2009 - Getting our finances in order

After achieving the goal in 2008 (two months early!) to pay back my sister the £5k we owed her from a previous property, I feel it is time to set another goal or two to keep our eyes on the (financial) prize.

Goal one - £5k emergency fund
With the current economic climate I think it would be most prudent for us to have an emergency fund. This could only be touched if one of us lost our jobs or we had a major disaster e.g. needing a new roof . Although Mr M and I both have pretty stable public sector jobs I don't think we can be too careful and it would make me much more confident about the second financial goal.

Steps to achieving goal one:

• Set up automatic monthly DD for £200 to ISA
• Any underspend for the month e.g. mobile phone bill, council tax etc, send straight to ISA
• Research new ISA for April for new allowance and move account over
• If the £5k is achieved before December 2009 then begin saving to pay off car loan.
  

Goal two - reduce mortgage term to 15 years or shorter
We need to remortgage in February and it is an ideal time for us to assess how much we can actually afford to pay on our mortgage each month. Our circumstances have changed quite a lot since the original mortgage so we should be able to comfortably afford to pay more than we currently do. Reducing our current mortgage to 15 years should see an increased monthly payment which we can afford but taking 8 years off our term. My long term aim is to pay the mortgage off before I am 40. 11 Years to go!

Steps to achieving goal two:

• Look in depth at current monthly outgoings and work out the maximum we can afford each month. (This amount should stretch us a little but still allow for a few luxuries/emergencies)
• Book appointment with financial advisor to look at remortgage options.
• Look at mortgage calculators online to get an idea of monthly payments and terms.
  

Both goals take us closer to financial freedom and seem quite achievable. I'll be reassessing every couple of months to make sure we are on track.

Mrs M
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So many books, so little time

Reading is one of my big passions and I have amassed a large number over the years. I am a member of a book group which meets once a month. While I really enjoy reading new authors and things I would have never picked for myself, I do feel it hinders me ploughing through my own stash. This is especially true since I have been studying for my CIM exams.

As a lover of lists I thought I would record all my unread books on here - perhaps it will motivate me to read them all!


Adrian Mole - Weapons of Mass Destruction - Sue Townsend
The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
Talk to the Hand - Lynne Truss
Eats shoots and leaves - Lynn Truss
The Man in the Iron mask - Dumas
Animal Instincts - Alan Titchmarsh
A Briefer History of Time - Stephen Hawking
Bigger then Hitler, Better then Christ - Rik Mayall
Facing the Music - Mary Sheepshanks
Perfume from Provence - Lady Fortescue
Shuttlecock - Graham Swift

The Debt to Pleasure - John Lanchester

The Dead School - Patrick McCabe

Unreliable Memoirs - Clive James

Enigma - Robert Harris

A Perfect Arrangement - Suzanne Bene

Mostly Harmless - Douglas Adams

Life, The Universe and Everything - Douglas Adams

The Restaurant at the end of the Universe - Douglas Adams

Company of Liars - Karen Maitland

Fatherland - Robert Harris

Treasure Island - R L Stevenson

Children of Chance - Elisabeth Revsey

Coming through Slaughter - Michael Ondatje

Elegance - Kathleen Tessaro

The Scapegoat - Daphne Du Maurier

How to be good - Nick Hornby

Pompeii - Robert Harris

Blackeyes - Dennis Potter

Finelines - Simon Beckett

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - RL Stevenson

Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

The Time Machine - HG Wells

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

Cat among the pigeons - Agatha Christie

The Secret Adversary - Agatha Christie

Around the World in 80 days - Jules Verne

Death on the Nile - Agatha Christie

5 Children and it - E NEsbitt

Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

The Bird Artist - Howard Norman

The Stars' Tennis Balls - Stephen Fry

C'est la foile - Michael Wright

French Revolution - Tim Moore

Made in America - Bill Bryson

Tales of Narnia - CS Lewis

Alice's adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carol

Through the looking glass - Lewis Carol

Neither here nor there - Bill Bryson

The Lost Continent - Bill Bryson

Consequences of marriage - Isla Dewar

Tears of the Giraffe - Alexander McCall Smith

The Shape of Water - Andrea Camillen

Dracula - Bram Stoker

To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolfe

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin

A Thousand Splendid suns - Khaled Hosseini

Saturday night, Sunday Morning - Alan Sillitoe

Narrow Marsh - AR Dance

The Truth about Lorrin Jones - Alison Lorie

Finbar's Hotel - Dermot Bolger

Blackberry Wine - Joanne Harris

Are you Dave Gorman? - Dave Gorman

Emma - Jane Austin

The Last Empress - Anchee Min

Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

Divas don't knit - Gill McNeil

Ghost - Robert Harris

The Reader - Bernhard Schlink

Imperium - Robert Harris

The Complete Father Brown stories - GK Chesterton

A Place in my Country - Ian Walthew

Tales of the Beadle the Bard - JK Rowling

The house on the strand - Daphne Du Maurier

Don't look now - Daphne du Maurier

The Frenchman's Creek - Daphne Du Maurier

The Interpretation of Murder - Jed Rubenfeld

Marley and Me - John Grogan

Down under - Bill Bryson

Life and Times of the Thunderbolt kid - Bill Bryson

A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson

A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

Remember me? - Sophie Kinsella

Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes

Phew!

Red = in progress

Blue = read!

Brighton - London by the sea?

As a little New Year treat we have just come back from a couple of days in Brighton. On paper Brighton had everything I love - a beach, arcades, quirky, independent shops and most importantly, a Cath Kidston. In reality, it was a bit tatty and full of high street shops.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the mini break. We had lots of delicious food and went to see the Wizard of Oz at the theatre but it somehow lack the sparkle I thought Brighton would have. I am glad to be back home in the peace and quiet but glad I have my purchases from the Cath Kidson shop (and another item ticked off my 101 list!).

Mrs M
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2009 101 in 1001 list

Here is my updated list for the 101 in 1001 challenge due to end on the 31 May 2011:

In progress
Read 64 books (15/64) - two per month
Watch 32 films (14/32) - one per month
Go to the cinema 15 times (1/15) - once every two months
Go for a meal one a month (5/32)
Go to Am Dram twice a year (0/5)
Pass CIM Professional Diploma (1/4)
Get an allotment - number 11 on allotment list June 2009
Make a cake every month (6/32)
Get a new and more Eco friendly central heating system
Change all light bulbs in the house to energy saving ones
Stop using chemicals for cleaning
Knit a patchwork blanket for sofa (6/100 squares knitted)
Make £300 from mystery shopping, surveys, quidoco etc (46.09/300)
Learn the location, capital cities and flags of every country in Europe

Still to start
Play more scrabble - aim for once a month (0/32)
Have a picnic (2/5)
Go to one football match per season (1/3) - Hollyoaks V.s AC Broxtowe
Brew own beer
Make homemade wine
Try scallops
Put up lined curtains at front and back door
Decorate living room - done April 09
Decorate hall
Replace fence in back garden with a hedge
Chop down tree in front garden
Change house energy rating from D to B
Get a water meter fitted
Get bus to work once a week for a month (0/4)
Get a shower timer (and use it!)
Don't use a supermarket for a month
Drink no alcohol for one month
Be vegetarian for one month
Fill ISA for 2009 and 2010 (0/2)
Pay off student loan
Climb Ben Nevis
Climb Scarfell Pike
Visit Holy Island
See the Northern Lights
Go boating on Highfields lake
Build a sandcastle
Use watercolours to paint a picture for house
Go camping twice a year (1/6) - 25/05/09 Sparklow, Derbyshire
Make and wear one item of clothing (0/1)
Knit one item of clothing (0/1) - not a scarf!
Sell one Christmas pudding tea cosy (0/1)
Lose half a stone a keep it off for 6 months (0/6)
Run 5k
Drink 8 pints of water a day for one week (0/7) - see if it has a positive effect
Have a 30th birthday party
Give blood 7 times (2/7)
Do a detox
Do not use nail varnish (look for alternatives to make my nails look beautiful!)
Try skiing or snowboarding
Go horse riding
Replace cleanser and moisturiser with natural alternatives
Paint decking
Learn to juggle
Start my family tree
Learn to use chopsticks
Use the farm shop
Go to an art gallery

Completed
Go to a Christmas carol concert
Get a local dentist
Get a set of thermal underwear
Start a donation to a charity
Pay sister back the money we owe her
Start using washable make up pads - stop using cotton wool which can't be recycled!
Insulate loft
Start veg box again
Go to a classical concert (1/1)
Make jam
Swap one car for a more Eco model
Go to Brighton - 2/1/09
Go to a Cath Kidston Shop - 3/1/09
Go ice skating - 8/1/09
Take part in Earth Hour 2009 - 28/3/09
Find and use a local butcher - found a butcher a few miles away. He even does a collection service from a farm in the next village.

No longer on the list!
Buy and read Sunday paper once a month (2/32)
Be self sufficient for salad items for July, August and September 09 & 10 (0/6)
Throw a party using only homegrown produce
Review progress and blog once a week (4/142)
Take a photo of each challenge (0/101)
Learn to crochet
Make homemade ice cream
Send a postcard to myself from every new place I visit
Be in the audience for a TV or radio show
Volunteer
Only send handmade cards for Christmas 2008
No flying
Run 10k
Run half marathon
Have one TV free evening per fortnight (3/71)
Eat one meal a week at the dining table (3/142)
Do yoga once a week (1/142)
Go swimming once a month (7/32)
Go to a spinning class (0/1)
Do jigsaws and take to charity shop (0/8)
Only eat free range chicken
Overpay mortgage by £4800 (0/4800) - £150 per month
Handwash car once every two months (1/16)
Go for a walk once a week (10/142)

Review of 2008

In terms of my 101 in 1001 list things have been going ok-ish but I did under estimate how much time and energy studying for my CIM qualification would take. I have lost valuable time to spend on reading (which I am really missing) but am enjoying learning new things.

I have also reevaluated the list. There are entries on there which I simply wont do but are on there to make up the numbers. I feel like a bit of a failure when I look at the list when I am not achieving most of the items. Therefore I am going to edit the list to make it a bit more manageable (but still challenging). On a similar note I have decided to cancel my gym membership. Not enough time to go often enough - feeling guilty for not going - not wanting to go because I feel guilty and so on...

Going to go away now and edit my list and also set myself some goals for 2009.

Happy new year!

Mrs M
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# 94 - Learn the location, capital cities and flags of every country in Europe

Useful in quizzes and good for a bit of kudos with your mates - the location of the countries in Europe is sadly lacking in my knowledge.

To put this right I have a quest to learn all the countries, capital cities and flags of all the countries in Europe. I have found this snazzy little website that should help. I will track my progress here:

13 November - 50% - pathetic!
21 November - 53%

#82 - Make £300

8 November 2008 - £16.09 (£16.09/£300)
Easy money from Quidco, mainly due to a free DVD rental from LoveFilm. Promptly transferred this money into the ISA to help with #43. Don't have enough time for mystery shopping at the moment as I am studying for my CIM exams (1st Exam on the 1 December - eek!).

Have just started using a cashback credit card for everything we buy to help with this challenge. At just 1% of purchase price this will never make me rich but nice be a nice small earner when we have finished with Christmas. Can't take the cashback out until Jan/Feb 2010 so should have at least £100 by then!