Investing in Us: Holidays, Health, and the Road to £150k

debtfreewannabe321

New diary for 2026 (I know I am a little early)! The last year has been so up and down for me, I would like some fresh energy and a new focus. If anyone is following me over from my old diary, then they may know I moved house end of 2024 and upped my mortgage from a comfortable sub 100k to approx £120k. Then this summer (2025) I got an extension on our new house, which added another 50k to the mortgage mountain (at this point it is feeling like a mountain 🤣 ) so we had £165k, I have already got this down to £161k (and a bit once this month’s interest goes on).

Here are some Financial Goals that DP and I would like to achieve by the end of 2026:

*£2000 emergency fund. Enough to pay all the bills for one month, or a real emergency. I have £700 in there at the moment.

*£3000 holiday fund. We want to go on a summer holiday; we are trying to work this in before most schools break up for summer. I work at a college, but we break up before schools.

*£150,000 mortgage balance. This is achievable if we pay £392 per month, according to my calculations. (Basically covering most of the interest payments each month).

*Paying off the catalogue (around £500 on interest free till next summer) and DP CC which he has paid for a course with – unsure of exact amount. I will say £3-4,000. This is so he can start a new sideline business which eventually he would like to transition into and out of his stressful job (which he loves but won’t be manageable forever!)

*We also have a kitchen loan but it's not a priority for me as on 0% ...

Personal Health Goals:

* I would LOVE to lose some weight. I think my pre meno weight is perhaps unachievable, so I am aiming for something more realistic, which still means around 1.5 stones to lose. Will have a think on how to go about this, as fasting used to be my go to but doesn’t seem to do it anymore for me.

* Getting an MOT on me – already have some tests and appointments booked in.

* Meditating again to manage stress levels.

* Walking. Now that my foot pain has subsided, I would like to get myself into walking again.

* Feeling fitter in myself. I used to be very fit and healthy and rarely got sick, then middle age hit me like a tonne of bricks, and I seem to have new symptoms to complain about every month 🤣

Other Personal Goals:

*DP and I want to get married. We will probably elope. I can then call him DH 😉

*Enjoying my work.

*Making use of the garden this spring and summer, last year it was mainly a building site and we were unable to get to much of it and if we could, there were builders always there with me lol. They are gone and so I would like to make the most of it this year 😄

* DP wants to start a new sideline business

DIY Goals:

I will try not to groan too much here...

*New gutters and fascias

*New patio (well we are happy to reuse the old slabs if they are usable tbf!)

*Saving towards a new shower room downstairs – I would love a downstairs loo and we have an empty space for it just need some cash for DP to fit it- well after putting up some walls haha!

DP & I both have new jobs to go into 2026 with! I start mine mid Jan and he starts his right after New Year! I kind of fell into mine by accident after being put forward for a new temporary part time role, and as I was walking to the interview, with the interviewer I was asked if I would be interested in a full time permanent role. Permanent was a yes so I kind of agreed to the full time without much thought. Oops. However I was offered it a day later and accepted it and we will have to see how I go with an extra day at work. The extra pay will be lovely! And DP has secured a promotion after we received horrible news he was possibly going to be made redundant. I spent weeks stressing (eek). So, good news on the finances front- More money to play with to help us achieve our goals! Also DP has a bonus coming, not sure when, but will be 10% of his pay hopefully – before tax though.

So 2026 should mean around £25k extra income including the bonus 🤞

Some of these goals are short term things we can do quickly, others might take longer to do, my ultimate goal is to have the mortgage at an achievable amount to pay on one wage, so probably sub £100,000 I think. I don’t want to be chained to a job until I am 66 so I can pay the mortgage and bills (current mortgage will end when I am around 66 and DP when he is 69!) We need to get this mortgage down. I don’t have much in the way of a pension, nor savings, and the way inflation is going the state pension won’t be worth much. So we do have longer term goals to try and achieve FIRE, we aren’t quite there yet, we are still in a reactive state rather than proactively saving ahead of time.

Mortgage is made up as follows (at the end of July anyway when I got a statement):

*Acc 1- 2.49% until end May 2027 £93,788.56

*Acc 2- 4.59% until end Sept 2029 £21167.64

*Acc 3- 4.59% until end Oct 2027 £49865.58

This has already reduced a few grand not sure how it has reduced each account, so I will just use those amounts off my statement for now. 10% OP allowance allowed each year. This last year I worked on paying all Ops towards sub account 2. I will probably start with that one again until I hit the limit.

So here we go again I guess...hope some of you will enjoy me again on this mini marathon to achieving these goals. 💖

redofromstart

Exciting times ahead for you - I will be cheering you on.

I always fancied eloping. I have read far too many Georgette Heyers over the years!

debtfreewannabe321

redofromstart said:

Exciting times ahead for you - I will be cheering you on.

I always fancied eloping. I have read far too many Georgette Heyers over the years!

It sounds very romantic doesn't it @redofromstart in reality we'll probably end up at Gretna Green or something in the pouring rain and I will be having regrets 🤣.

debtfreewannabe321

Here is a screenshot of how the OPs will help us pay the mortgage off quicker. I've been here before getting all excited though, and then life happens 😉 however we do have more money to work with this year so perhaps it is achievable esp if I got some maintenance eh 😉😉

The left hand column runs until 18 years apparently so does that mean I've already knocked time off or did I put the calculation in wrong 🤣 who knows with me but anyway it is accurate enough for now. 

redofromstart

debtfreewannabe321 said:

redofromstart said:

Exciting times ahead for you - I will be cheering you on.

I always fancied eloping. I have read far too many Georgette Heyers over the years!

It sounds very romantic doesn't it @redofromstart in reality we'll probably end up at Gretna Green or something in the pouring rain and I will be having regrets 🤣.

Many (many!) years ago I looked into it for family politics reasons, and you could get married on 24 hours notice.  Now you have to give 28 days notice, so plenty of time for doubts!

KajiKita

I’m in and cheering you on 😊
Really hoping you do actually get some time in your garden next year! 😉

KK

Greying_Pilgrim

Me & MrGreying sort of did the eloping thing.  Not in the traditional sense of the word, as redo says, the law has changed.  When we decided to get hitched - primarily (at the time), for financial/inheritance reasons - the law changed from 15 days notice to 28.  But we did all the paperwork in Greying Town, and actually got married elsewhere. 

There were 3 of us in the wedding 😱 as I fell pregnant after the decision to get married, and as it happens, there was more than 28 days between the paperwork and the ceremony.  But it was the most wonderful ceremony, we dressed how we wanted, and whilst we chose to have no-one else there, we were lucky that in that location it was possible to 'hire' witnesses (council workers) at the registry office.  Our Registrar had THE most beautiful handwriting, and our marriage certificate is a work of art.  

Whilst it was a first marriage for us both, I wouldn't have changed  a thing - a 'big' wedding wasn't what I wanted, and whilst it would have been ace to have solidly chosen folk there to be with us, that wasn't going to happen.  So - as much as you can elope these days, I would choose this way of doing the ceremony again - here's hoping I never need to tho 😘 

Greying X

Bananabreadyum

Yey, happy new diary dfw 🎉🎉🎉
I really hope 2026 is gong to be a great year for you
💓💓💓

Grumpy_chap

debtfreewannabe321 said:

Personal Health Goals:

* I would LOVE to lose some weight. I think my pre meno weight is perhaps unachievable, so I am aiming for something more realistic, which still means around 1.5 stones to lose. Will have a think on how to go about this, as fasting used to be my go to but doesn’t seem to do it anymore for me.

* Getting an MOT on me – already have some tests and appointments booked in.

* Meditating again to manage stress levels.

* Walking. Now that my foot pain has subsided, I would like to get myself into walking again.

* Feeling fitter in myself. I used to be very fit and healthy and rarely got sick, then middle age hit me like a tonne of bricks, and I seem to have new symptoms to complain about every month 🤣

Good luck on achieving all your objectives for the exciting year ahead.

With regard to the health goals, you may find a free APP called "My Fitness Pal" helpful to track your food intake versus calorie burn.  Ultimately, losing wight requires a calorie deficit.  The APP can also sync with some fitness trackers so if you have one of these it will be a double win of measuring your calories and your step count which may then support you to increase your walking.

Are there any walking groups you can join in with in your local area?

If you can combine increased physical activity and also undertake some kind of mental challenge as well, that is possibly a good way to just feel better.  Also, ensure you get adequate rest and recovery time.

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary. Here’s to 2026. Xx

daisy_1571

Lovely shiny new diary. 

I'd recommend putting everything above your old salaries straight onto the mortgages.  Just simply pretend you don't get that new amount.  You'll save straight away as you won't have to take mortgage payments and mortgage overpayments out of your 'old normal' salaries.  Then split your monthly salaries to the things you have to pay and the things you have identified you want to pay towards. 

Just a suggestion 

Dxxx