My Five Year Focused, Frugal and Fun Challenge

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary.

StripeyTightsSpottySocks

Aw lovely to have visitors @skint_spice and @beanielou I have also read parts of your progress previously 

thank you @South_coast

tomorrow I’ll think about the small things I do each day to support my goals 

StripeyTightsSpottySocks

Well the figures on my first post weren’t correct  I’m not sure if that was to do with using my phone to post or the awful online banking for the mortgage and how things are displayed- I cannot wait to remortgage away from them.

Anyway, it’s the 1st of May I think this needs to be Month 1 as it’s when the interest is added and I do all I can leading up to this date 

The interest on my smaller mortgage was £92.37, which I work out as £3.08 a day.

I can’t wait to be paying more off the mortgage but I need to pay the cards off first before I start to incur any interest.

The card balance is now £10,911.76. The lowest balance is £503.76 so I’m going to have a mini challenge of clearing that by 1st June. It is a big ask but I will do all I can. Any suggestions for any extra income I’m happy to try 


I had a couple of sales which I paid to the balance- just things I don’t want/ need any more. I only have lower value items left as I sold lots of things to get the mortgage here.

Lots of jobs to do before I start work so I’ll get on with those now 

StripeyTightsSpottySocks

I’ve been making payments where I can off the card I’m focusing on at the moment. I was expecting a refund for something but it’s going to be a credit note instead. I will eventually use the items I will spend it on but would rather have paid it to the cards.

I have not listed anything to sell for a few days so I definitely need to start that again - to declutter, gain space and £’s for the debt.

I have been let down on some work I was going to have done on the house   so I’ve taken the decision to just pay that money back to the cards to lower the balance owed. The work can wait until the house is all mine 

it was just over £1,100 so I paid this off the next target card - this way I keep track of the lower balance easier 

I also made a small overpayment to the smaller mortgage - £1.47 to tidy the account up  I usually can’t do this as my budget is so tight but it was so satisfying to round the balance down 

I can’t wait for pay day - as is usually the case   but I’m looking forward to paying what I can to the debts and then seeing where my balances are up to on 1st May 

StripeyTightsSpottySocks

Another couple of small payments from sales made to the target card 

payday is over 2 weeks away and there is very little left in the bank - £4.21 - it would have been more but I just bought a reduced meal and things for breakfast for just over £3. This is where I need to be stricter with myself. The food was good and healthy which is at least something.

I'm mainly posting just now as I’m feeling a bit down, so writing here to try and talk myself through it as well as making sure I keep updating my diary to help with motivation.

i know a few people who have moved recently, as well as reading some diaries on here - it is lovely and inspiring hearing people who are so happy to have their forever home. This is not what I’ve bought.. I had to move and bought what I could afford. 

It is still an asset and I guess an investment as I pay the mortgage and gradually own more if it. So I need to still stick with the plan and do all I can to pay things off. Then I may be in a position to look for my forever home.

in the meantime I need to do the jobs which I can do myself to make living here feel nicer.

I'm also deeply unhappy with my weight - 12st 3.5lbs
i have rethought doing everything at once to tackle this - drinking more water and daily walks are what I plan to do until the end of this month - aiming to be under 12st by June.

then I’ll introduce something else and a new weight target. 

Some of the weight has come on since moving and.. I guess.. comfort eating  but I’m aware of it now.

All my friends are mortgage free in their forever homes - through either lucky circumstances or hard work / good jobs. They are all in relationships. I am lucky as these are really good friends and whilst some people have visited my new home and been quite shocked (it’s very small and needs work) my friends have been encouraging and positive. I guess most people don’t realise my wage is significantly less than the national average which doesn’t buy much.

I need to start going out more and having more fun. I think I’ve gotten a bit sad and stopped enjoying things somewhere in the stress of finding somewhere to move - or face the alternative to pay more than the mortgage payments on rent somewhere- all the rental places here go very quickly.

From tomorrow I’ll try and post
weight
steps
water 
for accountability 

beanielou

Comparison is the thief of joy. 

skint_spice

Well said Beanie, it’s easy to get into that mindset Stripey but at the end of the day this is where you are and you can make the best of it or get down about it. I had what I thought was my forever home with my ex but treading on eggshells most days was awful so I much prefer my wee house now.

Good luck with your weight loss, I am trying and failing to lose half a stone!

StripeyTightsSpottySocks

Thank you @beanielou and @skint_spice

i think it’s just accepting that where I am now is going to be temporary. It’s good I know this now

when I’ve paid off the mortgage and get the work done on the house I won’t spend as much as I may have done as any improvements will be with a view to selling or renting rather than staying 

although I popped to the shop earlier I didn’t spend anything  and made a perfectly acceptable meal with stuff I was going to use for breakfast and a dish which needed using this month 

I've listed 3 things for sale today which I’m happy with  no interest yet though 

and I’ve done a couple of small cleaning jobs to make things nicer and easier here

work has been intensely busy for a while now and today was very full on - the weekends definitely disappear too quickly - but I need more balance rather than being very drained at the end of the day / week

going to spend 15 minutes ensuring the house is tidy and organising some more things to list for sale tomorrow 

skint_spice

I had a tidy up today and I am quite shocked at the amount of stuff I have, I need to get listing so well done to you.

LadyWithAPlan

beanielou said:

Comparison is the thief of joy. 

This is so true. Maybe think of what you have acheived - an actual mortgage on your own! Well done !
Good that you could use the works refund money to get your cc down