Future Proofing my life: Deposit saving then MFW journey in under 13 years

savingholmes

The wand sounds interesting too. There's always so much variety on these forums. 

Glad you are enjoying your course.

LadyWithAPlan

savingholmes said:

The wand sounds interesting too. There's always so much variety on these forums. 

Glad you are enjoying your course.

indeed from SIPP discussions and house buying to now led face masks   Courses are good to get me focused asnd learning. I love to learn new things in Sept - last year it was the diy courses.

Happy Friday all Waiting to see when my faux fur blanket turns up

My friend is Chinese and he is v into tech beauty  and a beautician so I just bought the face wand he told me to £14  .. and the gel  £15 as well.  Its a weekly thing  you do unlike the led mask thats 3-5 a week - he has tested loads so - happy to send you all links but its via ali**press -  the wand.

The LED mask was through T*mu   so a fraction of UK/US cost of these things,. I have just also bought 2 led masks for family  gifts for xmas - I bought the one he uses  - just £13 each!!! No remote and no near infra red  unlike my £80 one but he says its great and what he uses and  sees great results. He was questioning my need to spend £80  on it but it has max led lights and I had been looking at the £300 ones so...

I will say I have one singular sun spot on my face that did not disappear last winter - it is definitely smaller - it may also be the serum I am using future rene* by no7 but I do think I am seeing  in a week of using the led mask its smaller so if/when that disappears it will be a clear win.. Wrinkles are less easy to see results..

Savings  UP £42.1   so  £292.10       /£3750 Month 1/13 
This savings goal is V excessive lets be honest  -I am not earning that after tax at present with cut days  .. its the hit £150k by May 2024-target   as long as I also get paid back what I am owed £20k ish  and then buy by Oct 24 doable if I work FT and got paid on time and did nothing but ... lets go with the tracking - just to motivate me ..

If I did the £3750 x 13 months - £48750 - this is a huge goal that if I achieved it I would def be able to buy somewhere.. as my deposit is £108.5k now. This includes my EF though and all housing buying costs..
but this not happening in Sept 23 I dont think at all - £1000 may be lucky.. Lets go for that first but got some bills to pay

However money has been saved  

TT £3.22  +  Cash back £5.82 quid + 33.06 TCB = £38.88
  - this has gone straight into my ISA s&s for the house. Not really added anything to s&s isa this year - I have a H2B ISA thats taking up the cash portion til April 24 - so I am planning to add any TT's and cashbacks and wins.
So far savings totals in sept
-H2B £220 - inc £20 per month interest 
 + TT savings £10   + 2.91
Free Money £58.06 Cashback into ISA


COOKING
I have a chicken roasting in my halogen oven  (I LOVE my halogen as much as my 6 in 1 pressure cooker thingy) - and this mornings brunch was the last half of my defrosted YS Waitr*se soup I had taken out yesterday - I am still trying to defrost my freezer. I rarely buy soup as I make it a lot at home - however I just added a load of cooked soya beans to the soup (leek and potato) and a large tablespoon of a Belaz* aubergine pesto and it tasted great, extra healthy and filling with a slice of GF Sch*r bread plus a 'grown by my parents' apple.
I am making sure I eat a large plate of greens daily along with all else. 

I was planning to stay in tonight but a friend having a few drinks at his so I will grab some organic prosecco I have in and pop along. I drank a lot last weekend Fri/Sat as one of my friends is brilliant at cocktails so many many were had from espresso martinis, margaritas and fresh Strawberry daiquiris that were amazing. However not drank since last Saturday so a couple glasses tonight will be fun whilst we have a catchup.

I am going to list my to dos and wants for the weekend as well. I need to get back to either running or rejoining the gym tomorrow

LadyWithAPlan

Friday eve update as got paid and done the FX. 

Not including any market movements mid month 

SIPP £90 this month saved   (did £800 31/08)           £45802.90
Hse Deposit £108,680.27 - next target £110k!
(inc EF, all buying expenses - does not include £3k extra if h2b isa kicks in as nearly at max but need to buy under £450k for that so not counting that yet but will cover some legal costs hopefully)

Savings  UP £92  so  £384.15    /£1319.73 -to hit  £110k interim goal and also main /£3750 Month 1/13 
Got paid  by a client but largely expenses so of money earnt only  a small amount £595 was income - due more
Did 15% into  SIPP £90 , 15% into hse savings  - Isa s&s £92 , 15% into taxes (added to premium bonds as £100) - all v rough calc
but point is the savings is going up - got an interim target of £1k this month to save into house 
I also cleared my cc as loads travel expenses were on there.

I am better with my cc now I am using my CC pot again - so as I spend I transfer the money (from another pot eg food, ent, travel etc) into the cc pot so the money has vanished from my accts so it is clearly spent - had a few too many £2k cc bills which took me down on my current acct and xmas coming up .... doing daily jnl entries really helps the focus - the most important thing short term goal wise is upping the hse deposit.
Apparently for best credit score i should only use 10% of my ability to borrow but my trip abroad wiped that stat to much higher so have cleared off now.

Had a conversation today with someone re organising work regarding my side hustle idea I am studying for.. At least doing class yesterday made me mention it, has it front of mind and we are booking work in - just a couple days initially but fingers crossed.

Off out tonight to see friend - will take some alcohol I have in ..a bottle of champagne bought by he who dumped me by text (!) we never got around to drinking - at least it went to good use - sd  just seen online  in social media its his bday 

Minimalist Game 1/30 - did one thing just to start today
Also managing to sort some stuff in the flat, changed bed linen and finally unpacking etc

dawnybabes

I’m intrigued by the LED lamp and wand - can you send me some links pls 🤣🤣🤣

LadyWithAPlan

dawnybabes said:

I’m intrigued by the LED lamp and wand - can you send me some links pls 🤣🤣🤣

Yes I am out at present but will do tomorrow   My skin (which is always good bar some lines arriving) is glowing, seriously impressed ! 

LadyWithAPlan

NSD nearly but I then popped out and bought 89p sparkling water from Coop ... my B**ts order had been delivered to the concierge and they kept being out so had a wander whilst I waited.. Finally it turns out that only 2 of my 3 items had my delivered - it was a 3 for 2 offer.. so emailed Boo*s on it ,.. sigh ....

My heated throw is coming tomorrow/Mon all being well  - cant wait! I am hoping it wont moult on my sofa though ..

Nsd's are proving difficult this week... yesterday was xmas gifts online but only spent tube money last night - I did take as a gift a bottle of champagne as my friends bday - was keeping it for my mums but I will buy some more - glad its out the house as it reminded me of the text ex who had bought it...
I even got the late night bus home  - v mse - - got dropped in Soho  by a friend and so walked to my bus that drops me near mine - I do need to make sure when I buy there is decent late night transport - only 5 tube lines run 24 hrs over weekend and I have a quick 15 min bus home that runs constantly from Soho. If I had got a cab home - even an ube* it would have been £30 + 

the defrost freezer soup
I did today make what is to be called 'the defrost freezer soup' as this freezer keeps on giving  - loads of frozen veg (spinach, soya beans, mixed veg, broccoli) plus fresh veg  inc some fresh kale, spring onion as ran out of normal and some cava nero, 2 lots of soup stock (one of which might actually be soup as label fell off). I also found frozen cooked potatoes and some cooked chicken breast so that got added plus some frozen baby tomatoes, some kidney beans and tomato puree and spices - it all went in the pressure cooker and then I blended it - v tasty, healthy  and loads of it.

I also made a houmous like thing with some red kidney beans - it does need more lemon juice but was good and loads left.. it went well with my roast chicken and cavo nero - I am trying not to buy food til this freezer is more empty so I can defrost ...Just some YS beef burger, roasties, bacon,  frozen fruit  and veg and yet more chicken stock .... food keeps appearing in it!

Did some MB today and currently hoping for MAN U to win as I have a 5 leg acca and will get back £120 if so.. which will cover and leave me a nice profit against other ups/downs today-  currently they are winning by 1 0... 5 mins to go
EDIT they won  

My robot vacuum and mop Balthazar - worked hard yesterday and today  so flat feeling much better but as always more to do..

I am thinking of rejoining my gym tomorrow £360 with student card and annual so save loads but its still £360 and my pots are not full so it will come out of money I could use to save into my house deposit instead ... However I have become less active since my break up and am missing feeling fit - I rarely get myself outside for a run so ..think I need to commit to gym again - I love to weight train and strength is even more important as I get older..
As it was my friends birthday lots of us late 40s/ mid 50s - its v easy to let weight creep on - I can see that  with my friends - especially as we all get more sedentary, we can afford more drinks and less dancing -  so healthy eating and gym needs to be priority again 
I have had no Haribo or crisps since Tues  though so 4 days straight streak - luckily I have GF bread in the freezer for carb urges  

Minimalist Game 2/30
Tidied up and then took ages finding my 2 items for the minimalist game .... loads to throw but so much to sort  I dont know where to start - in the end it was a few bits of paper was easiest! I like the minimalist game  - so get rid of 1 thing day 1, 2 things day 2 all the way to 30 then start again - as it starts you gently and in the habit.
I need to tackle a few drawers at a time. 

89p TT today I will count it when I do a sweep end Sept.
Feeling v tired as got home after 2am and drank a far bit last night - didnt have a headache just tired still from all my travelling ...
So early night I think - seeing friends tomorrow and want to schedule my next month out ... plus homework for my courses... we went at such speed on the photoshop masks and layers I need to have a play.
Having a student card also means I can get creative cloud for £17 v £50 a month!! big saving - will wait though as I have access via my course for free now...
So off to get my led mask on for bed - it turns off after its alloted time and then I put my creams on and sleep - this beauty stuff is hard work!

KajiKita

Well done on the no Haribo or crisps since Tuesday 👏 I am on no crisps or biscuits and very few carbs since Wednesday - lost two pounds so far, but that will only be water lost so far. I have a long way to go to get to the two stones I want to shed …

Re the gym cost, £360 would buy quite a bit of weights kit to use at home wouldn’t it? Or do you not have the space? Or is the gym part of the reason why you exercise (company, nothing else to do there, others doing it around you etc.)? 

Interesting point about public transport links late at night for your new place. Good thinking. 

The minimalist game sounds interesting but I think I would struggle when it got to 30 items in a day! 😳😂
I’m clearing chests of drawers in my bedroom atm (the aim being to be able to remove one of them) and I am aiming for one drawer per session - where I take everything out piece by piece and do the ‘use it, love it, is it part of who I am aiming to be’ thing. I’ve got rid of c. 50% of what I have in those drawers so far. 

Yaay for the Man U win and what it brought you! 😊👏

KK

savingholmes

Woohoo on the win.

LadyWithAPlan

KajiKita said:

Well done on the no Haribo or crisps since Tuesday 👏 I am on no crisps or biscuits and very few carbs since Wednesday - lost two pounds so far, but that will only be water lost so far. I have a long way to go to get to the two stones I want to shed …

Re the gym cost, £360 would buy quite a bit of weights kit to use at home wouldn’t it? Or do you not have the space? Or is the gym part of the reason why you exercise (company, nothing else to do there, others doing it around you etc.)? 

Interesting point about public transport links late at night for your new place. Good thinking. 

The minimalist game sounds interesting but I think I would struggle when it got to 30 items in a day! 😳😂
I’m clearing chests of drawers in my bedroom atm (the aim being to be able to remove one of them) and I am aiming for one drawer per session - where I take everything out piece by piece and do the ‘use it, love it, is it part of who I am aiming to be’ thing. I’ve got rid of c. 50% of what I have in those drawers so far. 

Yaay for the Man U win and what it brought you! 😊👏

KK

I have just remembered I ate crisps at my friends bday thing Friday night (with alcohol) but did refuse them today.. so 4/5  days no crisps and  5/5 no haribo  - I didnt buy any at L*dl today either ..
I dont cut my carbs much - I focus on eating more protein and veg - a huge portion of greens a day helps everything but well done KK

Minimalist day is hard to start - easy in the middle and at the end of the 30 days before you reset you start counting paper clips Well done on your 50/50 ! I do a bit then stop and it grows again ...
Just did my 3/3 

Yes I had not previously thought about easy, safe and cheap to get home late as on my list of wants  but its important - I saw another flat in Finchle*  2 years ago i liked but it was a 15 min walk from tube and seemed too far and past a park so decided not plus it was expensive..

@savingholmes and KK not only did Man U bring it yesterday  but did 2 more accas today and Newcastle winning 8 0  meant more cash as in £225 more today ! I do do a bit of small size  football trading as well as MB so 
 (there is an offer where if one leg loses you get your cash back as a free bet which is good) and one lost 2 legs  so lost £10 and the other bought me home  over £225 - nice win on a £10 bet
I always count up my MB/trading income at the end of each month  then it gets split between sipp and hse savings - It is what has basically funded by Help to buy isa especially as sports trading is tax free I do casino though as well so its v up and down - but I make at least £400/month sometimes far more tax free and as a HR tax payer ...

Gym - joined and £380 SPENT 
I really thought about it and I dont train properly or consistently at home, plus I like to swim and I like to lift heavy weights (keeps my metabolism high) - I have tried training from home since July and apart from swimming in Spain it has not happened - I am a gym bunny ... I have paid up the £380 for annual - was £38 per month or £380 a year - full price is over £650 so student discount is what has made me do it   - works out £1.04 a day ..
So I went today so I will track my usage and goals here as well on weekly 

Gym starting stats Day 1  - using one of those Boditrax machines which are great
Weight  9st 13, LBM 97lbs, body fat 37lbs
LBM  69.6%  Body fat  26.6%
Initial goal - get Body fat to below 30lbs as I always feel better whilst keeping LBM the same or increase it.

Daily tracking
Day 1/30 gym - leg day and 15 min HIT
Minimalism 3/3
Spent £380 gym + buses to/from  friends  + £20.71 food inc £4 bulk  .. £405
Training on my side hustle 60mins

dawnybabes

I’ve just joined a local gym as a ‘student’ too 😙. I’m breaking mine into cost per use - this month I’m up to £2.59 a use - I’m aiming for £2 - Still got a week to go …..