Improving all the time

FloraandFauna

Thanks, Newgirly! You look like you're getting very close to MFW! Will head off and see if I can find your thread.

FloraandFauna

Today's results:

- clean/fix something every day - yes, 2 trees finally planted, 2 tonnes of wood shifted under cover, bed dug over and plants planted out
- throw something out every day - half; came across an old original gameboy when tidying that can go on ebay as soon as there's a free listing weekend - will get the pictures and description up ready and waiting
- Tilly tidy every day - yes, 31p
- check an existing, or investigate a new, freebie - yes, prolific,
- tick off one of those tasks at work - n/a
- tell the cats I love them - yes!

Bonus points: NSD today.

Hmm, feeling a bit stalled on the MFW front, although have been out in glorious weather doing much needed gardening. Might move the £6 out of prolific just to be able to make an OP.

VelvetFreak

I think making little OP’s all the time is really motivating Well done on the gardening.

FloraandFauna

Pooped. Quick update, wash up, then early bed.

Today's results:

- clean/fix something every day - sort of, making some progress on the crochet blanket to use up the wool stash, cleaned loo
- throw something out every day - yes, some old paperwork
- Tilly tidy every day - yes, 63p
- check an existing, or investigate a new, freebie - yes, x2 prolific, and put a claim in for delayed train
- tick off one of those tasks at work - yes, and a bit of another - feels calmer for doing those but still a hectic list
- tell the cats I love them - yes!

FloraandFauna

It is, Velvet! I do find the last couple of weeks of the month lag for those though - all my efforts/OPs tend to be at the beginning. Trying to NSD and TT at least keeps a little daily momentum up, but not enough by themselves. Will nag FD to see when the new a/c will be set up,

savingholmes

FloraandFauna wrote: »

Hi, SavingHolmes - you've articulated where I am at present. This mortgage debt is a psychological weight in the background. If I also had investments trying to get to a similar scale, I would simply have two psychological weights looming at me, plus a third layer of anxiety that they weren't matching each other.

I wish you all the very best wishes in the world getting rid of your CC debt - it will feel amazing! Then you'll be on this board!

Thanks - I am looking forward to changing boards. I agree with you about the psychological weights - investments can fall as well as rise. Sometimes the tortoise continues to beat the hare

ilselm

FloraandFauna wrote: »

- clean/fix something every day (something, anything, just get into the habit!)
.

Hello. Just wanted to say hello, good luck and that this is cleaning/fixing something every day is an awesome habit to start. Inspired by reading this at the end of last week, I spent the weekend finally getting round to some of those odd jobs around the house as well as some extreme gardening. Now just need to find the time (and inclination) to tidy up and dispose of the garden waste!

VelvetFreak

Just giving my 2cents on the investing vs. paying off the mortgage topic. I agree with you re. psychocological weights. Having a debt feels very uncomfortable to me and I aim to get rid of it as soon as possible.

Maybe I would see it differently if property was more affordable and my repayments were lower. But for now I think it’s important that I get it paid down significantly, so then I will be more free to do other things with my money. To me, having my own home (a stable place to live) is the most important thing. The interest I save by paying it off early is a great bonus.

Paying extra off the mortgage is a great way to trick yourself into spending less money (at least it is for me). I am far more pedantic about finding money to pay off a debt than I would ever be about finding money to invest.

FloraandFauna

Am considering changing my name to CautiousTortoise now, SavingHolmes : )

Ilselm, thank you! And well done on the odd jobs and gardening, it must be very satisfying to get rid of some of those chores that have been haunting the back of your mind for ages. I really need that daily target/reminder because I struggle to get motivated around the house and can let things slip badly. If I can make it a habit I won't have to battle with myself every day to get going, or loathe myself when I don't do anything. (I'm not disgusting, btw! Just with two cats and a wood stove things can get hairy and dusty much quicker than I can be arsed to dehair and dedust).

Velvet, that's so true. Well, for me anyway. Having a home means everything to me - thinking I could make/save more money but remain uncertain for longer, does NOT mean everything to me! And I have certainly never done a prolific survey and thought 'oooh, that £1.25 could go in a long term ISA'. General failing of the human race to... what's it called? something about discounting... but anyway, not valuing future things at their true value because they're 'too far away'. Combined with that other general tendency of the human race to put more effort into avoiding loss, than into creating gain, probably explains why cash in the future is not as pressing as debt in the present. It's a fair cop, I'm guilty of both those unevolved thinking processes.

Today's results:

- clean/fix something every day - yes, decluttered under the hall stairs, fixing the coat hooks at the back
- throw something out every day - yes, bit of cracker, since working from home with a long conference call this afternoon: have taken to recycling some old curtain pelmets, hundreds of plastic curtain hooks I have no corresponding rails for anymore, cleared random things off the dining room table, threw old paperwork out, gathered all 'memory' things into one box and put away. Dining room (study) looks like it might make it to an actual room one day, instead of a dumping ground.
- Tilly tidy every day - no, no activity in a/c today
- check an existing, or investigate a new, freebie - yes, registered with Kantar
- tick off one of those tasks at work - half of one, but it's bloody long-winded so feel OK'ish about only half
- tell the cats I love them - yes!

Bonus points: NSD today. Must remember to tot those up at the end of the month and see if I'm naturally close to target, or need to focus harder on this.

savingholmes

Well done on the NSD. It all helps.