Hope is not an Effective Financial Strategy

shangaijimmy

4%, 5 bricks, 33p off daily interest, lots of new targets to set, major spreadsheets scenarios to generate...

hiddenshadow

Ali-OK wrote: »

And 5 bricks that could be coloured in

One for each member of the family.

shangaijimmy

Like it. Need something for th dog and 2 hamsters though, DS1 wouldn't be happy to leave them out!

hiddenshadow

Maybe their share can be the regular £600 OP? That way they "contribute" but don't need to colour in blocks.

shangaijimmy

I'd just like to comment on the whole leap year thing. Someone gets the clock wrong years ago and it costs me £6.80 in interest for the extra day! I blame the banks!

A_Frayed_Knot

shangaijimmy wrote: »

I'd just like to comment on the whole leap year thing. Someone gets the clock wrong years ago and it costs me £6.80 in interest for the extra day! I blame the banks!

Think i may have commented on this before, 2 things - started my mortgage on 29.2.12, but most important of all, I think we should get paid an extra day :eek::eek::eek: - after all the banks seem to benefit from the extra day - why not us:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

AlexLK

shangaijimmy wrote: »

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

I've not contributed to this diary before as I'm aware you're one of the "spreadsheet fiddlers" but after reading this I'm rather embarrassed at my feeble attempts to pay a little off the mortgage as and when (no real idea of figures etc.) and my ultimate plan being my inheritance. Not convinced there's much hope for me but I think in years to come I will tell my son to keep track of his finances and not rely on his parents.

Seriously, well done.

debtfreeoneday

You've made awesome progress and I love coming in here and reading as it inspires me to up my game.. even though I'm nowhere near your level of activity!

shangaijimmy

Frayed knot I'm now fully on board with your idea of getting paid for the extra day. Not quite brave enough to approach the boss, so it may have to be a cowards/moral stance of having a lazy work day (at least I'll know)!

Alex thanks for delurking to say howdy. I lurk in your diary! At times there seem too many diaries to find the time to full committ to! No attempts are feeble it's just everyone's circumstances are very different and for me a major thing is the positive feeling that we're making a difference to our futures, no matter how big/small. I really hope I can keep up the commitment of the last 12months and I'm fully expecting many blips in the next 8 years, therefore I'm 'making hay while the sun shines' so to speak!

Debt free you've been quiet and I hope operation recovery is going as it should. I'm really sticking this month to your OP's every Sunday idea and I'm pleased to say I've had TT pots of £5.01 & £5.51. Take that interest rates!

Well the week is off and running. Typically it's half term and the boys decide to wake up earlier than a school day. Now I'm not complaining as ours boys are fabulous with sleep but I've got the dreaded cough and really could have done with an extra hour to sort myself out before refereeing the 'nerds & monsters or adventure time' disagreement! Even the dog was disgruntled!

85p TT'd and £2.51 received off Quidco so I OP'd via faster payments. I also had 12p interest credited to the everyday saver that holds the TT's. Since pregnancy I've also been putting £100 a month to one side for any purchases (Pram, Moses basket etc...) and the remaining will cover the 6 weeks that Mrs SJ is on statuatory pay to boost the coffers! That's why the interest as so amazingly 12p!!!! I'll add that to the weeks TT pot.

Wow, long post for a morning!

debtfreeoneday

Wishing you better soon SJ! Op recovery going well, so I'm back to usual now!