The mindful MFW: A healthy, happy journey to a mortgage free life!

Hi Chumpy, thanks for stopping by, and for reading all of my diary, you deserve some sort of medal! So pleased to hear how well your son is doing, and all those battles have paid off. I always feel like I'm not doing enough so it is very thought provoking to hear the opposite. It really is never ending sometimes! I'm glad you have got things out of my diary too.

I can't believe how quickly the last month has gone. DD2 has her last week of nursery this week :eek:! I had a lovely short break with DS to the south coast to visit friends this Thursday/Friday, the weather was dire but we played absolutely loads of board games which both boys loved. We used some of DS birthday money to order some of them too, is great to know which ones he likes (and I can tolerate!)

DS's DLA application is in, and now we are waiting to hear back.

We go on holiday a week today, but I have a passport emergency with DD1, it is stuck on checks and our countersignatory is out of the country. That will be the main focus this week.

I sold DD2 cot bed for £40 after fees - not a huge amount, but it has been collected and gone to a good home.

Today I'm using a free ticket to take DD1 to the Warn3r Br0s studios, I'm really excited!

I've also renewed my NU$ card as the discount has proven really useful in the last year.

To do today:
* find letter with DD1 diagnosis
* shower and dress
* feed cats
* lunch out?

To do later this week:
* call passp0rt office on Monday
* apply for refund for delayed train
* update YNAB (about a month behind :eek:!)
* thank you gift for holiday club (use bananas from freezer for lemon drizzle?)
* thank you gift for nursery staff
* finish house manual
* share house manual
* print house manual
* print off 2x forest walk maps
* book haircut
* doctor's appt
* evening out
* pizza lunch with DD1
* clean and tidy house (I'll break this down further each day)

Not a mistake - I tried a friends and it was amazing! I've made my own using this recipe
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/9948187/Mary-Berrys-banana-with-lemon-drizzle-cake-recipe.html

We're off to Amsterdam for two weeks.

Passport office called again, and if checks go through we can pay £92 to fast track the printing :eek:!

Hope you like the cake!

I haven't been to Amsterdam for nearly 20 years so looking forward to having lots of time there. We swap with people with pets so I wouldn't rule it out!

Passport has been another 24 hours of pure stress, an £18 urgent next day delivery, plus some expensive calls. I got a call this afternoon, I think they said it has now passed checks but the line went dead so need to call back to sort out fast track payment. I won't be sure it'll be ready until it's in my hand!

Anyway, the out of office notification is ON!!

There is still a lot do House wise before the swap but good news is I have a quiet couple of days at home with DS and the whole of Saturday so not in panic mode yet. We did some jobs over the weekend - hung picture shelves we bought a few months back from Ikea (they look great!) We also ordered a new wipeable tablecloth online which came today, looks nice and was not too expensive. Waiting to see if new shower curtain comes too, that was 50% off so a whole £7.50 in the sale!

I've seen a well paying flexible opportunity in my field that could work around my existing job and not be too onerous in terms of hours, so planning to squeeze a job application in this evening :eek:! If I get it I would like to put it all to overpayments, let's see what happens.

EagerLearner wrote: »

Have just read all your diary and loved it, especially the focus on mindset and less stress. I'm planning to have a diary soon to motivate us to pay our mortgage off now as we're at £89,800 now ��

Thanks EagerLearner for stopping by with the kind words. Our mortgages are around the same size so will follow your diary with interest.

Back from hols, Amsterdam is amazing for young kids we had some brilliant days out, park visits, bike rides, canal trip. DS shocked us by being able to ride on his own bike on the roads , by our last day he rode 10 miles! Public transport is quite expensive there so we used our house swappers bikes as much as possible. DD1 got ill and we needed to take her to the doctors, which you pay for there. €130 later she got some great antibiotics which cured her tonsillitis but she did spend the best part of a week in bed. We didn't set a budget, but if we had we would have blown it! We went out for a date night there, took the kids to Foodhallen, and had another meal or two out. We did do packed lunches and cook at home most nights so overall I think we had the right attitude, I wouldn't change anything. We also parked the car in a few parking area the other side of town and got public transport to collect it which saved us €30 a day!

This week DS has started Yr 2 and DD2 starts reception on Monday! I'm feeling pretty worn out and a bit apprehensive about going back to work tomorrow which is unusual for me. I think I'm at overload point at work so will talk to my line manager about it.

We had a shock this week - we've been paid by the DLA which means DS has been awarded something! I'm waiting for the letter but really pleased as between that and losing the cleaner that adds up to the amount my salary reduced when I went part time to have more time and headspace to cope with the kids better.

Had a successful day out with kids at local beauty spot yesterday, packed lunch and flask of coffee taken so also free!

I've started doing the organised mum method which meant the house looked great this weekend and also being doing a spot of yoga most evenings l, loosely following Yoga with Adriene September calendar. These two things have definitely set me up well to cope with challenges of having both little ones on my own.

OH on way home so am considering popping out for swim or spa session when he gets back as pretty exhausted.

Intentions for the week
* continue with TOMM
* continue with Yoga
* early nights (lights off by 10)
* cycle home from work
* speak to work about workload
* update YNAB (a LOT of work!)
* write one blog post
* finish book
* listen to free audio book about kindness to oneself