happihorse's journey to mortgage freedom and contentment…

happihorse

So, it's the start of another month so I will sum up the current position as follows:

Mortgage:
- Starting balance                                     £289,980.00
- Current outstanding balance                  £267,138.93
- Amount repaid                                        £22,841.07 (7.9%)

Savings                                                     £32,500

Credit card debt                                        nil (paid off last week)

It wasn't a bad month at all and I am pleased I didn't erode my savings any further.  I need to get a better control on my spending so I can make a bigger impact but it's generally going in the right direction.

In terms of other goals:

Mortgage free within 10 years – as above (but will be diverting some of my current overpayment to my pension from May 2022)

Getting healthier, fitter and losing weight – been out walking for at least 2.5 miles most days (and done 164 miles so far this year), hit my 10,000 step target and 60 active minutes a day goals on nearly all days in February 2022 (although did miss a couple of days during the storms) but still need to get diet under control

Establishing a better work/life balance – a work in progress as I am more aware now but still needs focus and did manage to keep my hours down for most of the month

Get back into horse riding – on the back burner until I have lost some weight

Being less wasteful (particularly with money but across other areas of my life too) – could do with some more effort and have started a budget but need to do some planning here (although I do seem to be constantly struggling for time and energy to do this)

Making my new house the home I want it to be – not much progress yet but lots of ideas forming

happihorse

I can't believe it's March already - the time is passing so fast! 

After my update at the end of last week where I was hoping to be back in the black I have hit a bit of an issue.  I was convinced that I didn't have to pay council tax this month (although to be fair I didn't check) so was budgeting based on having that money free and hadn't left enough in my current account.  I got a text this morning to say I had gone into my overdraft and £262 for council tax has been taken.  Double checked my bill this evening and realised that it was to be expected - just poor organisation on my part.  So now I am a fair bit worse off than I expected. 

I have transferred the £100 buffer back into my current account but am now £45 overdrawn with another £60 of payments still to come out.  My overdraft is £250 so the payments should clear but what a pain!  I was convinced I would get back on an even keel this month so feels like a bit of a let down.

Need to maintain my resolve and try to have a low spend month this month.  Went to the local supermarket for a few bits this morning as a top up shop but will do a list and get a couple of weeks worth of stuff over the next couple of days and then that should do me for spending until the middle of the month at least.  

I think I am struggling for motivation at the moment.    Probably feeling a bit run down and tired from work and I haven't had any real time off since October 2021.  I am working quite a bit but also spending my evenings on the computer or watching TV rather than getting stuff done and have plenty of small things I should be doing.  Think I will try to book a couple of days off over the next few weeks and, in the short term, try to structure my day a bit better.

savingholmes

How gutting about the CT bill. I get Feb and March pay period off. Are you on a 12 months instead of 10 month plan?

It does sound like work is eating into your free time - although you seem to be balancing it with exercise. Hope you get some time off to relax soon. It sounds like a good call to book some leave.

happihorse

savingholmes said:

How gutting about the CT bill. I get Feb and March pay period off. Are you on a 12 months instead of 10 month plan?

It does sound like work is eating into your free time - although you seem to be balancing it with exercise. Hope you get some time off to relax soon. It sounds like a good call to book some leave.

Hi again savingholmes.  Hope you are keeping well.

To be honest I am not really sure what's happening with the council tax.  I only moved here in autumn 2021 and it took them until December 2021 to sort our my bill so I think I was probably playing catch up.  I will make sure that I take more notice this time around and know what I am paying and when.  I used to do it by standing order rather than direct debit which meant it was easier to see what was happening so might go back to that.

happihorse

The end of another (mixed but overall okay) day! 

In money news I got notification that I won on the Premium Bonds this month.    Checked my account and won 2 lots of £25 which will be a good boost and go some way to rectifying the council tax blooper.  Still won't have enough to cover the planned payments going out so will be £60 overdrawn but better than £110 overdrawn I suppose!  The easy option would be to withdraw some more from Premium Bonds but I refuse to do that.  Instead I'm going to see if I can make a bit more somehow (from selling things etc) to get back into the black.

I feel absolutely shattered today.  I ended up working late last night and then reading all the news about what's happening in Ukraine.  Shed a few tears for the innocent people affected by the war (on both sides) and got rather anxious about how this might all escalate further too.    Ended up awake until 2am and needing to get up at 7am (and I am one who really needs at least 7 hours sleep) so struggled a bit today.

Went into the office today for a meeting.  It was nice to see people and caught up with a couple of people I am closer too but didn't have a hugely productive day from a work perspective.  Hey ho.  Luckily all the extra work I did last night means I am still fairly on top of things.

One thing I did do today though was book a couple of Friday's off later this month so I have some long weekends to look forward to.  It's a really busy month for us so they will be very much welcomed.

Also got my car booked in for basic service and MOT at the local garage (rather than taking it to the dealer) so expecting that to save a bit.

Thank goodness it's the weekend soon.  I'm going to make sure I finish up tomorrow at a decent time and then don't do any work again until Monday morning - it's been a few weeks since I did that!

savingholmes

Great news on the win. Sounds really productive. I think on the work side the social is really important. So don't feel guilty. Glad you have some time off coming up.

I saved loads by moving away from the main dealer.

happihorse

savingholmes said:

Great news on the win. Sounds really productive. I think on the work side the social is really important. So don't feel guilty. Glad you have some time off coming up.

I saved loads by moving away from the main dealer.

Thanks savingholmes.

You are right - the social interactivity and relationships are really important (including from a work perspective too)!

happihorse

No real money saving news to update on.  However, I was thinking over the weekend what else I might be able to sell to raise some more funds to help with keeping me in the black as well as paying down the mortgage.  I have a few more horsey things that (even if / when) I got another one later on, I wouldn't need so might clean them up and get them advertised.  Every little helps!

Had a lovely weekend.    Didn't do any work and got lots of walking done.  Managed 10 miles in total over the weekend (partly due to getting lost at a local stately home yesterday) plus another 2.8 miles this evening.  My feet are very sore and have some blisters but feels great to have done it.

Work has been okay today - not too busy at all and managed to stick to my contracted hours (despite not working over the weekend).  My dinner has been eaten so I am off out to get a load of shopping etc while I am full!  I have been reading up on processed food over the weekend and it has reminded me that I need to start eating better (more generally as well as for weight loss) so will bare that in mind when I am shopping.

savingholmes

Sounds like you are getting better boundaries between work and home life - or is it just that it was a better week workload wise? Either way great result. Well done on all that walking!

Sapindus

Eating better is always a win all round.  My favourite recent recipe discovery was courtesy of the Second Nature programme which I did quick free trial on and you get a cookery book to keep.  Cottage pie, but with a mashed cauliflower topping instead of potato. (They go big on low carb stuff).  Very popular!