Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

ajmoney · 23 August 2016 at 2:19PM

Really struggling with motivation at work which isn't helped by slow replies to my emails! I have given up in the office as I wasn't getting anything done anyway. Need to buy some work related music online, do a bit of organising for tonight's rehearsal and then I am off out for a short run.

I have been a bit cheeky and email all my family members/close friends in my personal email contacts with a link to my fundraising page asking them to take a look and consider sponsoring me for the Great North Run. I don't see them very often anyway, and by the time I do they will have forgotten all about it!

I am doing a full week at work this week so really looking forward to the weekend. We had a great time with our relatives at a wedding but we were the hosts so haven't had anytime to ourselves. Just one family commitment next weekend so it should be a little less tiring. We didn't spend nearly as much as we expected so I am working out what to move across to my savings

ajmoney · 1 September 2016 at 8:53AM

My favourite day, the 1st of the month aka money shuffle day. I moved the surplus from my current account across to my RS account yesterday so am starting with a clean slate today.

I don't have any planned purchases and any birthdays for the month have already been covered so I am going to try something a little different. I am still basing my monthly spends on £10 a day as I have been a little lax in keeping track of it to see if I can reduce it so I will start back with that today. I am also going to keep in my account the amount for my bills plus £300 (the £10 a day for September) and move the rest across to my RS account. If I need it them great it will have been collecting interest while there, if not then I will be less tempted.

The base rate cut means we have an extra £15 going to our OPs a month now. If we were only sticking to our OPs we would need to find about £7.50 at the end of the year to get under £100k but I think that will already be done today with a bill that should be a little smaller than normal!

11 days until the Great North Run :eek: I had a long run on Monday and the last 3.5 miles were really tough. For the first time ever it has made me panic about the day itself but a colleague has assured me that I will be fine. I have a much shorter run in store today.

Off to do the money shuffle :j

ajmoney · 1 September 2016 at 9:07AM

While I shouldn't complain, the banks are very slow to start taking any money today. In the meantime I have updated my spreadsheets and my signature on here. I know the referndum/cuts etc aren't great for savings but my S&S ISA is booming, another £1300 made this month off a £100 investment, maybe now is the time to look at this a little differently!

I updated my OP spreadsheet with my new OPs but failed to reduce the monthly payment so it is a little unrealistic at the moment. Off to change that and hope that the banks are up and about when I have finished.

ajmoney · 1 September 2016 at 10:28AM

Delays to outgoing payments, standing orders and direct debits :mad: so I can't do my money shuffling. Money hasn't transferred to our joint account either so I need to remember to use my account for the shopping. Lucky that pay day was yesterday!

ajmoney · 1 September 2016 at 1:42PM

Money shuffle done so I am happy now

Without taking anything Mr AJM has saved in the last month we have managed to bring forward our projected mortgage neutral date by a month to November 2020, 4 years and 2 months to go and reducing all the time :j It looks like it may be reducing each month by a month which is great but this will only be while my S&S ISA is doing so well.

I think I need to double check that the funds I am paying into are still ok which seems silly when it is doing so well. Maybe I could add some extra money to another fund. I also need to take some advice on my pension/retirement requirements.

I went for my run earlier, have been food shopping and have bought myself a magazing to read at my leisure as I am home from work early for the week.

ajmoney · 5 September 2016 at 8:24AM

Off back to work today, luckily it is only for 2 days and then I will be back again.

This week I will mostly be trying to eat, sleep and hydrate ready for the Great North Run on Sunday, even fb has started counting down for me! I am looking forward to it but know it will be the toughest thing I have ever done in my life.

Money wise things are going really well. I think the interest for our larger mortgage should be below £4 a day by the end of the year. Amazing really considering it was over £11 a day in July before we remortgaged. I really hope we can keep getting good deals when we remortgage.

While we are en route to mortgage neutral, my preferred mortgage free anniversary has just been, I would love to be mortgage free by 3/9/2022 if possible as this is when my contract with work finishes. 6 years will be very tough and probably not achieveable, especially as we don't want to change too much of our lifestyle at the moment. It will be fun seeing how close we can get. I am hoping hitting mortgage neutral may spur us on.

ajmoney · 6 September 2016 at 2:56PM

I am currently feeling a little bit stressed out by work even though I have already achieved the necessary thing to do. Why do I set myself jobs with time scales when they are things that don't need one? Having a cuppa in the cafe to make me stop and take a break and reassess what needs to be done. Whatever happens I will be home by this time tomorrow.

Cuppa has cost me money but it has been offset by a free lunch at a network chat where I have managed to do some networking. I have also used the free WiFi to check my financials

Right, back to it...

MallyGirl · 6 September 2016 at 3:13PM

edinburgher wrote: »

I have a new pair of running shoes to break in, I think you've inspired me to go out for a couple of miles tonight. Trying out a pair of Brooks as I could no longer justify £100+ for my favoured Asics (and I don't like the fit of the new model Kayano, far too 'engineered' and narrow)

I have just moved to Gel Kayanos from Brooks as I have very narrow feet but need a ladies 10. The Brooks have got steadily wider as I have moved through newer models so I am hoping that the Keyanos will be better.

ajmoney · 8 September 2016 at 10:53AM

The weather is so rubbish today

I am trying to have a productive day off at home, I have already done the ironing. Next on my list is to file my paperwork as it has been piled up for a little while. I am intending on making a financial review appointment with my bank over the next month or so and want to make sure everything is in order. I can't decide whether to go and have my appointment and then go to a separate one with Mr AJM or book one for both of us, apart from household bills we keep our finances separate so it is a tough one.

Money wise everything is ticking along nicely but that doesn't seem to be making me content at the moment, I need a bit of a challenge so I feel my money is working better for me and my future.

ajmoney · 8 September 2016 at 11:37AM

I have transferred £250 into my RS account so have maxed it out for September. I was going to hedge my bets and keep it in my current account but how am I ever going to challenge myself if I do that? I have about £190 for September spends which should be more than enough. If I have enough left towars the end of the month I am going to put the money towards a new pair of trainers as I have found mine may be slightly too small, not great ahead of the Great North Run on Sunday.

Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

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