What do you want to achieve in 2015?

Knit_Witch

week one update

1. Save at least £215 in my ISA (50p per day) - £3.50/£215
2. Save at least £215 in general savings (50p per day) - £3.50/£215
3. Pay off at least £1k (£85 per month) - £50/£1000
4. Read 215 books (4 per week) – 8/215
5. Read first 10 Kathy Reichs books – 0/10
6. Finish 2 colours on tapestry (at least!) - 0/2
7. Stitch the Winnie the Pooh year
8. Knit 12 squares – 0/12
9. Knit at least another 10 rows on the sweater – done!
10. Learn Welsh
11. Lose 12 pounds in weight - 0/12
12. Wear make-up 52 times – 1/52
13. Do 4 recipes from cookbooks not used before – 0/4
14. Do 13 new recipes – 0/13
15. Make some mead

pozza_73

Happy New Year everyone. My 2015 goal are:
1) Have a thousand pound emergency fund.up to £80
2) Finish the Great North Run and the Blackpool half marathon Got a place on the Great North Run through the Daily Mirror Ballot
3) Pay off my Simply Be account (currently stands at £759) Not done anything about this
4) Carry on making my house nice (there is too many things to do to be more specific) Finished the living room, starting on the garden next
5) Not get into any more debt This has gone a bit wrong

Newyorkdreams

Loads of great progress guys and gals! Well done. I am happy to report some progress too! :j I was at antenatal classes yesterday, enjoyed it but got me thinking about the actual birth and labour which sounds very painful. I might be ready in lots of ways, but not for that. LOL



My goals for 2015

• Pay off 2 credit cards, 1 loan and £5,000 of debt.
• Save £50 per month for emergency fund. £50 saved.
• Sort out mortgage. Halifax have agreed additional borrowing (to buy final share in my property from the original housebuilder!!) which is great news!!! I have to pay off some debt first, but I've already got that on my plan for this year. Just waiting on a decision from the housebuilder whether they are prepared to accept my offer! Everybody cross your fingers and toes for me please!!
• Finish Mini NYD nursery. DH is cleaning carpet this week coming in preparation for the furniture coming at the end of the month. EEK. 7 weeks to go.
• Begin Mini NYD memory book (got the book, just need to start). Not started yet.
• Go away for our first weekend/mini break/week as a family in October 2015 paid for by cash, not credit.
• Write business and marketing plan for life coaching business with clear milestones, to start in April 2016.
• Spend quality time with my daughter when on maternity leave, make an effort to go to classes, walks and activities and not dwell on things that don’t matter (as much) e.g losing weight and getting fit.
• Continue to support my dad 100%, research rehabilitation techniques and never give up hope. Bought a book from Amazon on the highs and lows of stroke recovery so will be reading that alongside my antenatal reading over the next few weeks.
• Read 4 more books that expand my thinking. Not yet but see point above.
• Read the influence blog and apply it to my professional life. Read this weeks influence blog and made notes.

NYD xxx

Newyorkdreams

LeeThePlumber777 wrote: »

Thanks for taking time to reply, appreciate it. Yes haven't got the best dad, well in fact he's not a dad at all and I will never treat my boys that way.

Anyway little update, I got offered the job I went for on Monday, and I start this coming Monday, so that's a good start to the year :beer:

Have my boys tonight, I coach the football team for my eldest, they're under 8s and tonight we have our first training session of the new year, so that should help to shift some of the turkey and pigs in blankets x

Well done on the job Lee! That's awesome. Hope those pigs in blankets have shifted a bit.. LOL :rotfl: Everyone is losing weight and i'm putting it on.....!


NYD

Newyorkdreams

Pookie_lou wrote: »

* I am due baby no 2 on 1st February, so want to have my money diary / money plan in order as my wages will drop and I really want the year off.

Congrats on the imminent arrival of your baby Pookie Lou! Keep us up to date.

Could all the expectant mums and dads on this thread add their name to this list please so we can keep track?


Pookie Lou - due 1 February
NYD - due 4 March


NYD x

FatVonD

Another update from me...

FatVonD wrote: »

Drop 3 dress sizes so when my contract runs out at the end of next year I reenter the freelance world/job market as the slim old me (5 days into diet already )

Still sticking to my diet, I still don't have scales but a size 18 skirt I could only wear last weekend if the waistband was really high now fits with it around my waist :T

FatVonD wrote: »

Declutter the house and add more storage.

We did a trip to the dump this morning and DH has actually had a clear out too (usually it's just me.) I have all the stuff for the charity shop in the back of my car ready for next weekend (already dropped off last weeks load yesterday.)

FatVonD wrote: »

Redecorate the house in a style that will be more appealing to others in case I can't find as much work next year and need to downsize.

We went to look at a house yesterday that is cheaper than ours and bigger than ours and have put an offer in and made an appointment for an estate agent to come round to value mine next Saturday.

I don't think they'll take the offer very seriously as mine's not even on the market yet but best case scenario, if I get what I hope to for my house, I can shave £30k off of my mortgage.

Seeing something I love has spurred me on to get mine in a sellable state so I have booked someone to come round to clear the front garden tomorrow which is money I can ill afford but it's too big a job for me (tree roots etc) and I'm trying to think of the bigger picture.

I've filled the hole where the wobbly banister support was and it looks really smooth, I think I may come back as a plasterer in my next life :rotfl:

We've moved a mirror from the sitting room to cover some torn wallpaper in the downstairs loo which means I no longer have to repaper that wall so can return the roll of wallpaper I bought for a refund.

I've replaced a few tiles that had to be removed when we had a new back door fitted, just waiting for that to dry so I can grout it (with my mega bucket size tile and grout that I got for £1 in the B&Q sale!)

In other news, I've been saving my Nectar points to double up to get a new kettle and toaster but I don't actually *need* a new kettle or toaster (or anything else from there) so I think I may just use them for the weekly shop this week.

Newyorkdreams

Hi Evreryone - I've posted this on the mortgage thread but thought my lovely peeps on this board might have a view as well so here's double posting...


Hi Everyone


I bought a new house 9 years ago on a 'fresh start' deal, basically I got a mortgage for 75% and the deal was that within 10 years or less, I had to pay back the other 25% of the value of the house at that time. I paid £137, 500 initially. Mortgage for approx. £103, 500 and 'loan' for £34, 000.


I have secured agreement from my mortgage company for additional borrowing of £20, 000 to pay the final share off, but not for the 25% that they say the house is worth (which they say is £138,000 and based on some sort of index) but for around 12.5%. I actually think the house is worth £40, 000 less than that what my mortgage company say around - £100, 000 maybe even less - because we have tried to sell for the higher price already and can't, and a lot of houses in the scheme are pitched around this lower value (but still not selling as it's just not a desirable place to live).


5 years ago, we tried to sell and received a letter from the sales director that they would accept £17, 000. The sale did not go through and we removed the house from the market. However, I have written to the house builder with a copy of this letter and an offer of £17, 000 for the final share to be paid before the end of the financial year as I have the finances in place.


What's your views, do you think they will go with this as:
- it's a year early
- it will boost their end of year figures (this is intentional on my part)
- they previously offered £17,000 and the situation has not improved 5 years on
- they might not get the same offer next year (anything can happen in a year)


If they say 'NO' - how would you go about negotiating this price down? We have had loads of problems with the property itself (leaking roof in 2 different places, complaints) and surrounding area (ASB, Police, vandalism).


Just looking for other people's views on this really.


Thanks

NYD

Sharon87

My goals for this year:

• Ensure all my credit card debt is on 0% or low rates for life.
• From June onwards all my spare cash is going either on the credit cards or in a savings account to pay off the credit cards.
• Get promoted to the next position up, which will also bring a payrise
• Save up for a deposit and small emergency fund for my next rented place, which will be a much smaller house/flat share, I will only move once I've been promoted - whether later this year or next year.

ladymay

Wow, what a good idea! Mind if I join...? *looks sheepish*

I have a few things I'd like to achieve this year...

Stay out of debt
• Save £3000
• Learn how to play guitar - this is on my list every year, and dag nammit this will be the year I start playing!!
• Create two blogs - one about being an expat (I'm living in Germany for six months) and one about my baking adventures
• Write the children's story I keep promising myself I'll sit down and work on
• Start a function band for weddings and parties
• Create my own business

This is going to be a transition year for me. I've left a job that I loved but that took me all over the place, and by the time I left in December being so far away from family and friends was really taking its toll. So basically I'm starting anew! Everyone on here already seems so determined to make 2015 a good one, I'm hoping it rubs off on me

onlygoingforward

onlygoingforward wrote: »

This year I really need to:

2 - Keep loosing weight not set target but as much as possible - i dont diet but had started 30 day shred in November and was doing really well 9lb down but winter bugs and chest infection put a stop to it so need to be getting back onto it. Managed to keep 8 1/2lb off over xmas :j Completed day 2 of the shred and 5 mile walk yesterday :starmod::starmod::starmod:

3 - Keep things a little tidier at home and keep decorating little and often and pay cash - usually not too untidy but could be better and tidy up when i have finished with something would help. Still work in progress

4 - Have set a target of paying £15,000 by xmas 2015 and would like to get to this target and a bit more. Off the starting blocks :T

5 - Restart with YNAB i have the full version but never got to grips with it and i know its a great piece of software. Not yet

6 - Be more proactive at work, i procrastinate alot and i shouldn't. I have been better, and my boss's episode of come dine with started tonight so going to be distracted all week now :EasterBun

8 - Reduce the debt free date on my snowball by 4 months - i want to pay all our debt in three years and currently showing 4 years and 2 months but the interest is not quite right on it so hopefully will be able to reduce by 4 months a year for 3 years. Still on target

Go me... :T:T:T:T started at least on some things