Follow the Yellow Brick Road 2023

redofromstart

Must admit that I have a burning urge to visit the patisserie counter as a result of thinking about it. Fatal. 

SandyShores

Friday Update

Senior Railcard ordered - £70 spent but will be good for the socialising I am planning

Fleabay - discounted fees available this weekend, so I've uploaded the book I want to sell.

Another item gifted and will drop off in the week.

Progress made on the decluttering - I've drafted a 4 x 7 grid with 28 decluttering tasks in the boxes, with the suggested regular daily cleaning list on the back.   It would be good to eventually put this onto something more permanent such as a small whiteboard that I can tick off but re-use.

As planned, the first decluttering task being tackled is the paperwork.  Step 1 was to go through the mountain of paperwork and sort into two piles: keep and throw.  I then went through the 'throw' pile and removed any addresses etc.  I now have 200 documents ready for recycling and a smaller pile of bits of paper that need confidentially destroying - I'm thinking of trying to do that in the fire pit tomorrow.  The 'keep' documents have gone back into the drawer with the folders for now - it will take a good effort to get it all filed away but just getting to this stage feels so much better.

redofromstart I would definitely be partaking of the pastries if I lived nearby

SandyShores

Day 4 of not resorting to scrolling etc. to get to sleep.  I managed to finish the half-read book last night, its a borrowed book so can declutter back to the lender.  Although I was really tired, my monkey brain started chattering every time I put it down.  Tried hot milk, and then I found a novel in my 'uncollected' kindle folder, and that finally did the trick.  So slightly tired today, but pleased not to have resorted to electronics.  A total of two books read now, but another added to the collection - I need to read a couple a month if I want to get on top of this by Christmas.  

Updated my signature with the books completed, and I also realised I have two very low interest saving accounts with £2.52 total, so signature updated with that too - its a start.  Next week I need to think about opening a regular saver and the Barx saver to start depositing the planned OPs.  £73,657 to save by next June, and then want to cut another 7 years off the mortgage term (approx another £70k).  Tall order but if you don't try.

Had a discussion with DH about re-organising the garage, it means clearing/tidying some shelves - eurghhh where does all this clutter come from!!  But it will be worth doing.  I've a couple of ideas and there is some room in the loft - but only for items that we genuinely need to keep, or use say once or twice a year.  Hopefully one day we will get some dry mild weather as I'd like to drag everything out and then only put back stuff we are keeping.

LadyWithAPlan

SandyShores said:

Day 3 of leaving the phone alone at bedtime went really well.  I managed to get to sleep fairly easily and have under 50 pages of the half-read book left to read.  My instinct this morning was to reach for the phone, but instead reached for the book and read a couple of pages before coffee.  

Thanks savingholmes and redofromstart for your insights re. the pensions.  On those calculations we should be absolutely fine if we keep going as we are.  Will re-visit again in 12-18 months time when some decisions will need to be made, but in the meantime - breathe   (breathes out and relaxes).

Its paperwork decluttering day today - something I've been putting off for a long-time.  I used to keep everything in a neat folder and have a ToDo pile - now I just seem to have a pile (or two or three).  Its a daunting task but one I'm looking forward to completing.

The last thing at night/first thing in morning grabbing of the phone is definitely an issue for me. I was v good on my new 'leave phone outside bedroom'  habit then got distracted after a full on night out. So got to get myself back into the habit.. Rome wasnt built in a day ...

Glad the pension  forward calculations are looking on track..

SandyShores

Thanks LadyWithAPlan, I'm glad I'm not the only one.  I guess it takes a while to break the habit, but I'm determined to do it.

Money used to give me sleepless nights and I am a huge worrier.  Getting debt-free was amazing, but I also worried about going into retirement in rental accommodation (our step off the market was only supposed to be a pause).  It  was harder than expected trying to become homeowners again and when we bought this place I wasn't sure how it would all work out financially.  But things are slowly slotting into place, and I'm making sure we take it step by step with a bit of plan in place - and hopefully a bit of luck too

redofromstart

I try to just read my kindle after my bath. Anything else just keeps me awake. 

savingholmes

Glad the pension prompts helped. 

Well done on the paperwork decluttering - a small bonfire is likely to be quicker and cheaper than shredding!

Good luck with your garage plans.

SandyShores

Thanks savingholmes in can be difficult to know what to do, but I have a plan.  No guarantees, but it means I can get on with life while working through the plan.  In a nutshell, if it all goes as planned we'll pay the mortgage off by SPA and still have pensions for what I would call a comfortable life.  If things go awry in anyway there are still options to take, and if our PBs come up big time, well that's one option that I don't need to worry about at the moment

Had a great weekend and did a good clean (from the 30 days book) - it was supposed to be a daily clean but there's no way I can fit that 2 hours in every day.  I'll be able to do the main highlights though and it certainly makes the house feel more together already.  Right going to have a quick look around the threads before I go onto day 6 of my no electronics at bedtime routine.  

savingholmes

Having a plan is the important part. You've achieved so much in recent years.

SandyShores

Quick update: £14.30 received from webuyboks, and 41p from cashback site.  Sent off to the mortgage.

Edit - and OP'd another £5.91 to round it down