That was scary; now to tackle the remaining mortgage

pink_poppy

Ooh, how frustratingly close to the £34ks ~ curse the [EMAIL="H@lifax"]H@lifax[/EMAIL] & their daily interest!! :rotfl:

I see they're upping the SVR in May I'm not sure what to do yet?? I'm sure we could remortgage elsewhere (FD seem to be very popular on MFW) so I think I'll start shopping around.

I've noticed that shops are putting their prices up as well ~ yet more belt-tightening is required. I tried to do my own grocery challenge last month & it was embarrassingly bad I really, really need to try harder with this & meal plan, stick to shopping lists etc. Is that something you do??

Glad the cat is getting better, fingers crossed it was just a bug & that's him getting over it now.

teapot2

Yes, I was reading about SVRs going up. We are on a fixed rate [quite high] and got a couple of years to go. We fixed before the rates plummeted and at the time needed some security in the sense of knowing how much we'd have to pay monthly. We had to remortgage because we were with NR and our deal ended and the SVR was ludicrous with them. I was very unhappy in my job at the time and wanted to go self employed so we didn't know if that would work and as we'd been with Halifax before thought we'd try them. Talk about bad timing in the sense that rates hit rock bottom after we signed on the dotted line - story of our lives .

Think you're right to do some research - it can be expensive to remortgage. Good luck with finding a deal that suits.

I was thinking I need to get some recipe books out and try new recipes and be a bit more organised. OH eats meat [hold the veg] and I don't though I do now eat fish. Meals can be a bit of a faff. For him I tend to do the same sort of things; stovies, cottage pie, pork chop, chicken pieces for Sunday roast, beef stew etc. Am sure I could expand that range and save a bit more money. Its a pain doing two different meals though its been like that for so long I'm used to it. I make lots of soup and we can both have fish sometimes. He doesn't like spicy food or curries other than korma sometimes so I need to get my thinking cap on. I've never done a grocery challenge - I do sometimes just try to spend less but not in a very organised way.

My bank account is a bit squeaky this month - my tax bill was more than I'd budgeted for and I had to pay professional indemnity insurance this month and the subscription for something else so belt tightening is in order here too :eek:

Cat still seeming well so paws doubly crossed - no new entries in the vomit diary :rotfl:

pink_poppy

teapot, we did a 3-year fix at 5.89% just before the rates plummeted & paid arrangement fee of £999 for the privilege as well, just to add insult to injury!! :rotfl: We've always got things wrong property-wise ~ story of our lives as well

Glad there's no new cat vomit diary entries Our cat isn't himself atm, not eating his meat (again!!) & seems to be a bit subdued. I'm hoping he perks up soon or I can see one of those expensive vet bills heading our way!!

teapot2

5 years fixed here @ 6.040% - runs out in Nov 2013. Still hopefully by then we'll have hammered it down even further.

Hope your cat is feeling better and eating again, they are a worry. Our boy is being sick every few days still but seems fine in himself.

Goodness its gone cold again here - nice and sunny but freezing. A NSD I think :j.

teapot2

Oooh naughty not posted for a while. OH is having an interview today, he is realllllly nervous so hope it goes well. He wants this job a lot as he is not happy in the current post so all digits crossed here.

Nice sunny day here but a bit of a chilly wind so a good drying day - will put the washing out when I've posted. Cut the grass for the first time this year earlier in the week - the weeds seem to be loving this weather too :eek:

Heard back from the Hali yesterday and apparently we can overpay just over £2000 before triggering an ERC. So good to know, but sadly don't have £2000 spare. Will pay off what we can before the end of the month and that should bring it down below £35000. Its all still a bit squeaky in my business account and will take me a while to build it up due to reduced work plus tax bill.

Been selling quite well on Amazon lately so that helps too. Not sure what to have for lunch, cupboards are a bit bare hmmm will have a ponder....

pink_poppy

Fingers crossed for your OH's interview ~ when will he hear??

Our back garden grass is still too wet to cut ~ it desperately needs doing though as there's a little flattened trail where I walk up & down to hang the washing out!!

teapot2

He doesn't think he got it as he hasn't heard and they would normally ring the person they are offering it to that evening. The job description was full of jargon we hadn't come across before so spent ages researching on t'internet and he learned it all and they didn't ask one blooming question about any of it. In fact the whole thing wasn't as high powered as he was expecting. He had a 3 hour journey to get there and they were running late for so kept him waiting for 40 minutes and didn't even offer a coffee or a glass of water - he wasn't impressed.

Think I was lucky getting a dry spell to cut the grass. I hung the washing out the other day and it must have been nearly dry when the heavens opened and it rained for hours so I won't be cutting it again for a while!

teapot2

Well its official, OH got the 'thanks but no thanks letter' - he is disappointed but going to keep looking. Nothing else around to apply for at the moment.

My work has picked up a tiny bit which will help as well but its still down on last year. Amazon has been poor on the sales front too - sold one book last week for a good price then nothing since .

Went to Mr A today and got enough for the week [I hope]. I often think that and find the fridge is empty again by Thursday . Had a haircut yesterday as it had gone a bit wild all of a sudden, I just go to someone local, she must be doing well as its a tiny place and she used to work on her own but on Friday had 2 other hairdressers working as well. Had to play musical chairs to get a seat for a cut :rotfl:

Am hearing on the TV and reading about the amazing weather and record breaking sunshine being enjoyed this weekend but not here :mad:. There is thick damp sea fog which hasn't shifted all day and is 'in your bones' cold so we have the heating on here!

Been doing a bit of gardening when I can and filled the brown recycling bin this week with weeds and debris. I think the only way I can cope is to do a bit every day unless I'm working late or lots of hours. If I leave it its too much and I feel overwhelmed by the amount needing to be done. Also better for my back to do a bit at a time. Next job is to recut the edges of the border at the back as its very wavy and overgrown in places. Also need to repaint the fence with that fence protecting stuff as I did it a couple of years ago but it looks patchy now. Hope our weather improves and I can get on with that next week.

We're having a chippy tea tonight and OH is picking up a few bits at the Co-op that are a BOGOF and getting some loo roll as its 50p cheaper than at Mr A :cool:

Enjoy the sunshine lucky people, Teapot

pink_poppy

That's a shame about the job, hopefully something else will come up for your OH.

I've been gardening today as well (in the sunshine :whistle:) & filled our recycling bin ~ I'm thinking I might have to climb inside to squish everything down a bit so I can fit a bit more in as it doesn't get emptied for another 2 weeks!!

Fish & chips for us too ~ sat in the car on the seafront as it was too cold to sit out!! :rotfl:

teapot2

Well we got the sunshine like everyone else :j. Been doing bits every day in the garden and it does look a bit tidier. Also got the windows washed as they were in a shocking state.

Paws crossed cat is much better than he was. Only been sick once in 8 days which is a big improvement. The vet prescribed Zantac which OH used to take too :rotfl:. We are getting a cat flap fitted in the back gate 'cos the boy is finding it difficult to jump the high fences and the garden has them on all sides. He came in the other night limping so I think he is struggling to get to and from the top.

We did an OP yesterday online and are down to £34939 today so good to see it below £35000s where we seem to have been stuck for ages :beer:. Also paid in lots of change in branch today so another £50 towards it though I think they'll wack on the interest soon so that might wipe it out .

About 2 weeks since I sold anything on Amazon which is unusual, heard about the postage increases which seem to be mega. Think I might have to cull some of the heavier books as they would make a loss when postage goes up.

Bought some salmon fillets for tea and have poached them, they are cooling down in the liquor just now yum yum.

Going to sit in the sun and have a cuppa now.