Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

Suffolk_lass

As you are paying more attention to your garden, have you looked at whether there is a local gardening group, or even allotment society? - I have bought seeds and compost through the local allotment society even though I don't have an allotment - because they buy stuff at trade prices and pass on to the members - and both societies and clubs are great places for sharing plants (herbaceous divided plants that grow well in your locality) and seeds or seedlings, for pennies where the packet has too many for person who bought them. On your walks I am sure you may have noticed lovely gardens or allotments. Our local society normally does a surplus produce help yourself (though I'm not sure if this is still going this year as the food banks and community fridge groups are taking fresh stuff round here).

ajmoney

@Suffolk_lass I will have a look and see what I can find, thanks for the suggestion.  I know there is a community garden that works towards green living so even if they don't do that they might be able to recommend somewhere.  I found a new blog/youtube channel for a gardener, I watched and read loads of stuff yesterday so am going to attempt breaking up the soil at the bottom of my garden again.  It will take forever but I have a small patch I will try later and see how I get on.

This week is looking fairly busy so I need to prioritise the things that need doing.  Today's jobs after I have done some work:

Meal plan and then food shopping (today is a spend day)

Get financial stuff ready for bank appointment tomorrow

Ring heating people

Swim at 5pm

Gardening jobs if I have time - deadhead roses and start work on soil at bottom of garden

Suffolk_lass

This chap is worth a read (Roger Brook, the no-dig gardener) - there are bits on getting things out and adding things to soil (and hundreds of other articles) in his blog

ajmoney

Suffolk_lass said:

This chap is worth a read (Roger Brook, the no-dig gardener) - there are bits on getting things out and adding things to soil (and hundreds of other articles) in his blog

I will have a look, check out The Garden Ninja, I have found his videos really helpful.  I decided to use his tips for root bound soil and started working on a small section earlier.  It has helped that I have been trying to aerate the gound over the last couple of months but I have managed to move some of the soil and get rid of some of the roots.  I am deliberately setting a timer and only doing small chunks as it is really tiring work.  It is really uplifting to see the progress I have made just by slowly chipping away at it, it might take all summer but at least I will be able to plant bulbs for next year and add some bedding plants when I have finished.

I have some exciting plans for the garden which will all take time.  I am currently investigating meadow turf vs wild flower seed.

Is there an easy way to search back through threads to a certain date other than aimlessly clicking back throgh the pages?

ajmoney

Making lists is definitely helping my productivity, especially as I am deliberately not putting everything on it just the things that have to be done straight away and then a couple of things I would like to do.  I have finished everything about 30 minutes before I am planning on leaving the house.  I have just about everything I need for tomorrow's mortgage appointment and have got a life insurance quote online just to compare with the bank although I don't intend to go with either.  If I did it would be the company I have found anyway.  After tomorrow I should be able to rejig my money plan for the rest of the year with the new mortgage figures.

Fairly easy dinner to prepare when I get home later so I can rinse all my swim stuff off and maybe get my living room cleaned while it is cooking too.  I doubt I will get more done tomorrow with an appointment and a conference taking up a fair bit of the day but I shall see how it goes.

ajmoney

Living room can wait, I didn't sit down until after 8 and the swim was choppy so quite tired now.  I should be able to get some cleaning done tomorrow instead.  Time to make an easier list for tomorrow.

savingholmes

Glad you are getting to swim again. Great net worth too. I track mine too on a spreadsheet so I can see the progress I am making with debt repayment and any mortgage OPs. Don't forget your pension is part of your net worth. If you are in a defined benefit scheme - then times it by at least 20 to have an idea of its value.

ajmoney

savingholmes said:

Glad you are getting to swim again. Great net worth too. I track mine too on a spreadsheet so I can see the progress I am making with debt repayment and any mortgage OPs. Don't forget your pension is part of your net worth. If you are in a defined benefit scheme - then times it by at least 20 to have an idea of its value.

I didn't know this as it wasn't in the OU course broadsheet I got in my course. I will see what difference it makes although I am happy to work with the lower number so it will always be better. Thanks @savingholmes

Suffolk_lass

Twenty times might be the transfer value (if you were to take a cash value and move it to another pot) and if you were in a private DB scheme it sometimes includes a premium to encourage members to go (removing the long-term liability from the scheme). This is as opposed to the multiple that the public sector pension scheme uses to calculate the lifetime value of your pot. That is based I think on 20 years of your projected annual pension plus any lump sum.

In terms of looking back by date I have not found a way. I use the profile of the person and check back through their posts in their threads or replies, which assumes I can remember who. I suppose it is a compressed way of paging back as only that person's posts are listed

ajmoney

For the first time ever I am planning on going with a fixed rate mortgage but it seems like it might suit me better...can't believe I am saying this!