Powers’s mortgage free thread

powerspowers

@savingholmes sometimes that’s exactly what you need 🙂
@Aimingforthegoodlife we were in north wales- stayed at Barmouth & Porthmadog and walked the coastal path most of the way between them (over a few days) and then up to Cricceth. It’s been a really lovely week, my mind and soul feel refreshed but my body is sore! 

Money news-
holiday came in under budget so I’ve put £100 back in the holiday pot 😁 
Pipes had a bit of refund but T has put some spend on his cc so I need to reimburse him. The drive is still dug up and possibly staying that way all weekend 😬 
We’ve had the £150 rebate and need to decide what to do with it. Our gas account has a debt on it so that would be logical but also considering donating some/ mortgage OPs. Will talk to T about it later. 

We have the boys this weekend and are going to see Steve Backshall this afternoon (Christmas pressy) and off to see Ts sister tomorrow. Interspersed with naps and maybe gardening. 

Have a good weekend wannabes x

savingholmes

Barmouth area is beautiful. I was there last year.

Well done on the underspend. I under spent on my holiday too. MSE ingrained now.

Enjoy your busy weekend. Sounds fun

powerspowers

Happy May everyone! Just checking in with my goals 

OPs averaging £550pm in order to meet 1&3 yr targets (sub £100k and sub £75k)
January £625 🍏
feb £300🍋
march £660🍏

April £630🍏
May £635 🍏
Average £558 😀 
mortgage is now starting £106k so sub £100k is feeling closer! 

Money saving- obviously everything’s going up. Our house insurance is jumping up so T has done a comparison, I just need to look and I think we will pay in one go rather than monthly. 

Savings are looking good, up £600 from the start of the year and at 85% of my stretch target. 🍏

House projects- the veg patch has veg in it! Unfortunately T was not good at plant care during the hot weather whilst I was away and some seedlings have suffered. Looking good are potatoes, beetroot, lettuce, black currants, black berries and raspberries. Looking dodgy are tomatoes, squash, courgettes, rhubarb (football related injury!) and I think the cucumber plants are all dead! The weeds also look good 😂 

Pipe work is getting there, T has started to drill a large hole out of the en-suite which we should get finished today. We’ve had another skip delivered so can get rid of some of the rubble. Slow progress but right direction! 

Eco swaps- sometimes I despair at the lack of progress on plastic waste on but going away with my mum and sis made me realise that there’s a lot we don’t even let in the house. Will keep plugging away. I never looked at palm oil so that’s still on the list. We are still baking more which reduces the plastic but not sure if reduces palm oil as we use dairy free spread. 

Work - I really felt I got away from things on holiday and didn’t have the same level of desperation to break up / dread to come back as I did in Feb and Xmas. I’m enjoying the new role but still feel a bit like I don’t know what my job is yet and I’ve been doing it 5 months 😆 
I’m enjoying my one day in the office and I think this will be a long term thing. 
This week I’ve cycled one day and walked one lunch so that’s 50/50 on moving during work days so that’s one to work on. Exercise in general is something that I’m off the wagon!

have a good weekend wannabes, I must attend to my skip! 

powerspowers

So busy weekend, skip filled, kitchen cleaned and garden attended to. We’ve also been really sociable which I’m glad as sometimes when we have weekends at home I feel like we are still in lockdown!

spends-
£70 skip
£60 eating out as treat for filling skip😋 
£10 x2 birthday collections
£23 plants 🫣 

money savings
saved £300 on house and contents insurance renewal by switching (credit to T for sorting) 😁 
acquired free water butt from a friend 
received £150 rebate- OP mortgage by £35, tucked £65 into savings and £50 to local food bank. 

I’ve also up cycled the old drains into planters as they were too gorgeous to break up 

 

Have a good week folks x

edinburgher

I love your drain planters, very inventive! 👍

I was also struck by your recent comment about trying to do fewer short journeys in the car. This is definitely something we need to work on, although sometimes it can be a necessary evil. I try and justify my inability to walk more locally by telling myself that I didn't drive until I was 29 but it's cold comfort 

powerspowers

It’s hard! Today is a cycling day but we have the torrential rain so kids gone to school in the car. Which is fine but then we fall out of the routine. I’ve done 730 miles on the bike in a year which is mostly active travel 😁 bike hasn’t paid for itself yet though. 

savingholmes

Loads of progress. Love the planters

powerspowers

Happy weekend wannabes!!

I’ve had a good start to the morning, had tea in bed and went for a dog walk with a neighbour I met online (felt a bit odd but we got on really well). No boys this weekend so we are cracking on with jobs shortly then going to chill tomorrow. T is tackling drilling the hole in the en suite (he’s through to the cavity- confirmed we have cavity wall insulation). I’m going to clean and tidy then get mucky in the garden. 

We’re doing well money wise. Went to friends in Wales last weekend  so only spends were fuel and a kids birthday present 🎁. We’re on top of the spending, still managing to do well on food shopping thanks to freezer being full of yellow sticker meat. Payday on Tuesday 😊 

have a good one wannabes x

savingholmes

Good luck with all the DIY. Roll on payday.

powerspowers

Holes are drilled! He killed the drill though. New drill is still cheaper than paying someone to do the groundworks though!

My AVCs are now salary sacrifice so I’m £16 better off a month! My student loan deduction has dropped though so I may put it on that so they stay on track to be repaid in next few years.