Keep calm and carry on....

South_coast

Thanks both

Brief hiatus while that "real life" thing got in the way. All good though, including a day out on New Year's Day which ended up being free.

Round-up since my last visit:
Was surprised to have interest paid on a couple of my savings pots (I only have the accounts to separate my money out so I know what's what, so never expect any interest). Added to some bank cashback that meant £2.55 into the holding account
£1.85 spent on lunch at work
£16.72 on groceries and household bits
S&S have invited me to do their food diary again. This is so tedious but pays well
Sold a very small item on eBay which has been re-listed so many times I have lost count. It belonged to BF so will need to split the profits with him once the buyer pays

BF isn't part of the MF project as our households and finances are separate (good job, as he is strongly in the "life is for living" camp). He knows the plan (although not the exact figures) and as long as I pay my share of joint costs and don't say things like "I can't afford it" or "How much will THAT cost???" too often is happy. He also gives me his receipts for scanning (sometimes even without rolling his eyes first).

The money which was in transit to the mortgage has credited, so have just sent another £200 their way. That's it for the big payments now until payday - which seems an incredibly looooong way away right now!

Current balance £32,293.52

Cornish_mum

Hello and good luck, you look very organised.
Congratulations on the OPs
CM

South_coast

Thanks CM!

South_coast

Buyer's remorse has kicked in with the eBay buyer, second time for this item. Wish they would read the description properly. The last one said they'd made a mistake and asked for the sale to be cancelled, which I refused as they placed their bid on day 1 and didn't contact me until after the auction had ended a week later. Then they didn't pay and I had to open a case against them. This one says their account has been hacked....

C'est la vie - it's not about the money as it was only pence, but I enjoy the excitement of things selling! Will have to break it to BF we're not millionaires after all :rotfl:

newgirly

That’s annoying! I’m going to list some bits today

My dh is not too spendy but finds it mildly amusing/sometimes annoying when I’m on a money saving mission. As long as you both are happy with the boundaries it’s fine, although it can get irritating when they don’t care if something is the best price or not!

South_coast

Bit of navel-gazing over the weekend. Like many here, being MF is part of a wider strategy of moving towards a calmer working life, and I’d always envisaged that once the mortgage and home improvement projects are complete I would be skipping off to my new lower-wage/lower-stress job only looking back over my shoulder to blow raspberries at those lagging behind me. However I’m conscious this might leave me a bit exposed on the pension front, as even a bigger percentage of a smaller salary is going to always going to add up to less overall, but it struck me that it might be aspects of the role I am in at the moment that I am fed up with rather than the sector and if that’s the case then I could look to switch down to a more entry-level position when the time comes instead (although probably in a different business as it would be a bit weird to stay in the same place in a lower grade).

I’m just wondering whether I am making a knee-jerk reaction to leaving a well-paid industry if it’s not actually the industry itself that’s the problem, but the level I am at within it. Whereas my thinking before was “I could always go back if I start to feel the pinch”, now I’m wondering “Let’s bang a few more years out and pump up the pension and then I can scale back more comfortably”. Anyway, we’re a few years off any need to make a decision, so I have decided to keep a record of things I am fed up with as they happen over the next few weeks and get a better feel for whether it is the job I am fed up with, or just my job.

In the meantime, I've not completely lost the plot - £1.34 spent on groceries

savingholmes

I think the other question to ask is are you putting enough into your pension to allow early retirement to be an option? How many years will you risk spending in a job you don't enjoy? I think making a list of the jobs pros and cons and what you would like from your next job could be a good way forward. Your brain will then subconsciously help you find it. Worked for me.

South_coast

Thanks SH. In answer to your question, probably not, but the figures some of the calculators come out with are eye-watering. I was putting more in previously, but decided to scale it back in order to focus on MF because putting all the eggs in that basket meant it could be achieved in a relatively short time-frame (a bit like a snowball I guess). I need to work another 15ish years to have enough years of NI contributions to qualify for a full state pension, so there are certainly no plans for a complete exit within that timeframe, but changing to something lower-stress would feel like retirement anyway I think, although things I have noted down so far are rush-hour traffic and pointless meetings - which I think are difficult to escape in any job!

£2.27 spent on groceries today

South_coast

Forgot to say, diverted into the big yellow and blue shop on the way back from a meeting today and picked up a couple of bits I've been meaning to get for AGES. Not counting that as a spend, as paid with a gift card I'd already purchased at a discount through work-perk scheme (ending soon ), but not having my movements monitored is definitely a plus-point for current job - although always feel guilty for being where I'm not meant to be during working hours (somehow don't get the same level of guilt when doing extra bits unpaid evenings and weekends???)

shangaijimmy

Nice steady sustainable progress in here which is great to see. I have constant eye rolls too from Mrs SJ, but have always found little things that capture her imagination. The first trick was the house of bricks to colour in that lived on the fridge. She soon tired from colouring in though, so my next meaningful stat to trot out was daily interest - I'm certain she nearly threw up when I told her it was £16.93 a day!! Then when we had a celebratory bunch of flowers and a takeaway for each £10k milestone she showed more interest.

The eye rolls have virtually stopped now and I pick out the big figures every now and again for impact. So my advice is to stick with it in the early days and eventually you'll find the right buttons to press for wow factor.