Hope is not an Effective Financial Strategy

shangaijimmy

Well the decorating is all but complete, just drying time now for the gloss. I have a carpet to clean and then a bed to build!

And I managed to do with the cricket for company! I then had an hours break to watch the last 10 overs, which ended up being a 2hr break!

Hallelujah!

themadvix

The cricket was gripping, wasn't it?! Well done for getting the decorating done at the same time though - that's commitment!

Suffolk_lass

:staradmin :staradmin :coffee:? :j: :T well done :T

shangaijimmy

Well bed constructed a day early, so DS2 is over the moon in his high sleeper. Though he did bang his head on ceiling 10s after telling him to mind his head! I've also put the curtain pole (collection of curtains and bedding is tomorrow) and blinds back up. So all that is left is to clean the carpet, put new bedding on and mount his tv. That means I pretty much have a day off tomorrow now!!

I did the horrible deed and checked on our bank balance following Saturday day out. I was horrified!! Need to avoid spending any cash at all for 9 days now! We have food and petrol so should scrape by. It's amazing how one night out can ruin a full months budget! I blame the new expensive trend of gin. That and the fact that Mrs SJ's siblings are drinking animals...I have no idea how I had no hangover yesterday, let alone manage to decorate for about 7hrs!! Maybe I was still drunk???

Moneyfordreams

I've done the same after yesterday out with OH, We did have a gorgeous meal but I'm down about £60

shangaijimmy

Moneyfordreams wrote: »

I've done the same after yesterday out with OH, We did have a gorgeous meal but I'm down about £60

If only £60...!! 11hrs city centre drinking for 2 i suppose!! Its expensive this whole drinking malarky, I'm glad I'm not a frequent drinker!

shangaijimmy

Avid readers may recall I dilemma/thought process about switching our focus from the mortgage to pension provisions??? Well I made some adjustments in February when we switched mortgage to a 5yr fix (1.99% by the way) by allocating some more cash towards savings (a whole host of things from house maintenance to extra kids uni costs), and have recently been musing on the best use of our money - OP v Pension??

Well after much thought and discussion, alongside the therapeutic and mind numbing use of a paint roller at the weekend, and we have come to a decision.........................................................

We have opted to split our OP allocated cash as 66% to pension(s) and 34% to OP's.

Loosely that gets mortgage finished in just under 10yrs (so adding another 4 onto our previous plans), and if we have a fantastic stock market I may be able to think about retiring at 58 in 17yrs!!! (provided we avoid city centre nights outs every other week!). As ever this whole financial journey is flexible and I appreciate that I will make adjustments along the way, but for the next 4yrs & 8mths I'll stick with this plan. We can reassess at our next remortgage point.

So I will be adjusting my signature, opening post and my mortgage targets and it seems like I'll have to stay with this diary for an extra 4yrs......Sorry.....

Karmacat

Like all the Apollo mission anniversary programmes are talking about ... mid course corrections are important life isn't so two-dimensional that you overpay the mortgage and all your problems are sorted - you have a 21st century life thats a lot more complicated than that

shangaijimmy

Karmacat wrote: »

Like all the Apollo mission anniversary programmes are talking about ... mid course corrections are important life isn't so two-dimensional that you overpay the mortgage and all your problems are sorted - you have a 21st century life thats a lot more complicated than that

Ooooh I like that analogy! And more to the point DS1 will. Mrs SJ less so, as she is a conspiracy theorist...or maybe conspiracy considerator...

I on the other hand love the thought of space. I have to confess that I'm a bit ignorant when it comes to travel and visiting places. If I'm honest I just don't care too much. Don't get me wrong I'd enjoy the grand canyons but once you've seen them...well you've seen them and I'd wanna be home again! As for New York, Vegas, Paris...I'm just not that bothered. When conversations head towards "I love to go there, there, there"...the only place I say is space. That's it! Then when I'm really pushed I say I'd like to see the Northern Lights...is that still a space kind of theme though??

Anyway I'm sat in the garden with a cold beer enjoying the last few hours of my break as when tomorrow kicks in I have a relentless 12 days ahead of me!

Oh, and I've listed DS2's old bed and bedside table on our local freecycle group. Tried it on ebay for £20 but no bids. It owes us nothing as it was DS1's originally. And whilst I've been looking I put a request in someones offer of an office chair (for my work office, not at home).

shangaijimmy

Well I now have a more streamlined signature to reflect our current focus...next job is to sort some targets out and then redo post 1 to reflect our next steps.