The mindful MFW: A healthy, happy journey to a mortgage free life!

museumworker

Lovely kids party yesterday, both kids had a great time and a free tea. Really good to meet some of the parents as working full time we don't get much time on the school gates, so to speak. The present was bought with cash so no extra spending on the account.

Used a £10 voucher for snacks for DD1 and the exchange student, and 5 of them I can enter competitions with too. I also entered a couple of competitions to win vouchers, we talked about making some changes to the living room which would involve buying new furniture so thinking perhaps could try and win vouchers to cover it.

Paperwork is finished :j and on shelf, DD1 bedding washed and on the line. Younger kids playing happily by themselves so just grabbing a few minutes to myself.

Using the government calculator it looks like for the next 7 months we will be £1175 down, whilst we get OH's pension payments up to speed. It will be very tight but I think we can do it with perhaps some need to tap into savings. This means overpaying will take a back seat until April, when we will be £575 down each month. Then we will be able to overpay £600pm, which would take our mortgage free date to around 8 years from now, say July 2025. It feels a bit strange recalculating our mortgage free date so soon after starting this diary but knowing we are adding an extra £15k to OH's pension a year for £7k difference in our take home pay means it really makes sense to slow down on the mortgage front. We may be able to do it quicker with a stretch and super stretch target but as we are looking at very tight times in the next few months to make ends meet I would prefer to focus on those and make sure we have sufficient contingency.

Now time for a bit of headspace!

Kantankrus_Mare

Just dropping in to say "Thanks" for the Adrienne 30 days of Yoga reccomendation.

Done the first one this morning! (With a slight hangover) and thoroughly enjoyed it so although I wont complete it in 30 days......I will gradually work through them which will hopefully help my 1 to 2 classes I can get to at the gym.
Not too long either!! :beer:

museumworker

Kantankrus_Mare wrote: »

Just dropping in to say "Thanks" for the Adrienne 30 days of Yoga reccomendation.

Done the first one this morning! (With a slight hangover) and thoroughly enjoyed it so although I wont complete it in 30 days......I will gradually work through them which will hopefully help my 1 to 2 classes I can get to at the gym.
Not too long either!! :beer:

:T Well done, especially with a hangover :rotfl:. You're very welcome for the recommendation, really pleased you enjoyed it. They vary in length and content and will definitely support your sessions at the gym.

Just had our welcome pizza meal out with the exchange girl, used Tesc0 clubcard vouchers to get £68 off the bill. Slightly underestimated food bill, so extras of food with drinks and service all came to £40 for the 6 of us. We really enjoyed it so will definitely be trading in our vouchers again :T. I went for the light pizza option too so feeling a bit virtuous. :A I did pick at some small treats at work but nothing outrageous.

Everyone had packed lunches today, and I have made the girls one for tomorrow.

Tackled a nearly overdue refund at lunchtime today so £53 heading back to the current account.

Have done two sessions of headspace the last two days and will do another one in a minute before bed.

OH heard back from his pension people, although they didn't really answer his questions but I have a P60 to look at in more details to see if it works out and he is going to speak to payroll too.

Also excited to see £97 of cashback pending on TCB, although I have returned some items so this may go down. Ridiculous that this is from a month's worth of spends we were going to make anyway.

V tired, night all!

museumworker

Morning, OH took the kids in so had breakfast at home and managed to get dishwasher empty and refilled, clean laundry folded, a new load hung out to dry and a fresh load on. Not having to do the school or nursery run makes it much easier to keep on top of chores. Roll on September when we will only have to drop off locally!

Today's MFW tasks are:
[STRIKE]* CB claim for DD2[/STRIKE]
* Check Onep0ll
[STRIKE]* HSBC paperwork to return[/STRIKE]
* Claim expenses
[STRIKE]* Mindfulness
* Make packed lunches for tomorrow
* Post 2x payslip details for OH[/STRIKE]

DD1 and exchange girl out to shopping centre tonight and will eat there so no need to cook dinner, the whoopsied sausages can stay in the freezer for a meal next week. Brought in food had in fridge for lunch today so no additional food spends planned.

Now time to work!

themadvix

I wanted to ditto KM's thanks for the Adriene recommendation - I've started it too, and really enjoyed it, although it'll now have to wait until I have some space - unbuilt kitchen has taken over the living room!

museumworker

themadvix wrote: »

I wanted to ditto KM's thanks for the Adriene recommendation - I've started it too, and really enjoyed it, although it'll now have to wait until I have some space - unbuilt kitchen has taken over the living room!

That's really good to hear Vix, thanks for stopping by to let me know. I was doing it sometimes in my bedroom in the very small gap between my wardrobe and bed. Every time she did a twist I would have to do a very awkward version of it, adapted for small spaces :rotfl:. I miss the yoga, due to health reasons my exercise dropped, plus the meds I'm on really affect my energy levels. I did manage to walk to and from the station yesterday though so v proud of that.

OH got paid yesterday and for first time in many years sat down and worked out our incoming and outgoings. Net result is our nursery fees for DS paid upfront, money set aside for holiday spending, and pots set up for big annual expenses - insurance (car, home, holiday - £150); OH's travel card (£120) and paying back this year's child benef!t (£150). We started late so they won't be full by time we need them, but any spare money at the end of the month will go to topping them up. With it looking like OH's monthly take home will drop significantly for the next 7 months due to his accelerated pension contributions, we will need to make sure we have spare cash to hand.

We are planning to try and get through to a week Sunday with only a £25 food shop - so topping up on fruit, bread and milk as needed. Wish us luck :rotfl:.

Checking my bank balance daily as I have done the last 2 weeks has been a great motivator to keep our spending under control. I plan to keep this up and TT any pennies to our savings as an extra incentive to poke my nose in.

I've also been thinking about my working pattern, and worked out what I want - more time for myself AND for the kids. I've realised that means asking for a 3 day week so I can have a day each to both of those priorities. It would make money INSANELY tight the next 7 months but would make me happier and hopefully help with my health. The only thing that has held me back is fear - of my career being damaged. However it would only be for a couple of years til DD is full time at school, and also I can't let fear hold me back from pursuing the life I want to live. More time to rest, exercise, blog, comp, be MSE... gosh it sounds like I need 5 days off a week:rotfl::rotfl:.

Time to get ready for work now, running late. Have a good day everyone.

MW x

shangaijimmy

Just caught up on your progress. Some real life changing decisions made in here. I recently added an extra £50 per month to my pension contributions and the difference that small amount makes is remarkable. Keep up the good work!

museumworker

shangaijimmy wrote: »

Just caught up on your progress. Some real life changing decisions made in here. I recently added an extra £50 per month to my pension contributions and the difference that small amount makes is remarkable. Keep up the good work!

I KNOW! And I'm only on page three of the diary. At this rate am wondering what the heck is going to happen by page 30?? :rotfl:

Well done on increasing your pension contributions, so important to think about future finances as well as current.

Kantankrus_Mare

I know exactly where you are coming from with the three day working week. I currently work 3 days one week and four days the other. Would love to reduce this to three days every week, but funds wont allow.

I have so much I like to do outside of work even though my kids are adults now and dont need me like they did when they were younger.

I have an allotment, a gym membership, family to see, I like to bake and cook and see friends. Work just gets in the way. :rotfl:

Paying off my mortgage would enable me to drop hours but thats not happening any time soon.

Can sympathise with the attempting to do yoga in a small space as well. If I dont want an audience I do it in my bedroom too

museumworker

Kantankrus_Mare wrote: »

I know exactly where you are coming from with the three day working week. I currently work 3 days one week and four days the other. Would love to reduce this to three days every week, but funds wont allow.

I have so much I like to do outside of work even though my kids are adults now and dont need me like they did when they were younger.

I have an allotment, a gym membership, family to see, I like to bake and cook and see friends. Work just gets in the way. :rotfl:

Paying off my mortgage would enable me to drop hours but thats not happening any time soon.

Can sympathise with the attempting to do yoga in a small space as well. If I dont want an audience I do it in my bedroom too

Ooh, I hadn't thought of a 7 day fortnight. That might make a good compromise if work aren't too keen on the idea.

Sounds like you have a full and rich life, and one you can finance even with a mortgage. Well done, that's a major achievement. :T