XSpender Speeds it Up - £0 to £60k in 27 months

Suffolk_lass

And breathe... deep breath, keep calm and stay positive. Hope it goes well for you

SL

XSpender

We have been in our new house a week tomorrow and are as happy as pigs in muck

A few unexpected repairs and a whole lot of cleaning but we our house

Pearla*Merle

Yay, glad to hear it's all gone well, XSpender :T

Can't wait to hear more about your new place and all your plans for the future!

newgirly

Fantastic news congratulations :beer:

Suffolk_lass

Well done! Happy New Home (virtual card):A wings its way to you

XSpender

First mortgage payment has gone out and we owe a little bit more of this house

DH and I have been discussing our finances and a compromise has been reached about our priorities as DH is adamant that he wants us to have a sizeable emergency fund in place before we go into debt annihilation mode.

Targets are:

Emergency Fund - 29% saved - to be achieved by 31.3.17
Debt - 2.67% paid - 20% by end 2016, 56% by end 2017, DF by end 2018

These will leave us 8 years to clear the mortgage if we want to do it by 2026!

We do not feel the need to do any major home improvements in this house until next year apart from some curtains downstairs as we have one large window without any and some dowdy ones in our dated kitchen which could do with a bit of a lift as we cant afford to change the kitchen yet. Some will need to be made to measure as the windows are so big/wide.

XSpender

Cheque received for a refund of last month's old mortgage payment has increased our emergency fund to 31%

Lost a NSD to the window cleaner but have managed 3 so far this month and am aiming for 10.

We had a power cut tonight so the chicken defrosted for tonight will be fajita's tomorrow.

We have entered a 10k race in August. I was aiming for 5 events this year, I now have 3 booked and one we withdrew from one due to it being too close to move date. I will be happy if I can complete the 3. I still haven't managed to do a park run but DS has activities on a Saturday morning and DH often works so it's a struggle.

£11 tracked for some hotel room bookings and I have a couple more to book tomorrow. I am nearly up to 2 free nights too which I will use in November when DH and I go to London to see a concert.

XSpender

I am looking a what I want to achieve for the remainder of 2016 and have updated my original goals as a starting point.

XSpender wrote: »

Financial

• Save £40,000 to cover deposit and moving costs - Yes:j
• Buy our forever home in preferred location by EOY - Yes :j:heart
• Clear at least 50% of CC debt (all currently on 0%) - No it's gone up but all 0%
• Have £5000 in savings at end of year (not inc. mini emergency fund or 52 week challenges) - Still aiming for this amount
• Complete 52 week savings challenge x 2 - decided against this and saved all together instead
• Maintain accurate spending record via YNAB - One restart and this month is chaos
  :eek:
• Increase mini emergency fund to £1000 Done

Health and Fitness

• Hit personal target weight goal - aiming for mid December which is when I began putting it on again last year!
• Take part in 5 running events and 2 trail runs - 1 event and 2 trail runs by EOY, had to cancel 1 event
• 5 F&V and 1 litre of plain water every day without fail - Water yes, F&V no
• Use Gym minimum of 52 times in 2016 - about 4, will be cancelled as now have PT
• Apply for London marathon - No
• Run 10 park runs (never done 1) - no, Saturday morning runs are impossible as DH at work and DS at activites

Family and Home

• Walk dog ourselves every Saturday and Sunday - better as now live in great dog walking territory but will do more
• Have 2 outings planned every month - running event, holiday, theatre tickets, social event, long walk/bike ride & picnic, NT event, camping - aiming for free or low cost where possible -Yes, moved closer to friends which has helped
• Eat all meals together from Friday evening to Sunday evening No, slipped a bit recently so will refocus
• DS to try 2 activities i.e. cubs, karate, rugby, music? & keep up swimming lessons - Loves Karate, looking into Rugby
• Go camping - we have most of the gear and can borrow the rest - no and aint gonna happen now
• Major declutter - I'm not paying to move carp - 1 item per day (365) Yes, major declutter happened before move
• Improve DS meals - not a fussy eater but DMIL feeds him rubbish 5 nights a week so his weekend meals need to combat this - DS has more evenings at childcare so diet has improved
• Improve family morning and evening routinesStill room for improvement
  

Suffolk_lass

Well done! Good to see you back and focussed. It is so difficult over summer and after a move so don't beat yourself up if a few targets have shifted off the priority list. You are inspiring me to better self-discipline.

SL

XSpender

Hi SL :wave:

I have signed up to internet banking for the new mortgage. I haven't had a repayment mortgage in 10 years and it is great to see we have paid £3000 off already

I signed up for shop and scan when we moved and have been accepted. First test sent earning £10 voucher and I have also claimed £11.90 from TCB. I am putting all extra bits of cash earned to the savings as we spent a bit last month and are having some work done.

Booked some for hotels and a flight through TCB so more £s should be coming my way from that.

I have a final job interview for a promotion I have been put forward for at work. Different team and different client. It will be hard work and a real challenge but my current job is at risk as the contract I work on is reaching renewal and may not look the same going forward. I am expecting a pay rise but haven't a clue what it may be.

We are having a kitchen make over done. £160 spent so far moving/removing cupboards and a built in fridge and having masses of tiles removed. Plastering on Monday £190 and then I need to choose wall paint and wall tiles and find someone to paint the cabinet doors. We will also need a new floor covering, light fitting, blind and door handles. Planning to spend under £1000 on the lot and have it finished by Christmas.

We also want to do DS's room by Christmas. It was the previous owner's grown up daughter's room and is not cosy enough for DS. It needs a carpet (currently laminate), blind, light fitting and paint. I am also considering bunk bends or a cabin bed. DS has decided on a space theme to match his current duvet cover bought for the new house (from B&M ):)

I would like to do one wall in this paper https://www.paperboywallpaper.co.uk/childrens-wallpaper/brave-new-world with a matching roman blind (made locally from their fabric) but this may be out of budget so may have to have plain walls and the blind made. The lampshade alone is £75!!!

This weekends plans:

Last longish run before next week's half marathon :eek: - done
Prep for interview - most of it done
DS haircut - done
DS school shoes? -done and rugby boots, kit and rugby ball
Food shop - done
Strip wallpaper from kitchen
Change beds - DS's done
Clean house top to bottom - ground floor done
Dry cleaning
Bring YNAB up to date
DS swimming and karate - he's done
Sort laundry and put away - sorted and moved out of dining room!!
DH to bring ironing up to date
Put all sports kit away in new drawers
Sort out DS room/re-arrange furniture - tided up but that's it