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2020: Becoming a Saver, Not a Spender

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  • savingholmes
    savingholmes Posts: 28,958 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Very frustrating about the wheel. Good if you can do other work at work but still irritating. Lots of companies seems to be looking for a window for using the 80% payment offer.
    Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
    1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £174.8K Equity 32.77%
    2) £3K Net savings after CCs 6/7/25
    3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £22.5K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.1K) = 28.2/£127.5K target 22;12% updated 6/7
    4) FI Age 60 income target £16.5/30K 55.1%
    5) SIPP £4.6K updated 6/7/25
  • Thankfully I'm watching a few on eBay that are the right size, not exactly the same but I'd rather have one slightly different wheel than a dodgy one, so will be ordering one of them on Tuesday then getting the garage to fit it. 

    Yes definitely irritating, today is OH's first day of being not at work but on full pay, and he actually seems a bit put out by me asking him to do some washing so I have clean clothes for work :joy::joy: never mind the fact I usually do it all at the weekends anyway, but as he put one of my shirts that needing washing on our hooks for the dressing gowns (?!?!?!) I need one a day early for tomorrow so he just needs to deal with it :joy:

    I will need to do some more shopping today for my nan, hopefully enough to tide her over for the weekend. 

    Thankfully, at least, the roads are very quiet, but it is going to make it a bit stressful when everyone piles back onto the roads, I think. 

    I think I am going to use all of this quiet time to try and plan for the future. I really need to pick a career of some sort rather than just taking on a job because it's a job. Which means I probably need some more qualifications to help. I know one of our colleges is doing free level 2 courses distance learning for certain things, so maybe that is something to look into as a stepping stone. 

    I want to step away from actual face to face customer service, I'm good with computers, LOVE to learn new things but also love to learn how things work, and want something where I do have the option to progress within a field. And I do like to be busy. Other than that, I don't really have any relevant qualifications for anything career-specific :lol:

  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 95,468 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Mortgage-free Glee!
    Good idea to think about what you want to do going forward. 😊
    I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.

    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
    "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.

    ***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.
    ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
    One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.
  • savingholmes
    savingholmes Posts: 28,958 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    It's good to use this time to plan for a better future. 
    Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
    1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £174.8K Equity 32.77%
    2) £3K Net savings after CCs 6/7/25
    3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £22.5K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.1K) = 28.2/£127.5K target 22;12% updated 6/7
    4) FI Age 60 income target £16.5/30K 55.1%
    5) SIPP £4.6K updated 6/7/25
  • beanielou said:
    Good idea to think about what you want to do going forward. 😊
    It's good to use this time to plan for a better future. 
    Definitely - plenty of time to do so :) 
  • It's Friday at last! Although it appears the sunshine will be disappearing by the time we get to Saturday/Sunday so even more envious of OH who has been able to enjoy the sunshine.

    We watched 3 episodes of Jamie Oliver's Keep Cooking & Carry On and we were actually both extremely impressed, and will be trying most of the things we have seen so far. I was particularly pleased to see reusable freezer bags and will be looking to purchase some when I get paid, it seems like a MUCH more effective way to store items in the freezer in terms of space. If we can (by some miracle) get hold of some dried yeast and bread flour we will be baking bread and making pasta over the weekend, if we can only get normal flour we will be trying to make pasta :) OH also lit up a bit at the image of the egg-less chocolate cake :joy: 

    Can't motivate myself to get any of my own stuff done at work at the moment, usually I'm raring to do what I can and keep myself busy, but today I seem perfectly content to sit and idle away the day :joy:
  • savingholmes
    savingholmes Posts: 28,958 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I think everybody's world has been rocked in some way by what's going on - it's not surprising motivation has dropped. I'm sure you will get the critical things done. 
    Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
    1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £174.8K Equity 32.77%
    2) £3K Net savings after CCs 6/7/25
    3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £22.5K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.1K) = 28.2/£127.5K target 22;12% updated 6/7
    4) FI Age 60 income target £16.5/30K 55.1%
    5) SIPP £4.6K updated 6/7/25
  • Last few hours of work for the week - yay!

    For the first time this week when I got to Asda people were queuing, so my usual shopping for two households and delivering on my lunch hour was a bit more frantic than I had planned as I had to queue for 15 minutes, thankfully neither household needed much and I was able to get 95% of things on my list :) 

    I soooo wish the nice weather would stick around for even one more day, all I have really seen of it is when I've been dropping off groceries. My nan told me to pop on a bottle of wine to her shopping list for myself, and my uncle who is self-isolating has been adding a little bit on for petrol money, and both are extremely grateful. I just like to be helpful :grin: it will be nice when I can give them a bit fat cuddle again, though. Makes me glad to have OH to cuddle and have some form of human contact with, I can imagine it's very lonely, otherwise.

    Asda's stocks are replenishing, the freezer sections were full again and lots of bread, still no toilet roll though (though we are perfectly fine on that front) and no flour of any sort, so hoping some of the other shops have some just so we can try out the recipes we want to :) good skills to have, too :) 

    Did around £6 of studies on PA which have all been approved already, that can just sit in my bank for now. I don't need to buy anything and OH is picking up the tab for the shopping tonight due to needing 5 trips to the supermarket this month because of how my pay dates have fallen. 

    It is truly shocking how people are still being lax about social distancing, en route to my nan's I drove past one bus stop where two guys were hanging around with each other in close proximity, and then another arrived and they all high fived and hugged, do they really not understand? Absolute madness.

    I have taken to washing my hands and changing when I get in before giving OH a cuddle, he said jokingly the other day if he gets it now then he knows it came from me, which was meant as a joke but did make me realise that I could be carrying anything home.
  • savingholmes
    savingholmes Posts: 28,958 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    The reality is we all need to stay home as much as possible.
    Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
    1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £174.8K Equity 32.77%
    2) £3K Net savings after CCs 6/7/25
    3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £22.5K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.1K) = 28.2/£127.5K target 22;12% updated 6/7
    4) FI Age 60 income target £16.5/30K 55.1%
    5) SIPP £4.6K updated 6/7/25
  • Morning everyone :)

    Starting to feel a bit lethargic and heavy, but my chest is feeling much better this morning so will be looking to restart the shred (again :joy:) when I get home tonight. We have a backup cleaning company today doing our cleaning so no guarantee I will get some time on my lunch break alone to do it, plus I'll no doubt be doing grocery runs for my isolating/shielding family members :)

    Payday tomorrow so I can order the replacement wheel for my car, the good bit about OH being at home all of the time now is that I know he will be home for it to be delivered whenever it arrives, so no worries on that front. Just glanced up from my keyboard and it snowed for about 30 seconds and then stopped again :joy:

    The tulips we planted last autumn are starting to flower now, my tomato plants will need separating into individual pots as soon as I can get some (and some soil), and my first chilli plant has a seedling - I felt like a proud mother yesterday :joy:

    It's my booked day of annual leave tomorrow so OH and I are going to tidy out and clean our cars (providing it's not too cold) and I am going to do all of my car checks I have neglected to do monthly so far, especially as so far on my car I've needed new brakes, a shock absorber and a new wheel :joy: 
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