Follow the Yellow Brick Road 2023

redofromstart

Ooh nice win!

SandyShores

Thanks redofromstart it was a lovely surprise. 

savingholmes

Lovely win. Enjoy your weekend.

SandyShores

Thanks savingholmes its been a lovely day 1.  Lots of gardening done, still more to do, but its all taking shape.  More gardening tomorrow, but Monday sounds like a wash out in terms of weather, so I'll be able to get some indoor things done.

FlacosFloozie

Congratulation on the win!

SandyShores

Thanks @FlacosFloozie, it was a lovely feeling.  Also feels good to know my PB investment isn't stagnating, and there's always a chance of a big win too fingers crossed.

As I'm getting older it feels strange thinking about paying off the mortgage when I'm 74 - will I be healthy enough to enjoy being debt-free, will I even be around?  It made me question for a moment whether I should have enjoyed myself more instead of scrimping to get out of debt - and then I thought oh no, enjoying myself more is why I had to scrimp to get out of debt   Its all a balance isn't it - we're very lucky to have our home and health so lets enjoy it while working off the mortgage.  I'm going to stop looking ahead to the mortgage free days and focus on the wins we are achieving (such as paying extra months off early) each month while enjoying life responsibly (financially).

FlacosFloozie

It's very easy to second guess ourselves, isn't it? A large part of my debt was down to the fact that Mr F had cancer in our 20s and we were left with the feeling of needing to enjoy life now in case the future didn't happen. 20 years later we are both still here and feeling that we maybe could have enjoyed life a little less back then... but you do the best you can at the time.

Finding a balance is crucial. It looks like you've already knocked nearly a year of your term which is fantastic! Things change over time, you may well get a pay rise or a bigger premium bond win and be able to pay things off even faster.

savingholmes

I relate to Flaco - although less extreme. We had friends die young and it put us on a path to debt as it felt like who knew whether you'd live to enjoy savings. Roll on a few decades and that philosophy came back to bite big time. Thankfully Sandy you nipped your debt into check and have a plan to clear your mortgage and if you ever need to release the equity you'll have options.

SandyShores

Thanks for sharing FlacosFloozie I agree with both you and Savingholmes.  Sound advice and very relatable.  I'm looking forward to enjoying the next 25+ years without worrying (well as much as possible for a worrier).

Like a lot of others, we've been out working in the garden lately.  We've been buying bits and pieces here and there and have most things in place - the plants need to do their job by growing now.  The credit card has made a few appearances, and I've totted up the damage to around £650, plus two sore backs (so lots of deep heat purchases).  That's this months garden spends and next months gone - but so good to have it all done and we can enjoy it for the coming years.  

I've a few 'like to haves' such as a water feature, raised beds for veg, maybe an arbour and another planter (or possibly two).   But those are purchases for those Sundays when you are at a loose end, and for when the credit card/our backs have well and truly recovered - for now we are going to enjoy it all.

savingholmes

Well done on sorting the garden. I'm with you on how quickly spends can mount up. You'll get hours of 'viewing pleasure' from it though. On the raised beds - I bought some wood ones from garden centres and bnq. You can get pallet collars cheaper on FB but they were never the right distance from me. You need a lot of compost to fill them though - and they aren't strictly necessary although they do make things look neater.