Buying a little piece of Middle England; Manifesting my way to mortgage free.

debtfreewannabe321

HotDog2020 said:

Well done on getting your first big EF, we are both working on the same task, I diverged slightly lately getting the bathroom renovated, however now that is nearly over the next thing is to get back to saving hard for a rainy day which is a big task, I know it. Well done...also your old employers really shouldn't take any money from you - that is bad if they have asked that, why don't you work out if it is correct and if you think it is correct do not give them any money back...they are a positively horrid company to work for if that is what they do/ they are incompetent/ or plain horrid I feel for you and I am glad you are out of there. 

If you are having trouble working it out you can get an idea from the salary calculator, they have hours and different modifcations for overtime, student loan and tax code, I hope this helps. let me know if you need a link, Martin has one on the website somewhere.

@HotDog2020 My pay was equated so I was having issues working it all out. I did say to DP though on my rough calculation I should have one more payslip (which is this one) and then I think that's right ... I just knew they'd messed up two people's pay who'd already left so I was worried they'd do the same to me. They also requested money back from one ex employee stating they'd over payed 🤦🏻‍♀️ basically they haven't a clue what they're doing. I'm happy though I've received what I thought I was due 😁

beanielou

That's great 

HotDog2020

debtfreewannabe321 said:

Good news I've been paid already 😁 moved it straight out so I wasn't tempted to spend it. I now have 1 goal out of 3 complete already! £1500+ in My EF woop!

Hi, Would it be worth creating a new plan of action, a new graph with a new plan and colour chart for your new position in life, also I really like the idea of a square represents a fixed amount of money etc. It looks like you are definetly getting somewhere, however perhaps a new graph with your new plans would be appropriate - if you think it would take 6 months to find another job as it sounds like it could take a while perhaps 6 months EF - but all this is for you to decide and make up your mind on. I think I am going to create a picture for my EF fund as that is what I am trying to save for, Only I haven't strictly decided what amount to save...I have inspired myself to sort myself out!! Have funX

HotDog2020

I have just created this:-



I am just thinking the colour of the flame should be orange I will change this.

debtfreewannabe321

beanielou said:

That's great 

thanks Beanie

debtfreewannabe321

@hotdog2020 I love the tagline at the bottom.....I hope I can save money like I burn money this made me laugh a lot!

debtfreewannabe321

Morning all, 
Ooo I forgot to update my signature yesterday so I will do that in a bit. 

I am going round in circles with my goals. I have been thinking a lot on advice given on here and am grateful for all of it...these are my thoughts on it so far.
 
So, firstly, I spoke to DP as he needs to have input into this too if it is going to work, after all at the moment he is the sole income (aside from my maintenance and child benefit). I think he was rather enjoying paying down the mortgage so that when we go to re-mortgage in a couple of years we will be in a great place with a good LTV ratio to get another good deal. I agree with this. 

I am wanting to up the EF though so agree with all who said that needs to be done and perhaps more money moved to that. 

I have spoken to DP about the loan, we are not sure what to do with this. It is 0% and whilst £93 would be lovely back in the budget and being saved instead at a higher interest rate it would mean putting on hold other plans for now. We may round up payments to £100 for now to knock a month off. We have less than 2 years left on it as I just checked....

The savings pots like health, clothes, xmas, birthdays, DIY are non-negotiable they are staying. We spend SO much over the year on clothes for the kids (uniforms for school as well as air cadets, and non uniform). Even if we only buy for them two times a year the expense is always huge (to find out of nowhere anyway) so I would rather have the money in the account so that my EF is not touched. My son grew 5 inches over last year and went up 2 shoe sizes. My dd has stopped growing upwards but is now filling out so has gone from a size 6 to a size 8-10 so she is still needing new clothes. DP & I obviously need the odd new thing too.
DIY - we are nearing the end of this phase thankfully (we've had enough) but still have the odd things that need attention around the house like a leaking garage roof ( ) and birthdays and xmas are self-explanatory expenses.

That account I save into for all the clothes, diy, household and health has £175 left in which could be saved in the EF but I would rather keep it easy access. It is a good savings rate anyway so if we need it for anything it is there to take out in case of emergency. 

The xmas and Birthday has £405 in which I am really happy about too. I haven't saved money towards this since expense around 2015! With three kids, a DIL it is an expensive time. 

I remember going back a few years ago when I was on the DFW boards with a diary and the savings pots were very useful to me and saved my butt a few times from sinking further into debt so although maybe not recommended and I should be living on rice and beans and throwing everything at debt and into an EF I am going to state that won't work for everyone. I would end up taking out as much as I am putting in some months and that is demoralising to me. When my ex and I broke up and I had three kids to feed, no huge income, I emptied out every last pot I had saved and my focus and my morale was lost. So for my mental health and a morale boost I find it good to have lots of accounts, know what they are all there for and also have some cash in the house for emergencies (not much but just enough to buy some food or whatever if needed). It also helps me to feel 'rich' as in I am not going without. There is money for clothes shopping, money for chiropractors, money for DIY projects or a new set of pans for the kitchen...I feel like I am not struggling. And if we can make savings as well as feel like we're not struggling and going without then that's the option I am taking so those were my thoughts after I spent a long time thinking about what everyone has said.

So going forwards I will focus on that EF. But I am still going to make payments to the mortgage. We ideally would like to move again and would love to be at a 50-50 LTV ratio on our mortgage, we are not far off it so I think I should carry on. I would love 3 months of EF though. I have made it to £1500, my next goal is going to be £2000 I have decided. Small bite sized goals easy to achieve and boost morale at the same time. (updated signature now to reflect this).

I may well change my mind again though I am prone to doing this a lot.  
I have made another £10 this morning selling a TV that will go in the cash EF. 

I was working out how much we made extra this last month (still a few days left of this month so we may make more yet) and this is the breakdown:

Surveys: £85.25 cash
Surveys: £10 vouchers
Cashback: £20.38
Sales on FB/ v1nted: £540


We had a lot of stuff to sell from my friend, she asked us to do skip runs for her but on inspection of the stuff she was chucking out it was good furniture, tvs (she even threw out a 3D tv!) , old computers etc and we took a lot of it with her permission to sell on again. She couldn't be bothered so not sure if we will ever make that crazy amount again.. plus we also sold the koi on and a waterfall from the pond so they were good amounts. Be nice if we could all make this much extra every month eh ...I am pleased with the amounts I made on surveys and CB though, hoping to do this every month!
Edited to add my NSD - 11....this update has taken so long to write i keep getting distracted with the door and surveys and jobs around the house. Okay that's it for now. 

HotDog2020

It sounds like you have really thought about what you need to do, and all sounds good, motivation is a strong factor, if you know what gets you then you know what to do, so good for you. I undertsand about the pots now for different things, I don't have a huge family to fund so therefore I only take out the EF once or twice a year probably less then I would save, you have to do what is right for you. You have listened to our views on the EF so you must feel too it is a worthy cause, especially as your income could go down and not a job not in sight just yet, we are all just looking after your back and rooting for you. All the best HotdogX ps. Glad I made you laugh about the candle and burning money!! 😁

debtfreewannabe321

Ah jinx I was just posting on your diary @HotDog2020 yes I do think that you were all right on the EF! I will be honest and when I came back to MSE I didn't really even think about an EF until I was writing my first post and thought....hmm...perhaps I need one so I will work towards a few grand in there first for sure. The loan meh, sticking point I still haven't decided so will leave it be for now. And the jobs...I have applied for four but heard nothing on any yet. 
None are local though so I am unsure if they will be worth it....gawd I wish we hadn't moved now (again) life was much easier in the city for ease of getting to places. That reminds me I need to get this house finished and valued asap to see if it is viable to move! 

debtfreewannabe321

Rather than make a new chart I've added a cloud which equals another £1500 ...I will add more if I ever reach that one this year! Plenty more sky space or room for a tree or two 🤣