julicorn's journey

julicorn

That marble jar is such a cool idea! I love it.

Another quick update - I got some money a few weeks earlier than expected, so just made another OP of £500. With that, we've hit all our big milestones for this month (£10k paid off, 5% paid off, getting 1 year ahead) :j

julicorn

I'm glad it's stopped raining, because we're having a little garden party today. Even though it looks like it's still a bit chilly, so it might be more of an indoor afternoon party with Pimm's, Victoria sponge and cucumber sandwiches. I can't wait!

In mortgage news, I've set us another stretch goal of paying off 10% of the mortgage by the end of the year. That is a bit of a stretch, and probably only doable if I get a decent Christmas bonus, but you never know, we might just pull it off.

Have a lovely weekend everyone

greent

Fab progress on hitting 3 goals in 1 month! :j: - great timing on adding that to the s/sheet!

Katsoocam - love the marble jar idea!
x

julicorn

Thanks greent - and yes, it was such awesome timing! I don't know if we'll ever have another '3 goal month' with that set-up, because the 'years ahead' measure is a bit all over the shop (i.e. less tied to specific balances).

Our garden party yesterday was soooo much fun. I thought we'd have hardly anyone turn up, because lots of our friends are on holiday / invited to weddings / have family visit / are ill, etc, but we ended up with a great group of people, including colleagues, old uni friends, pole dancing friends and friends from our film-making group. We had such a great time, and have now somehow ended up with more booze in the cupboard and fridge than we had beforehand. :rotfl:

In other news, I've just managed to finish setting up our savings account with Birmingham Midshires (they were one of the highest-interest instant access savings accounts on MSE). Well, what can I say, setting this up well and truly felt like some sort of murder mystery or escape room quest. It's an online only account, but you sign up, have to specify a linked account, then get a letter, then get another letter that asks you to write a cheque for the starting balance which HAS to come from the linked account (with your new account number written on the back), once they're received that you get an email with some sort of passcode, and then you get a further 2 letters, one with a username. With those, you can then go and set up your account, and password, and various bizarre security questions. And NOW we're apparently able to use it. Wowza! Feels like I've earned that 1.34% :rotfl: Seems like we can only make deposits and withdrawals to/from the linked account, but at this point, I really couldn't care less.

katsoocam

Woah I was going to put my emergency fund in a high interest easy access but maybe not that one...:rotfl:

katsoocam

julicorn wrote: »

That marble jar is such a cool idea! I love it.

Another quick update - I got some money a few weeks earlier than expected, so just made another OP of £500. With that, we've hit all our big milestones for this month (£10k paid off, 5% paid off, getting 1 year ahead) :j

greent wrote: »

Fab progress on hitting 3 goals in 1 month! :j: - great timing on adding that to the s/sheet!

Katsoocam - love the marble jar idea!
x

It's not my idea - it was somewhere from the debt free wannabee forum I think?

julicorn

katsoocam wrote: »

Woah I was going to put my emergency fund in a high interest easy access but maybe not that one...:rotfl:

Haha yeah, if I'd known beforehand quite how spectacular that process was going to be then I probably would have tried another one. But it's done now! :rotfl:

katsoocam

Going to for the Coventry one I think and pop our emergency fund and our savings for future mat leaves in.

julicorn

Fingers crossed that one is a lot more straightforward!

julicorn

Day 1 of our week off (well, if we don't count the weekend that is). I spent the morning making a meal plan for the next 2 1/2 weeks (what can I say, I just sort of got into it!), and then went to do some food shopping at Lidl. Bit of a mixed experience - it's a half our bus ride for me to get there, and I found the store itself super confusing (they also don't seem to sell everything I was looking for), but I can't argue with the price. £20 for 4 bags full of food, including lots of nuts, and a vegan version of Coco Pops - sign me up! Can't see us doing our regular food shop there just yet, but it's pretty great for once a month or so I reckon.

I'm also thinking of doing a food inventory, to figure out what we have in our fridge, freezer and cupboards, when we need to use it by, etc. Do any of you have one, and is there a system that's easy to use for that sort of thing?