Looking to have a simpler life .......

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  • Downshifterella
    Downshifterella Posts: 208 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    Hey everyone :o
    Quick update from me as feel I've been MIA for a while!
    In most exciting news I'm now a proud auntie to a nephew! Slightly earlier than planned but doing really well now, I am utterly in love and completely smitten :D

    Baby gifts aside ;) have been doing pretty well on the MF front and now looking at a balance of 79000 give or take!

    Trying to shop cheaply and seasonally and doing well the last couple of weeks of avoiding that "I'll just nip to the shops" made some homemade goodies for snacks over the weekend but need to limit a bit as we both want to get on more of a health kick now summers (apparently) round the corner! ( It's grey sky currently here! :rotfl:)

    Better get off to the day job....hoping for a quieter week as it's half term!


    Happy Tuesday everyone only 1 more day and we are halfway through the week! :T

    Ella xx
    MF planning for the simple life :beer::j
  • pinkypig
    pinkypig Posts: 1,814 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    Congratulations on all counts Ella :D
    Original mortgage £112,000 . Final payment due August 2027.
    Mortgage neutral achieved August 2020 - 7 years early!!!
  • gallygirl
    gallygirl Posts: 17,228 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Mortgage-free Glee!
    Congratulations on becoming an auntie :)
    Downshifterella wrote: »
    Going to start doing some reading and research into financial independence. It's bigger than MF for us ....although that will free up so very many options for us. Any tips or pointers from those who have gone in that direction?

    Where have you been reading about it? I'd recommend having a look on mrmoneymustache if you haven't come across it, pretty hard core spending wise but very inspiring tales on there.

    My advice would be to spend time really thinking about your long and medium term goals and whether they are compatible (e.g. retiring at 40 probably won't fit with going down to 1 day work a week at 30! Though maybe it would if you develop a lucrative side line :think:). What is more important to you - working longer at something you enjoy or knuckling down to reach FI earlier? What are you prepared to give up to reach FI? A daily coffee? A weekly meal out? Takeaways? Expensive handbags? etc etc.

    You also need to think about what FI actually means to you - does it mean you can retire fully from the workplace, or just downshift in days/stress levels? Or would you be happy just having 'FU' money, where you could hand in your notice without worrying as you have enough in savings to last you a year or two?

    Another thing to think about is what you do with your savings. Why are you so keen to pay off your mortgage? Could you do things differently but achieve the same goal? E.g. if you want to pay off your mortgage early so you can go down to 2 days working a week in 10 years you'd probably be better investing in the stock market with an ISA. Even if it's a shorter term goal you'd be better off with a combination of high interest paying bank accounts (e.g. 5% in Nationwide Flex Direct on 2.5k) and Regular Savers. You could pay the regular saver money off the mortgage on maturity if needs be.

    The term they use on mrmoneymustache is 'little green soldiers' - i.e. dollar bills. Basically, get those little green soldiers working for you 24 7, 365 days a year. Make them sweat to earn as high an hourly rate for you as possible :)

    Oh, and spreadsheets are your friends :).

    I love to read people's plans :T.
    A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort
    :) Mortgage Balance = £0 :)
    "Do what others won't early in life so you can do what others can't later in life"
  • Karmacat
    Karmacat Posts: 39,460 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    great advice from gally - I never stepped back enough to think about things like that, and I know my plans didn't work as well as they could have done. Good enough, but not the best.
    2023: the year I get to buy a car
  • Downshifterella
    Downshifterella Posts: 208 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    Thank you everyone for your good wishes! Auntyness ( if it's not a word it should be! ;)) is just the loveliest thing!!

    Pinky- thanks, on all counts feels a productive and feel-good last month or so. Hope half term is treating you well with lots of relaxing and lie ins!

    Gally girl , thank you too, brilliant questions and very thought provoking! I've read bits of FI stuff in here and frugal woods , I'll be honest probably a bit of "Fairweather FI fan" liking the lifestyle/simplicity rather than stopping to do the maths, though Mr Ella is pretty good at that side of things luckily!
    I'll take a better look at Mrmoneymoustache I've skimmed in the past but never got properly into it .
    To answer your questions though I think working longer at something I enjoy is the way for me rather than a quick and hard sprint .... I've a touch of the perfectionist in me and know my capacity to overstretch then burnout needs to be kept in check ( by me! :rotfl:) . Realistically MF by before 40 is doable and I'd like to have the option of cutting down to 4 day's work soon after ( or 3 days plus lucrative sideline! :rotfl:) ....
    That's head talking ...maths wise I've done the MF sums and 40 gives a good 18 months wiggle room so it's not all out craziness , whether FI/part time is doable so soon after I'd need to do some real sums tho!
    And yes hadn't thought thru investing/saving side ...I've been so focused on getting mortgage numbers down I've kind of not thought it through as much as is possibly worth it. I do like the soilder analogy!

    Thanks KC , hope all is well in your corner of the world. I think good enough plans are now I've certainly ended up many a time but will definitely put some more work into thinking the questions through! ( Probably on a weekend with a cuppa! ;))

    Off to cook dinner, casserole with meat from the freezer some leftover veg and enough to feed us tomorrow too! Can't believe it's casserole weather in nearly June but it really is here!

    Ella xx
    MF planning for the simple life :beer::j
  • gallygirl
    gallygirl Posts: 17,228 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Mortgage-free Glee!
    Sorry, should have said the questions are for you to answer, not necessarily to be answered on here! Thinking it through and talking with Mr Ella is so important, hopefully you're on the same [STRIKE]hymn[/STRIKE]spreadsheet :D

    I'll also raise the ugly spectre of pension provision........
    A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort
    :) Mortgage Balance = £0 :)
    "Do what others won't early in life so you can do what others can't later in life"
  • Downshifterella
    Downshifterella Posts: 208 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    edited 1 July 2018 at 10:38AM
    Thanks gallygirl :)
    Definitely on the same spreadsheet ! ;) Pension wise we are both paying off n over the max amount and employer matches a certain percent but probably need t do some proper sums as this doesn't necessarily guarantee its enough!

    Have had a lovely few days of MSE-ness and a few more treats to look forward to . Highlights include:
    Trip out with the bestie , late birthday pressie so all funded other than coffee which I budgeted fun spends for.
    Magazine subscription in the post (another Xmas pressie doing well here! :rotfl: ) read in bed then in the garden in the sun!
    Still using up the freezer and cupboards and starting to have a few veg from allotment to add in to bulk it up, very exciting!!
    Date night (already paid for) this week me and Mr Ella we are off out out ;)
    £20 voucher gained so used that to buy something I needed or aging £20 more fun spends (poss will be spent by end of this week!)
    Newborn cuddles ...hours of cuteness absolutely free!

    Loving the simple pleasures and enjoyment of these, it's what makes life really matter , not "stuff"

    Better get to work if the MSE-ness is to continue!! Have a happy Tuesday everyone
    Ella xx
    MF planning for the simple life :beer::j
  • Downshifterella
    Downshifterella Posts: 208 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    Oh dear poor diary feeling a little neglected!
    have still been keeping up the moneysaving ways including shopping with vouchers and several low cost/free days out in the sunshine!

    Have a figure in mind I'm saving for by the end of the year, definitely doable with a bit of focus! Plan is reign in slightly mindless/time-poor food spends and continue as much as possible on our new found success in free/cheap entertainment!

    Lots to do in the house and garden too ....heat is making it harder to get motivated but hoping will break the back of some of it today!

    Just gonna finish my cuppa then we're off!!:T
    MF planning for the simple life :beer::j
  • Karmacat
    Karmacat Posts: 39,460 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Go Ella :j:j:j


    How far along are you to your planned total?
    2023: the year I get to buy a car
  • Downshifterella
    Downshifterella Posts: 208 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    Thanks karma!
    Total means a saving of around £800 p/m so manageable if we get all those "little" extras ( coffees magazines etc..) under control! Food and "bits and bobs" spending is probable where we waste ( therefore can save) the most!

    Hope you are well and had a great holiday just having a quick cuppa and break from the garden declutter ( it's hot work out there!) Will catch up on diaries before I go back out I think! ;)
    MF planning for the simple life :beer::j
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