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

craftingmad

Good afternoon.

Sorry for late post but our son had an open day at a college he is thinking of swapping too. To be honest it was a bit of a waste of time as we only got to peer through the windows of the classrooms and could not talk to any of the teachers or course advisors as there were all absent and after keeping us waiting for ages we got shown around in 30 minutes..  It's taken up my whole morning and to be honest I'm not really feeling that productive today so I'm not sure how much I will achieve but I will try and give my list a go. I might end up just relaxing though and doing absolutely nothing as I have a really busy week with my jobs next week so I shall see  

The good news is that I have managed to add a further £324.45 into the OP savings account today thanks to my wages being paid from BK and the National Trust. However the NT wages are far lower than I was expecting so I am figuring either they have forgotten to pay me a lot of the hours I am owed or the nasty taxman has taken much more than his fair share this month. Sadly though I cannot access my payslip until I get into work so will not find out the reason until Monday as that is when I am next in there.  

The amount in the savings is creeping up slowly but I feel like we are making no progress at the moment towards our mortgage mountain even though we both seem to be working every hour sent and having no treats whatsoever I always knew it was going to be a hard slog but at the moment I feel like we are wading through treacle and I'm worried about hubbies OT coming to an end soon to stop us even further in our tracks.  I need to give myself a good shake and remind myself of the progress we have already made in paying off our own mortgage and having enough saved to pay off our first BTL mortgage when the fixed rate expires next year. Add to that that we also have £13k towards our BTL2 mortgage and I don't really know why I feel the way I do. Just writing it down has helped me put my positivity poncho back on. We can do this  

 So today I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 2 points so far - must try harder
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE three videos watched for 18p
3. Reply with price to enquiry regarding stickers from existing customer - DONE will be £12.20 in total and now just waiting for her to send me over the cash
4. Work out price for moving planner and invoice customer
5. Design more cardmaking sheets to sell
6. Upload more designs onto craftsuprint - one more loaded. Tried another two but neither of those would load up   
7. Sort more of my craft stash in the spare room ready for daughter coming home from Uni - no more craft supplies gone through but found some chocolate so I have decluttered that into my belly  
8. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get some more orders
9. Write and schedule posts for my business page on social media
10. Complete one course from my membership
11. Get quotes for car insurance due next month
12. Order daughters shoes she wants for her 21st birthday and see if I can find discount codes and/or cashback on them - cashback found for 5.1% (£5.10) and a voucher found for £6 Just need to wait and see what sizes she wants before I can order
13. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freemoji - DONE not a winner  
14. Complete Prime Opinion survey
15. List something on FB Marketplace - DONE two barbie activity books listed for £5
16. Sort jumble ready to take to village hall
17. NSD - DONE  

Baileys_Babe

I've not been online for a few days catching as we have been catching up with my family.

I'm over twice your daughter's age and I still get birthday presents from my parents. They are usually well thought out small gifts. My in laws send me (and the rest of the family) money for my birthday, do the same for all their children, grandchildren and daughters-in-law. We also give them presents for their birthdays.

craftingmad

Morning all. It is absolutely throwing it down on the Broads today so much so that our son's work has been cancelled as it is far to wet to even contemplate opening a golf course. I can't wait to go out to work later - not! For some reason we always seem to be busier in the chippy when its raining  

I plan on not doing very much today if I'm honest but I will attempt a few little things to try and help us on our MF journey. I really thing all the little things do add up  

 So today I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 97 points earned  
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE eleven videos watched for 52p 
3. See if payment for stickers has been received and if so check if I have stickers to print on in stock - DONE money received but sadly no stickers in stock so had to order some more  
4. Work out price for moving planner and invoice customer - Price given - now just waiting to see if she wants to go ahead - fingers crossed  
5. Design more cardmaking sheets to sell
6. Upload more designs onto craftsuprint - DONE one more loaded on  
7. Sort more of my craft stash in the spare room ready for daughter coming home from Uni
8. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get some more orders
9. Write and schedule posts for my business page on social media - posts written for rest of May and first week of June. Scheduled on one page. Just need to schedule on other FB page and Instagram  
10. Complete one course from my membership
11. Get quotes for car insurance due next month - DONE for once I cannot beat the renewal quote
12. Order daughters shoes she wants for her 21st birthday
    
13. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freemoji - DONE not a winner  
14. Complete Prime Opinion survey
15. List something on FB Marketplace
16. Sort jumble ready to take to village hall
17. Chippy shift (4.5 hours) - DONE
18. NSD - DONE nearly tempted to buy an Etsy course to see if it helps bring life back into my shop but decided to wait and think about it for a few days  

craftingmad

Morning from a wet and pretty chilly Norfolk Broads again. I'm determined not to turn the heating on though  

The weather is pants so I will be mostly be spending today indoors working towards our mortgage free goal.
I find myself getting really distracted and unable to focus at the moment (another menopause symptom I think) but I am determined today that I am going to knuckle down and actually get a few things done which will hopefully help push us forwards. I feel like the momentum has gone and I want to get it back - results keep me motivated   

I've got a late shift at Burger King today (6pm - 11pm) as I had to swap with someone as they could not get transport so although I'm not looking forward to staying awake that late, it does give me a good chunk of time to get things crossed off my list Fingers crossed the weather will put people off buying but sadly it will probably realistically mean it will be mainly deliveries all night which are harder than them coming to the hatch  

I got £2.72 in tips yesterday at the chippy so that's an added bonus so I will be transferring those into the OP savings account later today along with my wages. Every penny counts right  

Other than that no plans really for today apart from to stay dry and not wear myself out for my late shift  

Hope you all have a great day and the sun is shines for you

 So today I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 2 points earned
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE six videos watched for 34p  It's amazing how quickly the pennies add up as I now have just over £7 waiting to clear and then I can cash out   
3. Print moving planner ready to post off tomorrow
4. Make plantable hearts for Etsy order ready to post off tomorrow
5. Pay in chippy wages and tips into bank account and transfer into savings account
6. Design more cardmaking sheets to sell
7. Upload more designs onto craftsuprint
8. Sort more of my craft stash in the spare room ready for daughter coming home from Uni
9. Tidy craft room as now struggling to get in and too the computer
10. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get some more orders
11. Schedule social media posts for next week
12. Complete one course from my membership
13. Order daughters shoes she wants for her 21st birthday using voucher codes found and cashback site - DONE used coupon for £6 off and topcashback which should give me another £5 off if it tracks  
    
14. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freemoji - DONE not a winner  
15. Complete Prime Opinion survey
16. List something on FB Marketplace
17. Sort jumble ready to take to village hall
18. Write a plan of action to try and kickstart sales in business again
19. Burger King shift (5 hours) - DONE
    
20. NSD - DONE  

craftingmad

Morning all.

Well I ended up having a lazish day yesterday and not achieving very much at all. I started with good intentions but then got side tracked like I usually do. Today has started quite leisurely too but in all honesty I have 39.5 hours of work ahead of me this week (excluding any time I spend in my business) so I think I need to grab the rest whenever I can

I managed to sell the Barbie colouring books I listed on FB to a lady in our village and she very kindly gave me £1 extra so I've paid the £6 into the savings account ready to put towards our mortgages when the fixed rate expires. I feel like we have added hardly anything this month so I'm dreading our end of month totals as I don't think we have made any progress at all. Something is always better than nothing though - right?

I'm in the cafe today but hubby now has 4 days off so I shall be expecting him to make dinner on those days (apart from Wednesday when he will be driving to and from Derby to collect our daughter from Uni for the very last time as she has now completed her course)   

So I'm going to add my list, even though I actually only have about and hour and a quarter before I have to leave for work, and see how much I can get done in that time. Wish me luck:-

 So today I REALLY HOPE I CAN:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 7 points earned so far
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE four videos watched for 20p    
3. Print moving planner ready to post off tomorrow
4. Make plantable hearts for Etsy order ready to post off tomorrow
5. Pay in chippy wages and tips into bank account and transfer into savings account - DONE £89.02 paid in and transferred  
6. Design more cardmaking sheets to sell
7. Upload more designs onto craftsuprint
8. Sort more of my craft stash in the spare room ready for daughter coming home from Uni
9. Tidy craft room as now struggling to get in and too the computer - floor is now clear so I can get to the desk which is my next job to tidy  
10. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get some more orders
11. Schedule social media posts for this week - DONE
12. Complete one course from my membership
13. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freemoji - DONE not a winner  
14. Complete Prime Opinion survey
15. List something on FB Marketplace
16. Sort jumble ready to take to village hall
17. Write a plan of action to try and kickstart sales in business again
18. Cafe shift (4 hours) - DONE  
    
19. NSD - DONE   

craftingmad

Morning all,

A quick post from me today as I have a busy day work wise -  a 5 and a half hour cafe shift and then a 4 and a half hour shift at the chippy so I won't be achieving much else I don't think. 

Hubby came up trumps with dinner last night though. It was in the oven when I got home from work - steak in gravy with roast potatoes, carrots, peas, sweetcorn and mash. It was delicious Fingers crossed for more yumminess tonight  

I will add a little list for today but honestly I doubt I will achieve anything other than going out to work today  

So today I MIGHT BE ABLE TO:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 2 points earned so far 
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE four videos watched for 20p    
3. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get some more orders - DONE commented on three posts
4. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freemoji - DONE not a winner
5. Complete Prime Opinion survey
6. Sort jumble ready to take to village hall
7. Cafe shift (5.5 hours) - DONE was 4.5 in the end because of the weather  
   
8. Chippy shift (4.5 hours) - Done was 3.5 in the end as they took pity on me as I'm working all the rest of the week for them to cover holidays
9. NSD - DONE    

craftingmad

Morning all.

Our daughter is home from Uni today. It's hard to believe that this will be the last trip up to Derby to collect her and that three years have gone by so quickly. I'm so excited I think I might burst. Sadly I could not go with hubby to collect her as we needed to take the van to bring back all of her things and her boyfriend is coming back with her for a few days so the three seats were taken. I cannot wait to have her home though even though I know realistically it will probably only be for a year but I'm happy with that. I want her to be happy so as long as she is then where ever she may be I'm ok. 
I've got the chippy again tonight so I'm planning on having an easy day and relaxing. I have a feeling the shift will drag with me knowing she will be home and I cannot see her until 8.30ish tonight Fingers crossed I'm proved wrong and it will fly by! 

the interest has paid out this month on the two savings accounts totalling £470.72 which is great but strangely it is over £20 less than last month despite having added an extra £2k ish to the balance. Anybody any idea why - I guess it is something to do with days in the month but that seems an awful lot to be short by?

So today I MIGHT BE ABLE TO:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 59 points earned so far
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE seven videos watched for 48p    
3. Make plantable hearts for Etsy order - DONE and posted off  
4. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get some more orders
5. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freemoji  - DONE not a winner  
6. Complete Prime Opinion survey
7. Sort jumble ready to take to village hall
8. Chippy shift (4.5 hours) - DONE and my gosh was it busy!
9. Burger King Shift (3 hours 9pm - 12pm) - DONE
10. NSD - DONE  

craftingmad

Morning all.

Sorry for no post yesterday. I was shattered. I got called into Burger King after my shift at the chippy on Wednesday and did not finish until gone midnight I also had to do another midnight finish shift there again last night after my chippy shift so I am exhausted at the moment. I keep telling myself that I'm putting myself through it so we can get these mortgages cleared but honestly I'm not sure I can keep up this pace until the end of October. I shall just have to take it week by week I think and then maybe have to make a decision about getting rid of one of the jobs so it is a little more manageable. 

I was meant to have two shifts at the chippy today (lunchtime and evening) but I now only have the evening shift so I'm really happy as it means I will hopefully get a little time with our daughter who I feel I have not seen since she got back on Wednesday as I've always been at work. I do really think I need to work on the work/life balance a bit more  

I've also got two orders come in on Etsy which I'm super pleased about as honestly the platform has been dreadful for the past year and orders seem to be very sporadic so when I get two together it feels so good and restores my faith in my abilities  

We are furious - Hubby hit a different pothole along the same road as last time yesterday when on his way to pick up our son from work so that's another £50 gone out of the joint account but I will contact the council and try and claim back the cash, even though they do not seem to be very forthcoming about paying our other claim despite me providing them with evidence clearly showing that they are responsible. I'm not giving up though. Its not really about the £150 odd quid we have had to pay out - its more about the principle - we get nothing for our Council tax where we live - we even have to cut the grass verges and footpaths ourselves so I'm not going to let it drop.

I'm going to put up a small list but honestly if I only achieve today's must do's (chippy shift and family time) I will be happy with myself  


So today I MIGHT BE ABLE TO:-

1. Play on Mistplay (126 points target) - 2 points so far
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - no videos available today yet  
3. Make moving planner for customer and post off
4. Make jewellery planner for Etsy order and post off
5. Make guardian gnome for Etsy order and post off - made just waiting for glitter to dry before posting  
6. Try and get some washing dry outside - not a hope - its a really awful day so wet  
7. Contact Council regarding existing claim for pothole damage - DONE email sent advising them they need to reply to avoid me taking court action against them  
8. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get some more orders
9. Check free postcode lottery, winadinner and freemoji - DONE not a winner  
10. Complete Prime Opinion survey
11. Sort jumble ready to take to village hall
12. Enjoy some family time - DONE spent half an hour each with the kids (then they got bored of me )
13. Chippy shift (4.5 hours) - DONE  
14. NSD - DONE  

Baileys_Babe

Morning @craftingmad

Sorry to here you are having to deal with more pothole problems.

I've been away with the wider family for most of the last 2 weeks so I have hardly had any time online, but I'm back now to cheer you on.

Congratulations on the Etsy orders.

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

Morning @craftingmad

Sorry to here you are having to deal with more pothole problems.

I've been away with the wider family for most of the last 2 weeks so I have hardly had any time online, but I'm back now to cheer you on.

Congratulations on the Etsy orders.

Thanks Baileys - your support means so much and really helps to keep me motivated so thank you x