Ready to do it all over again ...

Thanks Tallgirl and Pooky, I think I will go ahead with the credit card offer, I just need to be disciplined with using it. I am still needing to buy some chairs for the conservatory and my bedside tables, so they will go on there (money is already in my savings account to pay for them).

Today I have painted the downstairs toilet, it was white but needed freshening up, there were lots of dirty marks on the walls etc, I've painted it white again but at least it looks clean and fresh. Tomorrow I need to gloss the door-frame but other than that it's done. I might do the hall tomorrow too, my hall is tiny, not much bigger than the downstairs toilet, and again it's all white so shouldn't take very long.

I have also cashed out £20 from a survey site, so that's another little bit into the savings pot I'm wondering now whether I ought to focus on clearing my brothers loan before I overpay on the mortgage. He's happy for me to pay back the amount borrowed without any interest, so I ought to clear that first. I reckon if I can save £25k I can use £5k from my safety savings. I am already saving £350 a month, I reckon if I can aim to add at least £150 to that I can aim for at least £500 a month, which would take 50 months to get to £25k. I've already got £1050 (3 x £350 monthly savings) and £265 (was mortgage overpayments), & £20 just cashed out , so that's £1335 / £25,000. This means I need £23,665, which @ £500 a month = 47 months ish, so just under 4 years from now it will be gone and then I can totally focus on hitting the mortgage.

I know my plans keep changing, but this way I feel better - my brother was incredibly kind and generous to lend me the money, especially without wanting interest on it, so I need to pay this back as a priority.

So, once again a new plan but ultimately the saving every penny bit hasn't changed

and £3 reward from my Halifax account :money:

Time to chill - I've done 4 loads of washing, the final lot has just gone on the line, the rest has dried already :T although that does mean my ironing pile has grown again :cool:

I've also painted the hall and glossed the woodwork in the hall and the downstairs toilet. It looks so much better, the gloss was really yellowy, you don't notice how much until you paint it white again It only cost me a couple of quid for the sugar soap and a dust sheet, I already had the white paint and there was a big tin of gloss paint left in the garage when I moved in, the old owner told me she'd bought it to paint before putting the house up for sale but hadn't got around to doing it. It has given me the motivation to decorate in the summer holidays, I do need to buy some decent brushes though. Mr S was a painter / decorator and he had fabulous Purdey brushes, they were expensive but did a great job.

I've also washed the back door curtains, finished the Tesco order and filled up the washer water in the car. A few bits are left on the to do list but I might leave them for tomorrow I'm going to have a lazy hour or two on the sofa then I need to make the fruit kebabs to take to the bbq tonight.