The Long and Winding Road

t2rry

It's been a while!  I'm keeping up with the save £12k in 2025 challenge, which for me is save £20k and going just fine.  I suppose that's all I feel I can do at the moment and it's just a case of keeping going month by month.

Waiting on annual pay rises coming through, which is always nice but these days feels like it's just replenishing some of the additional living costs we're already incurring.  A two steps backwards, one step forward scenario which can be disheartening but better than a kick in the teeth I suppose.

We have a summer holiday booked, we were planning on going away for the upcoming half term and again in late summer but we couldn't find a good enough deal to justify it so at least we're saving the money and spends too, the summer deal we've got is the best for a long time so shouldn't be too much of a hit when we get there.

A holiday on the horizon does inevitably mean I would like to try and lose some weight, though I'm not overweight at all, I'd love to lose best part of a stone to feel confident.  Maybe if I track it here it might give me the accountability I know I always need to bother.

edited: I'm doing it, weight tracking on here too, maybe it will indirectly save us some money in snacks! 
my starting point today is 9st 7.2lbs.  I'd like to get sub-9st.  I feel most confident sub-8st10 but that's much harder to get to so will see how I go.  No idea why I'm still stuck in st/lbs measurement but I am!

t2rry

I genuinely thought I'd posted the weight thing a week, maybe two weeks ago but no, it's three, what a waste of time.  I've started now, I'm down to 9st 6.2lbs so a whole pound down in 3 weeks, ugh.  Oh well, that's a kick to not waste any more time now!

mark55man

1 lb every 3 weeks is over a stone in a year!!  slow but sure absolutely rocks !!  

t2rry

well that's been a busy couple of months. All events and holidays passed without issue and with budgets in tact, which is a relief!  I'm looking forward to a couple of quiet months and hopefully scope to increase savings in a way we've not been able to over the last few.

On that note, pay rises should hit this month, which will include backpay and whilst I never count those chickens until they've hatched, it's something to look forward to.  I do love a spreadsheet shuffle!

t2rry

I got a new job! It's a step up, which is great, though not a wild salary increase.  I need to have a think about what work pattern I want to do because I could increase my income significantly if I'm prepared to go back to full time (I've been either 3 or 4 days really since having kids, 4 more recently) 

I already utilise a SIPP to 'avoid' 40% tax, so if I were to increase days and take the additional income I would need to 'avoid' it at a higher level, but it can't be a bad thing to be putting even more into my SIPP every year, even if its temporary?

My 'spreadsheet head' will always say 'take the increase' because who knows what could happen in life or even the next few years, I feel like I should take it whilst I can and maybe that keeps options a little more open in the future.

The 'life balance' head is the inevitable counterpoint because having some extra time has really helped with the whole family keeping some balance, being able to enjoy our weekends rather than them being filled with necessary chores and giving me time to plan, therefore avoid the curse of convenience.

It's a good dilemma to have 

t2rry

well where did that last few months go!? 
 
Update on the last update is that I did, in fact, opt for full time in the new job.  So far I think it was the right decision and I hold onto hope that it will, one day, prove to provide the ultimate delayed gratification via savings/retirement plans!!  The benefit for right now is that I have increased my net income by more than the additional borrowing we are about to take out will cost per month, so we are maintaining our saving level despite an additional loan.  I hope to turn this into a plan for overpaying/becoming mortgage neutral bit by bit over the next few years.

I'm off to spend my evening with my budget and spreadsheet to plan for 2026, the only thing I really love about starting a new year!! 

crunchy_time

Welcome back to the diaries!  

Hope you had a lovely evening with the spreadsheet!

Crunchy x