Ruby's Bought a House, Now I want to Own It!

ruby_eskimo

Thanks for the encouragement @Merlin's_Beard 👍

First week back in the real world and it's been tiring 😴  Although I have managed to stay on track with my goals:

• 5 NSD's so far and today is looking to be much of the same.  I even took my own lunch and coffee to the office with me yesterday so I didn't have to buy anything!
• New phone fund is now just over 10% thanks to some cashback payments that have been pending for a while
• First OP to the mortgage for the year of £390, thanks to the bank reducing our standard payment as a result of last years OP's (we're essentially paying the same amount of money that we paid to the previous mortgage)
• I've kept up with my activity goals (daily yoga, daily walk outside for at least 30 minutes, workout 4 times a week)
• I've actually updated my budget sheet in real-time and have a better idea of where my money is going which is helping me plan better with how I spread my savings.  Also helped me see that we're almost at the interim goal for our emergency fund!
• The interest rate on my savings accounts have increased 😁
• I finished my first book of the year (Birth of the Kingdom by Jan Guillou - really enjoyed this series and actually shed a tear at the ending!)
• Bought another £1000 of premium bonds, still have yet to win anything yet though!  DH on the other hand won £25 in his first draw this month 🙄

And I think that's everything.  Still need to take the Christmas decorations down but that's a job for this evening.  Then we have a weekend with no plans so it's probably going to be a big sort out / declutter weekend or maybe I'll just sit on the sofa and read a book.

savingholmes

Looks like you've done a grand job on those goals. Great targets for this year too.

ruby_eskimo

Well January has been and gone finally!  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad month but it was tiring and felt long, not helped by the never ending grey and cold weather.  

A few updates:

• Maintained the NSD streak and managed 21 over the course of the month 🤯🥳 
• Due to aforementioned amount of NSD's I did manage to max out my LISA for the year with the leftover money I had 🥳
• Kept up with the healthy habits mostly (I'm about a week behind on the 30 day yoga challenge) and have seen some definite changes in my body.  The weight is slowly creeping off but I have a more defined waist and toned arms and legs.
• Ticked off my savings goal for the cruise excursions and specialty meals etc.  Also managed to pick up the pair of walking boots I needed in the sale 👍 (my existing walking boots are big, chunky and heavy and would take up half of my suitcase so had been on the lookout for a lightweight pair that were more flexible and therefore more suitable to take away)
• Read a total of 6 books this month
• Started booking our USA trip for later on in year now that we have a confirmed date for MiL's wedding
• "Sidehustled" almost 25% of the cost of a new phone.

All in all January hasn't been too bad a month on the money front.  Going to try and keep the momentum of the NSD's going so I can allocate the leftover money to some other savings pots while I can.  Really want to update here more frequently but think those are the headlines for the end of the first month of the year.

savingholmes

Sounds excellent. Any mojo left over to share?

Merlin's_Beard

Thank goodness it's not just me lagging behind on the 30 day yoga challenge...! As long as you keep going, you'll get there.

ruby_eskimo

savingholmes said:

Sounds excellent. Any mojo left over to share?

I would if I could!  I don't know how I've managed to get this far @savingholmes!

ruby_eskimo

Merlin's_Beard said:

Thank goodness it's not just me lagging behind on the 30 day yoga challenge...! As long as you keep going, you'll get there.

Thanks @Merlin's_Beard - I thought I'd only missed like 3 days but somehow that's morphed into 7!  Enjoying the sense of calm it's giving me before I go to bed and probably helping me sleep a little better I think.

FreeBear

ruby_eskimo said:

• Ticked off my savings goal for the cruise excursions and specialty meals etc.  Also managed to pick up the pair of walking boots I needed in the sale 👍 (my existing walking boots are big, chunky and heavy and would take up half of my suitcase so had been on the lookout for a lightweight pair that were more flexible and therefore more suitable to take away)
  

I switched from using heavy walking boots a long while ago. Now use a trail shoe (looks more like trainers). Light weight, with mesh panels to let air in. Absolutely no point in wasting money on GoreTex and other fancy waterproof gimmicks - Your feet are going to sweat which clogs up the pores in these waterproof membranes, and as soon as you step in a deep puddle, your foot is wet. A lightweight mesh shoe will dry out much quicker and allow your feet to breath.

Also less weight to lug around - Especially important if you are doing long hikes at altitude.

ruby_eskimo

Thanks for the info @FreeBear - I'm still keeping the old boots for local walks but the new ones are a lot easier to transport 👍

ruby_eskimo

Feel like I'm only making it here once a month to update but that's because I feel like not a lot is happening when in reality it's all go, go, go!

• I'm now at 39 NSD's so far this year which I think is pretty good going for me!
• Managed to book parking for the cruise and got a discount on it too so was way under the budget I'd set aside 👍
• Decluttered a few more things from the house and managed to maintain an acceptable level of tidiness for a couple of weeks.  Still have some clutter that I want to get rid of but don't have much time to try and get on top of it
• Our vacuum cleaner broke but luckily got the main part replaced free of charge from Shark which was a win in my book
• We bought tickets for the Paris Olympics next year 😏 so I've had to start a new savings pot to start covering the costs of that (although our travel on the Eurostar over is going to be free as we're cashing in Nectar points to cover it)
• I also bought tickets to see one of my favourite bands who haven't been to the UK for over 10 years 😎
• Maintained our regular OP to the mortgage
• Came in under budget on our food shops this month (and no idea how with the rising food costs)
• I'm now over 30% of the way towards a new phone just through cashback and surveys 🤯

Think those are the main things to update on.  You may see a theme here where we're trying to spend our money on experiences rather than things.  I think that's because the last couple of years have taught us that life is definitely short and we prioritise saving for the future of course, but the disposable income I'd rather spend on making memories than on something that's going to take up space in my house and that I don't really need.  

On the agenda for the next couple of weeks are renewing my car insurance, getting our boiler serviced and possibly getting a quote to carpet our main bedroom (it's 2/3rds laminate and 1/3rd carpet at the moment - don't ask...).

Hope you're all keeping well, I'll definitely try to update more this month.