Paying down the mortgage, motherhood and the marvels of life. Welcome my beautiful diary friends

mumof3.12kindebt

Hi my lovelies I hope you are all well. 

So I've been thinking alot lately about my goals. And next year. 

I rememeber doing a low spend / no spend year it's probably documented on one of my diaries when we were trying to get out of debt when our youngest was a baby and trying to then save for a house. And I look back and those were the happiest and best years. We have virtually no additional money we were throwing everything at debt and savings but we made so many memories.

And so with that 2024 is going to be a no spend / low spend/ no buy year 

But why .... we're not in debt. We have our home so why would we do that. 

I don't know when or if I'll be able to return to work. And no matter how hard I try etsy won't bring in the income I use to make. Also January Is the last time I'll get a ssp payment which will be used in February's budget so from March onwards potentially I will not be bringing in an income. 

Now due to the fact our mortgage is currently fixed and we have no debt this doesn't make me panic as long as I have this plan I know we can get through just fine. 
So I'll be 100% committed to the frugal thread this year over on the old-style board. 

But I still have a few things I want to save for so I will also be trying to make as much additional income as I can including etsy and social media (I currently don't make anything from my social media side of things) I'm feeling really optimistic about next year. I want to declutter as much as possible and I don't want to add that clutter back in my life. 

I want to be in a much better position this time next year financially. 

My first goal is to end next year with my mortgage in the 5 figures not 6 .... even if it is 99,999 its still 5 figures. 

Honestly I haven't thrown as much to the mortgage as I hoped and we are not on track to pay off the mortgage when I hoped. But to end this year in the position we have considering I've been on ssp since July is just amazing and I'm so proud of us for that.

I may not be able to physically work at the moment. I can't even do office type admin work right now. But I can try my hardest to make the best of this. And create new income sources for myself and my family. I don't want to do 'nothing'.  I want to be the best mum I can be and the rest of my energy is going to be pushed into creating a better life for myself and my family. 

I hope you will all continue to join me on my journey I will be posting alot more consistent and regular. And I'm absolutely determined to get the best out of my current situation. 

Love hugs positivity and prayers to you all ❤️

mumof3.12kindebt

My absolutely bonkers 2024 goals 

1. Mortgage at 5 figures 
2. Side hustle £7320 
3. Earn £5200 from etsy / social media 
4. Add £3000 to my new car fund 
5. £5000 in my home fund 
6. Fully fund 3 month emergency fund ✅️ achieved December 2023
7. £1000 In car maintenance fund 

Let's do this 💪 

mumtoomany

Wow!!! Some goals there for someone who is not able to work at present. You are amazing! I'll be watching along and cheering you on. Go girl. Just look how far you have come so far. Well done, Huge hugs, mumtoomany.xxx

mumof3.12kindebt

Thankyou so much @mumtoomany I really appreciate it. 

It's cashstuffing day today but I haven't done it yet and now it's dark so I'll wait until the morning. I can't believe I'm 5 cashstuffings away from this year finishing. We should be able to fully fund my 3 month emergency fund with my roll over savings. I'm also doing a huge challenge unstuffing so that will go towards next year's annual bills / sinking funds. 

Honestly I'm so glad I found the cash stuffing method. I'm the type if my money has been allocated for something I'm unlikely to spend it. But if its just sat in the bank for no reason I can guarantee I'll waste it. 

My mental health has took a real hit the last few months but I haven't had the urge to splurge which is fab. ❤️

LadyWithAPlan

Loving your goals and I am sure you will have the discipline and focus to keep trying til you reach them.
MF by 40 I am sure you will hit that as well given your previous successes

mumof3.12kindebt

Thankyou so much @LadyWithAPlan I definitely feel I have been over ambitious but you never know until you try 💗

mumof3.12kindebt

I thought with it coming to the end of November (nearly) I'd write some goals for December and a bit of a budget. December is a 5 week month for us. 

Goals 

💗 no spend days 15

💗 Side hustle £310

Etsy £100

Mortgage balance on 31/12/23 £107,749

Emergency fund at £6000 (fully funded to 3 months)

New car fund at £2000 


Budget 
Grocery/household/Toiletries £500
Petrol £200
Our spending £200
Kids pocket money £35 

I'll Copy how we did each week here to keep me on track. Groceries doesn't include Christmas food this will be paid for from my Christmas budget 

Week 1 (1st-7th dec)

Groceries 
Petrol 
Our spending 
Kids pocket money 

No spend days 
Side hustle income 
Etsy income 




I'll try to update throughout the week how things go. 

I was meant to cashstuff Thursday for our new week to start Friday but I haven't done it yet so I'll have to do it today. It does mean we have not spent any money since Thursday which is a positive. 

I do find compared to other budgets I've seen we aren't 'big spenders' as such. I do try to keep our spending to a minimum to enable us to have a better financial future. 

That being said I did spend spend £70 on vinted on clothes for our daughter. Which seems alot but I also got alot for the money. 

I'm considering if I should set up a separate youtube with lifestyle and low spend living. And keep my cashstuffing and budget separate

Anyway I've rambled enough 

Have a lovely Sunday everyone 

mumtoomany

Hi, @mumof3.12kindebt. I'd love to see a lifestyle/low spending video or two. I think they would be very useful to others too, hugs, mumtoomany.xx

DancingInTheRain

Good to see you back on here, sounds like you're doing well despite some challenging circumstances. Good luck with your goals 🍀

mumof3.12kindebt

Hi everyone 

Thankyou for stopping by. I will reply to you shortly. I just wanted to let you know I have done all my final annual and goals cashstuffings today (videos will be up throughout December) 

We have
Funded car fund to £2000 which was exactly what I wanted our end of year figure to be. 

I have fully funded our 3 month emergency fund ✅️ 

I have also made an overpayment to the mortgage of £700 (£200 higher than stuffed because I used my electric and gas buffer towards this too) I'd rather it go to my mortgage than My gas company (we are in credit with them anyway 🤣) 
I've paid our camping fees for next year. 
And I've funded some of the spending money

I've also finished funding my car tax mot service and insurance for next year.  

Throughout this year we have cashstuffed and we will start January with 

Eldests birthday fully funded 
Daughters birthday fully funded 
Easter fully funded 
Our birthdays is half funded (£50 each) 
Our middle childs birthday isn't until November so I will start funding that next year. 

I also have £450 in our house fund / home fund this is much higher than I anticipated which is fab . 

And I've put some money throughout our variable binder 

I so proud of what we have been able to achieve 

Any rollover money in December will go between variable funds, home fund and the mortgage. 

We are starting 2024 in a much better position than I thought. 

I am so happy. I was going to treat us to a chippy tea tonight to celebrate but it's closed today 🤣 maybe that's the universes way to say keep your money in your purse you have food at home 🤣🤣🤣

Anyway I just wanted to share to keep me on track. 

I'll catch up and reply to your all tonight. Thankyou for the continued support especially after me not posting for a while I really appreciate it 

Love hugs positivity and prayers to you all.