My Mortgage Free Mountain - A 7 year expedition to climb to the top

craftingmad

Morning everyone,

I finally have a small window of time which has enabled me to be able to post again today
Things have been very manic with me working the four jobs and my business and this week I am set to clock up 60 hours but I am not in work until midday today so I am hoping to get a few little bits crossed off my list to help us move another step up our huge mortgage mountain  

Hubby is home for the weekend but sadly we will not have much time together as I will be working all weekend but the puppy dog is happy to have her daddy home so all is good there. Both of us are working towards the greater goal so are willing to put in the hours to give us a better work/life balance a few years down the line

He is leaning towards taking the job back this way so that will be great for us as he will be home everyday and get the chance back of earning overtime. It also means no huge travel expenses each month so it feels like a win win for us  

I'm still mulling over buying the cafe. It is a finacial risk but the figures all stack up for us to turn a small profit each year and it would pay for itself in three years so on paper it feels like an amazing opportunity. I think the only thing holding me back is the number of hours I would have to put into it (although I am working more with the four jobs I have now) so I really need to find a clear moment and really sit down and think hard. 

I have a double shift today - first at BK and then at the chippy so not loads of time to get much done but enough to lay some groundwork for ££'s to added in the future hopefully I also forgot it was payday for the original cafe yesterday so I will transfer that money into the savings account so it starts earning interest asap  

 So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - 27 points so far 
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE watched two video for a total of 16p 
3. Investigate cafe purchase further
4. Pay in chip shop wages - DONE £103.50 transferred into savings account  
5. Transfer cafe wages into savings account - DONE £793.21 added
6. Spend Asda rewards voucher going out of date in 4 days time and take advance of app coupon for chocolate tubs saving - DONE £4 voucher spend (and money transferred into savings account) and two tubs of chocolate bought for £2.50 each   
7. Burger King Shift (12pm - 4pm) - DONE  
8. Chip shop shift (4.30pm - 8.30pm) - DONE  
9. Check email for Mistplay reward voucher codes
10. Start printing large Etsy order
11. Print, cut and bind order book for Etsy order
12. Get Business accounts up to date
13. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get a few orders
14. Write and schedule social media posts for next week
15. Check free postcode lottery
16. Complete Prime Opinion survey
17. Make something new to sell
18. Create a new digital download to sell in card making club
19. Take a course from a membership
20. Download some more clipart

Baileys_Babe

Just playing devil's advocate if the cafe was going to take 5 or 10 years to pay for its self how does that effect your decisions?

Do you have any experience of managing staff? Doing the payroll? Paying employees NI etc?

I think it could be a great opportunity but it would be a big responsibility and you would need to work long hours, so much to ponder.

With regards hubby weighing up whether to move jobs or not only you 2 will know if the pros out weigh the cons, but him being at home and being able to do overtime are huge pluses, but how will this effect his career? Pension? and what would be your plans for the motorhome?

Take care of yourself 🤗

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

Just playing devil's advocate if the cafe was going to take 5 or 10 years to pay for its self how does that effect your decisions?

Do you have any experience of managing staff? Doing the payroll? Paying employees NI etc?

I think it could be a great opportunity but it would be a big responsibility and you would need to work long hours, so much to ponder.

With regards hubby weighing up whether to move jobs or not only you 2 will know if the pros out weigh the cons, but him being at home and being able to do overtime are huge pluses, but how will this effect his career? Pension? and what would be your plans for the motorhome?

Take care of yourself 🤗

They are all very good questions and ones we are searching deep for the answers. The responsibility really scares me along with the face that things are good how things are at the moment so we really do need to think long and hard. I just don't really know what to do. Before we make any decisions we will be waiting with bated breath to see what the budget brings. I think we have both resigned ourselves to the fact that come Wednesday we will be worse off it is just a question of just how much  

With regard to hubby nothing much really would change. He would keep his old pension pot and just contribute to a new one (although he also has a pension with the company the new company use so he is investigating to see if using this one would be an option). Career wise there are equal opportunities in both but the overtime would be available in the new job and at a much higher rate.

I don't like important decisions which could affect our future so much 

craftingmad

Morning all,

I have a 9 hour shift at Burger King today so the chances of me getting much else done are pretty much zero but it is a lovely sunny day here on the Broads so I have my first line of washing out and another load in the machine so I hope at least to get them dry outside and save on heating costs if I had to dry it inside  

So I'm going to post a realistic list today and proud of myself for getting it all ticked off (well hopefully)

Today I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - DONE 67 points earnt
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE watched two video for a total of 16p
3. Pay in chip shop wages - DONE £40.25 transferred into savings account  
4. Get two loads of washing dry outside - DONE  
5. Burger King Shift (12pm - 9pm) - DONE
6. Check email for Mistplay reward voucher codes
7. NSD - DONE  

LadyWithAPlan

All action over here as always. Well done so far on the finances.

Maybe try comparing your current earnings and hours worked vs what hours would you need to work at the cafe - I assume you'd be full time at the start. Maybe also calculate what staff costs would be if you wanted a holiday or someone to help serve/wash up  etc.

I would write up a spreadsheet with mock takings and costs, and do 25%, 50% 70% occupancy, avg cost of a cake and coffee and what your takings might be  etc to see if the money coming in will cover the debt repayment and the loss of your current other jobs,
Not to put you off but to be as informed as possible.
Could you (or your kids) do social media for the cafe, will you have an angle eg vegan or GF cakes, best coffee in the area.. what do other local cafes provide and what do they charge and what does their menu look like. whats parking and footfall like.

craftingmad

LadyWithAPlan said:

All action over here as always. Well done so far on the finances.

Maybe try comparing your current earnings and hours worked vs what hours would you need to work at the cafe - I assume you'd be full time at the start. Maybe also calculate what staff costs would be if you wanted a holiday or someone to help serve/wash up  etc.

I would write up a spreadsheet with mock takings and costs, and do 25%, 50% 70% occupancy, avg cost of a cake and coffee and what your takings might be  etc to see if the money coming in will cover the debt repayment and the loss of your current other jobs,
Not to put you off but to be as informed as possible.
Could you (or your kids) do social media for the cafe, will you have an angle eg vegan or GF cakes, best coffee in the area.. what do other local cafes provide and what do they charge and what does their menu look like. whats parking and footfall like.

This is great advice - thanks Lady. I shall put it on my To Do List and hopefully get it sorted very soon

Thank you x

craftingmad

Hi everyone,

Sorry for being so quiet but I promise I have been beavering away in the background to help us towards our MF goal. Most of my time has been working - I've been pulling 60 hour weeks so I am shattered but it all helps us to add money into the savings ready to use the mortgages when the fixed rates end so it will all be worth it in the end

Other than that I've got nothing interesting to add so I shall jump straight into my list for today (even though it is late so my chances of getting much done are pretty slim)

 So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - 2 points so far
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE watched two video for a total of 16p
3. Investigate cafe purchase further - requested more paperwork
4. Cafe shift (9am - 6pm) - DONE actually finished at 6.15pm
5. Check email for Mistplay reward voucher codes
6. Start printing large Etsy order
7. Print, cut and bind order book for Etsy order
8. Print, laminate and cut positivity postcards
9. Raisae claims with Royal Mail for lost parcels
10. Get Business accounts up to date
11. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get a few orders
12. Write and schedule social media posts for next week
13. Check free postcode lottery
14. Complete Prime Opinion survey
15. Make something new to sell
16. Create a new digital download to sell in card making club
17. Take a course from a membership
18. Download some more clipart
19. NSD - DONE  

craftingmad

Morning all,

I finally have a morning where I don't have to dash off early for work as I don't start today until midday Hopefully this means I will have time to get a few little tasks done which will help me be mortgage free as quickly as we can although I am surviving on 3 hours sleep as daughter did not finish work until late and then  the dog had me up 3 times in the night wanting a wee so I might just go back to bed for a couple of hours instead

I'm going to jump straight into my list as I really need to get my Etsy orders completed today so I can spend the weekend with my hubby  

So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - 2 points so far 
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - no videos available today  
3. Investigate cafe purchase further
4. BK shift (12pm - 7pm) - DONE  
5. Check email for Mistplay reward voucher codes - DONE £20 amazon vouchers added to account so have transferred cash into savings
6. Start printing large Etsy order - 100 out of 300 cards printed and cut  
7. Print, cut and bind order book for Etsy order - DONE and posted off
8. Print, laminate and cut positivity postcards - MADE will post off tomorrow on way to work
9. Raise claims with Royal Mail for lost parcels
10. See if cheques have cleared and transfer into savings account - DONE £16 added
11. Give price to existing customer for glossy stickers - DONE only worth £8 but every little helps
12. Raise invoice for existing customer for display cards - DONE fingers crossed she pays quickly
13. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get a few orders
14. Check free postcode lottery
15. Complete Prime Opinion survey
16. Download some more clipart - DONE
17. NSD - FAILED picked up some brownies on way to work as I needed a sugar rush and stopped at Lidl on way home to get more chicken breasts for the dogs dinner

Baileys_Babe

Don't be too hard on yourself today, 3 hours is nowhere near enough sleep. The quicker your daughter can pass her test the better.

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

Don't be too hard on yourself today, 3 hours is nowhere near enough sleep. The quicker your daughter can pass her test the better.

Thanks Baileys - wise words as always 

I actually felt ok whilst I was at work but as soon as I stopped I felt shattered again but I have pushed through and manged to complete another Etsy order and made a start on the big order which must be posted tomorrow so I'm proud of what I have managed to achieve given the circumstances.

Hubby will back tomorrow so he can hopefully help out with the late night pick ups and dogg0 wee wee moments in the middle of the night for the next couple of days so I can get a good nights sleep.

Daughter is out again tonight so she better not be too late - I really need my bed