Simplifying Life - Mark II

sarahs999

Woh, Charis, great news! Gosh, won't you feel rich now, with that extra money each month. WHat will you do with it?

mary43

Charis - congratulations and snap !! Just paid ours off:T Now all we have to do is pay off the hefty loan (should be cleared by next March) and we'll feel a lot more comfortable. All thats left then are the dratted credit cards I wish I'd never had...........always meant to only use them in emergencies but afraid I got a little carried away..........not as much as some folk you read about but enough.

ceridwen - Yes........you're right - last mortgage payment went out last week...........lovely letter from the bank that I'd quite like to frame..............lol For some reason a lot of our friends seem to think we'll be selling up now.............no way, not for a few years yet.......I'd like to enjoy my home knowing its all mine, every single bit of it.:j

Well, been back to the doctor again after a night of hacking and coughing........cough is no longer on my chest thank goodness and seems the hacking away is just my bodys way of getting rid of it all........trouble is its given me a heck of a throat........feels like I've got a prickly old sock stuffed down it. So, thankfully, no more antibiotics..........just some cough suppressent............hope that works tonight !
Having dreadful bad hair day.:eek: ...........really must sort it out !! Just might make me feel a bit better about myself.
Still on the plus side..........lovely feeling to be mortgage free and know that Christmas pressies are all bought and paid for...............:T

ceridwen

Congratulations to you too then Mary:beer: . One major step down - a couple more to go then....still I guess its not that long till end March and another large step towards financial security.

Hmm...."lovely letter".....you weren't with my mortgage lender then:D . As I recall - mine was more along the lines of a final statement of account or summat - but then I guess my circumstances were a bit different. I'd done some swopping and changing re-mortgaging on the one hand and been paying back lump sums when I could on the other hand - so I guess that was a bit different. By the time I paid off the last chunk - it was such a small mortgage anyway that it was no big deal in my case...but 'twas still a welcome relief to know I no longer had a mortgage - even though the payments come the end were down to about £8 per month. I think one of the main considerations to me was that I then knew that if I lost my job that I would be able to even take temporary jobs if need be. Previously - it HAD to be a permanent job or nothing if it had come to it - as I couldnt have managed the being put through weeks of not being given my mortgage interest by the D.H.S.S. (as was) over and over again any time a job came to an end. That was very much a motivating factor to me personally - as weeks of not getting my full benefit because of that would have "wiped out" the added income from having had a job temporarily (as I'm in low-paid type work).

mary43

ceridwen - well, when I say 'lovely letter'............it was by comparison to some we;ve had in past years when things were really really hard and we risked losing everything.
This was more along the lines of 'thankyou for doing business with us -if we can be of further help please don't hesitate to contact us'...............lol
But, to be fair, they did stick by us in the end when we hit rock bottom.........this was some years back in the days of 'bank managers' who you actually could get to know and who took the time to know you.
Sadly things change and every time I go to the bank there's a different face behind the counter and another 'man in a suit' walking about that I don't know. Progress ? I think not ! Still, all has ended ok in our little world and as you say, March won't be that far away............oh I'm so looking forward to it . If I could pay it off before then I would but chances of that happening are zilch........

Well what a totally wasted day I've had...........feeling full of guilt about what I should or shouldn't have done (washing my hair would have been a start -far too many bad hair days of late :eek: )
Did go back to the doctors this morning after a bout of coughing at 4am that seemed to go on and on and on.
Been checked over, no longer on my chest (relief) and the persistant hacking is my body's way of getting rid of it all..........hence the sore throat from cough, cough, cough !!! So, I know have some 'cough suppressant'............am hoping that will do the job tonight at least.
Then tomorrow I intend to go into town.............haven't seen a charity shop in over a week -nearly 2 now.............withdrawals will start !!!!:eek:
Plus a few odds and ends I need like ribbon and santa bits to sew on a towel and flannel for baby grandson..............general 'stuff'..........once I get those I can totally finish off everything.........(she says in optomistic fashion)

sarahs999

Hello all! Went to a charity shop near my work for the first time; blimey. RedCross, belgravia - they certainly know their labels! Lots of Ben de Lisi, Armani, all at not very cheap prices. I did buy a couple of paperbacks though; but even they were £3 each, which seemed quite a lot.

I bought all my ingredients for my chirstmas cake yesterday, except the sherry. And I sourced lots of presents as it was a slow day at work - I have 13 children to buy for (not all mine, in fact, not including mine!) and I've set myself a budget of £5 each. Found a great few websites with things I'd have liked as a kid so will be starting to order soon.

Hope evryone's enjoying a simple life!

mary43

sarah - our charity shops know their labels as well -can always tell when they write the label on the price ticket - you just know its going to be more money than something else. Still, I've had some decent Monsoon stuff for about £5 -lot cheaper than it would have been brand new.
Went to our shops this morning -first time I'd been out for over two weeks - not a great deal to be had but I did find an advent calendar for baby grandson in felt with little pockets for sweets etc. so it can be used every year - £1.50 - not bad I thought. Cheapest new one I've seen has been £8:eek:
I only seemed to pick up little bits and pieces but still had to have taxi home my back was aching so much ! So, thats my outing for this week.........:j
Not doing much the rest of the day -back twinges too much so its easy dinner -ready made pie and fresh veg.........easy - surely even I can't go wrong with that ????

Charis

mary43 wrote: »

Charis - congratulations and snap !! Just paid ours off:T Now all we have to do is pay off the hefty loan (should be cleared by next March) and we'll feel a lot more comfortable.

Well done Mary (and Mary's DH). It does feel good to know that every brick is yours doesn't it, especially in these times. I haven't left much for Christmas but I'm hoping our family can have a present buying amnesty this year as no one has much to throw around. We will still enjoy a meal together (or several if oldest DS stays as long as he did last year).

Charis

sarahs999 wrote: »

Woh, Charis, great news! Gosh, won't you feel rich now, with that extra money each month. WHat will you do with it?

I'm hoping there will still be some left over although all the bills have gone up in recent months. Perhaps I should buy some sensible additions to my wardrobe, which seems to have been sadly neglected of late. It's lucky I don't pine for fashion as I'd always be about six years out of date.

I'd love to save up for a porch because when the west wind whistles in from Wales it blows every bit of heat straight out of the bungalow, and has even been know to blow the pilot light out on the warm air unit.

mary43

Charis - I have a list of 'wishes'................new back porch would be lovely. One of those with the arch around the top, rea; cottagy - expect that cost shed loads of money, far more than I could justify. Downstairs loo would be bliss............save have to join the queue.................lol I could fit that in the little back room off the kitchen which is not quite so much a building site now the walls been plastered. Just that OH never got around to painting it :mad:
I think come new year we'll try and have an 'action plan' of sorts.......stuff that needs doing etc. but I get a sneaky feeling that the day we get this house just how we'd like it will be the day we decide to downsize and leave it all behind..................

Charis

mary43 wrote: »

I get a sneaky feeling that the day we get this house just how we'd like it will be the day we decide to downsize and leave it all behind..................

I feel just the same. This bungalow would be ideal to grow old(er) in, but for the large garden and the somewhat remote location. Although we have a small town within walking distance, most medical investigations and any serious shopping involve a round trip in any one of three directions of 30 miles or so. But could I cope with urban life when I am old and frail? Sometimes I think 'oh I'll worry about that if and when I get there' but elderly folk often say they are glad they downsized while they still had the energy.

On the subject of downsizing, now we have been simplifying for almost a year on this thread, I thought I had nearly finished. Then a young friend moved in around the corner and I realised that if I gave her one of my wardrobe units, which she urgently needs, and the matching dressing table, I could have a radical rearrangement of the furniture here. DS will soon have a bedsit with the big TV, our computers will now fit into the smallest bedroom together (we will sit back to back) and I will have a large, blissfully TV free zone. The few progs I do watch I shall watch on my PC on the catch up facility. DS can play his guitars and his playstation in his own space.

So the garden has been cleared out, the wardrobes have been culled, the garage has been emptied. Furniture I thought I needed I have been able to let go - less to dust. Strangely, the more I give away, the more perspective and peace of mind I seem to gain. At this rate by the time I am really old I will be a Buddhist nun, so problem solved.