Women and cats will do as they please! :)

belleandthebudget

TheMagician wrote: »

On another note, I've been trying to notice what gives me good feelings and excites me

So far, 4/5 things are not money related - good stuff. It's the right balance I think.

I'll come back and extend my list as and when, these happy feelings just come to me and then I know - this is what I need even more of in my life.

This is such a nice way to look at things. Today's been a bit of a hard one for me and this really has cheered me up. I'm going to go and make my own list. Thanks, Magician!

TheMagician

Dear Diary,

it's been almost 3 months and I am back!
I never really went away, just couldn't find the time to post.

This time of the year is a stock take time for me.
So what have I accomplished this year?
By the end of December I will have passed 2 exams and saved £10,000.
It's less than I had planned but I'm very happy with what I've achieved because there were so many changes I had to deal with this year and so many times I had to be very strong and very patient that other things sometimes took a back seat. But you cannot rush fate and I believe I am precisely where I need to be at this point in my life :beer:

My lovely assistant has now settled down and has taken so much pressure off me. I'm eventually getting to do things I really should be doing with my new job title. So work is going great.

I've been doing yoga twice a week and I truly believe it's what's kept me sane. I feel great for it. I'm so much more flexible and fitter, I get muscle ache after every session so I know it's working.

I've continued eating the Harcombe way - there is no other way to eat for us anymore. It does mean I cook a lot but we both feel fantastic for it.

I've been through some very tough times over the last 9 months but I will not dwell on it - not at all, it's all in the past. I feel like all the trials have now come to an end. I'm feeling a brand new start coming my way and I am so very excited about 2016!

Next year, I will:
1) Get my braces off! Woohoo can't wait :j
2) Qualify - fingers crossed, will do my best
3) Carry on saving and buy a house.

It's going to be a huge huge year for us. And that's just the things I can predict - there is lots that I cannot as proven by past experience :rotfl: Hopefully all good though, I'm very positive about it!

I've got a savings spreadsheet for the next 12 months with my salary prediction so I know what to aim for. It's telling me that if I work hard I'll do very well

We've now got 3 weeks until our holiday! It will be amazing - I love Christmas. I've already bought all of my presents so we're good to go. Can't wait to see everyone, have missed them loads.

Well this is a bigger update than I had planned but it's good to be back :A

TheMagician

submarine76

Glad to hear things are going great for you, welcome back :O)

TheMagician

Now I have £10,000+ I decided to rejig my finances.

I opened up a HTB ISA and deposited the £1,200 straight in there and will send a further £200 every month until we buy. I obviously won't be able to take advantage of the full offer because that would take 5yrs but it's still free money. Just sending the £1,200 there this month earned me £300 straight away - fantastic. 4% interest will come in handy too.

With Santande* imposing the new £5 monthly charge in Jan I decided to move away from them and deposited the rest of my money to 4-5% current accounts. I've also switched banks for a neat £100.

I've calculated that until I buy the house I'll now be earning £85+ every month in interest £50 of which is the government HTB scheme.
I'm chuffed - that from the measly £15-£20 pcm I was getting up to now.

So that's been my main focus this week, all done and dusted now apart from waiting for the switch to complete and making sure it all goes through OK.

Now, for the fun stuff (even though I find money and saving loads of fun) I've been really organised for next year and have already booked two of our holidays! Both cheap £500 for a week in the UK in spring and £200 for return flights to see the family in summer. Something to look forward. So that's all sorted too.

I can't wait for Christmas and to see everyone. The two weeks off will come in handy too, I sure could do with some r&r.

And my main goal after the hols will be my studies. I really need to get on with it if I want to qualify next year or very soon after. I'm half way there but need that focus which I have now again, eventually. After everything we've been through, I feel like things have settled now and I've got mind space to learn. After I qualify I can double (or more) my current earnings!

So that's it for Saturday night.
Loads of happiness to everyone this weekend.

TheMagician

TheMagician

A thought:

If one saves £3,000 pcm for 10yrs, they'll have almost £450,000 at the end of that period £80,000 of which will be from compounding interest at 4%.

£450,000 at 4% can generate £18,000 pa or £1,500 pcm - enough to live on/retire on if mortgage is already paid off.

TheMagician

This weekend has been all about money, when DS is asleep anyway

I now have a very clever spreadsheet with all my earnings and monthly and annual spends for the next 12 months and % of expected savings. It looks great! Very exciting.

Now the idea is to not allow any unexpected spends creep in :A

Back to work and school tomorrow but only for 5 days before we head off on our Christmas break. So looking forward to that, my DS has been counting down the days. Me as well, to be honest :rotfl:

Right, off to bed with me, once I've packed both of our lunches for tomorrow.

judi24

So nice to see you back! and great news on the job going well and the financial planning for next year! sound like you have got a great plan and are determined to stick to it!!! I wish I could say the same!


Holiday away to visit family sounds great too!!! Enjoy x

TheMagician

It's been a few weeks since the last update.

The holiday was amazing - thoroughly relaxing and fun.

Back to work now and there's been another huge change! I can't believe it but it's all for the better and things are now excellent, eventually.
I do very much want to pass more exams asap so that'll be my focus now especially as I'm so much more relaxed about work.

My DS's birthday is coming up soon. Decided on fewer presents than usual but all of great quality - DS agreed. So I've got 3 very good presents that he'll love and maybe another one if I can think of anything else.
I usually order an expensive cake but not this year - I'll bake popping candy cupcakes! He will absolutely love it! And the only extra cost will be the candy - I have all other ingredients already.
I also usually get him a fancy box of chocs but this year I'll get him some very nice swiss chocolate but a smaller box hence cheaper and also better for his health & teeth

So my saving hat is firmly on and staying there. I am buying absolutely nothing unnecessary and every necessary purchase is carefully thought through.

On the money making front, I will be receiving some cinema tickets from my new bank and they're going straight on eba*. I've followed a few similar listings and they're going for around £40 woohoo I've also got a few DS's old clothes to list at some point.

But the best money maker is a larger salary so I'm onto those studies of mine

TheMagician

judi24 wrote: »

So nice to see you back! and great news on the job going well and the financial planning for next year! sound like you have got a great plan and are determined to stick to it!!! I wish I could say the same!


Holiday away to visit family sounds great too!!! Enjoy x

Hi judi24

Thank you very much!:j

Hope you're well, I have really enjoyed reading your recent updates - you're on fire. Keep it up. You will absolutely smash all of your goals and will very soon be saving with me instead of paying off debt :beer:

TheMagician

My phone contract is expiring in March. For the first time ever since I've been able to take out a contract I will not renew :j The phone is perfectly fine and it'll save me £20 pcm - £240 a year straight to the savings.

Was thinking what else I could save on but my regular monthly outgoings are at the bare minimum. The only thing I can genuinely reduce is the food bill but that would have impact on our health and I'm not prepared to do it so for now I'm happy with where we are.

Another busy day at the office but completely stress free and so much more laid back overall. Things are going very well :T Long may it continue.

Also exams on my mind every day so I'm picking up the books again this weekend. Can't wait