Crunchy pays off the loan early, and other stories

crunchy_time

I have great news!!

An unexpected letter came through the door today from my employers. We have recently been tuped over to another trust and they have aligned all our salaries to their scale points and I have basically been given a £4K payrise!!!

i now earn about £100 less per month as I did when I was teaching 3 days a week!

Happy days!

crunchy xx

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Wow, that's a lovely letter to receive!

crunchy_time

Afternoon all
Yes it was a lovely letter to receive. I was really wobbly about leaving teaching and the big salary drop but this means I feel I am now paid my worth in this role and can relax into it a bit.
I have now spent some time on hold and then talking with HMRC.  They are going to issue my tax code to my new employer so I can stop paying so much tax and then I just need to wait for my P45 to be issued.
I have been thinking about setting us a target - getting our loan end date to Dec 2024 by the end of this year would mean a lot regardless of the amount that means overpaying.  If I focus on each month at a time that should make it easier rather than thinking of the whole amount as that is overwhelming and I start associating my debt with my worth which is not the way I want to move forward.
The date the loan ends is our financial freedom date - we can start overpaying the mortgage and contributing more to pensions and savings then.
We are awaiting husbands pay day on Friday.  I can hopefully add a bit more to the loan then.
Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine.  I am gradually getting around to catching up with diaries.
Crunchy xx

crunchy_time

Morning all
Husband's pay day was yesterday and all the juggling has happened.  Pots are topped up and ready to go for July.  After bills and paying off a £100 of food shopping on my husbands credit card, we only had £144 left to put towards garden/house/debt.  We needed a new paddling pool so invested in one that cost about £70 - big enough for us and the kiddies to be in but not too fancy.  The rest we shall hold onto for now.  We need to do some more garden jobs with the resources we have got rather than paying for more stuff we are not quite ready for.  Although we do need to put some photos in frames that are up but are not holding anything at the moment - they look so silly!  That shouldn't cost too much so perhaps we can splash out on that.
I did, however, withdraw £15 from our monzo pennies pot to put towards the loan so the overpayments now stand at £329.  I'm waiting for my music magpie payment to come through as well and then we should be nearly ready to reduce the loan by one month!
Today's tasks are to meal plan and then aldi shop and do some cleaning and tidying before nipping out for a socially distanced garden gathering later this afternoon.
Must get cracking!  Have a lovely day everyone!
Crunchy xx

crunchy_time

Morning all!
I didn't manage much cleaning and tidying yesterday before the garden gathering so that is the plan today.  Load number 1 of about 4 is currently in the washing machine.  If the rain holds off then I shall finish painting a section of the fence in my garden that I keep looking at and feeling sad that it's not finished.  
I only spent £98 on food yesterday at Aldi - including two little cool bags for when we go on holiday (uk of course and booked a long time ago) in August.  Husband made some chilli last week and a big batch of mac and cheese for the kids so our freezer is stocked up.  I have told him - ABSOLUTLEY NO TOP UP SHOPS!! 
His pension statement came through for his current job which has reminded us that at some point this year, we were going to start contributing a little bit more to our pensions.  His is a good one and he actually has a few more that we need to put into this pot at some point.  I have the teaching one that would give me £2k a year which isn't enough and I am not even teaching at the moment.  My new job is a local government one which I contribute 5.8% a month to.  I need to log onto this and see what is what.  Perhaps when my pay is sorted out we can look at this properly.  We are 25 years off retirement but we must start thinking about it now.
I'm not sure whether I have shared this yet but I've started running again.  Last time was about 3 years ago and I have a history of back issues that have led me to stop many times before.  I have been doing HIIT for the last 3-4 months and its made me strong so running seems to feel very different this time.  My goal is to run a half marathon next year.  At the moment I have a route that I run/walk and I am building up to running the whole thing and I can go from there.  Must become a morning run person as well - it makes life much easier.
Aiming for a no spend day today with lots of jobs complete and ready for the week ahead!
Happy Sunday!
Crunchy xx

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Pensions confuse me hugely and it's daunting how much of an effect part time working makes on final balances.  We're in our early 40s and although many years left to work, we're getting more conscious that our current retirement funds won't be sufficient.
Good luck with the running!

missymoo81

Hey Crunchy! I’ve just read through your diary! You’ve nudged me into thinking about my pension!! You seem to be in a similar position to me, so I will be reading with interest. 

crunchy_time

ohshithowdidthathappen said:

Pensions confuse me hugely and it's daunting how much of an effect part time working makes on final balances.  We're in our early 40s and although many years left to work, we're getting more conscious that our current retirement funds won't be sufficient.
Good luck with the running!

I know how you feel!  I feel its better to do something now about it than wait until we have [aid off the debt and saved an emergency fund etc etc.
I plan to work full time from now on (current job is 35 hours so pretty much there) just not in teaching so I can actually do some other things I want to do.  I wonder if it's worth asking a professional?

crunchy_time

Evening all!  Look at me - two posts in a day!!
Lots done today - defrosted fridge and freezer and did an epic clean of the bathroom and even some flower bed digging.  Totally neglected my children but they seemed happy messing around on this weird swing they built and playing playmobil.  They earned their pocket money by tidying their rooms too!  What a win!
Husband painted the ceiling in the bathroom and started tiling the ensuite so a very productive day.
I've been thinking today about this house and how much money we are sinking into it.  It's a new build but needs lots doing it for some reason.  We said it was a 10 year house and we have nearly been here for 3 years.  Do I really want to up sticks and move in 7 years time and be thinking like that?  Moving is husbands idea (of course).  He doesn't want a larger house or mortgage just a bit more garden and be a bit more rural for some space around us.  But its the extra money I dread sinking into it to make it right.  Maybe I'll keep it under my hat but perhaps this is the house to stay in - at least until the kids have left school.  He is optimistic but we still have a huge mortgage of £280K and 25 years left to run.  I know a lot can happen but I don't want to think that this is only temporary - do you know what I mean?  I don't want to have that mindset.
I've just remembered that I can put the kids swimming lesson money into the debt pay off this month which is a shame - I thought it would have started up again by now.  I have been absorbing it into house costs but since overpayments to the loan are 'unexpected money' then this is where it shall go this month. - £60.  I'll do it now and adjust my signature.  This means that I have managed to officially shorten the loan by a month so the end date is March 2025 instead of April 2025!  What a result!
A lovely no spend week coming up!
Crunchy xx

crunchy_time

Wow!  I am here again!
I just worked out that if I overpay the loan by £200 every month it should finish by June 2023.  My goal is end of 2023.
Let's do this!
Crunchy x