Lolu's Mortgage Free odyssey

misslolu

savingholmes said:

Living is good. I can relate to that.

Imposter syndrome is common. Hope things settle down for you

Thanks @savingholmes I hope so too!

Poquito said:

@misslolu Just read your diary, I’m gripped. We have been through some similar experiences. I remember despairing when being made redundant (on the same day) 3 months after getting my mortgage, anxiety through the roof. The financial lows made me 100x more resilient, vowing to ensure an employer would never pull the rug from under me again. You are doing great, you WILL achieve those financial goals as your determination is amazing. Something to ponder… you may look at others and feel like you haven’t achieved certain things before 30, but conversely some people may look at your fantastic achievements and feel reflective also. We’re on individual journeys and we must remember to enjoy the view. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, you’ve got this!!! 🤗 

Aww thank you so much @Poquito I definitely do struggle with a lot of these things, sometimes some gratitude is necessary. I was talking to a guy friend about how I feel stagnant and he said the same. But then I thought about it and both of us had started new jobs on higher salaries and moved to bigger places, which were really huge achievements. It's very easy to focus on what you don't have so when I realised that I felt a lot better. 

 I was having a think about my summer savings and realised it didn't make sense for me to be saving in pots if i'd already started spending the money I was saving towards, that's a method for saving way further in advance than i'm currently doing. I'd be dipping into savings when I had the money already there, so instead what i'm going to do is track the money in a spreadsheet and put all the money I have now towards my CC which is where i'll be spending most of the money to help with cash flow. Then all the money i'm not spending just yet can still be put into the pots for later. I just hope I can do it in a way that doesn't get me all confused.

The mortgage isn't coming out until tomorrow, so will update figures then.

savingholmes

Glad you've found a system that works for you. 

misslolu

@savingholmes thanks, that remains to be seen. 

Mortgage OPs are on hold while i'm saving so the mortgage currently stands at £188,251.49. I won another £25 on premium bonds which is £50 altogether. I've been hoping I hit the big one but I guess that's a pipe dream.

I've been ill since my last post and had an awful time of it. Food poisoning had me in bed with D&V for days so I had to be off work. Unfortunately that's meant the work I do was left untouched for a week and we have a deadline approaching. Now i'm scrambling to get everything done in time. *Sigh* i'm trying to just roll with the punches.

Money wise, i'm super poor because i've paid off some CC expenses for the summer expenditures i'm saving towards. I've also spent more money than necessary hosting another group of friends last weekend, but we had an absolute blast. Funny enough I made the same menu as last time but a different dessert. I'm hosting more people this week, so obvs i'm a sucker for punishment. 😂😂

savingholmes

Great news on the win. Glad you had a blast - hope the next hosting session goes well too.

Sorry you've also been ill. Good luck with your deadline

misslolu

Thanks! I think I went a bit overboard with the groceries though, I'm already double my usual spending and we're not even half of the way through the month.

Rant incoming, so brace yourselves. I've had, what I am now going to assume is the misfortune, of having three weddings coming up. I also happen to be a bridesmaid in two of them. I don't know what it is about weddings, but for some reason people want to spend extortionate amounts on them even as guests.

I understand being in the wedding party means I have to commit some money, but why on earth should I be spending £300 plus on a hen do or almost £100 on makeup for 1 DAY? That's almost £1500 on just those two things for all 3 weddings and doesn't take into account, travel (over £1k for all weddings), bridal showers, bridesmaids dresses x4 and wedding guest dresses x2, hair etc etc. I'm cringing at being the person who's constantly citing money as the reason I don't agree with the choices at hand but COME ON. Even if I only had the one wedding, I still wouldn't be happy to pay those prices.

killerpeaty

I really feel for you. Weddings are expensive things to be part of and sometimes it feels like they are shifting the cost of their wedding onto you. 

While I've been very fortunate with my current bride, I have kept costs down by shooting down pricy ideas with conviction, getting my shoes/accessories/gifts via charity shops and carboots. I also wear the same dress to each wedding I'm a guest to unless I know it will clash with the bridesmaids. The way I see it, no one cares what a guest wears. 

Please vent away. 

savingholmes

Yeah - I wouldn't be doing any of those things. Even as I bride I did my own make up although I did get my hair professionally done - I don't think that was on the day.

We also turned down going to two weddings abroad - including one of a sibling... 

powerspowers

That’s madness!! Why are there more dresses than weddings?! Is there anything you can cut back in (makeup artist?) I’d be using the line that you’ve got 3 weddings this year so need to be sensible, although I do think they are OTT even if there wasn’t three! I’m sure you won’t be the only one conscious of the rising costs x

misslolu

I've pushed back on the £100 makeup and told the bride i'll be going for the original cheaper option she proposed, makeup for the other two days will either be free or cheap. And honestly I think i'll just have to push back my anxiety and let them know i'm just not willing to pay so much. For the hen do I declined the £240 ( that didn't even include flights and food), the second was meant to be £200 but had to change plans so it's now a much more manageable £50 and the third is £35.

One of my weddings is abroad but i've already paid for the tickets, @savingholmes i genuinely think i'd have been disowned if I didn't go 😂. Most of my family live there (it's my country of origin) so it'll be nice to go back anyways. Luckily it's a country with a lower COL so money goes a lot further there.

@powerspowers the people getting married are of non-british descent so have a traditional ceremony from their home country, then a church wedding. That's 2 outfits per wedding, one of which has to be tailor made *sigh*.

savingholmes

Glad you've been able to cut some of the costs. That's a lot of pressure.