Busy Mee's Last Leg

Suffolk_lass

Ooh yes, Get a grip Woman... Sorry - could not resist the pun! Even slow level strolling will give you the boost of daylight, even if you don't feel it exercising your lungs and the Vitamin D is always helpful, even if you have been somewhere sunny recently.

Busy_Mee1

And finally work is finished, and everything wrapped and ready. I have also done a lot of pre-cooking for the Boxing Day clan Mee family dinner.

I am looking forward to it just being the four of us ( and the pup) tomorrow. DS is coming home for two days after working 7 days on the trot (90 hours) covering for an absent colleague ( he is a frontline health professional) He sounded very tired last night and had just taken a load of abuse from a patient he was trying to help. I intend to spoil him rotten over the next two days :T

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year x

beanielou

Have a lovely time :xmastree:

Cornish_mum

Happy Christmas to you all.
CM

Busy_Mee1

Back to work for a rest this morning :rotfl: We have had a very hectic few days but a very lovely family Christmas :smileyhea

Work is quiet, so I thought I would do our December update. This is the first of our new financial regime, and the first where we are chipping away at the actual mortgage, rather than saving to offset against it. So here goes :

Repayment mortgage £50073.33
Repaid in month. 957.38
IO mortgage. £168500.00
Repaid in month. 500.00

Total repaid in month. £1457.38
Total mortgage outstanding. £218573.33

Savings ring fenced for mortgage. £210000.00
Savings offset mortgage to: 8573.33

I am pleased that in December, in addition to paying the normal repayment mortgage we were able to chip £500 off the interest only part of the mortgage :T

I need to set some goals for 2020 and I think I want to aim to be mortgage neutral by end June. I would also like to have reduced the IO mortgage by £8500 by next December to take it into the 150's , but that is very ambitious. Realistically I think I can probably achieve £500 per month which would be a reduction of £6000 by the end of the year to £162,500.

I will be back later with the yearly review :T

Suffolk_lass

As you have just started to make lump-sum OPs I suggest you track the interest reductions from now (I have mine in a worksheet in my master spreadsheet) based on the letter your sender sends to confirm capital reduction and new interest level (I multiply mine over the remaining term of the mortgage) - it is a small but significant motivator!

Well done and Happy New Year by the way!

shangaijimmy

Busy_Mee1 wrote: »

Back to work for a rest this morning :rotfl:

Totally hear your sentiment. You just need to add "...and work on my MFW goals for 2020!"

Busy_Mee1

Back again and great idea Suffolk Lass. I should be able to get daily interest rates from my on line mortgage account. Will have a look later.

Anyhoo, it is that time of the year and time to review our progress. This has been a big year of life changing events. We lost our lovely MIL, Mr Mee retired and DD got the job of her dreams. I would have said that this has been a terrible year but actually there have been a number of positives too.

Finances
During 2019 we paid £11,585.17 off our mortgage but continued our focus on savings to offset against the mortgage and saved £16k in 2019. This took our savings to £85k, and this along with Mr Mee's lump sum was supposed to make us mortgage neutral when he retired. It didn't quite work out like that and we are £8.5k short of being mortgage neutral. I am not unhappy with that, as while ever I continue to work we can afford the mortgage payments. My goal is to be mortgage neutral in June 2020.

During 2019 I also took a good look at our outgoings getting ready for Mr Mee's retirement. We did the Frugalwoods Ultra challenge twice and managed to zap a number of regular monthly payments. We cancelled life insurance taken out to cover a large mortgage ( we don't need it anymore ) my gym subscription (love the gym but was only managing to get there once a week, so now run instead ), Sky (replaced with Now TV) and also we didn't use the gardener this summer and did all the weeding ourselves. It now feels that all our monthly outgoing are a necessity or well considered.

I also regularly tracked our general spending and allocated a budget for each of our spending categories. As a result I am really confident about our spending, which is reassuring as Mr Mee's income reduced.

I also started savings pots to cover annual bills ( car and house insurance etc) and holidays. This was to stop us lurching from one large credit card bill to another and to make sure we had funds to cover spending in these categories.

The upshot of all of this has meant Mr Mee has retired and we feel very secure financially :T

I found an old cash book yesterday from 2014 that showed in 2014 our mortgage stood at £279,500, our credit card debt was £22,654 and we had the princely sum of £2,500 in savings:eek: This means that in six years we have paid £61,226.67 off the mortgage, £18,147 off the credit cards and saved £82,500 :T

I am stunned by that. I also keep having a sliding door moment where I imagine where we would have been had I not stumbled across MFW and got a grip of the finances. Mr Mee would still be working and I would have no option but to work until at least age 60.

Health and Wellbeing

I have really tried to prioritise my health this year.

My work life balance has been much better, largely due to our pup, who not only brings us pleasure and unconditional love but means that we have to get out walking twice a day, no matter the weather. I manage dog walks around work and the benefits of fresh air, exercise and sunlight have had a huge positive impact on my mental well being.

I have also taken up running again and did the C-5k programme. This is brilliant and I am going to start again ( probably mid way through the programme) to get me back into running after my recent chest infection. I have also done Park Run a few times this year.

The exercise all helps with my sleep, which also has a very positive impact on my health.

We have continued to travel which brings us tremendous joy and I try to book regular breaks from work.

I haven't made a decision about retiring yet, but it is lovely to be in the position that I could retire from July, if I want to. At the moment I am enjoying work, but if that changes I have choices.

Anyway I think that is enough of a ramble. We are not doing anything exciting tonight...we may go to the cinema and out for some food, but I have a feeling I may be in bed before midnight :rotfl:

Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year x

beanielou

Awesome. Just awesome.

savingholmes

Busy_Mee1 wrote: »

I would have said that this has been a terrible year but actually there have been a number of positives too.

During 2019 I also took a good look at our outgoings getting ready for Mr Mee's retirement. We did the Frugalwoods Ultra challenge twice and managed to zap a number of regular monthly payments... I also started savings pots to cover annual bills ( car and house insurance etc) and holidays.....The upshot of all of this has meant Mr Mee has retired and we feel very secure financially :T

I found an old cash book yesterday from 2014 that showed in 2014 our mortgage stood at £279,500, our credit card debt was £22,654 and we had the princely sum of £2,500 in savings:eek: This means that in six years we have paid £61,226.67 off the mortgage, £18,147 off the credit cards and saved £82,500 :T

I am stunned by that. I also keep having a sliding door moment where I imagine where we would have been had I not stumbled across MFW and got a grip of the finances. Mr Mee would still be working and I would have no option but to work until at least age 60.

Wow. I am hoping that when I look back over a similar period I have similar results. So pleased that it has worked out so well for you. Can relate to on the pup. We got one 18 months ago - best thing ever! Happy New Year!