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

craftingmad

Thanks Ladywithaplan and Baileys. 

It is tough at the moment but I have no choice but to keep trying to smile where I can.

Baileys I took your advice and scheduled in some rest

Lady £4500 is certainly an ambitious target each month but fingers crossed once the first mortgage is paid and we can snowball the money we used to make payments for that then we can make it   

craftingmad

Morning all,

Sorry no post yesterday as was too busy running kids around before work as son went to London and daughter had staid round her girlfriend's then needed a lift home so I could then run her into work later in the day.

I did put in an 8 hour day at BK yesterday though so that will help with our MF journey and build the OP savings pot up that little bit more.

I've got a 6 hour day ahead of me at BK today (although if it is like last night then that may become longer - I shall just have to wait and see) so that will keep me out of mischief for most of the day I also am either suffering badly from hayfever today or I have a cold coming as my eyes and nose are streaming but I also feel pretty dizzy. Hopefully just hayfever as I don't have time to sicken with anything at the moment.

So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - 7 points so far 
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE 3 videos watched for a total of 24p
3. Add hours I have worked onto spreadsheet to ensure I get paid for them later in the month - DONE  
4. Submit hours to cafe so as can get wages today - DONE
5. Leave horrible histories game in shed for neighbour to collect when ready (she will leave £5) - DONE 
6. Give postage cost to person enquiring about puppy probiotics listed on FB Marketplace - DONE. Something feels a bit fishy but I'll run with it for now 
7. Comment on in search of posts to try and get new orders
8. Email rental management company and advise rent increases on two properties from June 2025. Also ask for valuations on both properties  
9. Check free postcode lottery
10. Check for code for Amazon voucher cashed out in Prime Opinion - still no sign of it so contacted them again. Hopefully it will get sorted this time
11. Complete three prime opinion survey - one completed for 47 points
12. Change postage prices in Etsy shop and on website to take into account Royal Mail increases
13. Design something new to sell
14. Make a card for mum and dad and post off using stamp received for compensation
15. Declutter 5 things from the house
16. BK shift (12pm - 6pm) - DONE ended up being until 10.30pm!
17. NSD - DONE

Baileys_Babe

Whether it is a cold or hay fever have you taken an antihistamine to ease the symptoms?

I was hoping you had a day at home with the family today 🤗

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

Whether it is a cold or hay fever have you taken an antihistamine to ease the symptoms?

I was hoping you had a day at home with the family today 🤗

Good news it was hayfever

I spent yesterday with the family and also planning the same today plus a few little odd jobs which desperately need doing  

craftingmad

Good morning,

Sorry for the lack of posts again but I am still juggling working, looking after my parents and trying desperately to look after the housework so not finding much time for climbing the mortgage mountain at the moment.

We are taking slow steps up the hill though as it is payday from both BK (£471.47) and the original cafe (£129.82) today plus I managed to sell the dog probiotic tablets on FB Marketplace for £40 and the horrible histories game I listed for another £5 so all of that has been added into the OP savings account I know its not much but given everything going on at the moment I am happy that at least small amounts are still being added  

We have been very productive today already with a dump run to get rid of some tree prunings from a few weeks ago and mum and dads old guest bed (as it had to be moved in order to get a hospital bed into their spare room). Hubby is now cutting the grass and I am about to work on a couple of Etsy orders but we have decided to treat ourselves to some crumble later from a new cafe opened up a couple of villages along. We have heard great things about it and as we both love crumble decided that we deserve to spend a little money on ourselves once in a while. 

I have a whole day off work again today (yesterday was taken up with hospital visits and stocking up mums fridge ready for her coming home) so fingers crossed I can get a happy balance between MSE/rest in today

So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - played for 20 mins but not recording my time so given up for today
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - no videos available
3. Add hours I have worked onto spreadsheet to ensure I get paid for them later in the month 
4. Phone BTL mortgage company and get up to date balance
5. Make lucky gnome for Etsy order and post off - DONE
6. Make angel in my pocket for Etsy order and post off - DONE
7. Return computer mouse to Amazon for a refund as old one started working again - DONE £21.90 refund coming my way
8. Comment on in search of posts to try and get new orders
9. Email rental management company and advise rent increases on two properties from June 2025. Also ask for valuations on both properties  
10. Check free postcode lottery - DONE not a winner
11. Check for code for Amazon voucher cashed out in Prime Opinion - DONE finally received my code and added to my Amazon account
12. Complete three prime opinion survey
13. Update new bank card details on Etsy, Paypal Airtime rewards and Topcashback
14. Change postage prices in Etsy shop and on website to take into account Royal Mail increases
15. Design something new to sell
16. Renew FB Marketplace listings - DONE 20 listings renewed
17. List one new item on FB Marketplace
18. Make a card for mum and dad and post off using stamp received for compensation
19. Declutter 5 things from the house
20. Meal plan for next week - DONE

craftingmad

Good morning,

I was supposed to be having a 6 hour shift at BK today but it has been cancelled at the last minute due to lack of guests on the site so I intend to make the most of my unexpected day off count by working on my business and getting more decluttering completed. I might even set myself a little challenge to see if I can earn/save £72 which is how much I would have earnt if I would have completed my shift. You know me - I do love a challenge  

Good news on the mum and dad front. Mum is now out of hospital and is eating really well so she must be feeling better and dad has been moved to a rehab unit to help him with walking and moving around with his broken back. Yesterday he managed his first few steps in over 8 weeks so although small, this progress is huge in my eyes Fingers crossed they both keep getting stronger so I can broach the subject again of them having to move closer to me so they can be looked after. Anyone been through similar before and can offer me any tips?

The sun is shining at the moment so fingers crossed it will be a lovely day and I can take doggo for a nice long walk - great for both of us - later today.

So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - played for 45 mins but still not recording my time so given up for today again  
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - no videos available 
3. Add hours I have worked onto spreadsheet to ensure I get paid for them later in the month 
4. Write social media posts for rest of this month and next - wrote posts for the rest of this month
5. Schedule social media posts for this month and next - posted for today but then computer issues meant I could not do anymore
6. Comment on in search of posts to try and get new orders - commented on two
7. Email rental management company and advise rent increases on two properties from June 2025. Also ask for valuations on both properties  
8. Check free postcode lottery - DONE not a winner
9. Transfer £10 earnt from Prime Opinions into OP savings account - DONE
10. Complete three prime opinion survey
11. Update new bank card details on Etsy, Paypal Airtime rewards and Topcashback
12. Change postage prices in Etsy shop and on website to take into account Royal Mail increases
13. Design two new to sell
14. List three new items on FB Marketplace
15. Make a card for mum and dad and post off using stamp received for compensation - made just need to post off later
16. Declutter 5 things from the house
17. Go through DD's and SO's and see if I can cancel any - DONE one cancelled for £10 per month - was due to go on 28th so saved us £10 this month  
18. Pin a few of my products in my Etsy store onto Pintrest to try and gain some traffic and sales
19. NSD - DONE

 

Baileys_Babe

Good news on your parents on going recovery. Does your mum have carers going in?

Enjoy your walk with the dog.

When trying to replace today's missing wages, looking at your list what things will bring in the highest amounts?

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

Good news on your parents on going recovery. Does your mum have carers going in?

Enjoy your walk with the dog.

When trying to replace today's missing wages, looking at your list what things will bring in the highest amounts?

Thanks Baileys.
I enjoyed a couple of lovely walks with the dog but because of computer mouse problems sadly did not manage to get much more achieved. 

craftingmad

Good morning,

The sun is shining again but sadly I will be in BK for six hours so wont be able to enjoy the best of it. I will take doggo out for a lovely walk before I go though so that will be nice for both of us. I enjoyed a bit of a lie in this morning as had to pick up daughter from work and she did not finish until 1.30am so I was understandably I feel. feeling a bit sleepy! 

The mouse on my computer is being a  pain in the backside at the moment and moving erractically all by iteself or freezing. I've googled remedies and tried all of them and so far this morning it seems to be behaving but who knows what will happen later on. It's driving me crazy but I'm determined to fix it myself rather than having to pay to get it repaired or worse still having to buy a new computer!

Other than work, I plan to just have an easyish day just pottering around and work will help us take another small step up our mortgage mountain It's also payday for the cafe so that will put a smile on my face - there is almost nothing better than transferring money into the savings account and seeing the amount we have left to pay off decreasing  

So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - 32 points so far awarded today
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE four videos watched for total of 24p
3. Add hours I have worked onto spreadsheet to ensure I get paid for them later in the month - DONE
4. Submit hours to cafe so I can get paid today - DONE 23 hours this week
5. Write social media posts for next month
6. Schedule social media posts for this month and next
7. Make lucky pants and rawrsome dinosaur for Etsy order and post off on way to work - made just could'nt print a postage label thanks to mouse
8. Comment on in search of posts to try and get new orders
9. Email rental management company and advise rent increases on two properties from June 2025. Also ask for valuations on both properties  
10. Check free postcode lottery
11. Complete three prime opinion survey
12. Update new bank card details on Etsy, Paypal Airtime rewards and Topcashback
13. Change postage prices in Etsy shop and on website to take into account Royal Mail increases
14. List something new on FB Marketplace
15. Declutter 5 things from the house
16. BK shift (12pm - 6pm) - DONE ended up being until 7pm so an extra hours pay coming my way
17. NSD - DONE

craftingmad

Good morning everyone,

I have a day off today so have been beavering away trying to get some Etsy orders made. I have four open orders at the moment and one of them is a big £190 order which I am very grateful about. I have to visit mum and dad tomorrow and Etsy pay out on Monday so I really need to knuckle down and get them finished and posted before Monday so I can use the money in my account to pay for postage etc.

Good news about my computer mouse - I ordered a different one which cost £10 and comes with a little dongle you plug into the machine and so far so good. I seem to have full control and can work without me wanting to throw the machine out of the window - so fingers crossed the problem is solved and no need for expensive engineers of god forbid a whole new machine I just need to see if I can return the other two I bought to try as don't think they are needed now  

I've heard a rumour that the cafe has sold and I cannot find it on any of the property pages (done a bit of detective work or commonly called snooping so I suppose I will find out when the owners are ready to tell me. I actually have a feeling I will just go in one day and there will be new people at the helm. Only time will tell I suppose. I hope I keep my job because I love it there most of the time and its great because it is regular hours and year round which is really helping me in our MF mountain climb. But what will be will be so I'm not even going to worry about it until it happens (well I will try anyway).

It's very hot today so I am hoping to get lots of washing dry outside - oh what a rock n roll lifestyle I lead 

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. Add hours I have worked onto spreadsheet to ensure I get paid for them later in the month - DONE
4. Write social media posts for this month
5. Schedule social media posts for this month
6. Make prayer box for Etsy order - DONE
7. Make nail planner for Etsy order - DONE
8. Start big stationery order for Etsy customer - sent proofs and customer has agreed so printing and cutting can now begin
9. Return extra mice to Amazon for refund - started return - just need to take tom post office tomorrow
10. Comment on in search of posts to try and get new orders - commented on one so far
11. Email rental management company and advise rent increases on two properties from June 2025. Also ask for valuations on both properties  
12. Check free postcode lottery - DONE not a winner
13. Complete three prime opinion survey
14. Update new bank card details on Etsy, Paypal Airtime rewards and Topcashback - DONE
15. Change postage prices in Etsy shop and on website to take into account Royal Mail increases
16. List something new on FB Marketplace
17. Declutter 5 things from the house
18. Phone BTL1 mortgage company for up to date balance - DONE Now less than £33k outstanding which will be paid off using savings when fixed rate expires on 1st July this year
19. Update spreadsheet with figures for month - DONE a nice growth of £5k for the savings pot in the month of April  
20. Complete courses included with free trial before runs out in 3 days
21. NSD - DONE other than some supplies needed to complete large order and a new mouse USB port but not counting either of them as the first one comes out of business funds and the second one saves me a huge bill for a computer geek to look at my machine