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

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

I saw this mentioned in this week's newsletter and thought of you.

oooh thank you Baileys x

craftingmad

Good morning. It's feels freezing cold here on the Broads today but the heating will NOT be being turned on in April - I refuse  

I had a good selling day yesterday decluttering old craft kits and managed to sell £77 worth so that will be being paid into the bank today and transferred straight into the OP savings account. It is also payday at the chippy tonight (only 3 hours worth as for the period I went down with Covid) but that will add another £30ish too when I pay it in on Sunday so all good there. 

I've got a 4 hour shift at the chippy tonight (4.30-8.30pm) so that will be my main money making activity for today. Our son is starting his new job at the golf course today as well so I've got to run him in for 1pm. It is a bit further away than his other job but I think he will be much happier there so I don't mind the extra 20 minute there and back journey if he enjoys it more. 

I've also realised that we have saved £17 this week as our son's guitar teacher is away gigging in Spain so I will transfer this amount into the savings too as we usually spend it so it will be a nice added bonus to use to help reduce our mortgage mountain. 

I have to admit I woke up this morning feeling a bit down about not making any progress but I gave myself a good shake and reminded me of just how far we have come since we started this challenge in November 2022. We are now mortgage free on our own home, have the full amount of BTL mortgage 1 sitting in a bank account earning interest until it is due to be remortgaged next year and we have over £10k saved up ready to pay off BTL mortgage 2 when that term expires in 2026. It makes me smile just writing that down and I must remember to hang onto these facts when I feel like slow or no progress is being made. 

So now I'm feeling fully motivated and energised it's time to crack on with my to do list for today

So here's my I WILL DO list for today:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 27 points so far 
2. Delete more emails from inbox to hopefully save buying expensive subscription - 109 deleted so far
3. Post off two craft kits purchased last night
4. Pay in £60 from FB Marketplace sale and transfer £17 from paypal sale last night into OP savings account - DONE  
5. Transfer £17 from no guitar lesson into OP savings account - DONE
6. Comment on In search of posts to hopefully get a few more orders - commented on one so far  
7.  Advertise in three FB groups to hopefully drum up more orders
8. Schedule social media posts for month
9. Finish colour cube type idea
10. Create new product using the mountain of wooden bees I bought last year and now do  not sell very well
11. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freeemoji - DONE not a winner
12. Complete Prime Opinion survey
13. No heating on all day - sadly son had turned it on without hubby noticing so it went off as soon as I got home from work!
14. Find two more ways to add money into savings  
15. Take a course from a paid membership
16. Send an email to my subscribers about my £10 offer
17. Research Etsy gift mode and tweak listings to see if this will give me extra exposure 
18. Look at SEO report from website and make small improvement
19. Finish tidying craft room
20. Action one thing on my business growth list
21. Create a cardmaking download to sell on Craftsuprint
22. Draft letter in reply to Council who are claiming pothole damage is not their liability 
23. List something on FB Marketplace
24. Chip shop shift - DONE 3 and a half hours completed and came home with fish and chips for two for free
25. NSD - DONE  

Baileys_Babe

I too need to have a major purge of email and probably photos so I don't need to pay for storage. I keep making a small amount of progress but I need to clear a huge chunk of I can.

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

I too need to have a major purge of email and probably photos so I don't need to pay for storage. I keep making a small amount of progress but I need to clear a huge chunk of I can.

I'm feeling your pain. I have so many emails in my inbox that I might be attempting the impossible but I'm going to give it a darn good try. 
I've cancelled my suscription and I'm hoping they will give me a half price offer as realistically I don't think I am going to clear them all in time

craftingmad

Good morning.

Well I achieved almost nothing yesterday - I'm really not sure what happened  

I did manage to go through the craft supplies I picked up for free off FB Marketplace at the beginning of the year though. There are some bits I can deffo use but a lot of it I really have no clue. There are lots of faux foam flowers as I think the lady used to make wreaths . I have a pile of little bits to sell on but the flowers I may keep hold of as I have always fancied making flower wreaths so maybe I can have a play without having to spend anything and see if I'm any good at it. I always have these ideas in my head but often the reality of the real thing after I have Blue Petered it is nothing like what I imagined!!! At least this way I can play and amuse myself without having to spend any cash The only problem is I need to find room for the three huge boxes it is all in! I can't really hide that much from the hubby!!! 

The chippy was really quiet yesterday - people were coming in but nowhere near as many as their usually is so I'm guessing the cost of living is really hitting hard at the moment. I know my Etsy shop feels like its closed - its so quiet I got paid for the 3 hours I done before Covid hit me but they have only paid me £10.50 an hour (despite it being after 1st April when the new £11.44 minimum wage came into effect). I am going to have to talk to them about it but I hate confrontation. The old me would have just leave it but I am thinking what a difference the extra £3 would make and as I know I am entitled to it I am going to raise it with them. I think I'll send them a text so I don't have an awkward conversation - or should I just leave it and say nothing? God I feel sick just thinking about it  

We are having beef stew tonight for dinner and its all prepared in the slow cooker. I usually add swede to it but didn't have in the freezer today so I am debating whether to pop to Asda on the way back from taking son to work and grab some or to just go without it instead. I'll see how I feel later I suppose  

Good news on the job front for our son - he loves the golf course and it means he gets nowhere near as dirty as he does working in the kitchen so it should mean less washing for me to do - even with the extra travelling I think its a win win situation It sounds so good I think I might see if they have a job going for me me  

Right I'm going to start cracking on with my list today and hopefully be much more productive than yesterday (in fairness that shouldn't be too hard )!!!

So here's my I WILL DO list for today:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 25 points so far 
2. Delete more emails from inbox to hopefully save buying expensive subscription - 50 deleted so far today
3. Post off two craft kits purchased last night
4. Pay in £31.50 from chippy earnings and transfer into OP savings account - DONE these small amounts seem to make a good difference so at least it is still something added today
5. Contact chippy about hourly rate - DONE lets see what they say
6. Reply to enquiry about thank you cards - DONE
7. Reply to enquiry about business cards and leaflets - DONE
8. Comment on In search of posts to hopefully get a few more orders 
9.  Advertise in three FB groups to hopefully drum up more orders
10. Schedule social media posts for month
11. Finish colour cube type idea
12. Create new product using the mountain of wooden bees I bought last year and now do  not sell very well
13. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freeemoji - DONE not a winner
14. Complete Prime Opinion survey
15. No heating on all day (son has been told not to touch that switch!)
16. Find two more ways to add money into savings - registered for weare8 and earnt 47p so far   
17. Take a course from a paid membership
18. Send an email to my subscribers about my £10 offer
19. Research Etsy gift mode and tweak listings to see if this will give me extra exposure 
20. Look at SEO report from website and make small improvement
21. Finish tidying craft room
22. Action one thing on my business growth list
23. Create a cardmaking download to sell on Craftsuprint
24. Draft letter in reply to Council who are claiming pothole damage is not their liability 
25. List three things on FB Marketplace - DONE one set of stamps and 7 die sets listed Fingers crossed they sell  
26. NSD (unless I get swede of course) - DONE I decided I could not be bothered to stop for swede

Baileys_Babe

When did you work the hours you are queererying? If you worked them before the 1st of April I would of thought they would be paid at the old rate. If you worked them after the 1st of April then they should be at the new rate?

If they should of been paid at the new rate I would send a quick text, saying that the rate increased on the 1st.

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

When did you work the hours you are queererying? If you worked them before the 1st of April I would of thought they would be paid at the old rate. If you worked them after the 1st of April then they should be at the new rate?

If they should of been paid at the new rate I would send a quick text, saying that the rate increased on the 1st.

Thanks Baileys. They were worked on 2nd April. I sent them a quick text and they will put it right in my next wages. I'm so glad it's sorted - I hate dealing with issues like this - I would prefer to just take the cash they give me but I put on my big girls pants and it's all sorted thank heavens and I'm getting the £1 extra per hour which I'm entitled too  

~FlowerPot~

ooh well done for being brave and querying it. I also find that sort of thing really hard to do, but it would niggle at me all the time until I did. So well done

FLowers x

craftingmad

~FlowerPot~ said:

ooh well done for being brave and querying it. I also find that sort of thing really hard to do, but it would niggle at me all the time until I did. So well done

FLowers x

Thanks FlowerPot. It would me too and I would get crosser by the minute and be muttering under my breath so I'm proud of myself for tackling it head on and getting what I'm entitled too  

Now just to pull up my big girl knickers and stand my ground with the Council about the pot damage to our car. Wish me luck ...

Baileys_Babe

Well done for dealing with the wages shortfall.

I too would want to opt for the path of no confrontation but it would eat away at me.

You should be very proud of yourself 👏