That was scary; now to tackle the remaining mortgage

teapot2

Went to the bank and made an OP of £100 :j. Mostly in change from the various pigs, cows and cats that I save my change in. I did have most of it bagged up though as they are not keen on lots of change; it is a bank after all what was I thinking about!

The amount owing on the mortgage doesn't update for 24 hours online so will have a look tomorrow.

Managed to get 2 lots of washing dry today which I wasn't expecting as the forecast was for torrential rain again but in fact its been dry all day so far and was even sunny this afternoon.

My back is sore so have made a physio appointment, the pain is going down my leg so thats not great - can't afford to be off work so will just have to grit my teeth and pay out and they are good.

teapot2

Don't you just hate it when this happens - made the OP of £100 yesterday but HBOS must have added interest onto the balance 'cos we now owe more than we did before the OP :eek:. OH was so insensed [sp?] he made another OP today from his account so we'll see what that does when it updates tomorrow.

Planted some more beetroot and radishes today and did some weeding but too tired to do much. Am off to bed now as got an early start. Night all.

wantabetterlife

Hi teapot, i am with the halifax and agree this is annoying as your balance looks like its getting bigger. The good part is a lot more of your normal monthly payment will come off the capital :j

teapot2

Hi WABL, you're so right it is dispiriting to see the balance apparently going up - not the result I was looking for at all . However, mortgage is now at £42,358 so going down very slowly.

We are both keen to see it in the £30Ks as somehow that makes a big difference to be in the next 10k 'down'. Our regular payment comes out on 1st so I think we'll try and OP as much as possible next month and see what that does. Trouble with being self employed is; no work = no pay and I've booked a week off in August as am getting v tired. Also lots of people on hols so doing less work next month anyway. Will have to see how it goes - maybe busking at the festival in Edinburgh :rotfl:? Sadly am singularly untalented not that that seems to stop some folk [miaow]

I found £10.05 yesterday on the road so thats a start :j.

To change the subject drastically, I feel so sad today about what happened in Norway - all those young people gone, have Norwegian friends and they are devastated. And just heard Amy Winehouse has died, seems such a waste of her young life too. Hugs to all and take care xx

teapot2

Woops didn't realise it was so long since I posted. We made an overpayment last week of £500 between us and that plus the regular mortgage payment brings it down to £41,288. We can overpay another £200 before we hit the 10% limit so I've sent a couple of invoices to claim for some work I did last month and once these are paid will do another OP. Feel quite excited that we are getting nearer the £30000s :j.

Took back a top to Mr A as I wasn't keen once I tried it on as it was a funny length on me. Got a few bargains but food shopping is deffo getting more expensive. OH likes smoked sausage and I sometimes make a casserole with one so stocked up as they were down to £1. Got a butternut squash for soup but it was really tichy - they all were so not a bargain. I saw a HFW recipe for squash soup with peanut butter in it which I really fancy making so decided to get it anyway. Its so cold and wet here that it feels like proper soup weather.

Managed to get the grass cut but not the edges and the heavens opened. We have a weather warning for rain apparently and same for tomorrw - oh joy.

On the wildlife front we had a sparrow hawk sitting on the garden fence this week and the garden was eerily quiet for a while. Glad the cat wasn't out as he might have had a go :eek:. Ah well off to build an ark........

teapot2

Goodness its been wet today and rained most of the night too. It has finally stopped but is quite cold and dark - looks more like an autumn day out there than mid summer .

I made the squash and peanut butter soup and its yummy and wierdly crunchy. Got some creme fraiche to put on the top as well. Have made a meat casserole to keep OH going for a few days and the fridge is stocked up too.

Not too busy at work next week so thats good as am getting tired and my week off is still a couple of weeks away. Got a long report to read for work and then going to chill out with the TV if there is anything worth watching.

Hoping to make another OP next week if I get paid for an invoice I submitted - one lot are usually very quick at paying but I normally have to chase the other one so am not even expecting to be paid by them for a while. Ah the joys of self employment.

Its been very quiet on Amazon and Greenmetropolis for me this week although I have put a few new listings on which usually results in a sale.

Have a good week everyone, Teapot x

teapot2

Well my week didn't start as I expected as the work I was due to do today has been postponed until Wednesday which means today was a 'day off' :j. I was due to work on Wednesday anyway so will just do a few more hours to make up for today. It also means it was a NSD and I saved over £12 on fares plus would probably have bought a coffee and sandwich .

So instead, I had some crunchy soup, read a report for work, sent a few emails, watched a bit of daytime TV, read some of my book and did some washing once the rain stopped.

teapot2

Did an overpayment yesterday of £200 so we are now at £41,170 - getting closer to the £30,000s but it still feels painfully slow getting there :mad:.

We've overpaid the maximum we can without triggering an ERC so I said I'd write to Halifax to ask what the latest amount we can overpay is - OH gave me his 'you are demented' look so maybe I'm getting too obsessed but hey who cares :rotfl:

Wasn't working today and had a NSD as its been cold and wet all day so didn't fancy going anywhere. Caught up on some paperwork that I've been putting off. Did a washing for inside drying and made a pot of soup. A friend gave us some veg off her lottie so used some of that. Also made a banana bread as had some going off .

I made a chicken thigh and chorizo stew for OH which I was surprised that he really liked and he gets three meals out of so I can make that again sometime. I've never tasted chorizo but it smelled good.

Cat has taken to sitting out in the rain and insisting that he wants to and likes it? :eek:

Going to watch CSI Miami in a bit and chill. Got two long days at work then am off on my holibobs - not going anywhere but soooo looking forward to a break.

teapot2

I've been off all week and had some lovely days out and spent time with friends I haven't seen for a while. Not spent toooo much [honest ].

On the downside we got the boiler serviced this week and there's been a stronger and stronger smell of gas since then. Called the engineer out again and he checked as much as he could but couldn't find the problem. So the next day it was even worse and we had to call the emergency gas folk out. The engineer came round too while he was here which was very helpful. At one point there was talk of having to rip up the kitchen floor which was a bit worrying to say the least :eek:. In the end the leak was traced to a dodgy join in the pipes down near floor level at the back of the boiler cupboard so the only damage was to the bottom shelf in the cupboard - phew. He resoldered it and joy no smell of gas this morning.

Been out to the garden centre today and they have some very nice autumnal plants but am being good and just looked. Its VERY windy here and all my bean plants went flying in their pot but I've propped them up by the bin and hope they'll survive and produce beans though quite a few flowers have been knocked off .

Just thinking about making soup as its quite autumnal here, brrrrh.

Managed to take lots of stuff for recycling this week and put a few bits on Freecycle which have gone but to be honest theres so much stuff it doesn't make a huge difference but its a start.

Am off Mon & Tues as well though its not a BH up here so I'll have a short week at work :j. Still waiting for letter from Halifax - took my 1p & 2ps to the machne for counting yesterday - not very MSE as they take a cut but the bank will only accept 5 coin bags a day so its easier that way. Got almost £14 so will put that aside for overpaying once we know what we can pay in.

teapot2

Been a strange week workwise with quite a bit of work cancelled for various reasons - I'll still get paid for most but not all of it.

Had a hair cut as I was beginning to look like I had a haystack on my head. Its very short now [I did ask for that] and I've got over the shock :eek: [much shorter than this!]

My bean plants seem to have survived being blown over and I can see some small beans forming as well as there still being lots of flowers. Might plant some spinach this week.

Had quite a good week on Amazon and sold a few also one on Greenmet. Got a book to post tomorrow - its another seller who bought it so I'm wondering if I underpriced it but hey ho. Have had a no spend weekend, just doing stuff in house and garden. OH went away yesterday with work and not back until Monday eve so have got some mince defrosting to make him a cottage pie.

Still waiting for a letter from Halifax re overpaying - they seem to take an age to write back, maybe this week.

Lots of washing outside - thought I'd better stop at three loads and give the WM a break. Have a good week everyone Teapot x