Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

ajmoney

We are off to Glasgow again today, this time to go to the "A Place in the Sun" exhibition at the SECC as I managed to get free tickets. We probably won't ever leave the UK as we enjoy holidaying in different places too much but it is something we talk about so we are going along to see what it is all about. Mr AJM is working this morning and we need to go out as soon as he is back which means we need to buy lunch out, we have food for dinner so it should be a cheapish day.

I am feeling so tired at the moment and really am not sleeping well, something I need to try and address while I am at home this week.

The weather is lovely here today, not so expected, if it is the same tomorrow I am hoping to go out for a nice walk.

ajmoney

I have just sent my mum and sister an email with the things we would like for Christmas, I have asked them to do the same as I am struggling with ideas for some family members. I have a Christmas shopping trip with my mum planned for Friday and am hoping to pretty much have everything sorted by the end of the week. If I can persuade Mr AJM to sit down and help me this weekend with what I need to get I am happy to do it all.

Waiting for Mr AJM to get home on about 30 minutes so we can go out.

ajmoney

The exhibition was rubbish, I think we lasted 10 minutes and paid £4 for the privilege in the car park. Due to this reason we decided to have dinner on the way back, we didn't fancy having been away for 4 hours, not doing anything and still hungry when we got back.

Over lunch we discussed the prospect of buying abroad and confirmed we would rather go on holiday a lot instead. Mr AJM then proceeded to go back to the MF discussion from last week, he is very excited that in 4 years we will be mortgage free (unless there is a drastic change in circumstances). I can't believe we are finally on the same page, even if it is still me holding the reins.

ajmoney

Still having niggles with my knee, 7 weeks on from the Great North Run. I have started some physio although for now I have been left to try stuff out and see how my knee copes. No one seems to know what I have done which is frustrating so I have bitten the bullet and booked myself a bowen technique session for Wednesday to try and kick start the healing process. It is really getting me down so I am really hoping this helps.

We went for a lovely walk earlier, it has been a beautiful day here. I hope it continues so I can get out and about a lot over the next week.

ajmoney

I am determined not to completely waste my week off but also to enjoy it. I am attempting to spend 5 minutes a day sorting something in each area/room of the house which works out at 40 minutes a day. This way I am slowly chipping away at getting my house organised but not feeling I am wasting all my time. Ideally I need to get Mr AJM to help me out in 4 rooms but the more I can do this week the easier it will be the less time it will take us and therefore the more likely Mr AJM is to help me.

To balance this I am going to do something each day that is just for me, this morning I went for a walk around a local country park. I was starting to think I had lost my love of the outdoors but about 20 minutes in I felt my head clear. I need to this first each day as I know I will end up getting sucked into daytime tv! I have got our local maps out to plan where I am going to walk tomorrow.

Today is pay-day :j I am looking forward to the money shuffle tomorrow.

Watty1

Brillant you are both on the same page now

ajmoney

The money shuffle has been done and I have updates my signatures. I have exceeded my MFW target for the 2nd time this year and expect to finish at about £3.5k by the end of the year, 1 more standard payment and OP and we should be under £100k on the larger mortgage. Mr AJM is so excited by the way things have changed so I am looking forward to showing him this when it happens.

I didn't quite manage to do 5 minutes in each room yesterday but should be able to make up for that today. This morning I have cleared all the ironing and been for a short run to see how my knee would cope, luckily it is not sore when I run. Off for a shower now and to tackle the upstairs rooms in short bursts.

ajmoney

We went to the cinema for the first time in ages last night with a 2 for 1 offer. In the end the film wasn't great but it was nice to go out for the evening.

I have got to the point again where I feel I want to do more with my money. I can't claw back our outgoings anymore so the only way is to really work out where I am spending the rest of my money and maybe reassess the S&S ISA funds I pay into. I seem to do far less in the monthly shuffle but maybe that is just because I have everything covered. I really can't believe the progress we are making without even trying.

ajmoney

I am feeling quite overwhelmed this morning and I'm not sure why.

Spent a little bit of time sorting more stuff upstairs this morning. I have gone as far as I can in all the rooms apart from 1, I need to find a way of persuading Mr AJM that we should spend a little time sorting out the built in cupboards. If I can manage to do the other room as far as possible then it may be less of a mammoth task for us (and I can get rid of stuff that he wouldn't even notice). These rooms shouldn't take long at all and then I can organise them a bit better.

The biggest room to sort out is the music rooom, it has become Mr AJM's dumping ground. If we can sort it out as it is we can then see what better shelving/units we need in there to make it as tidy as the other rooms. We keep talking about starting to decorate but until we have had a bit of a clear out and know what needs to stay in each room I don't see the point.

I have my bowen technique session in an hour and am really looking forward to it. If it leads to my knee easing then I will be ecstatic!

ajmoney

Time will tell if the Bowen has had any positive effect as it can take 7-10 days to work. I am still reading into everything my body does, desperatley looking for improvements in my knee.

Our town has their firework display tonight, last week I invited my step son and his gang around for dinner beforehand so Mr AJM are meeting at theirs later to pick them up as they don't drive/have a car. We are doing pizzas for dinner and everyone can choose their own toppings, I have shamelessly bought the fresh ones from the supermarket rather than make them ourselves but it saves me some stress for which I am very grateful. Once we are back we are having hot chocolate and homemade chocolate brownies (I have never made these before) and lemon drizzle cake and have some sparklers.

This months standard payment and OP are now showing on the mortgage total online and we are within £1k of £100k on the mortgage, we will go below that figure with the next set of payments and even with the added interest in December will be in a great position to start 2017. We are projected to have 21 months left until we are clear of the larger mortgage :jalthough this may end up being less.