All I want to be...is Free!

Sayuri

Good luck on your quest for freedom!

I'm in a similar sort of situation, same kind of mortgage on a flat, bought around the same time too.

juststuff123

Thanks Sayuri, good luck to you to.
I'll have a read of your Diary.

juststuff123

I have a goal setting / moving problem.

Say for example I set my self a savings goal of £20k, once I get close, say £18k, in my head (kinda subconciusly) I move the goal post to £25k, the result is that I never get that phycological feel good factor / motivator when I get to £20k because in my head I have already moved on, £20k is no longer good enough.

With the smaller goals it's not so bad, and in fact it does have the positive effect that I keep motivated and don't say "right job done I can relax" but I do worry that i'll pull something like this when I get close to my MF date and it'll be a bit of a let down.

Does anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions on combatting it? Apart from a good slap ... i've tried it, it doesn't work!

juststuff123

I found out about my pay rise this week, 1.75% it’s better than I thought it would be, and equates to about £25 extra per month. So it will all add to the pot. :T
In other news I had my first Aerial Hoop lesson, It was hard work, painful, and the bruises on the back of my legs are horrific, but I absolutely loved it. Looking forward to the next lesson, I just hope I heal a bit first.:p

juststuff123

Got home to an email from my energy supplier, great they are lowering my tariff and back dating the reduction to the end of March, :T
so I open up my spread sheet ready to input the new tariff to see what saving I could make (the email said £38 for average family but my consumption is significantly less). Could I find the new Tariff info anywhere?! Not even on the FAQs! So now what should have been good news has really P*##~D me off! :mad:


Why do Energy companies make Tariff info, and banks make interest rates so hard find?


Grrr:mad:

juststuff123

I was told that our Bonus scheme at work would be changing, I’m not sure if the changes will be positive or negative in the long run, however it does seem like we might get something this year, which I wasn’t expecting under the old scheme. :T
Although the new system hasn’t been agreed yet, we were given time to see how it would affect us and comment. It turns out the larger a person’s salary is the worse off they will be compared to the old system so I don’t yet know if any of the higher earners have commented or if any further changes to the scheme will happen. They’ve left it all to the last minute – Typical of our company!
The Bonus scheme as explained to us is calculated using the profit from our two companies and the holdings board. We see the profits for the two companies every month but the holding board section is shrouded in mystery, I have no idea if they would add to or take away from the pot. I guess it’s just a way to manipulate the pay-out, without anybody knowing / being able to cause a fuss. (I’m just an old cynic… unless I’m right which would make me a realist and the world quite a depressing place) Well I’ll just have to find out in a couple of months time.
I haven’t really been sleeping recently, so I’m looking forward to having a lazy evening – no hoop, pole, zumba or Pilates, and having an early night!
Still have to get something for Father’s Day, I’m completely stumped for Ideas! I may wash his car and clean the inside (it would be free so very MFW!):D
Have a lovely weekend a MFW's!

juststuff123

Hi all,


Time for my weekly update. I feel June has been a good month so far. :jI'll do a proper analysis next week and amend my signature accordingly. I've kept my spending right down and I have no update on the bonus scheme.


I had a man come round to replace the battery in my water meter. I had no idea where it was. Now I know I’ve set up a spread sheet so I can track my monthly usage and costs so I can check my bill. I have the same layout I use to track the Gas & Electricity, my mortgage, loans, savings and pension. It took me quite some time to work out how I am billed! The charges booklet was 40 pages long and had all the standing charges in annual costs (yet billed by the day).:eek: In the end I had to use my previous bill to work out the monthly charges. So far I estimate I’m over paying slightly only by £1 or £2 per month, I expect to get a decrease at my next billing period.:cool:

juststuff123

I’ve just checked my pension portfolio; I do it at the end of every month (just having a sneaky peak before Monday) and fill in the info on my spreadsheet. My pension money wasn’t deposited last month by my employer; they have just farmed out the wages to a separate company, so I expect something has gone wrong there. I hope they've paid for this month. Either way now I’ll have to get that sorted out.:mad:
It always seems to be something doesn't it?
Have a good weekend all. :A

juststuff123

June was a good month, I returned some clothes I bought in May and got some money that was owed me from May in June, I suppose they have slightly distorting effect for the Month as it seems I’ve spent £200 less than I really have, however all my budget groups are in the green so I’m happy. :j
The savings are coming on nicely, and since I had to close my Nationwide 5% account (because it was actually only 1%) and put the money in the Santander, it means I’ll get to my Santander goal sooner at which point I’ll be ready to start OPing more significantly. Current estimated date of October. Looking forward to July, I have a couple of parties and a possible trip to London which could be costly. I don’t have any other major expenses anticipated unless I pay for my Car insurance early (Renewal date 10th Aug) but I’ll have enough in the pot to pay it and stay in the green.
I’ve got a little bit of cashback this month. Quidco = £6.50, TT = £19.59 (Amazon Vouchers for the extra 5%) Still chasing my £46.50 claim from TT from December!

My Signature has been updated to reflect my latest financial circumstances
MFW & DFW - Goal - to be Debt Neutral by Dec 2018
Mortgage -£56261/£66445 (started Feb 2010)
Parent Loan - £7844/£15000 Student Loan - £4960/£9479
Stoozing Credit Card - £1378
Savings - £22746
Debt Neutrality - -£47739

juststuff123

Pension is sorted; it has been paid just a delay with some sort of report. All up-to-date now!:D