Hope is not an Effective Financial Strategy

debtfreeoneday

We have mixed with the GP's, one set are generous and gave us money when they were born and always help out if asked (ones that have given us the family loan!), one set spend a fair bit, but always seem to be a bit off with their purchases (not wishing to sound ungrateful, but they buy stuff they don't need and if they asked what they needed, it would be so much more helpful) and then the last set just couldn't be bothered at all, hardly talk to them, rarely see them..

shangaijimmy

Our other set of GP's are the set that buy things ad hoc, usually pretty spot on to be fair (winter coats, pj's, etc...). But... They also incessantly by toys from the charity shop and car boot that we definitely don't need!nits dried up a bit of late as they've been buying charity shop stuff for baby for their and our house (stand for a Moses basket, baby bouncer).

I do stress that our kids are very lucky with their grandparents, as are we with the help they give us.

shangaijimmy

16p TT'd this morning taking the pot to £4.01 for the first few days of Feb. It will be OP'd in the morning...!

We officially have no money left till Friday though! Other than budgeted food and petrol of course!

Today's plan. Short dog walk this morning before the rain kicks in. DS1 drop at friends for the day,take DS2 to rugby tots. Try to have an afternoon run rather than evening to see if the 'lead legs' are any lighter, as want to do 10k today, but would be very happy with 8! Try to get a longer dog walk (when I say long, our dog is dinky so 3-4miles covers that). Hopefully visit my grandma with DD. Plan is to record the rugby, avoid all forms of media and technology, then watch in peace when boys are in bed (it'll be like the likely lads episode!)

Then tomorrow is trampoline place that we had to rearrange from last week!

hiddenshadow

Sounds like a busy day!

Hope DS enjoys the trampoline tomorrow.

shangaijimmy

Well I git through all my tasks; 2 dog walks and got soaked on the 2nd, a 9k run and I've added getting the boys bathed and ready for bed. They're now watching TV before bed, when I'll stick the rugby on with an Asda pizza! Not had one for months ��

shangaijimmy

TT'd a whole £1 this morning as a reward for the account remaining tidy from yesterday. Then as promised I OP'd the TT pot, so £5.01 paid off this morning!

A_Frayed_Knot

Well done on the TT pot and the pizza ...... but I won't mention the Rugby.

shangaijimmy

Well I'm sat in the cafe of a trampolining place whilst DS1 and his 2 friends are bouncing around like not so baby tiggers... So what else for me to do but think about spreadsheets, mortgages, OP's and overall freedom from banks!

So I thought I'd put down some of my musings about our progress in 11 months nice remortgage kicked in and the diary started. Firstly I'm amazed that I've kept up with the diary so much that it now become part of my daily thoughts and definitely weekly routines. And secondly I'm amazed that people read it and the amount of motivation that notification in your inbox that someone has posted generates!

• We're on the verge of paying off nearly £13k in 12 months
• The £110k's are on the horizon in next 3 months
• Daily interest has tumbled form £14.80 before remortgage to £6.80

We've made some significant change to monthly expenditure and to be honest there's been no drop off in lifestyle, savings or holidays. Moreover we've added another SJ to the clan! If anything I could find even more money for OP as we have a £300 surplus each month, but I find this pays nicely for meals out, birthdays (we have a huge family), nights away and then anything remaining I just add to long term savings.

12-18months ago the mortgage commitment weighed a bit heavy. I'm not saying it worried or stressed me but I did think we'd taken on too much at times. I must say all that has gone! Now I can see that I'll be 45 and Mrs SJ 42 and we'll own a 4 bed detached outright, with 3 kids, 2 cars and a dog (we'll always have a dog, probably 2 when the kids vacate...)! If the mortgage isn't gone by then I know we'll have less than £25k left at least.

All this means we can really think about job changes and 2nd careers withthout the worry of needing to maintain salaries etc... I think Mrs SJ will always stay with her firm and industry as she really loves it, though she always considered office manager type work at a primary school! My job on the other hand is less family friendly; even though I control my own hours it still involves weekends with long journeys in the same day and evenings. It would be a tough job physically to keep going at for another 20yrs, so the option to go part time with less hours or to switch to something without responsibility is appealing! I know I don't like to look too far ahead but there is a significant time of 2022 when current funding runs out within my industry and even thought it will continue (with more than likely significantly more money), it would be a good time to have options of switching job roles and a small mortgage amount remaining makes this a possibility.

So apologies for the long post but it's occupied 30mins!

My job for the next hour is have a look at my goals in post 1 as our progress has been so great in year 1 that most are no longer a challenge!

:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

Ali-OK

Excellent post SJ and just goes to show what can be achieved with a bit of focus.

Apologies I've not posted so much, will do now if it motivates you, but I always read - your journey is very inspirational

2022 isn't far away at all for options and the kids will still be young. A great position to be in, well done :T

hiddenshadow

Very nice, SJ! Your numbers are impressive. It's amazing what a remortgage to a better rate can do, plus your regular/ambitious OPs!

shangaijimmy wrote: »

Now I can see that I'll be 45 and Mrs SJ 42 and we'll own a 4 bed detached outright, with 3 kids, 2 cars and a dog (we'll always have a dog, probably 2 when the kids vacate...)! If the mortgage isn't gone by then I know we'll have less than £25k left at least.

Indeed, this is an amazing feeling. If all goes to plan, DH and I will be 41 and 39 when we're MF (no speculation on the amount of pets we'll have ). We both enjoy our industry/jobs so will continue with those, but having the option to work for ourselves, or branch out on some just-for-fun projects (I've always wanted to volunteer at a library and/or with animal rescue) is very attractive. Even if you're not super keen on your job for a period, the knowledge that you don't *need* it and could quit anytime without too much stress is really worthwhile.

Good luck coming up with some more challenging goals. Always a bit fun and scary, I find.