Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

Mrs_Money_Penny

Well done so close. x

ajmoney

I am mostly an idiot who wants things to be perfect but no longer...

New figures

£24166.75 Cash ISA

£36066.30 S&S ISA

£2400 Regular Saver - will mature at the end of Dec and in accounts and can't be spent before then so can effectively be included

£62633.05 Total

£61066.05 Mortgage total

£1567 more in savings than in the mortgage therefore I have effectively hit mortgage neutral.

I am going to include it in my spreadsheets from now and the aim is to remain mortgage neutral where possible whilst decorating.

This is a wierd feeling after wishing for it for so long.

julicorn

Congratulations! 🎉🎊

Watty1

So close!

Re the ex, you did the best you could at the time is possibly the only way to look at that. You will always second guess but as your life becomes more and more "your" life hopefully the past recedes.

ajmoney

New page has been made in my money portfolio spreadsheet, mortgage neutral rather than the previous mortgage shortfall. There is probably a better name for it than that but seeing as I am focusing on mortgage neutrality rather than freedom it works for now. Once I have decorated the inside of the house I may change the direction I am heading but my focus is completely different from when I initially had the aim to be MF all those years ago.

My life doesn't change just because of MN or MF but my perspective does. I want to enjoy my life and have freedom and for now that freedome is making my house mine in an aim to release the shackles that I appear to have put around me.

I like setting aims through December, ending the year in a positive way rather than waiting until New Year. This month I have two, to enjoy it and to end it the same weight I start. I don't know what that is but I will jump on the scales in the morning to see what the starting place is. I am unable to be as active as I would like at the moment so it is not an easy aim/goal but I really enjoy wandering around looking at people's Christmas lights so I am going to come up with a few routes that I can walk regularly and see them over the coming weeks.

Walking always clears my head and will be a great time to think of some aims for 2025 (and maybe a new diary title).

Mrs_Money_Penny

Congratulations x

ajmoney

Plastering work is due to start on Monday. Due to previous trades experience I thought I would send a quick message to check he would still be here. Yes and he has confirmed the start time! Now I need to spend the weekend moving my furniture, I wanted to check to ensure I wasn't moving it for no reason.

ajmoney

I did something I hate doing the other day, I asked for help moving the furniture from a couple of friends. Ok, only the really heavy/awkward stuff I physically couldn't do myself and have just finished dragging the rest but it is a start! I know just have the left over living room furniture to move but seeing as I have the rest of the day here I am not doing anything until the end of the day/tomorrow so I can be comfortable. Luckily this stuff is living in the dining room side of the room during the week as the plasterer is putting sheeting up to prevent too much dust, or at least that was the plan. Half way through the week I can haul it back through here when he needs to move into the dining room.

One of the pieces of furniture took 3 of us to move. I don't intend to use it once the room is decorated and originally planned to bring it back in but there is barely anything in there so I have decided to leave it in the garage and will look at getting a charity out to see if they want it. Once I can get the bed and furniture back in the spare room I am going to use the space in my small room to sort the other stuff that was in the living room. While the other furniture might come back in temporarily until I buy what I want, I am only going to bring the stuff from inside it in if it is going to be kept. It seems the best solution rather than waiting until I have decorated and will help me get the right size of furniture.

Next up I need to go shopping. I am not here for many evening meals this week so hope to get everything I need until the weekend today, although the supermarket has been out of a few things recently so I will have to see.

ajmoney

I am working later today so have headed to that town early in a bid to finish my Christmas shopping. I have bought or ordered something for everyone on my list but it feels mean. Not in a keeping up with the Joneses kind of way, just I would dearly love to get something else for my nearest and dearest. I have the money saved up so will not be out of pocket.

The aim is to have everything and have wrapped it by the end of next weekend as I am doing a Christmas present swap with my folks on the 16th. This means I will be able to relax in the run up to the actual day and my short city break.

ajmoney

Let disarray commence. My living room furniture is in the dining room and the only rooms unaffected by the craziness that is about to begin are my bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. It will be worth it once it is done.

I have a friend staying at the weekend so I am going to ask him to help me play about with the layout in the living room. Everything depends on where I can get tv signal or where the cable can reach to. I have always had everything exactly where it was put on move in day and while I think it works quite well and partitions the room a bit, it ignores the feature brick wall that is on 2 walls. It will be interesting to see if I can make it a focus.

I unexpectedly have today off but seeing as today is the start of the living room, I can't really stay here and be comfortable. I am going to go into work as originally planned and use the whole day to work throught the list of jobs I thought I only had the morning for!. It should make the last couple of weeks a lot easier. If I finish early I will head to one of the coffee shops I have loyalty cards for and treat myself to a free hot chocolate and read my book for a bit.