Long Term Mortgage Free Wannabe

becky170

I think that South coasts idea of concentrating on one goal at a time sounds like a good one as then it doesn't seem so overwhelming and you actually feel like you're achieving something. We were a bit overwhelmed about what we need to do around the house and garden so we've written a list and prioritised. This year we're making progress on the garden with the plan to replace the bathroom next year and then fix the kitchen ceiling. Doing it in chucks means that we can also spread the cost and not deplete our savings too much as we're currently not managing to save much and due to nursery fees it'll probably be another few years until we can.

A lodge in Wales sounds like a lovely idea, but as you say you have to check it out and see if it's right for you first. 

katsoocam

Thank you for the above wisdom. The other issue is I am twenty weeks pregnant! I was keeping it very quiet until my anatomy scan was ok but that was this morning. So this may require some spending - though only a little compared to last time as we have car seat, pram etc - and I plan on taking a full year’s mat leave so will limit our savings potential, though I am lucky as an NHS employee as I get 8 weeks full pay, 18 weeks half pay, then 13 weeks SMP. 

Just this little matter of my husband’s last professional exam first - if he passes it we can settle in and enjoy it! 

South_coast

Aaaah, congratulations 🥰!

becky170

Congratulations, that's great news!

katsoocam

Trying hard to work out the maternity leave budget. Our monthly budget (including retirement ISA but no savings) is £5064.69.
Hub is earning £3280 a month this year.
Our defecit is, for twelve months, £21416.28.
My take home maternity pay should be around £18000 for the year.
For various reasons (including covid) it has been a long time since we have taken any holidays (2018) and we normally work shifts so like to take advantage of only one rota to consider, so we are really hoping to take a least one nice one and and to visit friends, so I’m allowing an extra £10000 or so for these things. So aiming to have £32000 as the budget. At the moment we have £14899, but the car fund is now fully funded, I have two more months before I start I mat pay, so hopefully we might even save a small surplus to put towards the next maternity savings, allowing for maternity pay. 

katsoocam

Beeb fiddling around with budgets and saving targets and trying to have a think about what pots of money I need to have to feel truly financially secure. Hubby isn’t terrible at sticking to targets and budgets but he does humour me with my thrifty concerns very well. 

We need to increase our emergency fund and establish a slush fund but it’s going to take a while because of mat leave. So prioritising mat leave fund then emergency fund. Going to be selling and decluttering madly at the start of mat leave to try and help fund this. Wish me luck! 

becky170

Good luck with the decluttering and selling. What types of things have you got to get rid of? I'm drowning in mountains of kids clothes and toys to get rid of. Been trying to sell bits on Facebook marketplace but had some success on eBay earlier this year. Hoping to list more stuff after lockdown

katsoocam

becky170 said:

Good luck with the decluttering and selling. What types of things have you got to get rid of? I'm drowning in mountains of kids clothes and toys to get rid of. Been trying to sell bits on Facebook marketplace but had some success on eBay earlier this year. Hoping to list more stuff after lockdown

We just seem to be drowning in general junk! I made a list of all the bits of my house that I really need to clear out and it was terrifying. I’ve more or less done our room now and I’ve sold a few bits on Facebook, some clothes I had and some duplicate baby stuff. But loads more to sort! 

caeler

Last week I listed a few bits on facebook and made a few quid.  I've unlisted them now as we're in lockdown in England but will revisit in December.  Might find some other bits to sell!  You can decluter and make a few quid to overpay at the same time, result!

katsoocam

caeler said:

Last week I listed a few bits on facebook and made a few quid.  I've unlisted them now as we're in lockdown in England but will revisit in December.  Might find some other bits to sell!  You can decluter and make a few quid to overpay at the same time, result!

I have listed as contactless collection but expecting things not to go. We will see!