Returning to MFW, my elusive unicorn!

coldcazzie

Diary Update for the Beginning of Page 10!

Family
Me, Manwife, offspring x3 (Big Small 15; Medium Small 13; Small Small 10), cats x2, rabbits x2, chickens x6 (5 of whom lay us lovely little eggs)

Finances
Bank Accs
- 1 joint account into which gets paid: his wage (monthly, 23rd); my self-employed earnings (monthly, 23rd); CB and CTC
- 1 joint account for home ed expenses: £100pcm into this currently
- 14 joint savings accounts: clothing, gifts, car, health, food, toiletries, cleaning, holiday, house, home, sundries, pets, entertainment, stationery - these are my virtual jam jars into which I put a certain amount each month and then dip into the pots to pay whatever comes under that umbrella
- 2 individual accounts: currently empty
- kids all have their own accounts: older 2 have mini current accounts, youngest has a goHenry account

Debts
- 1 AMEX card paying 1% cashback which we clear each month
- 1 mortgage, currently standing at £92582.45. Int rate: 1.89% until 2025. MF date: 2043.
- Likely that we will be taking out 0% finance on the new front door/window in the next couple of months, which will be £1500-1800 spread over around 3y, although aiming to clear it much sooner.

Achieved since starting the diary
1. Fixed on a 1.89% interest rate for 5 years
2. Decluttered filing cabinet, reorganised, filed lots of paperwork laying about, shredded 3 charity bags full of paper which we will burn in the fire pit
3. Fixed (possibly??) the leaky roof
4. Set a 2020 OP goal and started saving
5. Signed up for Prolific
6. Stuck some things on ebay in order to declutter/save to OP
7. Opened a new business bank account
8. Opened 14 joint savings accounts to replace the ones I had in only my name
9. Opened individual accounts for me and Him
10. Switched main shop to Ald1
11. Started small bathroom revamp

Current Goals
1. Finish new monthly budget. First changes take effect at end of March payday. Fine tuning at end of April payday.
2. OP £500 this year - currently at 23% of goal. Stretch goal would be £830, which is 10% of the smaller mortgage sub-account and 1% of the total balance.
3. Save as much as possible towards the new front door, take out 0% finance for the rest, clear that asap.
4. Get quotes/make plans for a new roof/loft extension.
5. Plan a holiday, even if it's not until next year. Last holiday was Oct 2016.
6. Finish small bathroom revamp.

coldcazzie

South_coast said:

I enjoy Prolific Grogged, I like the fact that you're pre-screened for acceptance so there's none of the agonising filling-in of most of the survey to then be told you don't qualify or they've got enough respondents 😠 

I like that too. Took about an hour to fill all the questions in, but at least I know they're sending me stuff I'm actually eligible for.

coldcazzie

The Manwife™ went out for milk and potatoes and a couple of other things. He's come back a bit traumatised having had to go to 3 supermarkets.

I'm trying to keep a positive head on, but bl00dy hell, the country is cracking at the seams.  

coldcazzie

• Cashed out £6.92 from Prolific, which should land tomorrow aft.

• Payslip day tomorrow!

• Email from the exam centre where Big Small's exam is booked, which basically says "don't make any rash decisions, we'll get more info to you asap". BJ's assurances that "all children will get the grades they need/we'll make sure they're not held back" are much less applicable to private candidates who don't have mocks or coursework to fall back on, so there's lots of home ed parents feeling anxious about what will happen.

Grogged

Thanks @coldcazzie and @South_coast, really appreciate the insight on prolific.
@coldcazzie, really jealous of how far you've come in 10 pages! 😁
I'm still traumatised by the cheese puffs in ald1!, so feel for ManWife... 😂
(and I found out tonight that once the alcohol is gone, there won't be anymore. D@mm you coronavirus! 😠😠😠)

coldcazzie

Grogged said:

@coldcazzie, really jealous of how far you've come in 10 pages! 😁

I have discovered, over the years, that I have a real tendency to hyperfocus on where I'm going, and how far it is, and how long it's going to take me to get there, and then get despondent, and I have to remind myself repeatedly how far I've come, where I started, how much progress I've made.

Becoming mortgage free, like life in general, is a marathon, not a sprint.

I think that might need to become a rule actually.... 

coldcazzie

I was woken in the night by throat tingles. That means I've caught something respiratory - it's my first warning, a day or so before things start down the path of being all mucous-y and swollen and sore.

[Deleted User]

Hope you're okay cazzie! 
I remember you from years ago when I had a different user name....glad to see you're still going strong!! 😁

coldcazzie

squirrelgirl said:

Hope you're okay cazzie! 
I remember you from years ago when I had a different user name....glad to see you're still going strong!! 😁

Heyyyy @squirrelgirl 🙋‍♀️ was your old username also squirrel related?

I am... snuffly. But otherwise carrying on. How are you? I will add your diary to my read list!

coldcazzie

• Payslip day has revealed a shortfall of about £40 this month, compared to what we usually get. Will have a bit of a shuffle to account for this.

• It seems I have enough money in my business account to pay myself this month and next month. After that... if I haven't booked clients for later on in the year I'll have to significantly juggle the budget to account for a drop of £200pcm. I can shuffle some of my support online, but not all of it. I sincerely hope they will be working out some kind of support for SE folks

• Mortar has been applied to the gaps above the leaky door. We will have to wait until the next major storm with sideways rain to find out if that was the cause of the leak though. If it isn't I'm not sure what else it could be!

• Managed to do at least 2 studies per day on Prolific this week. ETA: payment had just landed in my PP acc, gonna transfer it to the OP account now.

• 5 eggs again today, which means we're up to 17. Omelettes for tea on Sunday, which will time well I think with how many eggs we'll need. Bought a 20kg bag of chicken food which will come out of the pet account.

• Feeling a bit flat and blue today, as well as snuffly. *sigh*