The final countdown to June 2026

V3cash

Happy new year 🥳 
wow it’s the final countdown, will be following til the end!
my hubby and I always try and fix things ourselves first and it sometimes pays off, my hubby made a shelf and sorted boot cupboard with an spare cupboard door, looks great, just cost of coat hooks.
definitely worth a try DIY first, good luck 🤞 
As for the calorie situation i think the whole nation is with you, at least you are reducing it with the gym 👍
I am gonna use it as an opportunity for grocery saving challenge 🤣 2026!
luckily we didn’t get too much as daughter was away so a bit easier.

Jessy103

Happy New Year CK! So close to paying off that mortgage now, I'm excited for you x

ladysummerisle

carboot_karaoke said:

carboot_karaoke said:

Evening everyone,

I have been enjoying a lazy day, before returning to work.

The Xmas break has given me a chance to plan for the future. And set priorities, financial and otherwise. 

This year the aim is to reduce our mortgage balance by £28,000 that's more than my annual gross salary 😳.

I know it will be tough, but l also know it's the best opportunity I have to get a big chunk paid.  Things can and do change quickly.  Everyone at home is working atm, and the property has tenants for another 6 months.  Income wise, this is as good as it gets.  

In preparation, I've set aside some money that's divided into a kids' pot, food spend & utility bill float,  car insurance & mot, rental property emergency fund and our own Emergency fund. With the planned overpayments this year there won't be funds to save the equivalent for 2026.



 

Evening all, 

So as if you needed reminding it's 2026 !! 

I was scrolling through old posts and dug out this one exactly,  1 year ago today.  

If you had told my 2025 self we would pay £40,000 off our mortgage l would never had believed it.  It's like game show winning money but,  it did happen.  

This has put us into the incredible position of nearly been mortgage free  (well as good as) hoping this year will be full of love, laughter and great memories ❤️.  

£40000 is a staggering amount of money, let alone in a year! I have a feeling this year it’ll just snowball and the balance will be gone in a blink.

carboot_karaoke

Thank you @V3cash we're still waiting for parts to arrive and the inevitable arguments over exactly how we're doing this commence 🤭🤣

2026 is an exciting year for both of us @Jessy103 and thank you @ladysummerisle 😊

I made it to the gym on friday and today lets see how long it lasts. 

After yet another email complaining about the washing machine we had a "senior engineer" come out on Friday who appears to have fixed the problem. Nice fresh smelling clothes at last !! 

I had to go food shopping Friday  so I've brought my first holiday purchases 😁, new toothbrushes & toothpaste, 2 x Robinsons squashed ideal for travel (l always find the fruit juice too sweet abroad and don't want the kids on fizzy drinks constantly) and a new pack of Uno cards  it came to £13.56. I've made a list of things l plan to take and a few things to buy aiming to keep all of this within £150 paid for by underspending on our grocery budget.  

I've made a few personal purchases as well, a new tablet cover £12.74  and gym gloves for £17.99(l was pleased with them today) I've got two lunch dates this month and a hairdressers appointment so need the rest of the time to be NSD. 

Speaking of spending l think the hot tub has cost about £30-40 to use for 4 days. Definitely not a regular occurrence but the novelty meant it was used every day by us and the kids.   Not looking forward to packing it away it's quite a task to ensure it's completely dry. 

While we've been off Mr Ck agreed to me booking a lodge with a hot tub for Feb half term... I've the details in our joint calendar along with the final payment date. Can't wait to see his face when he realises where we are actually going.  It's 26 degrees there all this week 😎. 

Dare l say I'm looking forward to a return to routine tomorrow.  Although definitely not the waking up early and the school run.

l have lots of goals financial and otherwise for 2026 but l need sort out priorities and will update once again then. 

Enjoy your Sunday X 

carboot_karaoke

Afternoon all

I hope you all made it to work safely it was freezing this morning 🥶🥶🥶not what you need on the first day back to work.

I keep thinking about my 2026 plans, but my mind bounces from one thing to the next so i'm going to try and establish some clear goals beginning with finances....this is a MSE forum after all 😉

Financial 

1) The first thing is, our plan to be mortgage neutral by the summer to do this we need to pay £17,000 off our current balance of £23,000. The remaining £6,000 will be offset by our house and rental emergency funds totalling £6,000. This would mean we wouldn't pay any interest on the mortgage but would keep the borrowing facility open should we need to make a large purchase in the future. This is something we have already done twice, the first time to extend our house and the second to buy a rental property. 

However....it occurred to me that keeping the mortgage going until its conclusion will incur a cost firstly to keep paying the mortgage insurance over the term will cost approx £1600 in insurance. Secondly, that £6,000 could be in a savings account earning interest, maybe several £100's over the five years we have remaining. 

This has made me think perhaps we should just clear the whole thing and be done with it, if the tenants stay realistically we could be at £0 by September. Its not a decision we need to make right away but definitely something we need to consider. 

Your thoughts are welcomed

2) Following the success of last year I'm challenging myself to make £365 this year.  If l succeed or even if l don't any money raised will go towards a nice weekend away at the end of the year.  We really enjoyed our time this year and it will be even better off it's "Free". So far l have £20 in my top cash back account. I'll keep track in my signature. 

3) Clear the loan its not a huge amount but I'll feel better when its paid. I made another £100 payment today so the balance is £500. 

carboot_karaoke

Apart from financial things they're are some other things l would like to do this year...

Family 

1) Its our 25th Anniversary this year so l want to plan a fitting treat for Mr CK 

2) I always try to plan family time, but this year I'd like to plan a day out with each of my children doing something l know they'd love.  They're all very different so I'll have to give it some thought.  But that's half the fun 😁 

Personal

1) Get fit 💪🏽 make regular exercise a priority- l know it's such a cliche but it makes a massive difference physically and mentally. With menopause looming l think I'm going to need all the help l can get...😂

2) Complete the Payroll course l signed up for.  I have until June to finish but I'd like it done by March.

3) Declutter 52 things I tried and failed to get this done last year but a steady 4/5 things a month seems doable.  

I think thats enough for now to many things becomes a bit much but hopefully l can do what I've planned.  

beanielou

Get rid of the mortgage.  Priceless. 

Jessy103

Get rid of it, you will not regret it! X

carboot_karaoke

Thanks, Beanie & Jessy I had a feeling you might say that.

Your right off course, no point paying for things unnecessarily. I suppose we just have to decide if we are likely to need access to the available funds i.e. are we planning on a second rental property? I'm not personally, but Mr Ck has mentioned it occasionally. 

If we decide to relinquish the mortgage then we would need to save a larger contingency fund in case an unexpected cost arose. Still doable by the end of the year. Lots to think about 🤔

In other news l made it to the gym this morning !! I cant tell you how much l didn't want to go and when l woke up at 4.45am l thought that was the nail in the coffin. But at 6.05am I was outside defrosting the car. The workout wasn't great but at the moment I'm just trying to build consistency. Hoping for one more visit this week and one on the weekend 💪

The rest of the week is looking busy on top of work, school runs, life in general l have my speed awareness course. At least its keeping me in the house away from the shops l have a 3-day NSD streak☺️  . 

carboot_karaoke

Hi Everyone,

I have successfully completed my speed awareness course today. I have to say it was very informative.

Been at home I took the opportunity to move money around and have made my first £1000 OP of the year. 

I also bit the bullet and have repaid the loan in full  😊 l know statistically it would have been better used against my mortgage but it makes me feel better to have repaid a kindness and to know I'm down to just the mortgage and 0% CC. 

The weather is predicted to be really bad towards the end of the week so I went food shopping. Apart from that (separate budget) it's been a NSD.