Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

ajmoney

I injured my knee on Thursday however I am trying to keep moving where possible while being careful. It is a bit frustrating as I wanted to throw myself into my exercise but I am taking it as a warning from my body and today I booked myself in for a session at the gym to get a training programe...for free I should have done this when I started my membership last September but better late than never. It should kick start my enthusiasm for using the gym and make me stronger for everything that I want to do. I am sure that I will ache after tomorrow.

ajmoney

While I don't intend to start decorating straight away I would like to come up with a bit of a plan but I don't have ideas for everywhere. Do you guys know of places I can go or sites I can look at to get some ideas? This was part of the reason we didn't decorate the last place, we were unsure where to look other than showhomes.


I am going away with work for a week in a couple of days but I am really looking forward to getting started on the garden when I get back. The house is pretty much organised now, just a few things to put away more long term but until the gable end is fixed I can't put these things in the loft. These things are in the spare rooms so I don't normally see them, the last thing I want is to get used to how they are.


I am going to use June to see where my money is going so I can see if my savings and mortgage OPs can have a bit of a boost.

Moneyfordreams

what about magazine sites, I used to buy loads of house magazines 3o years ago … but those magazines still exist , Ideal home for one. What about pintrest? and google images?

I also take pictures of the shrubs in my garden. I have a s@msung phone and it tells me what plant it is.

ajmoney

Off on my work trip today, coach travel is dangerous as I end up spending money. So far I have bought a gardening for dummies book to collect on Friday so I can do more without relying on my mum for help. I have 4 days off when I get back and hope to spend most of it in the garden if the weather behaves.

I have already been having a look on ideal homes at home and garden ideas so I am going to spend the rest of the day looking for ideas while trying not to do more online shopping!

Submitted my meter readings before I left, a month after the first so I can get an idea of how much energy I am using.

ajmoney

1st of the month and I have done my money shuffle and various calculations. I already own 40% of my house :j although it looks like it might take a lot longer than I had hoped to get to mortgage neutral. I need to wait for a few payments to clear and then I am going to transfer what was left of last months money onto my credit card. At that point I might start tidying my accounts up into my ISA, once I am more sure of my monthly excess in my account this will likely be split between my ISA and the mortgage until the end of the year when I will have a bit of a look back and maybe up my payments to my S&S ISA.


I have today off before work gets a little busy for a few days, I am going to Brighton for the day to meet my sister and niece and maybe my mum. Hopefully it will not be too much of a spendy day, had I though in advance I would have organised a picnic. Looking forward to Thursday when I get home again to 4 days off, hopefully the weather will be kind and I can get into the garden and also sort my garage finally.

ajmoney

What a good start to the day. Mortgage payments have registered on the account and my new, small mortgage is already below £10k :j and I have transferred £37.18 that was left in my current account at the end of last month into my ISA. I was paid for my work with the local youth band at the end of last month which will allow me to clear July's credit card balance once this month's goes out and have money to pay for some open water swimming kit ready for me to start these sessions with the club next week.


I am keeping a note of everything I have spend from my account (not bills as this is already documented) and it is certainly keeping me accountable wondering whether it is worth it or not. That wasn't the point to this month, it was to see where my money goes without changing my habits! I am feeling very enthusiastic towards the money stuff at the moment so lets hope it stays that way.


I booked a holiday with my sister and niece the other day for August, I haven't included this in my spending yet but I have money set aside for holidays and am unsure how much I am contributing to their share yet. As far as I am concerned this is a cost I am willing to absorb to spend some time with my family and get away myself although I am hopeful she will pay something at least.


I have the morning off before working the afternoon and evening, planning a walk around the shops but don't intend to buy anthing apart from maybe a cup of tea, can I keep to this...?


Account tidy/round down at the end of the day to look forward to.

ajmoney

£4.11 tidied to my ISA as I don't expect to spend anything else today and if I do it will be from cash in my wallet.

ajmoney

£6.12 tidied to my ISA. I panicked this morning when I saw my current account had around £350 less in it than I expected until I remembered it was my car insurance and breakdown cover.

For those of you who have kept a spending diary, I am keeping track of everything I spend away from standard bills so I can see where my money is going. If I buy something from my savings should I include it? Car insurance for example I put money aside each month so it is already budgeted for. When I start paying for work on the house I have the money from the sale of the house so would I include that. I am really only tracking spending to try and cut back spending so I can put more into savings so maybe that answers my question.

ajmoney

Lazy morning as I didn't get back from work until 2 this morning :eek: did anyone see the coverage of the D-Day 75 commemorations in portsmouth yesterday? That is what I have been part of for the last week, still buzzing from it, it was such a privilege to be involved. I have been meal planning for the rest of the week and doing an inventory of cupboards. I will sit down at some point over the weekend to get a rough plan for the rest of the month, I am sure there is an easier way than I am doing it at the moment but once I get into it properly I will find a way that works.

1 load of washing on the line and financials up to date so I should really go in the shower and go food shopping.

ajmoney

Meal plan done for the rest of the month and I only need to buy meat for two meals apart from the weekend I have visitors, the food inventory has really helped here making sure I am using up things that are nearly out of date and eating up the meals in the freezer. It does mean I need to do some more bulk cooking in July though. It should keep costs down as I will just need to buy fresh food, good job as this morning's shop wasn't the cheapest.