The march to financial freedom

Ali-OK

Thanks Lilt, it feels exciting now seeing the finishing line. Well one race that'll have finished, more to come after that, always need a goal

8 cards :eek: but then you have a great head for numbers. All the interesting earning account ones I bet . I didn't even clock the different colour of the card

That's a very big LBM with the 0% running out and thanks for confirming those changes too. I can take worry head off now

You might change your mind about Springy when you hear some of the not so good things he's done - there are 2 trowels buried somewhere in the garden..not found them in 5 years :rotfl: He is a thief of dirty washing :eek:, uses the large garden pots as pedestals to sit in/on and even the toughest toys last no more than 5 minutes - he chews right through them..or takes out the squeakers :rotfl:. Bags of character I think they call it

Happy wall mopping and/or painting

liltdiddylilt

Springer sounds fantastic and very springery!!! I read trowels as towels and thought whoa those must have been some big holes!! :rotfl:

I had a doberman from a pup. he chewed through a concrete and metal wall in the kitchen. After eating the skirting board. He also ate over £400 of dvd boxsets. :eek: never replaced them lol. I idolised him though. I know you wouldn't be without springer p.s my doby was the softest sod you ever met. And so well trained I could make him lie down completely flat and subservient on the floor, with one pointed finger :rotfl: he was my baby big, 7 ft tall baby... :rotfl:

Yeah my LBM was about 18 months after it ran out when my ex still hadn't paid it off when he had promised a portion of the money he still owes me to this day. But thats another story

I missed a word out there. The highest percentage interest debt gets paid off first. So the 0% would remain unpaid whilst the minimum would go towards covering some of the interest paying debt. I think you 20p would be cleared next time around xx

AlexLK

Glad to hear you are so close to the finishing line. What are the goals once the debt is clear?

I was so glad to close my credit card accounts, cut the things up and throw them in the bin but am aware they can be useful if you can be disciplined. My wife has also vowed to cut hers up once she's cleared what she owes (which is not much and not in arrears) as she too thinks the temptation is just too much.

Ali-OK

Thanks Alex - savings goals are:

- Uni Fund for DS - unrealistic to think I can save the £27k for accommodation costs alone for Uni for him, but a pot of £6k over 4 years is doable I think

- Match my pension payments into an ISA or savings accounts to get retirement funds on track

- £5k emergency fund up to £10k ideally

- Continue overpaying mortgage to finish it in 9 years not 12 yrs 9 months (on target still)

- House projects - TT savings pot is for that with £102.88 but garden at £2,500 to finish this year and fascia/soffitt replace and/or extension are the medium to long term goals.

- One holiday a year abroad (ok, so we're having 2 this year but that's the exception).

That's more than enough for now. I don't know if it's a good idea to have so many on the go or whether I should just focus on one at a time.

I've been disciplined with CC use since my first visit here in 2006, so don't plan to close any of mine for the time being - 2 are sitting empty, 1 is my use and pay off monthly, 1 has the 0% balance on.

AlexLK

They all sound like good goals.

Is your son saving something himself towards university costs? If so, you could perhaps say whatever he can put away you will match?

Can't say I know anything about pensions at all but that sounds like a good idea to me, as does the emergency fund. Currently, I'm contemplating having some money set aside as a similar emergency fund but am reluctant as my business is cash rich and I could instead take dividends if the need arises.

I like the fact you save for the house projects, I tend to start them and run out of patience or money. :rotfl: This year I've promised my wife I will finish the windows which are a terribly time consuming job, so much so a part of me is considering calling a company in. Unfortunately, that would be terribly expensive as what I want would be quite a specialist job.

I don't think there is anything wrong with having a few things on the go at once so long as you can keep track of them, which I'm confident you can.

Ali-OK

Lilt - we have massive holes in the dogs drying off towels too :rotfl: Springy thinks it's tug and play time when I get those out

Your Doberman sounded lovely, except the chewing destruction :eek: Doodlebug was the chewer out of my 2 - especially the stairs skirting :eek:. Definitely wouldn't be without mine, Springy is typical of his breed, full on or flat out snoozing - takes after his owner

Alex - DS doesn't earn anything to match it, but does hang onto his pocket money as long as possible . He's got over £2k of his own money saved and loves seeing the interest added quarterly - glad I learnt so much from here when he was young enough to be influenced. He's a saver not a spender by nature thankfully.

Look at your sig already with savings, that is brilliant :T and I understand leaving it in the business and dividends - you still know it's your money so same difference - you just draw down from a different place in an emergency.

Sure you can make progress on those windows once the better weather is here and Little K will enjoy helping and learning new skills too.

There's too many things I'd like on the house front when I think about it - the lounge needs re-decorating and new sofas, carpet and curtains, fireplace and fire :eek:. Fridge/freezer needs replacing and that might become urgent given the water it's producing and flooding a shelf regularly :eek: Temp is fine, so making do for now. Then the hoover that broke at the weekend...

There's something to be said for piling all spare money into one goal as it'll get there quicker. I'm sure I'll change tack and ideas before long anyway :rotfl:

Ali-OK

Diary update on financials today.

Checked Noodle or Noddle credit report (can never remember which ) and all good there.

TT phoned and account and bill and package finally sorted out, plus a credit to the bill for my complaint :T Still have the option to keep the TV box FOC (and no increase in package charge either) and dump Sky at £23.50 a month - need to do a through check with DS.

Still waiting for the mortgage annual statement, I'll be in my element reading that when it finally arrives

Friend has a friend who works in currency and can get me the rate they buy it at, so another saving will be made there for our holiday Euros :T

All the usual financials checked and all fine there.

DS got a Grade B mark in his GCSE Maths test paper :T Bodes well as he doesn't sit the real thing until 2 years time, but it will be the new exam so not sure how comparable that makes it.

Zero progress on study declutter, good progress on work stuff. At least it's the right way round

Another delish dinner of LO pork chopped with noodles, apricots and nuts. Didn't buy any spinach, will pick some up in the weekly shop which might be tomorrow as busy couple of work days Thurs and Friday.

Must make getting to bed earlier a priority, struggling to get up in the mornings at the moment :eek:

Hope everyone's week is going well.

millionaire_in_training

Just caught up on about 2 weeks worth. Thanks for volunteering me for cleaning job but I have to decline as I have no minutes spare :rotfl:

Skinnylatte

Well done to DS, what a great achievement in the maths, and for being such a good saver :T

Ali-OK

millionaire_in_training wrote: »

Just caught up on about 2 weeks worth. Thanks for volunteering me for cleaning job but I have to decline as I have no minutes spare :rotfl:

Thought you'd like that :rotfl:

Skinnylatte wrote: »

Well done to DS, what a great achievement in the maths, and for being such a good saver :T

Thanks Skinny - I'm just so proud of him . Getting a bit worried his education might turn into a long-term thing though - he's talking of a PhD :eek: Professional Historian apparently . Alex - I know you'll approve . I've never seen DS so excited and motivated as when he came home from school last night about Options and careers and unlike me, at least he has a good idea of what he wants to specialise in even if he doesn't know quite what he wants to do at the end of it (I still don't :rotfl:).

Been a busy couple of days and lots of exciting work stuff happening. Relevant to my diary as it involves tax brackets and just like Skinny I will probably be throwing quite a bit into my pension pot before this tax year ends. Very grateful to my quick replying Accountant to help me sort things.

That's also led into the need I think now, to see an IFA - I have a recommendation from my Accountant to follow up. For the first time (once the £900 debt bit has gone) I'll have choices and I need to make the right ones - financing DS's Uni, his inheritance (already have an up to date Will), my retirement planning, BTL or not, mortgage op'ing, SIPPs for tax wrapper, etc. It's a world I've only really begun to inhabit the edge of in recent times.

Half term next week, but you guessed it, I'm working all week except Monday, quite alot of billable stuff so will be worth it come pay myself time. Will still get lay ins so no 6am alarm :j

Still no sign of the annual mortgage statement :mad:

Financials all checked and all ok there.

Inbox Pounds up to £6.31
Nectar still at £29.50
Qmee - still an empty pot :eek:

Tonight we're having a MaccyD's for tea - not MSE and not healthy either, but I'm knackered, we had spag bol from batch last night and I need to go to the Retail Park anyway and buy a kettle - another appliance that's broken - the lid this time! Only lasted about 14 months, but then it gets used alot :coffee:

Roll on the weekend...except I'm working on Saturday.