Quest for (mortgage) freedom

eat_that_frog

Thanks @South_coast! The areas of the house that have been decluttered look so much better, it's really helping to keep me motivated 

eat_that_frog

I made an OP on the mortgage just before the bank holiday. This takes my mortgage total down to just over £216,500. I am absolutely thrilled to be so close to £215k, and feel like I'm getting a lot closer to seeing the 1 tick down to a 0 and being in the £200s very soon - at this rate I should be in the £200s in September. I have slipped a little behind my overall 2021 target but with my new job starting in the summer I should be back on target by the end of the year.

I also met my NSD target of 16 NSDs in May! I think the awful May weather helped with that. However now it feels like summer has come so I suspect the spending will tick up again. And actually I'm really excited by that, in an MSE fashion of course - glasses of vino in the garden with friends and family are still right up my street! But we're also trying to get out for a weekend brunch once a week as well as a family as a lovely treat. So I'll set a target of 15 NSDs in June and see how I get on.

No more decluttering so far this week, I'm taking a break from it this week to ensure it doesn't become overwhelming, which I think it could do if I kept going at the pace I was.

rugbymadfamily

Congrats on the promotion! Brilliant news 🥳  Good idea on the de-cluttering, take a break for a week or two and then back to it and get the next 500 done!

eat_that_frog

rugbymadfamily said:

Congrats on the promotion! Brilliant news 🥳  Good idea on the de-cluttering, take a break for a week or two and then back to it and get the next 500 done!

Thanks you! Yes I think I might follow your advice and take a more extended 2 week break from it. It was more tiring than I realised I think.

eat_that_frog

So I did something very unMSE yesterday...and I splashed out £90 on a robot vacuum from A*da. It's honestly some of the best money I've ever spent. Now my house is much tidier it's easier to clean. I wouldn't have been able to use one before my decluttering because there was too much stuff around, but now the rooms are tidier it's very easy for the robot to navigate around and vacuum.

This evening when I was cooking supper and I left the robot vacuum to hoover the sitting room and hall...I loved walking into a clean room that involved absolutely no effort from me!

Once I've decluttered upstairs I'll be able to use it upstairs too! I've not done anything this week, going to give it a few more days and get cracking again middle of next week. I've got a list of hotspots to be decluttered upstairs and I'm looking forward to working through my list

caeler

we all need a splurge from time to time and yours sounds like a time and effort saver! Brilliant! 

rugbymadfamily

Agreed! In my opinion, if its something that will be useful and used frequently, you can afford to pay for it up front and you get it at the best price possible....then it is MSE! I bought a dyson cordless, got it in a sale, with an extra discount from a work scheme and got them to chuck in some extra accessories, I now hoover every day (almost!) instead of once a week with my massive heavy old upright and the house feels better for it :-)

SandyShores

90 quid! that's amazing - well done on the bargain.  I thought mine was good at £150 from Amazon, never thought about Asda.  I love setting it off while you are doing something in the next room, it feels like great multi-tasking when its hoovering and you're getting on with something else.  The shark comes out to do the stairs and I'll do a quick run around the rest of the house as well, but that's just a top up really, and I love that the robotvac goes under sofa's beds and units

family355

I have been looking at them over the last few months since my brother bought one, £90 is great Value and I shall now be purchasing too! Thank you eat_that_frog! 

eat_that_frog

I let her loose in the upstairs bedrooms this morning, went out to do the food shopping, came back an hour later to find all 3 bedrooms hoovered. Why didn't I get one sooner. Honestly think this is one of the best things I've ever purchased after my house and my car 

@family355 it's called a Goblin. It's not as high-tech as the really expensive ones but you can set it up on a timer and that was good enough for me. Also I know I just wouldn't use all those fancy features of the expensive ones. For just shy of £90 I think it's an absolute bargain!