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

craftingmad

Hi everyone,

Just a quick post from me to let you know that I'm still on my mortgage mountain hike and making slow but steady progress to the top  

I've been busy working which is really helping to increase our OP savings pot but the cafe we were going to buy is officially sold this coming week and although I have met the new owners quite a few times now they have not mentioned if I will still have a job when the sale goes through so guess I will just have to wait and see. I'm thinking that I won't as they have bought a few people in to look at the set up and coffee machine etc and also have a large family so I'm thinking that my days there could be numbered so my wages from them today could potentially be my penultimate pay packet from them as they are only required to give me a weeks notice   On the plus side I covered one day for my opposite number this week so I netted a few extra hours resulting in a lovely £402.98 to add to the pot tonight

It is also interest day on one of our savings account so that has given us an extra £293.01 which I class as free money as I don't have to spend much effort making it

The interest next month will be lower as we will be using £32K of our savings to pay off in full our BTL2 mortgage (especially given that they will be increasing the interest rate from 1.9% to 8.75% on 1st July when our fixed rate ends so that will be the day when we clear that mortgage and can officially say we own outright two houses 
Exciting but unsettled times are ahead but I'm just going to go with the flow as it is out of my control

Now I've just got to try and stay awake so I can go and collect daughter from work when she finishes at midnight. Sadly son cannot pick her up as he has broken two of his toes by falling up the stairs last night Wish me luck - it's well past my bedtime already

daisy_1571

Ooh thats quite the interest hike, lovely that you have been concentrating on collecting savings to pay off, lovely day ahead when you can clear it

Daisy xx

Baileys_Babe

Hello, Lovely to see you

I, too, think of interest on my savings as free money and do what I can to increase the amount we earn.

Exciting news that in a couple of weeks, you will have paid off another mortgage, and you will need to update your signature with your new figures 😊

Until the new owners of the cafe say something you will not know if they will have hours to give you, it must be frustrating.

craftingmad

Thanks for youdaisy_1571 said:

Ooh thats quite the interest hike, lovely that you have been concentrating on collecting savings to pay off, lovely day ahead when you can clear it

Daisy xx

Isn't it just. We certainly were not expecting it to go up quite so much so are really looking forward to the day when we will pay it off in full

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

Hello, Lovely to see you

I, too, think of interest on my savings as free money and do what I can to increase the amount we earn.

Exciting news that in a couple of weeks, you will have paid off another mortgage, and you will need to update your signature with your new figures 😊

Until the new owners of the cafe say something you will not know if they will have hours to give you, it must be frustrating.

I do exactly the same - the more free money I can get the better  

We are very excited for 1st July. We will then officially be able to say that we own two houses outright I looked up how much interest we will be saving by paying off BTL1 and it is £16474 - now that makes me a very happy crafting  

The cafe situation is really is frustrating. I just want to know once and for all but hopefully I will find out more today  

Baileys_Babe

Fingers crossed you get the answers you are looking for 🤞

craftingmad

Hi all,

Another day of work ahead of me today but hopefully today is the day when I will find out more about my cafe job - fingers crossed it is good news as not only is the money really helping me in my mountain hike, I really love that job too. It helps with my anxiety and depression and I love the customers too and would really miss seeing most of them

I am going to try and be realistic today with my list as I have a few things I really must do so here we go:-

 Today I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - 2 points earnt so far
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE one video watched for 5p
3. Cafe shift (9am - 5pm) - DONE ended up being 9am - 7.15pm
4. Print glossy stickers for FB order
5. Print and bind order book for Etsy order
6. Make prayer box for Etsy order - DONE
7. Check free postcode lottery
8. Get POA's ready to post off 
9. Phone estate agents re mum and dads house as 27 days in and they still have not put it on Rightmove! - DONE sent a rocket up their bottoms and told then if not listed tomorrow then I will cancel the contract with them to them breaching their obligations!
10. NSD - DONE

Baileys_Babe

What are your parents estate agents playing at, good luck.

Today's list maybe shorter than usual, but no less ambitious 😄

craftingmad

Morning all,

I've got my first day off from work today after working the last 22 days straight I'm very excited and plan to try and spend some of the day relaxing, some working on my business and the rest tying up all those admin jobs which need to get done. I'll probably have to add a bit of housework into the mix too so the relaxing part may not be as long as the other jobs will take me but I can hear Baileys in my head so do need to make some time to just rest and recharge    (Thank's Baileys - I can always rely on you to make me think about self care in and its much appreciated) I have already treated myself to a lie in which was lovely

Still not really sure where I will fit in at the cafe - the new owners are all there now and there is 3-4 of them there everyday which makes me feel a bit like a spare part. I have talked to them though and they hope that I will increase my hours working into the evening until 9pm at night plus do Sunday's for them as well. That would mean 12 hour days and I never get a chance to have a break so mot sure if that is really what I want plus I get the feeling I am being used until they get established and then they will tell me to sling my hook. I hope I'm wrong as I really liked working there and lots of the customers too so I don't really want to leave. However the new owners also expect me to stay and clean the front counter unpaid each day I am working and have piled all the responsibility of the legal paperwork and compliance checks and training on my shoulders for no extra pay so I think I really need to have a hard think about my next move. I'm thinking maybe give them a few weeks to settle in and then see how it is but also mention that I will not work for free and expect to be compensated for the additional workload which has come my way. What do you all think?

I do have some good news though - my original cafe manager pulled me aside during my shift yesterday and told me that she wanted to promote me to team leader with a view to quickly progressing to assistant manager. It will mean an annual contract so I would get paid all year round and a pay rise too so that makes me happy that they have spotted my potential and want to reward it. If I take that role, from next season I would only be able to work there but at the moment that is looking pretty positive so more thinking for me to do I think  

Our dog seems to have an upset stomach today - I'm hoping it is just the hot weather rather than something more serious but it looks like this may take up some more of my time today as well - that self care is looking less and less likely  

Right I must get my bottom into gear and get some bits done. Wish me luck - I'm going in

So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - 2 points earnt so far 
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE 5 videos watched for total of 24p
3. Print glossy stickers for FB order - DONE
4. Chase Etsy customer regarding seeded business card proof - DONE really annoying as now chased 5 times and still no answer
5. Reply to enquiry re printed display cards from existing customer - DONE, paid, printed and cut. Now ready to post off 
6. Design logo designs for Etsy customer - DONE
7. Print A4 order book for Etsy customer - trying to print but printer does not want to play for some reason After much swearing the pages are now printing correctly
8. Design proof for seeded tags for website customer - Proof designed - just need to print out and make sure looks ok before sending over to the customer DONE
9. Post off all completed orders - only completed two but they are both posted now
10. Post of POA - DONE hopefully they will be granted soon so I can sign all the moving docs and make my life easier and remove the stress from parents
11. Cash in winning scratch cards found around the house - DONE only £7 but its been added to the pot - every pound counts in my mind plus they are not cluttering the mantelpiece anymore so its a win win  
12. Check Rightmove and see if parents bungalow finally listed - DONE yeah agents finally done it
13. Get three loads of washing dry in the sunshine - first and second load on line and 3rd load in washing machine. Will have to wait until I have some dry before hanging out as run out of line space  DONE and even put away
14. Write social media posts for this month
15. Schedule social media posts for this month
16. Comment on in search of posts to try and get new orders
17. Update spreadsheet - DONE
18. Check free postcode lottery - DONE not a winner
19. Complete a prime opinion survey
20. Declutter 5 things from the house - DONE old cardboard boxes put in recycling, ripped packaging bags, three balloons (including huge no 1 foil one) and an out of date pack of dog treats all put in the rubbish bin ready to be collected today
21. Renew FB marketplace listings - DONE 21 listings renewed
22. Submit claim to Royal Mail for two lost parcels
23. Transfer BK earnings into savings account - DONE £190.08 added
24. Ask old cafe owners for my share of tip money owed to me (should be around £30) - DONE fingers crossed I get it on Monday - its not loads but it's the principle as I worked hard for that money and already resent having to share it with staff who work the quiet days and don't get tips for good service
25. Put away huge mountain of clean washing currently in hallway - sorted and kids on their beds ready for them to put away. Now just need to put mine and hubbies away DONE along with our washing dried today as well   
26. Meal plan for rest of week - DONE
27. Make a plan on how to grow my business
28. Take a course from one of my memberships
29. Rest and recharge - DONE went for a lovely walk with the dog when the evening turned cool enough and it was lovely
30. NSD - DONE

Baileys_Babe

Glad you are at least thinking about resting and recharging 😁

Lots to ponder with the cafe jobs. I'm pleased the original cafe appreciates your worth. You are being generous to the new cafe owners, make sure you talk to them soon about your role and pay. Is it in your diary so it doesn't drag on?

Another famous craftingmad ambitious list 😆