Dreaming of financial freedom!

ch4rly2002

I'm back from sunny California, and greeted with an equally sunny Yorkshire! I can't believe the glorious weather we have had over here since we returned. Long may it continue

Well, I didn't manage to keep track of my MSE wins and fails but some that come to mind are... replacement iPads. Ours were 5 years old and beyond decrepit. They were such a frustration that we had been considering changing them for a long time. While we were over in America the new iPad pro came out (the one we'd been eyeing up), and we worked out that if we bought them over there we'd save a few hundred, and we could also trade in our old iPads for a further discount of $145, so we bit the bullet and bought a couple of shiny new iPads. Rather than buying the Apple cases for £49 each, I ordered a couple from Amazon that got very good reviews for £9.99 each. They are great, feel just like the Apple one. I also got the apple pencil, which costs £99, using my Nectar points and we can share one between us.
We also used hubby's IHG points for Holiday rooms during the week we spent in Texas. We got free upgrades and the rooms only cost about £100 for the week. The fuel prices are ridiculously cheap. We could fully fill the rental car's tank for $25, which is about £20. That was a blessing considering we drove 1700 miles over the week. While we were in Texas we went to the Alamo. There were signs for Alamo parking at $15, but I convinced hubby to drive one street over and we got on street parking for $1.80, which I was very pleased about. It was also a chance to curb some of our spending while it was just the two of us. The in-laws earn huge salaries and a meal that they don't bat an eyelid at is a huge spend for us so we've spent a lot more than we would have liked, but we didn't want to keep saying that we couldn't join them. I think we'd either have to budget more for the next trip over, or warn them in advance that they earn 6 times what we do so we can't go to the places they usually go. It's a tricky one, but one we need to think about as we're heading over next year for their 40th birthday and 5th wedding anniversary.

Unfortunately hubby's Grandma passed away while we were on holiday. We were sad not to be here for the in-laws to comfort and support them, but we were also glad that we were with his brother as this is the third - and final - grandparent that has passed away while he's been living over there and he seems to feel a bit isolated from the family when things like this happen. The in-laws asked if we wanted to buy any flowers for the funeral but we thought the money would be best used for the living so we're giving a donation to Macmillan. It's the MSE in me - the flowers are used for an hour, tops, and then are just put to one side but a charity donation can make a difference so it feels like a better use of the money. The in-laws bought a beautiful spray for the top of the coffin and there was a lovely bunch from the Grandchildren (which I think the brother-in-law got) so it felt like there were enough flowers.

It seems to be a popular time to ask for charity donations at the moment. BIL is abseiling off the side of his work building and is raising $3000 so we'll need to make a donation after pay day. Lots of friends are asking on FB too, so I've donated to one so far but I need to strike the balance between supporting friends and not bankrupting ourselves.

It's back to reality for me now so back to work and back to thinking of ways to save/earn money. I started by doing a large online shop from Sainsbury's, which was covered by gift vouchers for all but £4 of it. I have also started back on the surveys and I sold a couple of items on eBay over the weekend. All in all, not too bad.

Jessy103

Hi Ch4rly! I'm glad you had a great time but sorry to hear about DH's Gran. Good luck with getting back on track and it sounds like you've already made a great start!

themadvix

Sounds like you had a lovely time! Very sad about DH's Gran, but good that him and his brother were able to support each other.

Sponsoring people is difficult isn't it? Especially as I often feel that people expect you to give them money for something that might not be much of a challenge for them or is even enjoyable! The advantage of working from home/for myself is I don't get asked for too much sponsorship money!

ch4rly2002

Hope everyone's well. It's tipping it down here which usually makes me feel a bit miserable, but not today as I'm celebrating... the mortgage on the buy-to-let property is now under £126k, meaning it's gone down by £10k since we started renting the property. First milestone on the B-T-L mortgage achieved

DH and I have decided to put the house on the market with the intention of moving back to Nottingham. Since his Grandma passed away and his dad has been given the all clear for cancer, his parents would be able to visit us in Nottingham. We'd be able to stay with them when we come up to see my mum and dad, and my mum has a spare bed if I wanted to stay over with her. We've struggled to keep up with our friends in Nottingham, and my mum has said that when my dad passes away she'd happily move to Nottingham so we'd still be close by if she needed me. I think the main drivers for this decision were that we feel the need to be in the office more, and this house needs so many 'behind the scenes' repairs that we could easily throw £25k at the place and not add any value. With the uncertainty of Brexit and the BoE talking about increasing bank rates (and I heard last week that the economy and housing market seems to be getting to the point it was at before the last housing bubble/recession) we don't want to get stuck in a house we're not happy in. So, at the weekend we started mission 'de-clutter and get house ready to go on the market'. We're hoping to find lots of things to take to a car boot to raise some extra funds and not have to keep dragging the same clutter round the country forever! It would also help if we found a smaller house that we wanted, but to be honest we've spotted a house we love which is bigger. The idea would be to have a home gym and shared study if we got an extra 1 or 2 bedrooms. I'm giving myself this week to tidy up/declutter and hopefully next week we can get a valuation... fingers crossed it comes back ok!

Surveys are going well. I'm at £12.95 on OnePoll, which doesn't seem too bad considering that I had a payout shortly before my holiday and wasn't on it for 3 weeks. I've had some well paid surveys on Prolific too so I'm really happy about that as it had gone quiet in recent times. I've also claimed £4.23 from Crowdology and am currently getting a PayPal email added to Pinecone so I can start claiming from that site too. All in all, not too shabby.

I also found £20 in my purse that I'd moved to the back when I went on holiday. It's not a saving or 'extra' money, but as it was forgotten, I'll take that as a nice little bonus and will add it into my regular saver fund

We're just £225 off my £10k emergency fund total. I can't believe it. We're normally so bad at saving and when I set the goal it seemed a like an impossible target. Half of that came from DH's work shares being sold, so we didn't have to save up for that, but the other ~£5k has been saved/earned through MSE and MFW tips and ideas, such as I didn't realise you could buy £50 per month in NS&I bonds if you do it through a standing order. £100 seemed to be unattainable but £50 is manageable. When I think of all the months I missed saving by not knowing and my eBay sales/car boot sales. It turns out people will buy anything so I'll sell anything now either at a CB sale or eBay (even if it means relisting repeatedly). Also, the generosity of my Grandma can't be overlooked. It's all got me to within a whisker of my goal, and for that I am extremely grateful, and sleep a lot better at night because of it.

Right, break time's over. Back to work for me!

Jessy103

Wow! A lot has happened in the past week or so! Good luck with the decluttering and the house valuation! You've got to do what's best for you and DH and if that means moving back to Nottingham then you're doing the right thing! Just make sure you keep us updated! x

P.S Congratulations on the milestone with the B-T-L mortgage and the emergency fund!

Kittenkirst

Fantastic progress Charley! No wonder you are buzzing!!!

Your figures are all looking pretty marvelous!

Can I ask with prolific do you log on via iPad/computer as when're I check it on my phone there's either no available surveys or they are incompatible with my iPhone, I'm not sure if I'm missing something?
Notts is a lovely place, I go quite regularly and find something new I love with every visit :heartpuls

shangaijimmy

Great progress and decisions made. Be ruthless now, get rid of all the junk!! I dread the thought of moving because of all the clutter we've accumulated - plastic noisy s**t mostly from grandmas charity shop visits!

themadvix

Wow, lots of stuff going on for you Ch4rly! I think if you're not happy, then it's definitely the right decision to move - it sounds like you've thought about all the options.

Good luck with the decluttering - I'm finding with most of my kitchen packed away that it's amazing what you can live without!

ch4rly2002

Thanks Jessy I'm really pleased with the milestones and we came to the conclusion that now is the right time to start putting ourselves first.

Thanks for the words of encouragement KK, I'm pretty pleased with the how the figures are looking. I normally use my computer for Prolific and it shows three icons for PC, tablet and smartphone. The smartphone is nearly always crossed out with a red line as so many surveys are not compatible with a phone. If you have an iPad or laptop you can use it might be worth a try If we do end up back in Nottingham you'd be welcome to come and stay over with the GF... we've lived there years and there are still things we haven't done!

Hi Shangaijimmy Yes, it is a bit of a daunting thought. I've just about come to the realisation that we need to be ruthless as we have ended up with barely anything for the sell/donate piles (I think DH and I have the potential to turn into hoarders!). I'll be taking a tougher stance from now on!

We're trying to only spend money on the house that will we will get back or that will help it sell now. One thing that we noticed when we moved in, and has been commented on by every visitor since, is the creaky laminate in the porch and hallway. I think it's important to make the right first impression so I rang my friend who is a carpet fitter and he has been to measure up and give us a price. £250 all in for matted entrance carpet in the porch, a nice neutral carpet in the hallway with underlay and all the carpet grippers etc. It was cheaper than I expected so I'm happy with the price and I do think it will make a difference when we have viewings (I'll also enjoy it while we're still living in the house as it was a constant annoyance).

We rang the estate agent of the house we have our eye on as we're visiting friends in Nottingham this weekend and thought it would be the ideal time to take a look. They were really funny about it. The woman on the phone took all my details (presumably so she can add me to some mailing list and spam me with houses they're selling) then she said "hang on, I'll have to check the status of the property". I was thinking that meant maybe it had sold but she came back and said all viewings are on hold for that property. We ask if that meant they were on holiday and viewings would start again soon but she got all flustered and gave a non-answer. The house has been on the market a year now so it could mean that they've decided not to sell or it might be going to auction, who knows. So, we're not sure if the house is still for sale and if we'll get a viewing but it's definitely up there as one of the best we've seen. Gutted

I'm setting myself a few goals, so I want to document them on here to keep me focussed:
- At least an hour of tidying/decluttering every day (the more the better though)
- Be ruthless with sorting (I'm going to ask myself if the item brings me joy)
- List at least one item on eBay/FB every day

ch4rly2002

Hi Vix, sorry you didn't get a mention, your comment came through as I was typing War and Peace

You are so right about what you can live without. We have so much stuff that we haven't touched since we moved in but DH and I have the same silly mentality of 'but it might come in useful one day', which is so totally wrong and our logical minds tell us that yet we still hoard. I've decided we need to be more ruthless. If we haven't used it in the last 6 months, it's going. If it turns out we need it in the future, I will check eBay or freecycle first. I feel a bit like an addict... I'll have to take one day at a time and repeat my mantras "do I love this, have I used it in the last 6 months, do I need 35 hand lotions etc."