A Journey of Many Pounds Starts With a Single Penny

LadyGnome

I thought teenage boys were supposed to be soap dodgers but mine are the opposite.

The money shuffle is done and an OP of £1065.  I am creeping closer to the halfway point.  I'll update my signature on Sunday with the Feb figure.  I do it the day before the next mortgage payment so it's the highest it can be.  

I fed the bees the other day as one of the hives felt light.  There were some sluggish bees in the fondant bag that they had emptied.  I swept them gently into the tray of fondant I gave them.  I am trying moving away from fondant in bags as the bees don't go to the corners.  I've collected up 500g of uneaten fondant from corner of bags which I will give back to them in a tray.

I am studying this weekend so no other plans as I will be in classes most of the day for both days.

The Cephalopod energy company has proposed to double my direct debit for the next six months to cover off the amount owed to the energy company that went bust and to build up a surplus for the winter.  Sign of things to come I suppose.  In Sept it would then drop down a bit from £285 to £196 v £140 now.  Manageable but I'd prefer it wasn't the case.

Suffolk_lass

I must admit, I feed our bees in takeaway boxes (half a kilo at a time) and they are pretty good at getting into the corners. I have a selection of lids with cover-board sized holes in them so it doesn't drip out onto the board and it can be swapped with minimum disturbance. That said, one hive despatched a Russian-style defence force when Mr SL was checking them and some insisted on getting in the car with him to visit the other apiary

edinburgher

The cephalopod energy company 

Suffolk_lass

edinburgher said:

The cephalopod energy company 

Evolved from Molluscs

debtfreeoneday

Whoop for the tax return being lower than expected. 

LadyGnome

Sneaking back in.  I've been quietly MSEing but had lost my mojo a bit.  I am a naturally impatient person so want to make progress faster than is possibly right now.  I am still on track and a bit ahead of my pay off the mortgage early plan it just feels like the big benefits won't hit for a few years yet.  

I hit a big milestone next month as I will have paid off half the mortgage.  Technically, I will reach that point on 28th April but I always count the day before the next payment as the mortgage amount for the month as all the interest will have been added.

South_coast

Hitting the halfway point is definitely to be celebrated! Well done you 😀

Do you plan on doing anything to mark the occasion?

LadyGnome

I may do happy dance around the kitchen much to my teenagers' utter mortification.

I think psychologically it will be a real lift.  I am just in the awkward stage where its another year or two before it will feel like the end is in sight.  I've already covered DS1's parental contribution for Uni bar £1500 (he only qualifies for the minimum loan) - he's in his first year of his degree.  DS2 has just over 3 years of school fees left and I want to have his parental contribution covered for Uni by the time he finishes school.  Once they are both saved up for then I can chuck everything at the mortgage and clear it.  

Once the DC are paid for and the mortgage gone then any other financial responsibilities are optional.  I have sensible pension provision in place (Mr Gnome less so but we have rental income that will act as his pension) and funds to help bridge to pension age if I decide to retire a bit early.

Its so near I can almost touch it but a bit too far away to grasp.

LadyGnome

Public Service Announcement
Check your tax code - mine was hopelessly wrong as I swapped employers mid-year.  I am a contractor so I moved from one contracting company to another.

I fill out a tax return each year but I would rather the money stayed in my pocket rather than eventually getting it back from HMRC.

LadyGnome

I've decided to go back to setting 1% goals for a while to give me a sense of progress as some of the targets I have are going to take time.
Also I don't need to cover the final £1500 of DS1 parental contribution until his 3rd year at Uni so I can save a small amount each month.