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Move mortgage mountain project

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Comments

  • Primrose
    Primrose Posts: 10,712 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper I've been Money Tipped!
    Julliff - sorry about your anxiety. You've come through such a turbulent period that it's probably normal to have some "down" periods. I notice you're still at your computer at 10.30 p.m. Could you do with a few early nights to give yourself a break? Well done on the bread making. Could you make your own soup as well and take it in a thermos - most vegetable soups are dirt cheap to make and if you've got a stick blender even chunky soups can be whizzed into a puree to fit into a flask?

    Regarding the hall/stair carpet - keep looking around and get some quotes from other places. I'm sure over the next couple of months a lot of carpeting businesses could be offering special deals to beat the VAT increase in January, so you might be able to beat down that price.

    Hope the kittens give you a lot of pleasure - just keep their little claws away from furniture and carpets. On second thoughts, knowing what our cat did to the carpeting on our stairs you may be better off sticking with the old stair carpet until you've got them properly trained on where to scratch, i.e. when they're about 25 years old :rotfl:
  • julliff
    julliff Posts: 625 Forumite
    edited 24 October 2010 at 1:35PM
    Hi Primrose,

    Nice to hear from you.

    The kittens are lovely, but a real handful. The girls are sticking to their part of the bargain, and dealing with the litter tray, so I can't complain on that score. I do still miss old furbones (not his real name!) though. He was so relaxing, and the kittens are just hyper.

    You are probably right about the stair carpet. Maybe I'll leave it til Christmas, and hopefully I will get a bargain, and the kittens will have calmed down a bit!

    Re the soup. I will try to do something this weekend. Been too busy in the week.

    Not been sleeping very well,. Van't get to sleep before midnight, and awake again at 4.30 am. I am desperately tired though.

    I can't help worrying about the future. I think all the stuff in the news about the cutbacks makes you think, doesn't it? I have to admit that my mortgage scares me. I am on a good income, so I don't know why I keep panicking. I have also started avoiding social situations. Still, think of the money I will save towards the Mortgage - hehe.

    Kids have asked me if I would mind if they went to their Dads on Christmas Eve, and stayed over. I am actually quite happy with this. I was worrying that the kids would say something along the lines of "Its not the same". But now, it wont be, and I won't have to try to make it like other years.

    Sorry, I am rambling.

    Anyway, on a practical note, the "receiver" to the boiler has stopped working, so I will need to get a replacement. At the moment, the boiler can be turned on manually, but there is no thermostatic control. I don't supose this is very economical, as the boiler will just keep blasting out until I turn it off.

    Kittens are being vaccinated on Sunday. I am looking at £150 plus the cost of flea reatments etc. Sooo, I am looking around the house to see what I can do to offset some of this cost, so as not to derail my quest. I have a list of stuff, which should raise a large chunk of that. - when I was younger, I wore a lot of vintage clothes. Since I will never get into them again, I think I will sell them. Good, that is decided.

    another bright idea I had - in the mornings, I like a "posh" coffee at work, as the free machine coffe is vile. So what I am going todo, is take some coffe in from home, in one of those insulated mugs. Voila, save a fiver a week.
    "Carpe Diem"
    MFW - Starting mortgage April 2010 - 120,000
    MFW - restart Nov 2013 - £70207.88 & £14086.49
    Current balance - £62459.49 & £10380.19

  • SmlSave
    SmlSave Posts: 4,911 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Sorry, I am rambling

    Ramble away my dear :) we don't mind

    Did I hear vintage clothes? Ohhhhh, what sizes do you have? I'm a buxom 14 - 16
    Currently studying for a Diploma - wish me luck :)

    Phase 1 - Emergency Fund - Complete :j
    Phase 2 - £20,000 Mortgage Fund - Underway
  • JaneRN
    JaneRN Posts: 114 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    julliff wrote: »
    OK



    The hall and landing are decorated, and I am very pleased with the result. I went to get a quote for a carpet, just for stairs and landing, and was shocked that it will be over £400. I think I am living in the past. Actually, it was not really the carpet as such, but the fitting charge (£50 + extra £35 for stairs), delivery charge - £35, which made it really add up.

    I managed to get a carpet for my stairs and landing fitted for under £100, so keep looking. If you live near Liverpool I could recommend this shop.
  • julliff
    julliff Posts: 625 Forumite
    Hello All

    finally got around to updating. I have been spending too much time reading everyone elses diaries! Also,whenever I am on the computer, one of the girls comes in, and I am paranoid that they will read my "old" thread if they find out my username!

    Anyway, SmlSave - I am afraid that the clothes are all size 10, hence the reason I will never be weraing them again. I am also 14/16! I have decided to sell off some of the 1950's stuff, but I can't bring myself to sell the 1940's stuff just yet, it is too beautiful.

    JaneRN, I am a long way from Liverpool - I am in the South West, but thanks for the offer. Did you get your carpet from a chain, or was it a small indepedent? I have decided to wait a while, as Primrose suggested, so that the kittens may have settled down a bit. I was wondering how old they will be before they calm down. Does anyone know?
    "Carpe Diem"
    MFW - Starting mortgage April 2010 - 120,000
    MFW - restart Nov 2013 - £70207.88 & £14086.49
    Current balance - £62459.49 & £10380.19

  • JaneRN
    JaneRN Posts: 114 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    julliff wrote: »
    Hello All
    JaneRN, I am a long way from Liverpool - I am in the South West, but thanks for the offer. Did you get your carpet from a chain, or was it a small indepedent? I have decided to wait a while, as Primrose suggested, so that the kittens may have settled down a bit. I was wondering how old they will be before they calm down. Does anyone know?

    I think it maybe a small independant - although it is on a large retail park. It's just called "the carpet company"
  • julliff
    julliff Posts: 625 Forumite
    OK, thanks Jane. I will keep looking around.

    I have got a few days off, so I want to get a bit organised. "procrastination is the thief of time" - so,so true.

    I finally got through to the tax office to query why I have been deemed to be overpaid on WTC for last year. It turns out that because I said that my OH were no longer living as a couple from Aug 09, and was late telling them I have been overpaid.

    I suppose it ismy fault, becuse they do not define what is meant by "living as a couple". However, OH did not move out until Feb 10, and I was paying for everything while he was in the house, so I am going to contest it, and revise that date. I recieved the forms today. I originally put that date down, as in my divorce, I had to sign to say we were no longer a couple, and that I did not perform any "wifely" duties, which included me cooking for him. But that is different to the WTC situation, which is where I got confused.

    The lasy I spoke to said that my X is liable for half, and if the overpayment is upheld, then they are willing to chase him for it. I can just imagine him saying "Well, I never saw any of that, so why should I pay?" Oh, well.

    Anyway, today I aim to do:

    • Fill in sheet for contesting WTC,as above;
    • Complete Company month end transaction sheet for accountant;
    • Pay corporation tax bill (money already set aside for this, as per accountants advice;
    • Declutter my desk;
    Mealplan for next 10 days:

    Thurs: Fajitas for the kids (I'm out on a work do);
    Fri: Kids out with their Dad so I shall just have porridge;
    Sat: Away
    Sun: chicken and chips,as we will be returning too late for a roast;
    Mon: Risotto
    Tues: Tuna and Pasta Bake
    Weds: Toad in the hole with mash
    Thurs: Spag bol
    Fri: Neices 21st party - food provided (chilli, jacket spuds, salad etc)
    Sat: HM Burgers & wedges

    right, on with the first task then.
    "Carpe Diem"
    MFW - Starting mortgage April 2010 - 120,000
    MFW - restart Nov 2013 - £70207.88 & £14086.49
    Current balance - £62459.49 & £10380.19

  • Hello Juliff,

    I am sorry that you have been feeling down and tired. These are worrying times and I think that paying down the mortgage in order to gain more security is the only way to go, and people who are burying their heads in the sand are mad. So please don't think that there is anything wrong with feeling anxious - it is the only sane approach if, as in your case, that anxiety leads to you taking action to reduce unnecessary spending and give more security to you and your girls.

    Have a good week, and keep taking action!:j

    Squirrel xxx
    Paid off mortgage nine years early in 2013. Now picking and choosing our work to fit in with the rest of our lives!
    Still thrifty though, after all these years:D
  • SmlSave
    SmlSave Posts: 4,911 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    nomnom Juliff May I come round for dinner on Mon, Tues and oh, Wed too? :) pleease?
    Currently studying for a Diploma - wish me luck :)

    Phase 1 - Emergency Fund - Complete :j
    Phase 2 - £20,000 Mortgage Fund - Underway
  • julliff
    julliff Posts: 625 Forumite
    SmlSave - of course you can come round - you need to keep your strength up ;)

    Squirrel, thank you so much for your encouragement. I am trying to keep a perspective, and focus on what I CAN do. Sigh, maybe it's just my age. got a few days off work, so hopefully will feel calmer.

    Strange, but I popped out to Aldis today, and I actually felt decadent for being at large! I am so used to being chained to my desk, being out like that, I imagined I was an escaped convict - LOL!

    Anyway, had a nice afternoon with the girls making pumpkin lanterns. Sved the pulp and tomorrow morning I'm having a go at making pumpkin & parsnip soup -yummy. I would have loved to be a SAHM - never happened for me though. Still, they say the grass is always greener.

    Anyway, progress for today:

    Paid Corp tax bill;
    Did report for accountant;
    Managed to worm the kittens;


    Hmmm - will try harder tomorrow - off out now.
    "Carpe Diem"
    MFW - Starting mortgage April 2010 - 120,000
    MFW - restart Nov 2013 - £70207.88 & £14086.49
    Current balance - £62459.49 & £10380.19

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