Introducing....

Escapar2020 wrote: »

Hi Lee

Interesting diary, I've been catching up, you have some serious targets, so good luck!

You asked about more ideas….

I've just saved £250 per year by switching from a contract ti sim only deal without upgrading my phone, and got more minutes and more data in the process.

Are you a higher rate taxpayer? It might be worth contributing more to your pension to reduce your tax rate. It might mean you have slightly less to take home though, but would beat any savings rate.the guys in the retirement forum know more than I do about it ;-)

Escapar2020

Hey Escapar,

To get a similar mobile contract to the one I currently have would certainly cost me 4-5 times what I spend at the moment.

I hadn't considered increasing contributions to my pension, but it's something I'll look at doing this year.

Happy New Year.

So - a little update.

Yesterday saw my mortgage balance slip under £90000 for the first and last time. 7 months, then, has seen £10000 cleared since I started doing this, and before September 2018 another £9000 (fingers crossed) will pass from debit to credit on the balance sheet.

Unfortunately, though, my current employer has decided to scale back his business over the next few months, leaving me out to pasture from today. Thankfully, I've found another job which I start on Monday but I don't think I'll be there for long - I'm taking a pay cut and the work will be no where near as satisfying. In the short term, I'll still be able to make the £1250 OP every month, but the £500 a month I'm currently saving as well will have to stop. DAMN! I reason that some money is better than no money.

Best, L.x

As jobs go, the new one was terrible. If it were a person, they'd be called Eric and wear beige slacks over harvest festival pants, to keep everything safely gathered in. He'd be single, probably with a little dog acquired from the local pets' shelter and they'd live together in a bungalow somewhere on the south coast. Bognor, maybe. Thursdays would be bingo, Sundays for Church - a sad succession of banal routines and mundane rituals.

You get the picture.

So I jacked on Wednesday and start another new job on Monday and all being well, this one should be magnificent!

Where it leaves me financially is up in the air at the moment. The money's good, but it's an hourly rate rather than salaried - If I can't make the hours, I don't earn the cash. Tsk. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Hi everyone,

This month has felt like the pits. I've had to account for every penny, raid all my change jars, use every voucher and forego any fun whatsoever. It's been pretty miserable. After all the bills were paid and mortgage OP made, I was left with £120 for everything else. I've tried to keep some perspective on what the overall goal is and how much better off I'll be without a mortgage, but this month has really tested my conviction to the schedule I'm attempting to keep. Subsequent months won't be as tight as they have been this month, and I guess there's some consolation in that - it's just difficult to remain focused when it seems your purpose is solely to fulfil a mortgage overpayment every month. On that, I have only myself to blame.

As I think many of you might agree, I've found reading other people's diaries helpful. It's kinda lovely that a space exists where we can share our experience of what otherwise is a fairly uncool preoccupation. Money is dull. Watching the pennies is tedious. It's the challenge that's interesting and the earlier freedom from a certain financial penury that certainly drives me. If only it could be over tomorrow and I could join that other board: Mortgage Free Roll of Honour.

Alas.

Not yet.