The Crossover Point

Zola.

Ami-Rose said:

sofarbehind said:

Great progress being made here! 
It was good to read about your strategy for investing in index funds and aim to be mortgage neutral. I know that investing is something I need to get started with but two years later I still haven't made the leap! I just need to start...thanks for the reminder.

I put off investing for ages, but then we got a new banking app that tied in with other apps. They had an investing one (WealthSimple if you're interested) and I decided to just jump in. I still don't understand it, but they started me off with a little quiz to work out my risk tolerance and goals etc and it's done for me. I could probably do a lot better for myself if I actively looked at it, but I'm only putting £3/month in out of my fun fund so I'm happy with it.

Sorry to hijack your diary Zola, just wanted to give encouragement that it's better to get started and be put off by a lack of knowledge! Then you can use knowledgeable MSE'ers like you and @Grogged to course correct once you're in. 😉

Any news on the job front?

No dice on the job I am afraid, thanks for asking!...but it has settled me down as it would be a real gamble to move in this climate and I think the job could have been a pressure cooker... I got to stage 3 of 4. I am happy and grateful to be in a relatively secure job for now, so I am just going to keep the head down and work on the plan! 

Zola.

Another quiet month at home, working away... Halloween is over and we look towards to Christmas now! 

We have bought a lot of Duplo for our toddler, along with train tracks and a self driving train... I am highly looking forward to building that with him!

Hard to know at this stage if it will be just the three of us this year, or if we will get to see family, hopefully the latter..

The markets fell quite a bit at the end of October, then bounced right back with the Biden and vaccine news. Maybe we are going in the right direction now... 2020 has been such an odd year.

Mid-month update vs last month. 

S&S ISAs vs Mortgage Debt: 34.56%  (+1.85%)
S&S ISAs + Cash vs Mortgage Debt: 44.74%. (+2.45%)
Combined Gap: £56,180   (-£2844)

Grogged

I'd second the odd year.
I hope we will get to see family, otherwise this will the first one not seeing them in person during the festivities ☹️
Sounds like toddler you will have a great time though! 😁
Numbers all going in the right direction.

Zola.

Great news on the vaccine, the end of this pandemic is in sight hopefully ..!
Its kinda hard to believe we are in December already. We have all the shopping done except for each other and our parents. What do you buy your parents who don't really need anything? We are thinking of a big hamper with lots of nice things they would never really buy themselves... 

Last month was fairly quiet, with some nice autumnal walks when weather permitted. 
We had a savings rate of 54%, averaging 53% for the year which I am quite happy with. 
The mortgage is now down to £101,026... next month will see us start 2021 at the 100k marker.... and then in Feb it will be down to five figures, which will be really encouraging!

Grogged

We've done the hamper thing for the last few years for that very reason.
It's nice to personally pick things you'll think they'll like and don't have regularly (or rarely).
Blimey - 53%, in awe!

Zola.

Thanks @Grogged, that number includes our pension contributions from employer and us, so not all from net pay, but it's still being tucked away for down the road!  I do count mortgage overpayments as savings too...Having the nursery closed for months allowed us to save a lot of money in all areas. 
Next year might be tougher to achieve that sort of number..!

Zola.

The countdown to Christmas is on, less than two weeks of work left, then a couple of weeks relaxing!
Latest numbers for December:

S&S ISAs vs Mortgage Debt: 36.57%  (+2.01%)
S&S ISAs + Cash vs Mortgage Debt: 46.96%. (+2.22%)
Combined Gap: £53,581   (-£2599)

savingholmes

You are doing really well. Thanks for sharing

Zola.

Thanks, @savingholmes, it is motivating when you start tracking things. Hopefully, this momentum continues and keeps us all going in the right direction!

savingholmes

I love your quotes - especially the last two.