Getting shot of the mortgage sooner than 2049!

QueenJess

I'm sorry you're feeling low. The choice of job vs money is always a tricky one and I'm still battling that myself.

In the end you have to consider short term and long term. Long term there's no point in being trapped in a job you hate, but ok for a short time if it gets you to where you want to be long term.  Take your time to plan it through and try to find something to look forward to this weekend even if it is just chatting to a friend or having a little treat. It'll help your mood 🙂 

Bluegreen143

Thought I’d do a quick YNAB savings categories round up below:

GENERAL SAVINGS 
Help to save £600 
Emergency fund £1,655.81
My own savings: £126.72

POTS
Car: £313 
Kids: £18.72
Home & garden: £4.52
Gifts & celebrations: £360.42
Holiday: £800
Conservatory: £159.04

Plus I’ve been continuing to put £50 into my LISA each month and this is the second month of putting a £79.50 overpayment into the mortgage (to round my payment up to £500). 

So I don’t feel we have been as focused on the finances or being frugal lately, but it’s not all bad as we are starting to build savings and build up those pots a bit ☺️

Baileys_Babe

Lovely to hear from you @Bluegreen143 sorry you are feeling low.
Excellent that you had the emergency fund in place to cover the guttering and dishwasher.
Another term time job which might appeal is teaching assistant.

Bluegreen143

Thanks @Baileys_Babe, one to consider. I won’t be making any changes for a good while so lots of time to ponder... had a couple of good days at work this week which helps!

Bambi and Red went to get Covid tested today as she has a cough and he has a sore throat. Meant we had to keep Monkey off nursery today and stay in but not too much of an inconvenience as Red didn’t have any work scheduled in (it’s still very quiet post-furlough) and Bambi’s nursery is still closed. Most people round here seem to be getting the test results back overnight if they go to the testing centre (v my home test last time which took a bit longer) so hoping that we wake up to good news tomorrow that it’s negative and Monkey can go back to nursery. He was not impressed by staying off as he’s really loving it just now, and bless him he’s had so little nursery since Christmas. And only 6 weeks or so to go before he has his last day which I can’t quite believe 😢

Made some homemade paneer today which I used to make a rather yummy paneer, pea & vegetable curry with rice, naans (shop bought) and a minty yogurt dip. 

Tomorrow’s planned dinner is spaghetti & meatballs - the meatballs and sauce are in the freezer as I made double last week. 

As part of this online parenting group I do, this month’s theme is to organise and set up good play spaces/zones in your house and make your home a bit more of a haven in general. I did it last year too so this month more about just refreshing most of the recommended play zones, but one thing I have done is totally revamp the kids’ art/messy supplies and move them to be stored next to our dining table (where they get used). 

I did spend on the lidded tubs but I’m so pleased with how organised it is. We do arty stuff quite a bit and it’s so easy now to pull out just the tubs you need & tidy it away after. 

I also wanted to make better storage for what the course calls the “focus zone” where you might do homework (or home schooling), science experiments, puzzles, anything like that which needs adult help or a focused approach. I was keen to set up better organisation because I kept losing all our Gaelic supplies/books plus I know Monkey will need somewhere to keep homework stuff from August. So I’ve cleared out a few shelves of the bookcase in our living room (again near the dining table for working on) and have put anything educational there, except puzzles which are in a box elsewhere. Anyway I’m so pleased I’ve done this as I’ve been making more effort now to set up a little daily educational activity for Monkey or both kids now that all the supplies are together and easy to access.

Baileys_Babe

That is all looking good @Bluegreen143 It will make it easier and quicker to set up activities and do homework when that starts.
Fingers crossed you get the test results promptly and they are negative 🤞

Porridgecat

I do think that the whole covid thing is making it difficult to judge how work etc is going and until it settles down its hard to make decisions. The organisation looks great and it looks as if the nab pots are building up, I always think that they're going to take forever and then you look one day and they've got lots in them.

debtfreeoneday

Just saying hi, will read your diary to catch up. 

missymoo81

Hey love, just wondered how you are x

Four_Seasons

Another one missing you x

Bluegreen143

*creeping on here very quietly*

Erm, it’s been ages since I posted on my own diary! Woops!

Have been away on our holiday - a beautiful little wood cabin with no internet/TV/phone signal by the edge of a sea loch, surrounded by mountains and forest. The cabin was in a very quiet location, with just a few other cabins and houses nearby, but a 10 minute drive from a holiday park where we could use the pool, visit the playpark, go to eat etc. So quite a good combination and for us much more preferable to actually staying in the holiday park - while all their lodges looked lovely, we really enjoyed the peace and quiet and the owners of the cabins on either side of our cabin were there and were really nice, but we didn’t have to see them all the time because we were nicely spaced out along the shore.

We were a bit disappointed as the kids were ill on the second last day so we ended up leaving early but we’ve already booked the cabin for a week next summer as we loved it so much 🙂

Financially we are on track with our bills/spending this month and we are at the following totals in our savings/pots:

🔥 Emergency fund £2,016 (yayyyyy!)
🚗 Car £455 (but due to top this up when I’m paid next week)
🎁 Gifts & celebrations £513 (but it’s my birthday, my mum’s, sister’s, stepdad’s and my sister’s wedding all in the next six weeks so this is getting hit HARD. Red is making a garden bench for my sister’s wedding present, but the wood will be about £200 so homemade gifts aren’t always inexpensive! After August pretty much all the money put in here is for Christmas).
🏡 Home £52 (could do with boosting this - we keep spending it 😄)
💷 Help to Save £700 (between both accounts, plus we’ll pay another £100 in this month)
🏠 Mortgage OPs - I’ve continued to pay an extra £79.50 a month which is rounding my payment up to the nearest £100

I get paid next week so can update then.