On my way to freedom.

Doris17

Hope very one has had a good Bank Holiday Monday!
We went for a lovely long walk this morning before it got to hot and came back about lunchtime. I have done two loads of washing and dried it on the line in the glorious sunshine.
This afternoon has been spent reading in the garden while Mr D has been sorting the greenhouse as the plants have been  going wild.
While out on our walk today, Mr D said that he is going to work part-time after lockdown ends and will be retiring in two years on his 60th  birthday, which will be May 2022. So all the more important I clear this debt in the shortest amount of time as I intent to be working from home when he retires.

findingthisdifficult

Sounds like a lovely bank holiday @Doris17

It certainly warmed up yesterday didn't it?  I ended up splurging on an extra large parasol so that I could sit out in my sun trap garden, like you I spent some time reading...it was thoroughly enjoyable?

I think this lockdown life has taught me that in the long term, I'd like to work from home and I'd like Mr FTD and I to find our forever home, then knuckle down to overpay the mortgage (so that we can retire earlier)

Doris17

findingthisdifficult said:

Sounds like a lovely bank holiday @Doris17

It certainly warmed up yesterday didn't it?  I ended up splurging on an extra large parasol so that I could sit out in my sun trap garden, like you I spent some time reading...it was thoroughly enjoyable?

I think this lockdown life has taught me that in the long term, I'd like to work from home and I'd like Mr FTD and I to find our forever home, then knuckle down to overpay the mortgage (so that we can retire earlier)

@findingthisdifficult it was a glorious day yesterday as it is today, enjoy my afternoon reading, read so many books since I have been off work.
I think lockdown has made many people think about the bigger picture and given then motivation to start making changes.

Today we have been for a walk, there is one load of washing on the line and another in the washing machine. Done some house things and am planning to take a parcel to the parcel shop, going to take the car as it needs its weekly run out.

Doris17

Today we have been for  along walk, a load of laundry has been done, love being able to dry the laundry outside. Received my payslip via email so tomorrow will be spend doing a budget in readiness for payday on Friday. I have achieved 20 NSD so far this month which I am very pleased with.
Also had a telephone consultation with my GP and they are going to change my medication, so all being well I should be able to return to work very soon. 
Off to chop vegetables for the stir-fry we are having for dinner later, fridge is looking very bare so will need to do a shop on Saturday. Will do a shopping list and meal plan as well tomorrow.
Have a lovely evening all.

Doris17

Today is another hot one. We went out for our walk early this morning before it got too hot, so glad we did. We have done our steps and more today. Financial stuff has been done ready for tomorrow, will tick off everything on my list as I move to the account the money needs to be in. 
I have recently had a bit of a tidy up in my eBay room and now I cant find a small brooch that has just sold. I will pack my other parcels and I'm sure it will be turn up.
Dinner is from the freezer this evening, we are have beef and vegetable pie and maybe some homemade chips, undecided yet.

Narola1976

Wishing you luck on your journey. I shall subscribe to follow your progress and cheer you on. I hope you find the brooch. Narola

Doris17

Narola1976 said:

Wishing you luck on your journey. I shall subscribe to follow your progress and cheer you on. I hope you find the brooch. Narola

@Narola1976 thank you for visiting and subscribing, yes I did find the brooch once I had stopped looking for it.:) 
Yesterday was not a good day however today has been a much better one! We have been out very early again for our walk before the day started to heat up and heat up it has! Far to hot for me to sit out so I have been pottering around the house,will sit out this evening when it cools down, Mr D on the other hand is out washing the cars. 

Budget for June has been set and transfers to other accounts made. I have trasfered £303.13 (strange amount I know rounds the figure up to £500) into the debt account, total in there is £2601.33. I will make the minimum payments required on all the debts during the month. Reason I am doing it this way instead of paying directly off the debt is because I want to pay off one of the CC when the 0% runs out at the end of the year, instead of transfering to another card and incurring transfer fees.
Planning on 20 NSD in June, I achieved 21 (this includes tomorrow) in May. Shocked at how much I actually spend in May when shopping less but spent more. So I have set a budget of £200 for groceries, cleaning products etc. See how we go.

I have also transfer £100 into my Starling account which holds my saving pots and I have made a transfer into my emergency fund which is in a Credit Union account. This could have gone to the debt I know but I want to start building up small saving pot and emergency fund so I wont have to go back to using credit cards again.

Looking forward to June.  

Narola1976

Hi Doris, glad you found the brooch, yes indeed it is so hot. I don’t have a garden where I can sit, so it gets a bit tedious in the house, but one day!

Well done on your NSD’s. Great achievement. Similar to you, I also have my savings pots in my Starling account. And I have a credit union account for my DD’s driving lessons. I agree with you, it is essential to have an EF and saving pots because if you do, you can avoid using the CC. I use YNAB and this is a fundamental principle. Funding your “true expenses” to avoid having to do add to your debt. So even though it seems counter intuitive, its really not, so well done. My grocery budget is similar to yours - £220 for the three of us, but only for food. Our bill used to be £400 plus so its an improvement. I am a terrible cook so that doesn’t help LOL. 

I shall follow you June progress with interest, good luck.

Seasidegal58

findingthisdifficult said:

I think this lockdown life has taught me that in the long term, I'd like to work from home and I'd like Mr FTD and I to find our forever home, then knuckle down to overpay the mortgage (so that we can retire earlier)

Hi Doris - I'm due to retire next spring and can't wait. I'm working from home at the moment and find it so much better as I don't have the long commute every day. The downside for me is having to work in my living room as I don't have space anywhere else, but hopefully you will have a room at your house to operate from.   Good luck with your quest in retiring early. 

I'm going to try and get session 2 done of the Academy of Money this weekend!

findingthisdifficult

Hi Doris, 
Sorry to hear yesterday wasn't a good day, hopefully today was better.  It's been so hot here today that I couldn't even sit in the shade for too long, like you I've pottered in the house.  I have to do my budget for June on Monday...most of my DD's go out on 1st of the month so gives me a good idea of what's what, I've got a rough estimate on my spreadsheet but like to see more accurate figures before allocating the money to figurative pots.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend x