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

craftingmad

Morning all.

It's a grey and cold day here on the Broads today which is perfect as I want to achieve lots inside so it's a great motivator. 

I have a two hour shift at the cafe between 12.30-2.30pm (hardly worth it after the tax man gets hold of his share but it will add another £15 into the savings pot when I eventually get paid). Apparently payday for Burger King is on Friday so not long to wait for that now and I will finally be able to add some more into the OP pot. It feels like I haven't contributed anything for ages and I've been working for nothing for so long  

My car is also in for its MOT today so my fingers are tightly crossed that it will pass without needing any work doing to it If everyone can pray with me it would be gratefully appreciated  

Doggo could not be neutered yesterday as she is still producing milk so she starts her very expensive medication today so again my fingers are crossed that it works quickly as she is booked in again for 12 days time so hopefully it will be third time lucky this month. I also nagged hubby to sort out the letters he had been getting for his old he traded in when he got his new one and it turns out he hadn't informed the DVLA that he had sold it so we could have a £50 find coming his way I'm furious with him as that is a lot of money to just waste on something which was so simple to sort. I just do not get how a person who can mend helicopters for a living can be so stupid and lack common sense most of the time  

Other than that nothing else exciting to report so I'll jump straight into my To Do list for today.

So today I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 2 points - better than nothing I suppose
2. Print leaflets and business cards for Etsy order 
3. Create invitation for customer on FB - DONE  
4. Comment on In search of posts to hopefully get a few more orders - commented on two posts
5. List Easter range in my Etsy shop (better late than never) - DONE now just to hopefully get some sales
6. Advertise my plantable Easter range in 3 different groups
7. Update spreadsheets for February with new mortgage amounts
8. Schedule social media posts for March
9. National Trust cafe shift - DONE
10. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freeemoji - DONE not a winner  
11. Complete Prime Opinion survey
12. No heating on until at least 7pm - DONE
13. Find two more ways to add money into savings  
14. Tidy craft room
15. Tidy conservatory
16. List something on FB Marketplace
17. Complete two courses from my memberships
18. Photograph receipes from cookbook from library so it can be returned
19. NSD (other than MOT for car) - sadly not had to buy a battery for daughters car
20. Transfer money from Paypal account into savings (I usually do it at the start of each month but figured I could interest on it for longer if I do it as it comes in) - DONE £77.73 transferred which included £1.76 from craftsuprint earnings I didn'r realise I had earnt so a nice tiny bonus  
21. Read MSE weekly newsletter and see if I can get extra ways to save/make some cash - DONE will be claiming for uniform allowance for both me and hubby and checking that my pension credits are being added because of child benefit (even though hubby earns too much to claim them)

craftingmad

Afternoon (darn where has this morning gone!!!).

I had such good intentions today but so far I have achieved absolutely nothing apart from managing to access my wage slip online for Burger King (harder than it sounds as I had to through IT) and find out that almost half of hours are missing and get a car insurance quote and find out about transport options for an elderly neighbour (he is 90 this year and just been quoted nearly £3k for car insurance)

I was also hoping that hubby and I might do something nice on our day off together but clearly he has other ideas as he is on the sofa alternating between a very bad film and snoozing!!!! 

Bad news on the car front too - it failed it's MOT and is going to cost around £300 to put right so I suppose it could have been worse and at least I have daughters car to use whilst mine is in the garage but obviously I would have preferred it to pass without any money needing spending  

Sadly I've not got much else to report s progress seems very slow on the money saving/earning front at the moment so I better get my bottom into gear and start doing things which make us money.

So today I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 22 points so far
2. Print leaflets and business cards for Etsy order - business cards printed
3. Invoice customer for invitation - DONE will hopefully be £7.50 sale if she pays
4. Comment on In search of posts to hopefully get a few more orders
5. Advertise my plantable Easter range in 3 different groups - DONE fingers crossed for some sales
6. Update spreadsheets for February with new mortgage amounts
7. Schedule social media posts for March
8. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freeemoji - DONE not a winner
9. Complete Prime Opinion survey
10. No heating on until at least 7pm
11. Find two more ways to add money into savings  
12. Tidy craft room
13. List something on FB Marketplace
14. Complete two courses from my memberships
15. Photograph receipes from cookbook from library so it can be returned
16. Claim uniform tax allowance for both hubby and I
17. Look into cheaper broadband
18. See if we can claim back interest paid on PPI claims
19. Check I am still getting child benefit pension credits although not entitled to benefit (thanks Martin)
20. NSD

Baileys_Babe

Sorry to hear about the MOT.

That is very kind of you helping your neighbour.

LadyWithAPlan

Good to hear about your multitude of jobs and Cathy the Camper sounds so fun! What colour is she?
Annoying about the MOT

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

Sorry to hear about the MOT.

That is very kind of you helping your neighbour.

Thank you x

craftingmad

LadyWithAPlan said:

Good to hear about your multitude of jobs and Cathy the Camper sounds so fun! What colour is she?
Annoying about the MOT

Thank you.
Cathy the camper is white on the outside (in fact she just looks like a huge van from the outside) but inside she has a beautiful sage green and natural wood decor theme going on. 
I LOVE her   

craftingmad

Morning all.

So sorry, I just didn't get round to posting yesterday as I had a 6 hour shift in the cafe and then had to take son to a friends house after college. 
I did manage to play on Mistplay though and got 124 points so that has made me a little closer to being able to cash out on that and I had a NSD so a little progress in the right direction was made.

I also got paid from Burger King which has made me feel like I'm now not working for no reward. It was only £145.95 after the nasty tax man got his hands on it but its still more than I had a few weeks ago and has been firmly deposited into the OP savings account. It has taken me up to 80% of my first 10% amount if that makes sense so we are getting there albeit very, very slowly at the moment. 

Our bad luck seems to be continuing though as our lawnmower finally stopped working yesterday. We cannot really complain as we have had it over 17 years so certainly think we got our money's worth. Just didn't really want to have to pay of £115 for a new one this month with all the other expenses we have to pay over the next few days (neutering operation and car repairs).  I did use topcashback though so that has tracked at 81p (every penny counts right?) and used the app to get a £10 voucher credited to our screwfix account as it was £35 cheaper from there so the £10.81 is going to be an added bonus.

I've got a three hour cafe shift again today and I've already saved some money as we managed to resist the bakery on the way back from taking son to work so that's saved us around £14 (they do the most amazing bread, cakes and pasties)   Hubby is also in the process of making beef stew for dinner tonight so we won't get tempted by a takeaway. Food always tastes better when I don't have to cook it so I'm really looking forward to it   

Right lets see how much I can cross of my list today.

Today I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 2 points so far 
2. Print leaflets and cut business cards for Etsy order - business cards cut
3. Print and cut invitations for FB customer
4. Make seed paper names for Etsy order
5. 3 hour cafe shift - DONE turned into a 3 and a half hour shift so more money than expected will be added to the pot on pay day
6. Comment on In search of posts to hopefully get a few more orders
7. Update spreadsheets for February with new mortgage amounts
8. Schedule social media posts for March
9. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freeemoji
10. Complete Prime Opinion survey
11. No heating on until at least 7pm - DONE not turned on all day
12. Find two more ways to add money into savings  
13. Tidy craft room
14. List something on FB Marketplace
15. Complete two courses from my memberships
16. Photograph receipes from cookbook from library so it can be returned
17. Claim uniform tax allowance for both hubby and I
18. Look into cheaper broadband
19. See if we can claim back interest paid on PPI claims
20. Check I am still getting child benefit pension credits although not entitled to benefit (thanks Martin)
21. NSD - had to buy some chicken for the dog so a fail on this for today  

That should keep me out of mischief for today  


  

craftingmad

Morning all.

I was supposed to have a day off today and was hoping to work on the orders for my business but I have been asked if I can do a 12-5pm shift at Burger King so I have said yes as it will add a little more into my wages ready to transfer into the OP savings account when I'm paid. I may as well take the money whilst I can  

I did treat myself to a lie in this morning so have only been awake for a couple of hours and have enjoyed a lovely walk with the dog and hubby this morning. Will need to get ready to leave for work soon so don't think I will achieve much today but I'm going to see how much I can get done in half an hour  

So today I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 96 points so far
2. Survey on Shop and Scan - DONE 800 points added to account  
3. Print leaflets and stickers for Etsy order
4. Print and cut invitations for FB customer
5. Make seed paper names for Etsy order
6. 5 hour shift at Burger King - DONE turned out to be a 6 hour shift so an extra hours wages being added which is a bonus  
7. Comment on In search of posts to hopefully get a few more orders
8. Schedule social media posts for March
9. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freeemoji
10. Complete Prime Opinion survey
11. No heating on until at least 7pm - DONE  
12. Find two more ways to add money into savings  
13. NSD - DONE  

LadyWithAPlan

All going well I see in the op mountain 

sage green and wood sounds lovely for Cathy the Camper  - one is on my wish list 

craftingmad

Good morning  

The sun is shining and I'm starting the week with a smile. I'm determined that I'm going to achieve lots in the days which are left in this month, in order to get these these mortgages kicked into touch and paid off as quickly as we can. 

I've got another Burger King shift today (5 hours) and I have still not decided which job I should stay with so while I can I'm going to try and do both. I also have the option of going back to the original chippy from next week I think so will have to see if that can fit in with the hours of the other two as well in order to give a boost to our progress. 

The day has started off quite spendy though as had to buy sons bus pass for his last term as a Year 12 college student (£120) and his lunch money for the week (£35) but I'm hoping these will be my only spends today I think I need to cut is daily lunch allowance down as he is spending double what his dad does each day!! 

I've got orders for my little business that I must get posted off asap as well so I really need to get my big bottie into gear and make a start on my list!! 

So today I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 2 points so far  
2. Print leaflets and stickers for Etsy order
3. Print and cut invitations for FB customer
4. Make seed paper names for Etsy order
5. 5 hour shift at Burger King - DONE  
6. Comment on In search of posts to hopefully get a few more orders - commented on three
7. Schedule social media posts for March
8. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freeemoji
9. Complete Prime Opinion survey
10. No heating on until at least 7pm - DONE not turned on at all  
11. Find two more ways to add money into savings  
12. No more spending today - DONE  
    
13. Meal Plan
14. Update mortgage amounts on spreadsheet

A smaller list but more realistic I hope