Keep calm and carry on....

South_coast

These are the savings pots at present, the ones with * next to them are definitely earmarked for the mortgage, those without have potential if I can manage an underspend, and the one marked 😮 is not for touching!
£250 family treat (this is the inheritance money for a meal at some point)
£750 car insurance 2021 (definite potential for a saving here)
*£1030 10% mortgage payment 04/2021
£1000 holidays 2021 (probably a potential for raiding!)
£500 gifts 2021 (potential here)
*£580 10% mortgage payment 04/2022
*£1293.08 mortgage payoff (this is where the OP's are coming from/free money is going in)
£758.30 money I should really be saving (not for touching at the moment)
😮 £8150 6 months' expenses (EF)
= £14,311.38
- £11,722.36 mortgage

So still a way to go unfortunately, as that EF is making up a big proportion of the total!

killerpeaty

Well done on being mortgage neutral! So pleased for you.

Why is your car insurance so high?

South_coast

Thanks KP 😀

The car insurance is high because I had to pay £713 in 2019 due to an open claim (FINALLY confirmed as not my fault at the beginning of this year, but I still have to declare that I made a claim for the next couple of years); plus in my old job I did a lot of business miles, with general commuting on top. It was £498 I think this year with just the claim removed and the same mileage, so without the business miles next year I'm hoping it will go down again. I'd prefer to over-budget though, as I might start driving for work again in the future (and someone might reverse into me again!), plus my office now is twice as far away as the one for my old job. Just too many factors affecting the price to have any clue at predicting it really, so I'd rather err on the side of caution!

South_coast

Right you lovely lot, it's that time of year for reviewing your progress, so settle yourselves in for a couple of epic posts....

South_coast

So these were my 2020 goals:

* £18,000 mortgage balance by 31 December (stretch target £13,000) - Achieved, with bells on 🧚‍♀️!
* 1% of monthly salary to be donated to local homeless charity - I kept this up until I was put on notice of redundancy and haven't picked it up again since. Will roll over to 2021 now things are a bit more settled
* Weigh 10st by 31 December (stretch target 9st) - Whoops, no 🤣🤣🤣! I haven't put any weight on at least!
* Change job - Achieved! Just not in the way I anticipated 🤣!
* Don't dump stuff on the lounge floor - Much better at this, although it does still creep in every now and again
* Wash up every day I'm at home - Much better at this too


And these were the mid-year goals which I set after reflecting during the first lockdown:

* Go food shopping less - Yep, better at this, although it feels like it's still been a little more frequent than I would like recently
* Cook more - I'm definitely cooking more, but I stopped using recipes and have got in a bit of a rut with doing the same things every week, so need to recharge the imagination a bit for 2021
* Buy a second freezer - Achieved! (Bit of a cheat, as I remembered I hadn't had a Christmas 2019 present from my parents, due to a c*ck up with what we had originally decided on, so I requested the freezer instead. It's actually a much better present than the first one would have been, plus less money for them so win-win 😀)
* Increase my pension contributions - Hmmmm, no, I lost my job after that and I've not paid anything in for 6 months now. Definitely still the intention at some point though!
* Drink less, move more - I have definitely been drinking a lot less in the second half of the year, which is great news. Even BF has noticed and commented on it, and my grocery bill has has noticeably reduced. I did manage to move a bit more while I was out of work, but the combination of not losing weight, then having the DVT and not being able to walk, then going back to work and having a long commute have given me great excuses to not keep up with it in the last couple of months. Must try harder on this one!

I'm giving myself a B+ for that lot, I think!

South_coast

And these are the 2021 goals:

Money....
* Pay down the mortgage to £5k, then split all money 50/50 between the LISA and starting to save for the refurb - This will be the hardest one to stick to!!! I may crunch the numbers when I get to that point and decide to h*ll with it and just go for it, but I am conscious I should be thinking about The Future as well
* No clothes purchases, except for work clothes, underwear and tights - I don't have loads of clothes, but I definitely have enough and they're all in decent enough condition. The exceptions are to a) make sure I look professional and b) ensure public decency, so are sensible enough omissions!
* 1% of monthly salary to be donated to local homeless charity - Rolled over from 2020, as not yet a habit

2021, the year of health....
* Buy a 12-month prescription pre-payment certificate - I have been guilty of not using my inhalers at the prescribed dose to save on prescription charges in the past, so this feels sensible and grown-up. It will also save me money overall
* Act promptly on health concerns - No more ignoring back/chest pain for two weeks and telling myself it's down to sleeping on a lumpy mattress (although this did at least prompt me to buy a loooovely mattress topper 🤣!)
* Continue to minimise alcohol consumption - No explanation needed here, I think!
* Avoid all processed sugar - I'm not going to refuse birthday cake if someone has taken the time to bake it, but I'm not going to go looking for it either. The same goes for biscuits, chocolate etc
* Take steps to minimise processed food - A bit tricky as I'm veggie (I do eat fish, but not at home - mostly to make it easier for other people catering for me), so I can't just base meals round a piece of meat, but some of the meat-alternative products don't feel very natural so I'm trying to cut those out as much as possible. Just need to make sure I leave myself something to eat!
* Exercise outdoors once a week and indoors once a week - I know this will sound really lame to you fit lot, but I have to start somewhere and also try and keep it achievable
No weight loss goals per se this year, but hopefully the above will add up to some improvement....🤞

Phew! If you stuck with me through that lot, I will give you a B+ as well 🤣!

greent

Hi S_c - I 'lost' your diary around the time the forum changed - so have just caught up on the last 9 months+ of it! I've read a few diaries recently which cover the start of the pandemic to now and it makes interesting reading Great achievements in paying down the mortgage - brilliant stuff - and on being mtge neutral now

I've revisited my 2020 plans today - haven't yet drawn up 2021 plans, though

Now bookmarked so I don't lose you again

Grogged

Lots done over Christmas then!
Can I suggest in April that you top up any missing NI contributions for this year, be a shame to miss out on that pension benefit.
I feel so unorganised now! 😆
Back to being a couch Xmas pudding for me as I ponder my list.

debtfreeoneday

Hitting a comment back at you that you gave me SC - we are in a pandemic. You lost your job. Had a health scare and you still achieved greatness. In my book that’s an A+. 👏👏👏

Cheery_Daff

Definitely an A+ from me too! You've achieved a huge amount! Love your 2021 goals too - especially the one about the prescription certificate. No more skipping inhalers! xx