mortgage neutral by 2026

SuperSecretSquirrel

Sorry to hear you've had a bad few months PTF, but glad to see you back. Onwards and upwards in 2017!

pathtofreedom

OP'ing going much better than new job hunting I have to say. Getting interviews but just not quite getting past the final hurdle is so annoying once you've started picturing yourself working somewhere.

Anyway caught up with ynab today as I need to keep the habit of updating it. Unfortunately I have had some impulse buys since I last posted but I think I can still justify them later and I can fit them in the budget ok so that's the main thing.

First one being an instant pot, well it is really a pressure king pro from argos, but basically the same thing as it's a pressure cooker, steamer etc in one. I am hoping this will help reduce my take away addiction, and help me meal plan better as I'll have no excuses then not to cook because I forgot to put the slow cooker on or whatever.

I want to give whole30 a try but I'm really struggling to get started with it. So today I'm going to sort out a load of recipes and sort out some meal plans in my bullet journal so I can't keep putting off the start date.

My second, bigger impulse buy was a cineworld unlimited card for a year. As I get westfield health cashback scheme through work though, they were doing it at £139 instead of £205 so 11ish a month. I like seeing NTlive and rsc live etc, and although this doesn't cover the whole cost of a NTlive ticket it has been my treat out for the past few years. I haven't lived close to a cineworld for years though to justify the unlimited card, although I've had one in the past. So I thought sod it, I'm seeing an NTlive etc a month, more or less, so why not get the whole card and that's a lot more "free" entertainment then, and gets me out of the house more. Admittedly I'm not sure if watching movies all day at the cinema is much different to watching too much netflix at home, but we'll see. Maybe I can combine practising walking, once I get my mileage up, I can walk to the cinema and back.

So they are my big two unplanned for purchases lets say since I last posted. I have also op'd £829.32 for jan and feb now though. I've decided to include all my quidco cashback in my amounts for this year too but it feels good to be OP'ing again as I haven't done it since I moved.

I'm still playing with my budget a bit, as I want to be ready to start filling a LISA come april, as well as keeping the OP's up. While not sacrificing physio etc, or lots of online learning I need to be doing to benefit my career like safari books, udemy courses and exams right now.

So enough posting on here, I need to meal plan, go to lidl and maybe aldi without being tempted by their specials, get my bullet journal all caught up, and possibly a go at the gym later to knock me out so I sleep tonight.

pathtofreedom

Spent this morning reconciling ynab for the week. It is good to get back into the habit of that. The OP have helped too and I'm down in the £148k range and I shouldn't creep back up over this month I think.

Food is still a biggish issue, as I keep caving and having one last take away before being good. I need to focus on the money side more I think as that might help me meal plan better rather than spend 10 quid here or there and still be hungry afterwards.

Today I'm planning spag boll in my pressure cooker, and sweet potato soup later too for having in the week.

I also have a chicken to cook for later in the week but I bought a large one, which I don't normally, it is only in the past few months I've been brave enough to try roasting chickens. I wanted to try it in the pressure cooker, but I'm not sure it will fit so will have to see in the week else it might have to go in the oven.

Off to see batman later with my unlimited card, but also found a cinema group on meetup, as well as a few other work related groups round here, so that's free entertainment but might help get me out the house a bit more too and meet some new people.