The ups, downs, and occasional sideways bits of trying to be mortgage free

armchairexpert · 3 October 2017 at 1:14AM

The monster bookshelf is finally finished! The girls are putting all the books on it today. I'm so excited, because it'll have a big knock-on effect: It means I can also get the old musty text books that belong to Mr E out of my study and have a huge clear out. They're going in his studio (the garage!) in a bookshelf that is getting moved out of the dining/breakfast/craft room, meaning I can clear that room out as well. Nothing I like more than throwing away half our stuff and making rooms look bigger.

The downside is that Mr E is muttering about getting a wing chair and a second coffee table for the lounge, which is currently the only room as sparsely furnished as I like it, but I reckon I can hold my ground on that one. He's not a hoarder, but his tolerance for Stuff is far greater than mine is. Browsing in antique shops or on Etsy is his favourite hobby.

Anyway! The sun is shining, the laundry is flapping on the line, the power bills will hopefully start heading downwards from here on it. Mr E is in charge of cooking this evening, and if he's forgotten to take the chicken out of the freezer that is not my problem. Yesterday was a NSD for me, and today should be as well.

armchairexpert · 4 October 2017 at 3:45AM

Had a client meeting in the city today. Mr E is off for the week looking after the girls, and needed to pick something up from his office, so we all drove in together. After the meeting I wanted to amble about for a couple of hours, maybe treat myself to lunch in the city and a new lipstick, but I made the fatal mistake of running into my family on their way back to the car instead. Little Girl was feeling ill, so they'd cut things short. I guess this way is cheaper, but I am kind of mourning my child-free hour of browsing the shops. I so rarely get to do that!

So far (three days into the school holidays) we're doing a good job of keeping expenses low. We did buy a box of mini Magnums yesterday to thank the girls for all their hard work helping with the bookshelf, but that and today's parking was really it.

On Friday, though, I let myself get talked into looking after someone else's six year old for an entire eight hour day, and she and Little Girl can get scratchy with one another after a while, so I think I am going to have to throw at least a tiny bit of money at the problem. So far I'm thinking, walk down to the duck pond with a picnic (and not Doggie, who will try and chase the ducks) and see if we can spot some ducklings, maybe curve back around via the gelati place for a treat, drop into the library and see if there are any free activities on. They are doing a free screening of Moana but it's 8+, unfortunately - they do usually also have some craft thing or other, but not advertised so it's a bit pot luck.

armchairexpert · 4 October 2017 at 11:52PM

Last day of Mr E looking after the girls and then it's all me for the next couple of weeks. I need a plan. Hit me up with your low cost holiday ideas! So far I have

Baking
Beach (the weather looks to be good enough)
Picnic in the native Botanic Garden
Playdates with local kid friends
Um.

(No money things to report. I've been working from home and not spending anything. Mr E bought himself three pairs of new trousers yesterday but only from a cheap shop, so $60 for the three. "That's definitely the last new thing he'll need for a while", apparently. But he hasn't really taken the kids out much these holidays, so that's kept costs down. And for some reason they seem happy enough to potter around at home all the time).

wishingthemortgaheaway · 5 October 2017 at 12:07AM

Sometimes children do just want to do the things we think are boring:uninteresting/ easy for a parent.
As a teacher I used to find interesting ways to do lesson activities, for children to generate their own questions, all linked to a theme. When actually most of them just wanted a page of calculations to complete. It did make me wonders why I bother sometimes.

Tahlullah · 5 October 2017 at 10:20AM

Hello Ace, looks like you have had a bit of an up and down period recently. Look on the bright side, at least you can identify where things are going wrong, and you have the ability to correct as you go along.

Based on this, something is going the right way. You are becoming naturally more frugal and when extra expenses fall on your lap or there is an overspend in the budget, you can still accommodate it all by cutting back somewhere else.

All seems good in the overall picture to me!

armchairexpert · 6 October 2017 at 1:50AM

Thanks Tallulah! Nice to see you around. And yes, you're right. My norms are changing, so things that seemed like unimaginable frugality before are starting to be normal.

Mr E will get a chunk of money after this work trip. At least $650, which is an expense allowance, and maybe also overtime depending on whether it's compensated with paid overtime or time in lieu or a combination of both. If it's all overtime, it'll be closer to $2K, which will allow me to put a decent buffer into the savings pots.

Little Girl's friend is now only over for four hours, which is much easier. So far they're happy with unstructured play, so I might get away with a cheap playdate after all. Wish me luck!

armchairexpert · 8 October 2017 at 3:19AM

Doggie is asleep in a sunbeam, all the windows are open to air the place out, the linens are on the washing line and I've deep cleaned the rugs - yes, it's finally spring. Thank goodness for that.

We had friends come over for dinner yesterday. I had originally misunderstood and thought it was just one person, but then she revealed that she was bringing her whole family (this is the problem with only communicating via text), so we ended up splurging on a takeaway dinner for the lot of us. Our half cost $75, which wasn't at all bad for 4 people and I think it would have cost us more than that to cook a nice dinner for 9. Plus, enough leftovers that they took half home for lunch today and we had the other half. It's so nice to hang out with people who have similar finances, so there's no pressure.

Did a huge grocery shop yesterday because Mr E goes away tomorrow and I don't want to have to drag the kids around the shops on my own while he's gone. Not because they're that difficult, but because they always talk me into a packet of biscuits or some blueberries or something not budgeted for! So I bought extra cat food, extra milk, a frozen pizza and garlic bread and ice cream for next Saturday's "girls' movie night in" which we only do when Mr E is away (we do a whole girly thing, with face masks and nail polish and stuff, I know it's ridiculous with such young children but they adore it) and I have meal planned every lunch and dinner for the next two weeks. And it came to about $180, which is great if I can make it last the fortnight.

Already planning what I'm going to do with Mr E's extra money when it comes in at the end of the month. I don't know how much it'll be, but I'm hoping there'll be enough to top up the birthday and Christmas pots a bit and also put a ceiling fan into our bedroom before summer hits.

wishingthemortgaheaway · 8 October 2017 at 3:45AM

Ace, it seems odd for you to be talking about throwing open the windows and sorting out a fan when all of us here in Blighty are hunkering down for the winter. Nights drawing in, heating starting to kick in, warm soups and stews.
But it's also nice that you post in the wee small hours for us as I'm sat here with a not sleeping 1 year old.

Mr E being away may be good for the finances in other ways too, will he splurge from the family finances or is everything on the expense account?

My hubby has just headed off into mainland Europe for the week, then he's flying back into London to work there for a week, so sending you lots of 'we're temporary single parent' solidarity vibes to you. In my case, it's tough on the parenting front, but easier on the housewife front, I don't have to tidy up nearly as much or as often. And, this time... there's a laundry service on the gig, so he's under strict instructions to get as much of his washing laundered before returning home as possible.

Have a great day, little one here still thinking sleep is optional.

Wish.

armchairexpert · 8 October 2017 at 3:56AM

wishingthemortgaheaway wrote: »

Ace, it seems odd for you to be talking about throwing open the windows and sorting out a fan when all of us here in Blighty are hunkering down for the winter. Nights drawing in, heating starting to kick in, warm soups and stews.
But it's also nice that you post in the wee small hours for us as I'm sat here with a not sleeping 1 year old.

Mr E being away may be good for the finances in other ways too, will he splurge from the family finances or is everything on the expense account?

My hubby has just headed off into mainland Europe for the week, then he's flying back into London to work there for a week, so sending you lots of 'we're temporary single parent' solidarity vibes to you. In my case, it's tough on the parenting front, but easier on the housewife front, I don't have to tidy up nearly as much or as often. And, this time... there's a laundry service on the gig, so he's under strict instructions to get as much of his washing laundered before returning home as possible.

Have a great day, little one here still thinking sleep is optional.

Wish.

Oh, golly, I remember the wee-small-hours days! Hang in there.

Mr E is going to a remote part of the Outback. There are - hurrah! - no shops. They buy their own groceries to take there, but then they get reimbursed a set amount per day which far exceeds that amount because it's a flat rate that's calculated to reimburse travelling staff whether they're in a city paying for restaurant food, or in a desert cooking beans over a fire. I hope that makes sense. So it works out quite lucrative for these sorts of trips, but he breaks even if it's a conference in a capital city.

And yes, I hear you on the housewife front! It's an ongoing mystery to me, because Mr E is a very egalitarian bloke, who does a lot of housework. He doesn't "help", he just does things as they need doing, which is often more than I do because I'm working in the evenings. And yet AND YET things stay way tidier and cleaner when he's not here. Mystery. I think it's because I cook lower-effort meals rather than his all-the-pots-in-the-kitchen specials, and I tidy as I go whereas he doesn't, and we generate a lot less laundry because he wears four layers of clothes at all times, etc., etc.

Also I get to watch what I want on telly and I have bought and stashed snacks! Bring it on!

armchairexpert · 11 October 2017 at 12:09AM

Mr E being away appears to have sent a signal to Big and Little that I am at their disposal 100%, and I've struggled to find any time to post! But on the bright side, they're clearly wanting a laid back holiday, which has proven very cheap. They asked for a picnic on the lawn instead of lunch in a cafe yesterday, and today they specifically requested a day where they didn't get out of their PJs all day. They're making pipe cleaner people at the moment, it's all terribly wholesome.

We will have to walk Doggie at some point, but otherwise the agenda is baking, craft, me trying to find an hour to get some paid work done, then we'll watch a movie and paint our toe nails.

Nothing at all money related to share, I haven't spent a cent in days!

The ups, downs, and occasional sideways bits of trying to be mortgage free

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