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

Baileys_Babe

I like the idea of the cafe also having shelves selling and showcasing the work of fellow crafters, it will give more diversification to what you have for sale and we give customers another reason to visit the cafe 😉

craftingmad

Morning all,

It was so busy at the cafe yesterday that as soon as I got home I pretty much just sat down and didn't move I'm not going to beat myself up that I didn't achieve much though - instead I am going to celebrate the small things I did do and look forward to a new day to achieve a bit more. I am learning that even small things seem to add up and help us along on our hike (thanks for your words of wisdom Baileys)   

I have a day off today and I'm on a mission to declutter and work on my handmade business so fingers crossed both will produce results which will ultimately help us live a better life in the future  

It is really cold here today, -4 in fact I believe, but I am determined not to put the heating on until I really have to this evening. I have put a pair of leggings under my jeans and I have my oodie snoodie on top of my clothes and I'm toasty. The doggo is still asleep on our bed and has buried herself in the quilt so I'm not so sure she is as warm as I am though Our daughter will be asleep until at least lunchtime as she was out again last night so she won't suffer from it being a bit colder in the house than usual I'm not really looking forward to walking doggo as it is so cold and the pavements look quite icy so I shall let her sleep until she tells me she is ready to have a wee

So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (100 points target) - DONE 127 points today
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE seven videos available for a total of 28p
3. Read lease to check there are no hidden surprises
4. Check bank balance and transfer money if needed - DONE it is getting low but hoping we can limp home as pay day is next week. I will check again tomorrow to be on the safe side as don't won't overdraft charges
5. Schedule social media posts for next week
6. Give bank details to gnome lady who could not pay via paypal - DONE
7. Make Prayer box for Etsy order
8. Design dragonfly themed version of my Open When cards for existing customer
9. List 10 things on facebook marketplace - 7 items listed so far totalling £29 - fingers crossed I can sell them all SOLD one thing for £2, got somebody collecting something else for £3 on Saturday
10. List new item on Etsy - DONE listed cardmaking advent calendar - should have listed it before but at least it is on there now  
11. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get a few orders - commented on one so far 
12. Advertise cardmaking advent calendar as have one order so need more to make it worthwhile - DONE advertised in two FB groups and also sent an email newsletter out to my subscribers  
13. Take a course from one of my memberships
14. Design something new to sell - Almost finished designing a cross stitch kit using cheap kits I bought online. Also designed a calming cat using supplies I already had so will finish both off tomorrow
15. Check free postcode lottery - DONE not a winner
16. Complete Prime Opinion survey
17. Create another cardmaking download
18. Tidy more of craft room/office
19. Declutter bathroom - DONE bonus finds of 3 shower gels, a new tube of toothpaste, a roll of sellotape, a pretty piece of tissue paper and lots of new packs of dog treats which can be used as christmas presents for our doggo and will save us a few quid buying more  
20. Tidy Hall, stairs and landing - stairs now totally clear and I've made a start on the landing by sorting out one box which has been dumped in their, 7 things listed on FB and one sold already
21. Read the MSE newsletter - DONE
22. NSD - DONE

Baileys_Babe

Good to hear you are being kinder to yourself 🤗

Already you have achieved quite a lot and sorted the dogs present.

Hopefully DD doesn't moan about the cold when she gets up, if she does give her a chore where you need to move a lot like the hoovering or sweeping, she will soon be warm or at least stop complaining incase she gets another chore 😉

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

Good to hear you are being kinder to yourself 🤗

Already you have achieved quite a lot and sorted the dogs present.

Hopefully DD doesn't moan about the cold when she gets up, if she does give her a chore where you need to move a lot like the hoovering or sweeping, she will soon be warm or at least stop complaining incase she gets another chore 😉

Thanks Baileys. Your pep talks always help  

I didn't really even see the daughter yesterday. She was asleep all day and then went out in the evening and didn't get back in until the early hours of this morning. 

craftingmad

Morning all.

Good news - the house is already looking tidier from my little sort out yesterday and I have sold three of the things I listed on FB yesterday (well one still needs to be collected tomorrow) so that will add £8 into our OP account. It's not really about the money - I just need to get rid of lots of clutter which is around the house but of course getting a few ££'s in the process will always be welcome too

I hardly saw daughter yesterday and son is also at home today as he has an inset day but my leggings, slippers and oodie snoodie are on and I'm determined to not turn on the heating again until this evening No doubt daughter will spend the day in bed again like yesterday and son will just have to put on a jumper and his dressing gown to keep himself warm. I need the dishwasher loading and the kitchen cleaning so will get them to do that between them so that will help to warm them up a bit  

I'm a bit gutted as I really advertised my cardmaking advent calendar yesterday and still didn't get any more sales so it looks like I will be having to make samples etc for just the one person which is a bit of a pain. Any ideas on how I could market it for free and get a few more sold?

I have another day off today and once again I plan on making the most of it. When I take over the cafe days off in the week will be a thing of the past so I need to get my bottom into gear and get the house declutter, tidy and organised and hopefully cash in on Christmas customers for my little business too.

I really need to go food shopping today as well and get petrol but the bank balance is low and part of me wants to see if I can use things from the freezer and cupboards to save the cash until payday. I will have to see.

So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (100 points target) - DONE 147 points today 
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE seven videos available for a total of 26p 
3. Read lease to check there are no hidden surprises
4. Check bank balance and transfer money if needed - DONE will be ok for today. Will check again tomorrow
5. Schedule social media posts for next week
6. Check and see if payment received for gnome order and tag order - DONE no money received yet so chased both potential customers Gnome order now paid
7. Send invoice to existing customer for two index cards - DONE hopefully will receive £8 in my bank account today
8. Transfer wages from Burger King into savings account - DONE £28.60 added Will hopefully get a little more from them in two weeks for holiday pay now that my contract has ended
9. Make Prayer box for Etsy order
10. Design dragonfly themed version of my Open When cards for existing customer - DONE just waiting to hear back from customer as to if she likes them
11. Make logo tags for customer - DONE and posted off
12. Make two woollen gnomes for facebook customer - first gnome made but have to admit the feet are not my finest work  
13. List 5 things on facebook marketplace
14. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get a few orders - commented on one so far
15. Advertise cardmaking advent calendar as have one order so need more to make it worthwhile
16. Take a course from one of my memberships
17. Design something new to sell
18. List something new on Etsy
19. Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner  
20. Complete Prime Opinion survey
21. Create another cardmaking download
22. Tidy more of craft room/office
23. Declutter dining room wicker boxes (including the pile of junk on top of them) - piles on top of baskets decluttered and found three things to list on FB Marketplace Also found a bottle of shampoo and a £2 winning scratchcard
24. Tidy Hall, stairs and landing
25. Go through freezers and try and find meals for up until payday - found dinners for today (pork chops with potatoes and veg) and tomorrow (chicken sizzle steaks with chips and beans) so I will look again on Sunday when hopefully it will not be quite as cold  
26. No heating on until 5pm - DONE  
27. NSD (unless I go food shopping) - DONE I even resisted the urge to buy brownies whilst I was at the post office so I'm very proud of myself  

Baileys_Babe

Your decluttering seems to be bringing lots of rewards, tidier house, items to sell, winning lottery ticket, dogs present, shampoo....

Good luck with devising a plan to defer the shopping.

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

Your decluttering seems to be bringing lots of rewards, tidier house, items to sell, winning lottery ticket, dogs present, shampoo....

Good luck with devising a plan to defer the shopping.

Thanks Baileys - it certainly is Fingers crossed I can keep it up

I think I am being optimistic to think I will be able to avoid the food shop until payday but I am going to give it a good go Sadly petrol for the car will be required before then but I am going to try and hold off until tomorrow for that  

craftingmad

Afternoon everyone from a very wet and windy Norfolk Broads.

I've braved it outside to walk the dog (although we only made it to the grass area in our street and then she came rushing back inside and quite frankly I don't blame her!) and I've taken a look around a couple of local craft fairs to try and find some potential shelf renters for once I take over in the cafe. Other than that apart from heading to work at the chippy tonight I am not planning on venturing out any more today - its horrible out there and I am perfectly happy with my leggings under my jeans, my two pairs of socks (one of them being very fluffy) and slippers and wearing my oodie snoodie thank you very much In fact if I didn't have to go tom work tonight that would be me for the rest of the day I do have wages to collect from them though so that will help to soften the blow a little bit (provided they pay me of course as with the chippy it always seems to be a fight to get them!). 

I also treated myself to some fudge from one of the craft stalls (it is deliocious and I'm telling myself that it is for research purposes as I could sell it in the cafe ) and bought two adorable beaded angel decorations for our Christmas tree in memory of those we lost last year. All in all I spent a tenner but it feels nice to have a little treat for myself and support fellow local crafters as well as I know how hard the fairs can be  

Right I must now knuckle down and get more bits crossed off my list including making some orders  

So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (100 points target) - DONE 127 points today 
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE five videos available for a total of 20p
3. Read lease to check there are no hidden surprises
4. Look round two local craft fairs to see if I can get anybody interested in renting a shelf from me - DONE found 7 possible sellers who are interested and whose items I love and think will be a good fit so fingers crossed they will still love the idea when I am ready for them to pay for shelves
5. Check bank balance and transfer money if needed - DONE enough in there to cover us for today and tomorrow so no need to transfer anything yet
6. Contact lady on FB marketplace who was supposed to be collecting something this morning and see if she still wants it - DONE no reply so guessing she has changed her mind
7. Schedule social media posts for next week
8. Make Prayer box for Etsy order and post off
9. Finish designing Open When cards for existing customer and then print and make and post off - finished designing and now printing
10. Finish making woollen gnomes for facebook customer and post off - made and I actually think they are quite cute today  
11. Design index card proofs for existing customer
12. Photograph items made to use for marketing them on social media
13. List 5 things on facebook marketplace
14. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get a few orders
15. Advertise cardmaking advent calendar as have one order so need more to make it worthwhile
16. Take a course from one of my memberships
17. Design something new to sell
18. List something new on Etsy
19. Check freepostcode lottery
20. Complete Prime Opinion survey
21. Create another cardmaking download
22. Tidy more of craft room/office
23. Declutter more of dining room
24. Tidy Hall, stairs and landing
25. No heating on until 4pm - DONE
26. Chip shop shift (4.30pm - 8pm) - DONE actually finished at 7.45pm as was very quiet

craftingmad

Morning all,

Well its really windy again on the Broads today and call me mad but I have hung out a load of washing and really hope it will dry well and quickly. I have used every peg I own to try and keep it on the line so fingers crossed I don't have to go down the street and ask my neighbours for my bras back

So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (100 points target) - 82 points today so far 
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE eight videos available for a total of 48p
3. Read lease to check there are no hidden surprises
4. Get two loads of washing dry outside to save putting the heating on for longer - 1st load on the line and second load in the washing machine  DONE and everything stayed on the line   
5. Check bank balance and transfer money if needed - DONE should still be ok today even with the petrol I have to buy
6. Pay in chippy wages and transfer into OP savings account - DONE £72.00 added
7. Submit hours to new cafe so I can be paid today - DONE 26 hours ready for payment  
8. Schedule social media posts for next week
9. Make Prayer box for Etsy order and post off - made and will post off tomorrow
10. Finish making Open When cards for existing customer and post off - all printed, cut and made up - will photograph tomorrow and then post off
11. Post off woollen gnomes
12. Design index card proofs for existing customer
13. Photograph items made to use for marketing them on social media
14. List 5 things on facebook marketplace
15. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get a few orders
16. Advertise cardmaking advent calendar as have one order so need more to make it worthwhile
17. Take a course from one of my memberships
18. Design something new to sell
19. List something new on Etsy
20. Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner
21. Complete Prime Opinion survey
22. Create another cardmaking download
23. Tidy more of craft room/office
24. Declutter more of dining room - tackled  the top of one unit today - a few things thrown away and the rest tidied
25. Tidy Hall, stairs and landing
26. No heating on until 4pm - DONE  

craftingmad

Morning all,

I'm still here and climbing up that mortgage mountain of ours - all be it, stopping often to catch my breath! 

I am covering for the owner of the cafe this week whilst he is away on holiday which is not leaving me much spare time to do anything else (guess its a glimpse into how my life will be soon!) so although I am earning money which will go into the pot I am not really achieving much else. Although I suppose the whole aim of this challenge is to find money to pay off the mortgages so I'm obviously winning right now   

Today is the one day I am not in all day (in fact I'm not meant to be in until 3pm) so I intend to knuckle down and try and get lots done. I've started it with a lovely lie in which was bliss but now its time to knuckle down and get to it. Hubby is also back from working away in the early hours of tomorrow so I need to try and put the house back together before he arrives too. Wish me luck. I'm going in

So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - 42 points today so far 
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE five videos available for a total of 28p 
3. Read lease to check there are no hidden surprises
4. Transfer old cafe holiday pay into OP savings account - DONE £501.84 is now safely in the account earning interest
5. Check bank balance and transfer money if needed - DONE should be ok until payday hopefully but will keep checking  
6. Pay in cheque received from Royal Mail using app - DONE £8.20 will hopefully be ready to transfer in the next couple of days
7. Schedule social media posts for next week
8. Post off woollen gnomes and open when envelopes - DONE
9. Make and post off cross in my pocket for Etsy order - DONE
10. Design index card proofs for existing customer
11. Photograph items made to use for marketing them on social media - DONE
12. List something on facebook marketplace
13. Contact lady to see if she is still collecting item today - DONE fingers crossed she wants it as it will give me a few quid for the savings account and get rid of another thing out of the house
14. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get a few orders
15. Advertise cardmaking advent calendar as have one order so need more to make it worthwhile
16. Prepare emails, facebook group and samples for cardmaking advent calendar
17. Take a course from one of my memberships - DONE watched a quick 10 minute class on productivity and getting more done in less time  
18. Design something new to sell - DONE finished designing my Christmas cross stitch kits
19. List something new on Etsy - DOONE listed Christmas cross stitch kits - fingers crossed I can sell 13 of them so I don't have to store them next year
20. Check freepostcode lottery
21. Complete Prime Opinion survey
22. Create another cardmaking download
23. Tidy more of craft room/office
24. Clean and tidy kitchen - made a start - hoping kids will finish it for me whilst I am at work
25. Cafe shift (3pm - 6pm) - DONE finished at 6.15pm  
26. No heating on until 5pm - DONE did not turn it on until 7pm but even with it on it still feels cold tonight  
27. Claim back money for items bought for new cafe - DONE £9.10 claimed back  
28. NSD - DONE