2022 - Moving forward

jwil

BalanceBy50 said:

Doing great @jwil and having a proper working space should help massively! Have you any time off this week? Enjoy not having to do the school run 😊

Not really - I've got my normal Friday, though I've got my pre-diabetes course then   and I've got Thursday off for the electrician so we won't be able to do anything then.  But it's still very exciting!  DH will hopefully take the kids out a couple of times to give me peace.

jwil

I've just cashed out on PA for the first time in ages.  There's been loads of surveys recently that I've missed as I just haven't had the time to do them.  I'll send that to the mortgage.

We had our mortgage statement this week, and I've now got my aimed mortgage free date - 31st May 2032.  I sadly worked out how many days that is: 3510

I've been busy this morning baking, and putting a casserole in the oven.

It's been hammering it down overnight with some very loud thunder!

Car day today, fingers crossed it all goes smoothly.  It's around £200 over minimum bid so far so that's good.

WinterWarrior

Ours is 3031, so similar. I’m trying to shave a year off that! 

Good luck on the car ⭐️

What have you been baking? 

savingholmes

Nice to be within 10 years of mortgage free. 

Great news on the car. 

Well done on sorting the front room. It sounds like you've achieved loads. 

New kitchen table sounds a great purchase. I think a decent chair should help no end too with your back / other issues. Work should have given you one really. I asked to take one home and was allowed.

beanielou

Good news on the bonus 

jwil

WinterWarrior said:

Ours is 3031, so similar. I’m trying to shave a year off that! 

Good luck on the car ⭐️

What have you been baking? 

Good luck with getting the year off!  My date is actually the end of my fix, the mortgage technically has 3 years to run after that.  I'm aiming to clear it by the time the fix ends though. 

I made fruit loaf and chocolate chip cakes

savingholmes said:

Nice to be within 10 years of mortgage free. 

Great news on the car. 

Well done on sorting the front room. It sounds like you've achieved loads. 

New kitchen table sounds a great purchase. I think a decent chair should help no end too with your back / other issues. Work should have given you one really. I asked to take one home and was allowed.

Thank you

The table is fab.  I have my work chair, but I couldn't fit it under the table so it wasn't comfortable so I didn't use it.  I can now though.

beanielou said:

Good news on the bonus 

Thank you

jwil

The car has sold but not being picked up til the weekend, so it's not gone yet!

My table arrived today so DH put it together for me.  It's so much better, I can put everything on there without it hanging over the edge, I have proper room to work, and I can use my work chair as well.  I'm very pleased with it   I'm hoping that I can fit my mini pedaller under there as well so I can use it while I'm working.

It was lovely not having to do the school run today, I did manage to do a longer day today but still finish by tea time.  That gives me a bit of time to allow me to do a shorter day later in the week if need be.

As well as sorting my mortgage dreams yesterday, I was looking at my retirement dreams as well.  My current level of pension plus state pension would be enough to live on I think.  It would mean frugal/simple living, so no flashy holidays etc, but without being too stretched.  I work on the basis that either DH or I would be able to manage on our own if need be - of course ideally not!

My real dream though is to retire at 55 (though I think it's actually 57 minimum for me), so if I work in the same job til then, I could actually take early retirement and manage on that amount, even taking into account the reduction for taking it early.

So essentially, I'm happy I've got enough for a basic standard of living at 67, which is a huge comfort.  Also, by the time I clear the mortgage, I could 'technically' retire assuming I'm still in the same job.  The reality is, I'll want not to take the pension that early so I need to try and get funds to cover as many years as possible between 55/57 and 67, as well as doing the work we need to on the house as well.  Ambitious - yes.  Unrealistic - Yep   But it's nice to have a challenge.

My job is by no means secure as there are huge changes happening, and also the current financial climate, but I'll cling on as long as I can.  I do enjoy my job which is a huge positive and I've no desire at the moment to move unless I'm pushed.  However, even if I decided not to retire early, I could go part time or something, and partially achieve my aims!

Another thing to remember, is I'd like to be healthy enough to enjoy my retirement, so that means continuing with healthy eating and trying to exercise more.  I have been slack on this over the last couple of weeks, but am getting back on track again.  Scales are showing 1lb loss this month which isn't a lot, but still a loss.  I'm signing up for the IF study on the Zoe app as well, as they are asking people to do what I'm already doing - eating in a 10 hr window, so that might be interesting too.

jwil

Today's PAD - £6
Jan - £126
Feb - £106
Mar - £136
Apr - £122
May - £113
June - £108
July - £177
August - £115
September - £92
October - £69

savingholmes

Love reading about your FI plans. Sounds like you are pretty well on track. 

Well done on the PADs too.

Is the car payment earmarked for anything special?

beanielou

Glad the table is working well