Reading other people’s personal finance blogs (I confess, I’m addicted) it seems that most people have several funds on the go.  So, they might have an emergency fund, a holiday fund, a house repair fund and a mortgage fund.

I’ve given some thought as to whether or not I should have these separate funds.  I have pretty much decided that two funds will do it for me at the moment – a mortgage fund and a house renovation fund.  Anything else and I’ll try to pay for it as I go along.

The funds will also operate as my emergency fund at the outset (at the moment I’ve not got any emergency fund at all).  That means that I can’t actually overpay the mortage (at least to begin with) because I can’t get that money back should I need it.  Fingers crossed, I won’t have to use the money for an emergency and it will eventually go towar

As previously admitted, I could procrastinate for England.  So it may well be that one of my first decisions on the subject of how I am going to go about paying off my mortgage is a sensible one or yet another way of avoiding actually doing something.

 My totally groundbreaking decision is – to get organised.

I reason that I can’t continue with this slovenly, disorganised meander through the world and expect to achieve anything as difficult as paying off my mortgage.  I mean, I might have time to do something constructive if I spent a little less time rooting through all my worldly possessions trying to find that bill that I’ve been meaning to pay for two months/my passport/that old envelope with that man’s phone number to come and fix the electrics scribbled on it.  Even thinking about trying to remember to pay that bill is draining.

 First step.  My work bag.  OK, bags.  I have to carry two for the myriad crapola that I cart around with me.  Admission – the picture above is all the stuff that I have emptied out of my work bags*.  Here is the list of shame:-

• 2 x nail polishes
• £1.50 (yay!)
• 144 euros
• paperclip
• 2 x pen lids
• 20 x receipts
• 12 x flyers/leaflets
• 5 x newspaper/magazine clippings
• 9 x post-it notes
• 3 x envelopes
• umbrella cover
• 2 x train tickets
• 10 x bits of paper (mostly ‘to do’ lists!)
• 6 x envelopes (unopened)
• 2 x amazon slips
• electricity bill (paid)
• 2 x sweet wrappers
• tissues (clean!)
• hairband
• headphone pouch (never used)

I think you will agree.  I have a problem.  We are talking a little more than a few old sweet wrappers lurking in the bottom of my bag.

MrW is aware that I am a bad bag keeper.  But I think even he would be shocked if he knew the true extent of the problem. 

I hereby swear that when I step through the door at night I will check and chuck anything that shouldn’t be in my bag.

*Seriously, I cannot find the cable to attach my camera to the computer.  I haven’t made this up.  I have just illustrated my point perfectly.  I’ll upload the photo if/when the de-cluttering (which MUST HAPPEN) uncovers the  offending item.

The first step in trying to save money/pay off my mortgage is surely obvious – the less I spend of what I earn, the more there will be to put in the kitty. 

I have to admit that I don’t keep track of my money very well at all.  I am very fortunate not to live ‘hand to mouth’ and that has proabably made me complacent.  It didn’t always used to be this way, in the past I’ve been totally skint and tens of thousands of pounds in debt.  I do know what it is like to have absolutely no money so there really is no excuse for not valuing it properly. 

This week I’m going to make a note of everything that I spend whether that is on debit card, credit card, paypal or cash.  Oh yes, I have myriad ways of parting myself with my money.  The idea is just to become conscious of where my money goes so that I can then make decisions about what I am going to keep/cut.

So the basic plan is to pay off the mortgage.  Early, that is.  That means I’ve got to find £88,400 from somewhere.  I just haven’t worked out from where yet.

Actually, if I’m honest the figure is actually double that but MrW will have to take responsibility for his half.  We don’t have joint finances.  Besides, if I just think about ‘my half’ for the moment  it doesn’t seem quite so unachievable.  

I hope by making the plan a bit public I can hold myself accountable.  I’m a fantastic procrastinator and weak willed to boot.  Not a good combination for deciding upon and sticking to a plan.

I’m off to try and find some sort of motivating ‘progress bar’ widget.

 EDIT – now that I have started to think about my mortgage I realise that simply finding the money to pay off the mortgage is not be enough.  The house needs lots of work as well.  I don’t know how much the work will cost exactly but I reckon if I find around £12,000 that should pretty much cover my half.  So, let’s not quibble over a few hundred pounds here or there, let’s just take a deep breath and set the total target at a nice fat and round £100k.