Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

ajmoney

I have been having a think about how I am going to split the money across savings in advance of my financial review next week. I currently do the following:
£250 OP to mortgage
£350 to cash ISA
£100 to stocks and shares ISA.
Going forward I think I am going to do quite a different split:
£250 mortgage OP
£250 stocks and shares ISA
£200 to cash ISA.
The interest rate for the cash ISA suggests this is a stupid idea but I am trying to build up a slightly bigger emergency fund. I think I can give this a go for a year and then review and redirect money if need be.

Suffolk_lass

Have you considered switching half of that cash ISA to premium bonds?

ajmoney

Suffolk_lass said:

Have you considered switching half of that cash ISA to premium bonds?

As in half the monthly payment or half of the amount that is in there?  I wasn't sure with N$andI reducing everything.

Today I have bought the ingredients to make my first ever Christmas cake, loads of German Christmas biscuits and I ended up buying a jar of mincemeat to make some mince pies.  I also bought a couple of presents and have nearly got ideas for everyone, just my 13 year old niece (no ideas at all) and 2 friends to decide on.  I would like to have decided on this fairly soon and will be buying ASAP too.  I don't enjoy shopping at the best of times and this year really don't want to be in busy shops, it is still quiet here.

savingholmes

Thanks for sharing the 5 categories from you book - I will give that a go. I too tend to give myself too many tasks. Hope you make time to rest and relax this weekend.

ajmoney

@savingholmes I am already bored which doesn't bode well for today. I have ordered all my online Christmas presents and have a list of things to get from town which should leave me with 3 people left to buy for. I have ideas for 2 and haven't got a clue for my niece. I need to pop out for a larger cake tin before I begin to make my cake as mine is too small so might head into town soon to get me out of the house for a bit.

ajmoney

It hasn't been a particularly productive day.  I headed out late morning to pick up a cake tin and grabbed some more presents while I was out, the bonus is I am not far off finishing.  I finally decided to tackle the cake this afternoon before realising I needed to soak the fruit and that, making it, 4 hours cooking time and the cooling tme required wasn't possible for the amount of hours left in the day.  I am going to sort the fruit and and truly understand the recipe tonight so I can get on with it tomorrow and possibly make the dough for my cinnamon biscuits to make tomorrow.  I have found myself on social media/the internet far too much today which hasn't helped the productivity, I have enjoyed being away from it a lot over the last couple of weeks.  I use it as a crutch when I am on my own but it isn't a good crutch so I need to find other things to pass the time instead, I will start by getting one of the books on my wish list.

savingholmes

Making your own cake sounds positive. I have a few pressies for the littlies (nephews and niece) but now wondering whether I will end up having to send them parcels by Am**** anyway due to restrictions. It's a weird time for everyone

Suffolk_lass

13 is an awkward age, isn't it? you really need her Mother to give you a pointer as to what she is into. Most are on the cusp of womanhood  but there are many who still really enjoy their childhood enthusiasms. Something that doesn't need to be stored is always good - maybe some off-road kart-driving or learning a physical thing like riding or tightrope-walking or juggling? - they are all great for self-confidence and the right age to boost that.

By the way, you could always add something premium to your shop-bought mincemeat to make it more luxurious for far less effort. The best Christmas cake I made was when the fruits sat in alcohol for several days before I had time to make them up!

ajmoney

@Suffolk_lass the issue in my family is no one really has any hobbies apart from my dad who is very faddy so you can't guarantee he is still into the same thing, it makes it very difficult to buy presents for them.  She has just got into make up so got some brushes and a voucher to spend on make up from me for her birthday last week.  She is quite a scaredy-cat like me so doesn't step out of her comfort zone at all (I have been working on this over the last 5 years or so and have got a lot better), my mum has hopefully given some tips of things she has mentioned so I will see if I can get something around those.

As an early riser the clock change has always been terrible as once I am awake I can't get back to sleep.  I have made the most of the early start and caught up a little with the things I couldn't be bothered to do yesterday.  I have soaked the fruit for the cake in fruit juice and made my cinnamon mixture for the biscuits, it is meant to be left in the fridge overnight but I figure that by mid afternoon I can use it.  I am off for a swim at 9am and then going for a breakfast roll and a cup of tea with one of my swim friends after at the beach cafe we supported very regularly before lockdown but haven't been back to yet.

ajmoney

The baking seemed to take forever yesterday but I made my cinnamon biscuits and Christmas cake.  I still have more festive baking to do and a couple of other things I would like to make that will use up leftover ingredients from those recipes.

I only needed to be in work for the morning today so came straight home when I finished and am trying to catch up a little.  I have made up loads of rolls for lunches and put them in the freezer, done some ironing and have transferred money from my Christmas savings account into my current account to cover the presents I bought at the weekend.  I have £50 left for the rest of the month which should be more than enough as food wise I should only need to get some potatoes (forgot them in the shop yesterday) and maybe some milk.

Next on my list I need to do some stretches which I keep forgetting about and then clean the living room, if it is still light I will do a quick potter in the garden but I suspect time will be against me today.