Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

ajmoney

Moneywise things seem to be going really well at the moment. Based on the figure we paid for the house and no increase in value we now own 42% of our house and pay abour £6.08 total interest a day on both our mortgages, a year ago we were paying nearly £12 a day on our larger mortgage

I seem to have a little more disposable income to save a little extra, although I am sure that won't last as I am not spending much away from work and would like to buy some new clothes for our holiday in July.

I am planning to get back on the exercise wagon next week. I have my 42.75 mile :eek: Keswick to Barrow walk on Saturday so I may have to see how my legs are, but I am intending on swimming, non impact cv n the gym and gentle weights to slowly get back to where I was about 16 months ago.

I have packed ready for the weekend but have no idea if I have everything I need. We have a very early start on Saturday morning (the bus picks us up at 3.30 am) and start walking at 5.30. I am sort of looking forward to it but worrying a little about when it gets tough.

LadyGnome

Hi aj I was reading through your thread (great progress by the way) and saw you are considering financial services as a possible career after you finish your current role. You probably already know this but some financial services companies have a dedicated transition programme for ex-service personnel e.g. Barclays AFTER https://www.home.barclays/AFTERprogramme.html. I think other companies like Zurich, Deloittes and PWC have similar.

ajmoney

LadyGnome wrote: »

Hi aj I was reading through your thread (great progress by the way) and saw you are considering financial services as a possible career after you finish your current role. You probably already know this but some financial services companies have a dedicated transition programme for ex-service personnel e.g. Barclays AFTER https://www.home.barclays/AFTERprogramme.html. I think other companies like Zurich, Deloittes and PWC have similar.

I like the sound of this, I will have to look into it, thanks.

ajmoney

Yesterday's Keswick to Barrow walk was the hardest thing I have ever done. Maybe if it had been last year when I was fitter it would have been a little easier but I think my hips still would have taken the battering they got. I am amazed by my willpower to keep going, not sure many would with the agony I was in for the last 10 miles. I have stretched loads this morning and hope that as the aches ease I will be able to look back on the experience fondly. It is definitely something I can't contemplate again, I have wanted to do other walking events but I am having second thoughts now, when my body is better I will have to see what training I can do.

On the plus side, the only thing I had to buy yesterday was my dinner when I got back, I deserved my mixed grill

Darpett

WOW! That is some walk, well done. How long did it take? I am a reasonably keen walker but that doesn't seem doable in a day! But then I do enjoy stopping 'to admire the scenery' and checking out any pubs on route.

Hope the hips feel better soon

ajmoney

Darpett wrote: »

WOW! That is some walk, well done. How long did it take? I am a reasonably keen walker but that doesn't seem doable in a day! But then I do enjoy stopping 'to admire the scenery' and checking out any pubs on route.

Hope the hips feel better soon

Hi Darpett, it took me 13 hours 59 minutes and 10 seconds! Some ran it, the quickest time was 5 hours 25 ish and the slowest was about 17 hours and 25 minutes. Believe me, when you are walking that far you don't want to stop for too long as that is when the blisters and aches are more obvious. I don't think we stopped for more than 50 mins in total.

My hips are easing, my glutes around the area are very achy still but also easing slowly. I was going to go for a gentle swim today to try and ease them but decided I would be better letting my blisters dry out so I may go tomorow instead.

ajmoney

It is the little things, today for the first time in 6 days I have managed to put on a pair of socks and have some slippers on. Through the week the blisters on my feet have made it harder to walk each day. I went to try and get them sorted on Wednesday, they dressed them and that was it but one was so sore I went back yesterday and they drained it. I am still not touching my feet unless I have to but they seem to be getting easier. I am going into town later so may give shoes a try if I am brave.

Things seem to be going well money wise although I am not really spending any so that helps!

ajmoney

I make no apologies for the following post, I want somewhere I can come back and read this but where real life people don't think I am showing off (what is it with our country?)

A week ago I did this amazing thing. With 14 other people in my team I took part in the Keswick to Barrow Walk and covered 42.75 miles. It is the hardest think I have ever done in my life but even when the going got tough there was never a point when I wasn't going to complete it. I spent the whole time walking with someone I met in our group for this walk (I had never met any of them before), he inadvertently kept me going by knowing that I didn't need any words of encouragement as this would make me more likely to stop. I think I was in shock when I finished, I was highly emotional and very drained. I vowed this was something I couldn't do to my body again knowing my joint history as I was in a huge amount of pain. I knew it would take a while for what I had achieved to sink in, and had to keep telling myself to allow myself a break due to the distance I had walked. My feet have caused me a lot of upset this week, today I managed to wear socks and slippers and briefly went out in shoes.

I am not sure where the change has been this evening but inside I am bursting with pride at what I have achieved, I would do it all again tomorrow if I could (I can't) and intend to join the team again next year. I do these challenges to see what my body can do and to shut my "friends" up who tell me I can't do things because I have hip problems...like they know!

I am going through some fairly low times with work and being away from home so much. I don't have a true routine and let work get in the way of my happiness far too much. I am kind of leaving this here to help me and remind me to take time out for myself so I can achieve these things again and more.

Last year I completed a swimathon, a 5k, 10k, 10 mile and half marathon event, this year I completed a 42.75 mile walk

Moneyfordreams

Massive pat on the back to you... a stunning feat!!/ feet
you deserve to be proud of yourself :T:T:T

ajmoney

Well we got a fairly good deal from $ky in the end. 50% off everything with a few extra bits for 12 months with no contract on the tv (we have an old box and don't want to be tied in just in case it packs up). We will be paying £46 a month for everything. Unfortunately they rang so close to the cut off date which means we are without phone and broadband for up to 2 weeks while they install a new line, the bonus is no one else will have our phone number so we should get a few less cold callers for a while. We possibly could have waited longer for a better deal as we still had until the end of the month on the tv but we are happy with what they offered and didn't want to be without everything.

This month's bill has already been cheaper due to cancelling so I have OPd the extra £15.13. Our future bill will be just under £46 a month cheaper which I will OP. If I ask Mr AJM he will find a reason why we shouldn't and it benefits us in the long run so what he doesn't know won't hurt him! I am aiming to get our savings matching the large mortgage total by the beginning of December this year so we can decide whether to pay it off or not. I am planning to go to a financial advisor at our bank to get some advice on OPing the total and also to do a financial check. I should probably get some advice from an independent too at some point.

Our savings currently sit at about £87k (including S&S ISAs) and our large mortgage total is £94230, we are nearly within touching distance. It actually makes me giddy with excitement seeing it on paper and seeing how close we are, it does mean we wipe our saving out so I need to take this into consideration. What would you guys do in our position?