The six month challenge

Autumn_Sun · 13 July 2018 at 7:10PM

Long time lurker (and I mean years!) which has stood me in good stead. I am now getting close to paying off a small mortgage which give me the ability to move on to pastures new in terms of my working life.

A bit about me. Mid 50’s, I have a reasonably well paid job which I have fallen out of love with. Along side this I have recently started baking for customers which is going down extremely well. It’s a passion that I would love to be a main source of income.

Back to the mortgage. By Xmas 2018 I estimate I will owe approximately £14k. I have £8k saved specifically towards this and my challenge for the rest of the year is to ‘accumulate’ the remaining £6k. The simple plan is then to give in my notice and build my business - there’s more detail than that but I’m working on it. I would have access to my pension but the plan is defer this as long as possible.

The next 5 1/2 months will give me the assurance, or not, that I can live on a reduced income as I intend to live on a smaller budget. I have a substantial emergency fund (£30k) which will stay as just that.

Join me for the journey. It’s going to be fun and there may even be cake at the end of it!

AS

bexster1975 · 13 July 2018 at 7:59PM

Hello and welcome!

I am about 12 months ahead of you on a very similar journey.

You will certainly be able to survive on a reduced income, especially with no mortgage.

I will follow with interest. Very good luck, you won't ever look back!

Bexster

beanielou · 13 July 2018 at 9:40PM

Happy shiny new diary

Autumn_Sun · 14 July 2018 at 9:08AM

Thanks Bexter, that’s exactly the encouragement I need :j

I love making plans so I think it’s worth making one for the remainder of July. I have been fairly frugal this month so far so I’m going to aim to save £1k by the end of the month. This will made up of £600 salary savings, £200 share income (approx) that I know I’m due this month and £200 baking income. The baking income may be a tall order but if I don’t try I won’t know!

Have just attempted to make macarons which look great but are a devil to make. Let’s just say they’re work in progress and I still have to practice. I hate wasting anything so I may be taking a large sugar hit today! :rotfl:

julicorn · 14 July 2018 at 9:12AM

Happy new diary!

Ooh, so you're building up a bakery business? That's so awesome!

bexster1975 · 14 July 2018 at 11:27AM

Nom re:macarons

Be a shame to throw them away.

£200 a month from your side job would be an awesome start. Shame it's still really hot and you're baking though!

Bexster

Autumn_Sun · 15 July 2018 at 7:06AM

The macarons definitely won!!!8217;t get thrown away :A: too many willing testers. And there may be more as I need to practice. They!!!8217;re not good enough for customers yet. One of the reasons I want to be able to have more time to concentrate on this. At the moment I!!!8217;m doing well with the things I can bake but there are other things that I!!!8217;m not so good at.

Not a NSD day yesterday as I was at the hairdressers. This isn!!!8217;t something I will not compromise on so the budget takes account of this. Small spend on food £11.70 which will see me through the next few days.

Small baking order to do today which as the weather continues to be hot I!!!8217;m happy with. However teacher gifts are the main focus over the next 10 days:)

If someone can remind me how to add a signature I!!!8217;d be eternally grateful. I want to see this £6k fund growing!

Autumn_Sun · 4 August 2018 at 2:30PM

Oops, haven’t posted in a while but here goes. July was very productive. Share dividend came in at twice what I was expecting and I was able to save a bit more of my salary than anticipated. Baking went well too despite the heat. All in all I was able to save £1,500 of my £6k target on July so am well chuffed. It’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.

August won’t be as high but I’d like to aim for £750. Baking orders are coming in thick and fast which is great. I will get this done by Xmas !!!128512;

A_Frayed_Knot · 4 August 2018 at 4:31PM

Hello, just came across your diary and read your 1st post and thought you need to "speak" to Bexster, and there it was - 2nd post - a reply from Bexster

Are you still in a deal, which means you cannot o/p anymore? I only ask as I had - loose term - savings, sitting there doing - a big fat, zero, zilch, nothing. So decided to press the button and Hey presto - moved a large sum over to my mortgage, which meant a lot less interest to pay on my mortgage

I am now building that fund back up to pay the 0% c/c in January, next year, by o/p to the bank balance instead of o/p the mortgage, (well actually, I do that as well - but don't tell anyone :shhh: ) just can't help myself, rounding down my mortgage figure to 00.00

but believe me it has certainly helped my mortgage reduce in the last few years.

Oh, Baking, I love baking, of any kind and so do just about everyone, so your side line should do very well, and I wish you Good Luck with it. It is amazing, what you can achieve when focusing on it, I'm sure you will manage just fine.

Start looking at the Christmas cakes, Scotch Dumplings, Hand made chocolates, and confectionery - oh tablet, and tablet in nice little bags , yum, always everyone willing to buy tablet. :rotfl:

Sorry getting carried away. Yum, yum.

Autumn_Sun · 4 August 2018 at 5:43PM

Thank You A Frayed Knot (love that name). I’ve already o/p the 10% I’m allowed to this year so since I’ve had my lightbulb moment I’ve been saving to make a final lump sum payment to clear the mortgage. I need to speak to the provider but my thinking is that it’s best for me to do this on 2nd Jan (don’t suppose they’ll be open on the 1st!) to reduce the early repayment penalty.

It will make such a difference to get out of the rat race and do something I really enjoy, and possibly free up a bit of time. Don’t need loads of money to live so it’s very doable.

Although normally I love the hot weather it’s a nightmare to bake in this heat. Don’t lynch me but I shall welcome cooler days !!!128512;

beanielou · 4 August 2018 at 5:53PM

The early repayment fee is tied in with when you took your mortgage out.

The six month challenge

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