gets enough birthday or Christmas money to buy one.

Sunday's dinner is smelling divine already - beef brisket with onions and carrots and gravy bubbling away in the slow cooker. Yum yum - just like an american pot roast. Will have a pile of mash with that tonight.

Lots of bits and pieces to do today to get fully ready for the week ahead and am hoping to start surveys again today - focussing on Inbox Pounds and speeding up reaching £20.

Financials:
- bank account checked - use and pay off monthly CC payment goes out tomorrow
- Inbox Pounds - up at £4.45
- Qmee - picked up 11p so that went to 46p and then I moved it to the bank account and my TT pot - now at £80.47

A sunny Sunday here and I might tackle a bit of clearing in the garage

Hope everyone has a good day.

Ali-OK · 18 January 2015 at 8:51PM

Evening Diary,

A full tum after the delicious beef brisket and plenty left for another serving tomorrow night. Similarly with the kale...it's a bottomless bag :rotfl: wonder if it will freeze ok?

Been a lovely relaxing day, pottering and getting little jobs done - hand washing up, ironing DS's shirts and general tidying and cleaning. Too cold to spend time in the garage, well that's my excuse, as I sat eating the 'lighter way to enjoy chocolate' :rotfl: A large box of them though :eek:

DS's laptop repair is now paid for and will be back with him on Wednesday. :j

Rejected for several IP surveys so will wait for new ones to come in. Perhaps I'd better do some Nectar ones instead.

Been rather naughty and have booked a summer holiday :eek: Deposit paid by debit card and the rest not due until 2 weeks before we go in August. We're going to Malta for 2 weeks, using a no frills airline and a direct booked hotel. Just need to sort the dogs. It'll be a good educational trip for DS as some family links plus the historical ones he's interested in (WWII). Cheap, cheerful, plenty to do and see, hot and sunny and not on credit

Had better get some work prep done for the morning now

Brogden · 18 January 2015 at 9:08PM

Ali-OK wrote: »

Thanks for the permission to go out Broggers :rotfl:

Glad you had a great evening Ali

Richly deserved

!!

Don't hesitate to ask for permission again and.....I'm a pushover when you call me Broggers :rotfl:!!!!

millionaire_in_training · 18 January 2015 at 9:53PM

Ali............wahey on the holiday for summer. That's great news. I can't wait until I can afford holidays again

Skinnylatte · 18 January 2015 at 11:22PM

Everyone needs a holiday, especially when it's not on credit :cool:

in_need_of_direction · 18 January 2015 at 11:56PM

Well done on the holiday. Needs to happen esp when it can be paid for.

Ali-OK · 19 January 2015 at 10:01AM

We're having 2 holidays this year so it feels very extravagant

The 9 days in the Canaries at Easter that my Mum has treated us to - on the back of my health problems she was insistent I needed a rest (says I'm just like my father was in that respect - I don't stop properly unless I'm away from home and for all the 'not good enough' issues, I recognise she is right on this one).

And now the summer one.

All the budgets and plans are in place, so I know where I'm going with what with money this year. The artificial grass can be put back as that's the last bit of the garden project and almost everything else was bought in the autumn. Just the concrete gravel boards and posts to pay out for. Labour is the DIY gang again in exchange for roast dinners and cake and tea on tap.

First priority is obviously getting the CC paid off, but I don't want to drop my current account funds below £5k as it's earning £12-13 interest per month and with it being on 0% there is little point in doing it early so sticking with the £260 per month. It's built into my monthly budget as a bill so no worries there.

I'd also dropped the regular saver from £400 to £200, so the extra £200 per month is building up for spending money for the Easter holiday on top of the £5k. By time the regular saver finishes they'll be @ £3,400 there so the £1k holiday balance may well come from that.

And I'm still budgeting £200 a month as OP to the mortgage and TTing to that small pot.

Usually Feb/March would be an expensive time due to car tax and servicing, but as well as being under the business, car tax is zero band and servicing was included in the package so no impact on any finances.

Ramble over...must do some work! Hope everyone has a good day.