Get a grip woman!

Suffolk_lass · 30 July 2017 at 9:18AM

By the way, I roasted all the courgettes in olive oil, salt pepper and chilli flakes and they are in a plastic bag in the freezer, ready to make soup!

We braided loads of shallots yesterday and they look lovely, and will store well, with all the small ones now pickled - Just the main crop onions to deal with now.

And beans - I need to string and freeze runners and french beans - lots of them!

boxofpaws · 6 August 2017 at 8:30AM

Not sure if you're on holiday or about to go but have a wonderful time _party_

Suffolk_lass · 6 August 2017 at 9:02AM

boxofpaws wrote: »

Not sure if you're on holiday or about to go but have a wonderful time _party_

Thanks Paws - we've just arrived at the Villa we rent. Husband outside watering the pots and getting the monster paddling pool ready to fill - good alternative to swimming pool when it is 37c as when we arrived yesterday. Hopefully it will storm tomorrow as predicted. Who knew we would be hoping for rain!

Karmacat · 6 August 2017 at 11:46AM

Have a great time out there

enjoy the storm!

Hiddenidenity · 6 August 2017 at 11:52AM

Have a good time! x

Suffolk_lass · 23 August 2017 at 10:34PM

Well, here I am, back from holiday with two months of high credit card bills to look forward to. The first thing I did on-line when we got home was to raid our emergency savings pot, moving money to the current account so that I could clear the balance of the 0% credit card before the deal expires on 31st August.

I have mixed emotions - on the one hand, I resent moving money back from savings to current account, but on the other hand I am relieved it has gone and I had almost £1500 in the current account so instead of needing to move over £2000 it was only £600. I am trying not to be too obsessive but I am going to check if the payment has gone yet (still showing uncleared and pending on the credit card account yesterday)

Suffolk_lass · 24 August 2017 at 3:01PM

It's cleared. I have checked the account and it shows zero balance and confirms they will not collect my direct debit balance next month.:T

:j:j:j Hooray! :j:j:j

Suffolk_lass · 26 August 2017 at 7:45AM

DEBTS[/B]

[STRIKE]£110,621[/STRIKE] £103,664,98 (£6,956.02 paid so far) - Mortgage
[STRIKE]£3,476[/STRIKE] £0 (£3,476)- DH's car - paid off on 21st Aug 17
[STRIKE]£8,755.54[/STRIKE] £5,571.72 (£3,183.82) - Barclays 0% Finance for double glazing

Total [STRIKE]£122,852.54[/STRIKE] £109,236.7 - that is £13,615.84 or 11.08% paid off so far.

SAVINGS
£12,444.32 - this exceeds our emergency fund aim - I need to decide what to do with this now - more in another post
£12,549.27 S&S ISA with Fidelity International (original £10,000 5 years ago, no further capital added)
£5,988.63 DH's S&S ISA with Charles Stanley Direct]
£3,136.51 2 year Bond with Skipton BS @ 4% Finishes in early 2018
£10,947.52 7 year bond with Skipton BS - matures Oct 20
[STRIKE]£38,630.43[/STRIKE] £45,066.25 Total actual cashable savings

Shortfall -£64,170.45 (all debts)

The big news is paying off the 0% deal credit card for which I had been setting aside money in our emergency fund account since I started this diary. I had saved up just over £2000 but when it came to it, I had a bit of a surplus in my current account so I only needed to move £600 from savings to cover it.

One further viewing on our house this month. According to local agents the whole market is flat as everyone goes on holiday and no half-year bonuses are due until September. Typical!

Husband is working out the bills shortfall for the other house

I’ll post separately about the other things we are mulling over.

Suffolk_lass · 26 August 2017 at 10:59AM

Things to consider:

We are going to take a yoga class - where and when to be determined (we need to make sure we like the teacher). We did a one-off at the hotel we stayed in for a week of our holiday and both felt much better for a day's strengthening stretching.

We are going to go for a weekly swim. I have checked out one of the local pools and they open at 07.45 at the weekend. I think it will be tomorrow, for the first time in ages. I used to swim and would swim for 40 minutes every weekday morning but that was many years ago, when I was at College. Unfortunately while we are working, it can only be the weekend as we are gone by 06.25 for our commute.

I have exceeded the target I set myself for our emergency fund. The original target was £10k but actually, six months of outgoings is a bit more than that, so, do I keep increasing it or do I start moving it into more efficient longer-term savings?

The factors I must consider in deciding this are:

We are still trying to sell our house
We are still trying to buy a derelict that will need lots of ready cash
What shall we do with our second house that we own with our Son?
Should I pay down the mortgage as originally planned, or hold it in an account where I can draw down if needed, and if the latter, what sort?

I still plan to retire within two years and I don't want to change plans after that too much

boxofpaws · 27 August 2017 at 2:13PM

Welcome back!

I want to give you some really good and insightful advice like you did to me but I just dont have a clue. No one would EVER want to take financial advice from me besides.

I feel like i dont even know your overall plan. Why have savings and debt? Are you already making the maximum overpayments on your mortgage?

I think spring is the best time to sell houses - so people can be in in time for the new school year.

Get a grip woman!

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