Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

newgirly

Hi John, the mortgage board might be better placed to offer advice on that 🙂

Hi Vix, thanks it was great so see the guys again 😊

Another dull day today, adjusted the asd@ shop for tomorrow for he 100th time, it’s gets complicated as the kids can add and pay for their own booze or fancy stuff if they want it. 

It’s been raining all day here so no walk and only 6k steps. Been feeling a bit rough the last few days too, not COVID rough, I think it’s rib and breastbone pain, it’s always something with me I’m a bag of nerves! 

Hopefully tomorrow will be better! 

themadvix

Hope you’re feeling better today NG. The weather isn’t helping, I agree. 

newgirly

Hi Vix,  not as bad today thanks 🙂

Rain all day again today here, so no walking again. There was some excitement though as we had an asd@ delivery including some t@ssimo flat white pods, which are stupidly coming from my frugal grocery budget yet are the opposite of frugal, it’s only for lockdown and I don’t get alcohol, at least that’s my excuse at paying £10 a week minimum 😱 i would say it’s my only pleasure right now but that would be too dramatic 😆

We have come up with a rough plan of sorting the log cabin out (finally after some serious heated debate!) Roof needs more work possibly heavy duty stuff over the felt which has leaked again. New concrete floor once remaining tiles/wooden frame and insulation is removed, boarding and painting inside, wood strengthening panels inside and out as wall has moved slightly. Possibly new doors too as well as I want to hot tub moved from there to the garden (door too narrow) that way we can section off part of it and move the garage contents there when reduced and cleared out a bit - saving £80 a month in garage rent 🥳 Dh can then have the rest as a clean and dry workshop.

Its a great plan, although I think we are looking at upwards of £1k , it’s a really large good quality cabin so even though it needs work and is ten years old, it’s well worth saving and the garage savings will pay for it within a year. Only probably now is getting the work done with dhs dodgy hand, there’s no way I can get on the roof 😱 I’m hoping to rope in some helpers here 🤔 

Tomorrow I have an afternoon tea being delivered for ds2 and his fiancée as a belated engagement treat, only £15 delivered for two, same place as the one we had a few weeks ago from dd, amazing and so cheap compared to everywhere else locally. 

South_coast

NG, if you can't rustle up enough helpers out of all the people you've got at home then you seriously need to work on your negotiation tactics 🤣!

themadvix

Sounds like a really good plan for the cabin.

 Afternoon teas are great 😁

newgirly

We now have heavy duty roof corrugated stuff 😁 it was a bit £££ but will last hopefully. My dad has kindly offered to pay for someone to fit it next week, he may also attempt to move the hot tub out and into the garden, if that happens then we can hopefully do some prep ready to renovate it. Don’t know the guy that’s coming but he will have to come through the house and probably use the loo on the middle floor, so I’ll make sure we all use the top floor that day then disinfect it all. 

My personal spending pot is down to about £20 after building it up for the last few months, and the car saving pot which also took a hammering with the vets bill is now going to be flipped to the cabin renovation savings, so there’s currently about £270 left which is not enough! I’m not dipping into either the holiday pot or the overpayments budgeted for this month, so it’s going to take some thought 😬

Homemade pizzas for dinner last night, bit of a pain  and a mess if I’m honest, will still do occasionally though. Dinner today is frozen pie, mash and veg so nice and easy.

edinburgher

@newgirly - is the log cabin a shed or one of them there fancy outdoor buildings all my neighbours seem to be getting (aka posh sheds)? 

newgirly

Hi Ed, it’s was a posh cabin ten years ago, now it’s a haggard large shed 😆 thanks for popping by, hope you are well 🙂

The guy came this morning to do the roof, I asked him to wear a mask in the house which he did, and then while on the shed and then repeatedly came in without it 😡 anyway he ran out of sheets of corrugated panels , so will come back when the extra are delivered. He was tired today apparently as he has a newborn, although his partner does the night stuff it means he gets woken up at six so needed to go home for a rest when he finished at lunchtime, I don’t know where my dad finds them! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Getting through gallons of own brand gavisc@n at the moment, so a dinner of soup and bread tonight, the others will have fish and chips, and dd will have toast as I’m not cooking and I doubt she will bother.
 

I’m just thinking and we have had some unplanned costs this year so far, the shed, the vet bill and I spent £15 on afternoon tea for ds2 and fiancée, but other than all that I’ve not bought any needless “stuff” online, that’s a win even if it doesn’t sound like it 😆 

I’m currently waiting to see if my gas/elec DD is going to go up 😱 sent the reading today and it’s due to be reviewed, we currently pay £150 for both - just electric was £146 last month! and that’s with a newly switched cheap tariff in the last few months, energy saving bulbs everywhere and we are a mid terrace. I shudder to think what it will be as the usage must be sky high with so many here and so many gadgets permanently on, except for the hoover and now retired iron of course 😁

greent

Ouch, ng! Ours has just been put down to £118/ mth from £139 for dual fuel - and we are a detached and I'd say our usage is high - 7 laptops on most of the time - and we have daily ironing and robot vacuuming   Dec dual bill was £157 and Jan's is due tomorrow - will be higher than Dec, due to home learning and we've had heating on all day most days....

newgirly

That’s good! I could understand if it was the gas that was high as we lose heat through the conservatory, it must be the multiple screens and computers on through lockdown maybe. I wouldn’t mind if I had a robot doing the housework for me 😆