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

craftingmad

After finally getting through to the BTL1 mortgage company I can finally post my update for July 24 so here goes:-

JULY 24 PROGRESS=

 BTL Mortgage 1 Balance 9th July 24 £36136,54 - Balance 7th August 2024 £35789.76

 BTL Mortgage 2 £81,644.71 NO CHANGE

 BTL Mortgage 3 £77,497.02 - NO CHANGE

TOTAL AMOUNT OWED:-  1st July 2024 - £195278.27 - 7th August 2024 £194931.49

Total amount paid off mortgages in July 2024 = £346.78

Savings added to OP savings pot in July 2024 = £2780.51

TOTAL AMOUNT FOR JULY 2024 =  £3127.29

TOTAL AMOUNT FOR 2024 SO FAR = £28,541.16

It feels like slow progress but it is progress so I'll take it  

craftingmad

Morning all,

I'm a little later posting today as I have been having to do some housework to try and get the house back to a reasonable level ready for hubby coming back home today I hate housework but I have bitten the bullet and done some but am stopping that now and instead focusing my efforts on climbing up another little footstep on our mortgage mountain (its much more fun)  

Our son is driving himself into and back from work today so until I get my texts from him my heart will be beating a little faster - I know he is a good little driver but it does not stop me worrying - anyone else relate? Please tell me it gets easier the longer they have been doing it  

I have work at 4.30pm at the chippy which I am dreading as both the bosses are being complete ar**es and I'm working with the teenager who is a total pain to work with as she thinks she's so much better and will not communicate what she is doing so I know what to do next at all   My heart is telling me to just wants to jack it in but my head is saying its only for another couple of months at most before they let me go for the winter so I am torn. I will see what happens tonight but I do know the wages are really helping me make a little dent towards our target. I'll let you know how it went tomorrow  

So I'm going to crack on with my little list for the day and see how much I can accomplish - wish me luck - I'm going in

 So today I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - DONE 62 points earnt  
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE two videos watched for a total of 16p  
3. Reply to plantable cards enquiry on Etsy - DONE quoted £25.75 plus postage so fingers crossed they are happy and I hear back from them soon Sadly somebody had quoted them £10 which I can cannot compete with as the materials would cost more yet alone my time  
4. Reply to keyring enquiry on facebook - DONE quoted £3.75 a keyring - don't think she wants to pay more than a £1 so will be very unlikely I will get a sale from it sadly  
5. Transfer paypal money for invite order into savings account to start earning interest - DONE £7.42 added into OP savings account - not much but at least it earns a small amount of interest in that account rather than paypal
6. Make and post positivity bee for Etsy order - made and will post off on way to collect daughter from work to save petrol  
7. Renew Facebook marketplace listings - DONE 16 listings renewed - fingers crossed for some sales
8. Look for heart dies somebody wants to purchase - looked but sadly cannot find at the moment - flippin hubby has moved things again  
9. Get two loads of washing out on the line - two loads on line - bonus third load in machine 
10. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get a few orders
11. Check freepostcode lottery
12. Complete Prime Opinion survey  
13. Enjoy a walk with doggo - Had a little wander this morning but it then got a bit hot so hopefully she will like one this evening when I get back from the chippy  
14. Post in a facebook group to try and drum up more sales
15. Take a course from one of my memberships
16. Design three new card making sheets for membership idea
17. Chippy shift (4.300pm - 9pm) - DONE  
18. NSD - DONE  

That should keep me out of mischief for the day and give me a good excuse for not doing anymore housework  

Baileys_Babe

Morning craftingmad, I hope you all made it home safely yesterday.

Do your children contribute to the house work? I find when we keep up with it and do a little bit each day it isn't so bad, but when it has been neglected then it is like a huge mountain to tackle. 

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

Morning craftingmad, I hope you all made it home safely yesterday.

Do your children contribute to the house work? I find when we keep up with it and do a little bit each day it isn't so bad, but when it has been neglected then it is like a huge mountain to tackle. 

Thanks Baileys - everybody home safe and sound

My daughter does nothing to help around the house but my son is not too bad - he will load the dishwasher when asked and he takes out the rubbish for me when his dad is not around. 

I do need to get more forceful I think with both of them though and get them helping me out more x

craftingmad

Morning all,

I didn't have time to post yesterday as was in work for 9am and then  popped along to optitions in the afternoon to check my glasses prescription was correct. It turns out it is and they are just super duper so my fear of having varifocals was unjustified as they just seem like normal glasses to me - maybe it was worth paying the £450 for them after all  

I've got the chippy tonight which I have to be honest I'm not looking forward too but I'm going to try and suck it up for the greater good and it is payday from them today so that always makes things a little better  

I was hoping hubby and I might do something exciting this morning before I have to go to work this afternoon but it appears he just wants to sit and watch the olympics and snooze on the sofa so I'm going to try and be productive in the 5 hours I have until I have to leave for work.

 So today I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - 2 points earnt so far   
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE one videos watched for a total of 8p   
3. Reply to enquiry about card topper - DOONE fingers crossed I might be able to sell my first membership to my cardmaking club  
4. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get a few orders
5. Check freepostcode lottery
6. Complete Prime Opinion survey  
7. Enjoy a walk with doggo - DONE had a lovely walk with hubby and doggo around our village  
8. Post in a facebook group to try and drum up more sales
9. Take a course from one of my memberships
10. Design three new card making sheets for membership idea - one done  
11. Chippy shift (4.30pm - 9pm) - DONE ended up finishing at 9.30pm so a little extra for next week pay packet  
12. NSD - DONE  

Baileys_Babe

Your children need to be contributing to the running of the house, it is there home as well as yours. Remember they will be learning valuable life skills. 

Between the 3 of you can you work out a fair chores rota? I wouldn't assign hubby any chores unless their are things only he has the skills for he can just chip in when he is around. Remember he will need to recover from the long commute home, but he should still be helping everyone with cooking, cleaning and tidying etc

craftingmad

Baileys_Babe said:

Your children need to be contributing to the running of the house, it is there home as well as yours. Remember they will be learning valuable life skills. 

Between the 3 of you can you work out a fair chores rota? I wouldn't assign hubby any chores unless their are things only he has the skills for he can just chip in when he is around. Remember he will need to recover from the long commute home, but he should still be helping everyone with cooking, cleaning and tidying etc

That sounds like a good plan Baileys.
I will sit down and try and work something out so everything does not just fall onto my shoulders.
Thanks x

craftingmad

Morning all,

Sorry for lack of posts. I've been busy working and enjoying some time with hubby on his week off shift  

I've been thinking about what I was going to do after October as all my "holiday season" jobs will be coming to an end and although I originally thought I was just going to take it easy, I saw a couple of cafe jobs advertised which are year round so decided to apply for them. I've only gone and got myself an interview for one this Friday which makes me feel good about myself (especially as they contacted me 10 minutes after I applied) but I am now also slightly terrified at the thought My game plan is to just be myself and show them I have the experience and skills to do the job and what will be will be. The money coming in all year round will certainly help in our quest to become mortgage free asap but I'm trying to put that pressure out of my mind.

Other fairly major news is that I have received a text from the chippy today saying that the annoying girl I work with has quit and accordingly they need me to do extra hours which is great from the money side of things but I'm not so sure about my mental health and time for myself side really. I am going to mull it over today and see how I feel about it. It could also mean that this job will carry on throughout the winter which would be good but we shall have to wait and see what they decide. They told me last year I would continue throughout winter and then dropped me like a sack of spuds so I am always a little wary of anything they say  

I really don't know how I get myself into these situations - I need to practise saying no and believing in my own worth a little bit more I think!

I've only got two hours at the cafe today (to be honest that is not really worth it by the time I have travelled there and back and taken petrol into account) but it is what it is so I'll just suck it up and get on with it. Even though the shift is annoyingly right in the middle of the day I am hoping that I can get some bits crossed off my to do list which will hopefully pay dividends later on and help us in our mortgage mountain climb.

So I'm going to crack on and see how much I can achieve today. Wish me luck, I'm going in  

So today I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - 2 points earnt so far  
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE one videos watched for a total of 8p
3. Reply to enquiry about card topper - DONE fingers crossed for a sale  
4. Reply to enquiry about stickers - DONE got an order for £30  
5. Reply to FB marketplace message about plastic medals for sale - DONE can you believe I'm offering 98 medals for £5 and they want to know my lowest price - err £5 as the cheapest I can find them is for £25!!!  
6. Pay chippy wages into savings account - DONE £130 added to balance
7. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get a few orders - commented on two so far  
8. Return library books to save fines - DONE still need to find the five hubby has lost  
9. Raise custom order for return Etsy customer - DONE hopefully will get the order for £36.95  
10. Schedule social media posts for this week
11. Check freepostcode lottery
12. Complete Prime Opinion survey  
13. Enjoy a walk with doggo - DONE had a lovely walk with hubby and doggo around our village before it gets too hot 
14. Get hubby to look for heart dies he has moved from conservatory and which lady wants to buy
15. Tidy craft room to see if I can find missing heart dies (just in case they are hiding in here)
16. Get a load of washing dry outside - in washing machine at the moment  
17. Give availability to Burger King for the next few weeks - DONE
18. List something for sale on FB Marketplace
19. Post in a facebook group to try and drum up more sales
20. Take a course from one of my memberships
21. Design three new card making sheets for membership idea
22. Cafe shift (12.30pm - 2.30pm) - DONE  
23. NSD - FAILED went for an ice cream and sat by the river with hubby. Ended up having chippy tea out (from chippy where I work) which he gave us for free so a cheap but lovely dinner and evening  

craftingmad

Morning all,

Well so much for my day off on Friday - it seems I am now working at the chip shop for 5 hours in the afternoon/evening I suppose I can rest another day and the money will be put to good use getting these balances down I've also picked up an extra two and a half hour shift at lunchtime on Saturday so a little bit extra coming from there too. It will all help in our quest to climb that mortgage mountain but I just hope my menopausal body will be up to the challenge  

I've got a 5 hour shift at the cafe this afternoon so I'm pretty happy that it feels a bit cooler today. It was so hot in there yesterday. Mind you the sunshine is lovely and it even puts hubby in a good mood  

Yesterday was a good day for my business too as I picked up two orders totalling just over £60 so I'm a happy bunny about that as things have been so quiet with it recently. I know partly it is due to me not being able to devote as much time to it as I did when I was working but I also know its tough financially for so many people right now that having my part time jobs is best for us at this moment in time  

Hubby is back off to work this evening and daughter is off to London this afternoon ready for her Taylor Swift concert tomorrow evening so it will just be me, son and the doggo this evening. I'm planning a quicky dinner and relaxing in front of the tele watching something they all hate but I love. Lots of doggy cuddles too if she will let me  

Right I'm going to try and crack on with my list and see what I can achieve in the hour before I have to go to work - wish me luck

 So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - DONE 107 points earnt  
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE one videos watched for a total of 8p 
3. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get a few orders
4. Get hubby to hunt for library books and heart dies he has moved to the "safe place" only he knows about but cannot remember!
5. Schedule social media posts for this week
6. Check freepostcode lottery
7. Complete Prime Opinion survey  
8. Enjoy a walk with doggo - hubby ended up taking her as I got called into BK  
9. Tidy craft room to see if I can find missing heart dies (just in case they are hiding in here)
10. List something for sale on FB Marketplace
11. Post in a facebook group to try and drum up more sales
12. Take a course from one of my memberships
13. Design one new card making sheet for membership idea
14. Cafe shift (12.00pm - 5.00pm) - DONE ended up not finishing until 5.30pm  
15. NSD - DONE  

craftingmad

Morning all,

Well I managed almost nothing yesterday as I also got called into Burger King straight after my cafe shift and done a 3.25 hour shift there. By the time I got back home I was shattered so not much got crossed off my to do list  

The dog was a nightmare last night - she was up and down all night long and had to go out for a poo at 2.30am - not the time I really want to be walking around our village. I'm feeling shattered before today has even begun  

Son gets his AS level results today so I'm feeling nervous for him.

 So today I HOPE I WILL:-

1. Play on Mistplay (50 points target) - 27 points so far today  
2. Watch videos on WeR8 - DONE one videos watched for a total of 8p 
3. Decide on an outfit for interview tomorrow - DONE using my black smart work trousers and a black thin jumper with a fake shirt detailing - hoping for smart but not too formal
4. Print off CV and Food Hygiene certificates for interview tomorrow - DONE  
5. See if I can gain access to Acorn system from National Trust to access payslips - DONE and I can now finally access them from home  
6. Print sticker order for FB customer
7. Print flyers for Etsy customer
8. Comment on in search of posts to hopefully get a few orders
9. Schedule social media posts for this week
10. Check freepostcode lottery
11. Complete Prime Opinion survey  
12. Tidy craft room to see if I can find missing heart dies (just in case they are hiding in here)
13. List something for sale on FB Marketplace
14. Post in a facebook group to try and drum up more sales
15. Take a course from one of my memberships
16. Design one new card making sheet for membership idea
17. Chippy shift (4.30pm - 9.30pm) - DONE it was a really hard and busy shift tonight  
18. NSD - DONE