Getting shot of the mortgage sooner than 2049!

Bluegreen143

Have been trying to get more organised with lists etc.

So far I have:

DAILY CHORES
MORNING
- dishes/kitchen
- tidy up & make beds
- move on washing from whatever stage it’s at (put one on, or if I’ve done it on timer then hang it up/put it in dryer)
- feed pets, scoop cat tray 

AFTERNOON
- dishes/kitchen
- tidy up & sweep
- move washing on (possibly putting it away if done)
- next day prep (pack bags, food prep, put out clothes)
- personal admin/calls if needed 
- do homework with Monkey if required

EVENING
- dishes/kitchen
- full tidy up & sweep (kids to help)
- bins/recycling (if needed)
- move washing on (put in drier if I haven’t yet, or take upstairs, or put a new load on timer) 
- YNAB & next day lists, Duolingo 

WEEKLY CHORES*
- deep clean kitchen
- deep clean bathrooms
- change bedding
- hoover everywhere 
- mop
- dust & wipe
- organise/declutter hotspots
- mealplan & grocery order
- weekly plans, budget
- batch cook for week ahead 
- clean out chickens and cat tray
- clear out & wipe down fridge 

* some of these it’s quite aspirational that they’d happen weekly 😆 also, Red does some of them so they aren’t all my jobs - but I want to have them here to remember everything that needs done

ONE OFF JOBS/ADMIN/ERRANDS
I’ve found a nice almost empty notebook and have started a “master list” of random jobs plus ongoing projects. I’ve tried various methods from phone apps to Trello but have decided that as I want to use my phone less, an actual notebook makes the most sense.

Work/money
My manager has put in a request to extend my work contract 12 months, which takes me to end Jan 2023 and would be the same part-time hours and hybrid working arrangement. The stressful work situations of the last fortnight have mainly been resolved so I now feel reasonably cheerful about this 😅 especially as I’ve worked out that next month’s pay (mid Nov) I’ll only have a half nursery fee to pay as she leaves to go to preschool in Dec, and then nothing at all from Dec pay onwards (this is because the nursery is paid in advance and so Dec nursery fee comes from my mid Nov pay). Started looking at our next budget last night and jotted down some figures for our joint budget (as a reminder, Red and I currently keep 20% of our salaries for personal spending/savings).

INCOME £2,870+
80% Red’s salary - £1,600-700

80% my salary - £1,130
Child benefit - £140

BILLS £836
Mortgage £420
Council tax £154
Gas & elec £115
Life ins £26
TV license & internet £36
Subscriptions (TV, spotify, HP printer ink etc) £35
Annual bills (car tax/ins, home ins, breakdown cov) put aside £50 p/m

SAVINGS POTS £500
Gifts & celebrations £150
Holidays £150
Home & garden £100
Car £100

This leaves over £1,500 per month to be split between monthly spending (groceries, petrol, kids’ clothes, family fun budget, charity, any misc bits) and savings.

I haven’t quite determined how much I will budget for the various bits of monthly spending and how much will go to savings but I’d imagine we will easily be able to save £800+ per month even if we aren’t overly frugal with the food and fun budgets (bearing in mind that we also have our personal spending pots for our own socialising, clothes etc). Maybe more than this if I can get back into good habits.

As for goals - 

I know Red is very keen to prioritise saving for a small conservatory so I will need to work out a split between long term savings (mortgage overpayments, emergency/cash pot, eventually some kind of investments?) and money for a conservatory. I’d like to start overpaying the mortgage more than than the current £80 a month soon too.

We’ve decided that unless the car fails us we won’t replace it this or next year so will keep bunging some money into the pot for repairs and an eventual replacement and if it does last another 1.5y we should be able to pay for it in cash. We have around £350 currently so not masses but it should build up before we need it.

I also want a laptop but nothing too pricey and I’d rather wait til we get our savings where we want them first.

Another thing I’ll need to look into is whether we need a bit of holiday childcare for the kids, or indeed if either of us take unpaid parental leave that will need to be saved for. Lots to think about!

Scottiedog_3

Bluegreen143 said:

Another thing I’ll need to look into is whether we need a bit of holiday childcare for the kids, or indeed if either of us take unpaid parental leave that will need to be saved for. Lots to think about!

I'm sure people have suggested this to you before - but have you thought seriously about teacher training? The course would only take about nine months and you're guaranteed a job in Scotland for the first year after qualifying. It's perfect for women with school-age children and solves all those school holiday problems. I did the Primary Graduate course years ago and enjoyed it. 

Bluegreen143

Scottiedog_3 - my understanding is that it solves the holiday childcare issue but creates an afterschool childcare issue - I definitely would not be working at the same school as my children (and no guarantee of it being nearby) so I assume I’d need to put them in afterschool care. In my current job I finish at 3 and pick up at the school bus stop at 3.15/3.20 then get the smaller one from nursery and I do enjoy our chilled out afternoons. I haven’t ruled out teacher training in the future, but I also understand I’d need to be full time for training and first year and I’m not ready for that yet - I also have Fridays off with the littlest - maybe when she goes to school.

With a little help from grandparents and splitting our own holidays I think we’ll only be a couple of weeks short childcare wise so can either use a holiday club or one/both of us take unpaid leave (neither of us have ever used any of the weeks of the unpaid parental leave you’re entitled to yet). It would be cheaper to use the holiday club than lose the wages but more enjoyable to get the extra time off 😆

Baileys_Babe

Becoming a teacher to be at home with your children in the school holidays only works if they have the same term dates. One of my friends used to have 5 weeks a year when their and their children's holidays didn't coordinate.

Scottiedog_3

@Baileys_Babe. Your friend must have chosen to live in a different local authority from the one where (s) he worked. Very few teachers I know did that when their children were young. Only if you are very desperate would you choose to work somewhere you wouldn't want to live.

Baileys_Babe

Scottiedog_3 said:

@Baileys_Babe. Your friend must have chosen to live in a different local authority from the one where (s) he worked. Very few teachers I know did that when their children were young. Only if you are very desperate would you choose to work somewhere you wouldn't want to live.

No they were all in the same authority.

Scottiedog_3

That wouldn't happen in Scotland. 

Honeysucklelou2

Teaching is a fabulous job but does demand a lot of time outside the school day and at weekends. It’s not an easy option for  the sake of having term time work! Most full time teachers I know regularly work 60 hours a week. Forgive me if that sounds negative but as a single parent juggling a teaching job - it takes a lot of work. Perhaps it’s easier if you are part of a supportive couple...

rugbymadfamily

Seconding HSL2 above. My husband is a teacher and regularly works 12 hour days and at least half the holidays so it's definitely not a simple childcare solution. I believe a school nursery teacher (is it called nursery nurse maybe?) would be fewer hours, a friend of mine does that and starts 15mins before school, finishes 15mins after and has no work during holidays. Pay is a lot less, but so are the hours.

Good luck with figuring out the solution, seems like you have things pretty good in terms if balance at the moment and it's great to read.

Bluegreen143

Thanks all. I too had heard that re school hours. Scottiedog is correct that all the schools in this LA all have the same holidays - though as I live near the edge of a very geographically small LA, I could feasibly get a job in the next one along and have less commuting than if I stayed in the same LA, but the difference in term dates is a couple of days here and there, not weeks. There must be less variation in Scotland. However I think teaching may be something I look at in a few years, not now when my kids are so young.

I did consider early years - here most nursery staff even in school nurseries are not qualified teachers so it’s a case of a two year college course in child development. More and more nurseries, even school ones, are now opening year round and extended hours and term time contracts are extremely sought after. My friend has a term time contract (but not school hours as it’s an extended hours nursery) in a school nursery so it’s not impossible, but there’s every chance you end up working long days as she does. 

Red was very negative about the childcare thing as once I’m qualified it would be a substantial paycut and no guarantee of child friendly hours anyway possible so he doesn’t see why I want him to support me for two years at college (I have a degree so wouldn’t get student finance) to then earn less than I do now. Which to be fair I completely see his point!