Mortgage free by 48

pathtofreedom

Well today has been another nsd in the end. I was going to go out but feel bleugh again, and with work being busy now everyone is back I'm going to give myself a break, and think about going next week, rather than making myself more tierd when I have all week of work to get through yet.

So omlette for tea and an early night I think.

pathtofreedom

Another nsd to report so 5 for Jan which is pretty good going.

Tomorrow I am in the office with the temptation of the staff canteen though, so will have to make some dinner tonight to take with me.

It looks like in the next week I'll get £25.25 from quidco and £80 from my health insurance cash back. So once that has all cleared I think I'll put that towards the OP for feb. The cashback isn't exactly extra earned income as I pay for the insurance, but I guess I can see if I can manage without it for now at least.

More work needed on the decluttering front as well still to start selling / charity shopping more of that. It does look like I might be working this weekend though now so I guess that also helps, so I shouldn't be too hard on myself and must remember to pace myself even more now I won't get a day off. It might end up I work ever day in Jan now but will have to see what happens in meetings for this week.

The news about the job interview can't come soon enough really. It will still be a lot of work but it will be a lot more fun than where I am now. I must just remember no news is good news, and keep decluttering so if it doesn't happen I'm a step closer to putting the house on the market instead.

pathtofreedom

Another nsd this week so that is 6 so far in Jan which is very good.

I did spend today but appreciated it a lot more, as I took packed lunch for 2 days, but bought a sarnie today as I wasn't organised enough last night. I had takeaway tonight but because I wanted it, and not just I was too nackered to cook which is the normal reason. I am still fighting off this lurgy, and the best cure I have is my local chinese hot and sour soup always seems to help me feel better.

Also did some food shopping but this month I am only at £27.33 so far, which is probably half of what I was by this point last month. I need to get some eggs as I forgot tonight, but that should tide me over for the week now. If I end up below my food budget for the month I'll put that towards Febs OP as well I think.

It is blooming windy here tonight, but I am determind to get the stuff to cash convertors tomorrow now I know the quotes for the prices. I am doing overtime tomorrow night as well so that will help as well.

I just sent my old eletric supplier a mail through their site to check if my account was in credit when it was closed, as per martin's program tonight. Even saved on a phonecall as I could mail them.

I'll do some meter readings tomorrow, and use that as more proof to get a refund and the DD reduced again where I am now, as the credit is building up again far too quickly.

Is it sad I can't wait for the yearly statement to come through to see how much the payment reduces.

pathtofreedom

I had planned to save the quidco / bupa cashback for next months OP, but as it has cleared my account, and I'd got to the 106k bracket and it was going to creep back up to 107k again in the next few days with interest, I've thought I can't have that so another OP.

So that makes £398.07 this month so far.

It is still blooming windy here today but I'm working up to going to town to sell things to get some more OP money, so once that clears I might do that this month too. Then overtime tonight as well so that can towards another month as that can take a month or two to come through.

I'm going to have a go at amazon trade in tomorrow as well I think, as if I can get above £15 you get an extra £5 for free if you do it before the end of the month.

I might just watch last nights Adam Hills gig first though...

pathtofreedom

Up to a stonking 10 nsd and 4 in a row. I've done another OP tonight of £150 to get me to £548.07 for this month already.

Looks like I might be doing more overtime this weekend as well so that will help.

pathtofreedom

I finally made it into town yesterday to sell some bits and bobs. I'd already done an op of £150 thinking I should get £100 at least but walked out with an amazing £182. :j So I think that is going to help with the declutter / downsize motivation, as I can do online valuations first and then just take loads of stuff there I think.

The NSD have gone out the window for a bit though. I have ended up doing crazy overtime the past few days, and did order take away the other day. I felt bad doing it, but just didn't even have time to think what food I had in, and needed something in a hurry, as I had missed lunch for the second day in a row at that point. Afterwards I didn't even like it that much, so hopefully that's a good sign and this won't become a habbit.

When in town yesterday the market was on, so managed to get some fruit and veg dirt cheap, and walked past all the pound shops even with the cash burning a hole in my pocket.

I've changed my pension contribution again for next month, as once all this overtime comes through it is getting me to close to comfort to the 40% tax bracket again, and I'd rather it goes in to my pension for later than "lose" 20% of everthing in tax right now. It will do more good helping towards compounding for later, and the more used to living off a smaller salary the better it will do me later.

So goals update

1. move to a new job, and maybe a new house too. - still pending second interview.
2. lose 52lbs - lost 4 lbs :j more through luck and stress than judgement
3. walk 3k steps a day minimum - gone out the window with work but will start again tomorrow.
4. complete a course on coursera or edx - not yet started.
5. get a social hobby to make some friends - not yet started.
6. stop the takeaways and cook more - only 2 take aways so far this month, one planned one unplanned but with everything going on I think that's a real achievement. :T

pathtofreedom

Well finally heard and I didn't get the job. I am really gutted to be honest. Jobs like that don't come up every day, and it had dragged on for months so long enough for me really to want it.

I just feel a bit deflated now as with all the overtime at my current place, I was looking forward to escaping this place. I could get another job easily enough but in reality not much changes from company to company so even if I did move it would end up the same.

I guess I need to go back to my plan b, and consider moving out of this dodgy area while I still have a job, and can port the mortgage . Then can look for something else in the new area then.

The only way I can see to do that though is get out of all this overtime some how, so I get some time back to declutter the house, and to start visiting new areas.

With so many already empty properties near me though, it will take a good time to sell or it will have to be at an even bigger loss. So I guess I need to pick a budget for the new place which might eat into my emergency fund a bit, but still might get me something smaller in a better area.

Must try to look on the bright side I guess, that I do still have a job, and my health is okish right now. Another nsd as well so up to 12 in Jan so far. All this overtime will be helping the pension side and help get a step closer to early retirment too.

Savingdad

Just found your diary and it looks like you flying with the op's for keeping the morgahe down.
I am aiming to be mortgage free in 4 years so I'm ploughing all I can but I need to follow your lead on Decluttering and selling to find even more.
I have subscribed and will follow you progress.

gallygirl

Commiserations on the job . They were obviously not the right company for you . Don't make any rash decisions one way or another - but decluttering is always a good thing to be doing anyway :T.

Well done on the NSD's - I struggle to get up to 12 hours never mind 12 days .

pathtofreedom

Thanks savingdad and gallygirl. I'm feeling a bit better now, and have another NSD under my belt. I did nearly impuse buy a campervan last night though, to run away to the circus. I have been looking at bongo conversions on and off for a few years now, but have managed to resist getting one till now.

I am rubbish at cars, and I have only been camping a couple of times so it really isn't a good idea. People say you should rent one first as well, but then I find old motorhomes or cheap bongos for 2-3k when it is 4-500 to hire one for a week and I think well I could keep it for a year go to a festival and always sell it afterwards ....

I think now I know I'm going away with this new job, I need to look at the sun holiday deal again as mentioned on the email yesterday. That might help with my wanderlust for now if I know when I am getting out of here again.

I did go a bit mad in aldi yesterday but it was on dish washer and washing machine stuff, so I shouldn't have to buy more for 6 months or more like a year for the dish washer stuff. This was all in budget too though and I've still got 80 odd quid left in my food budget for this month which never happens. I've normally redone my budget 10 times by this point in the month, moving money around to make ynab fit again.

I saved on petrol as well today by working from home due to snow. Not sure if I can get away with that tomorrow as well, I will have to see if it snows more tonight now.

Really want my yearly statement to hurry up and come, so I can see how I'm doing with the mf date.