Pavlovs_dog starting as she means to go on...

originalmiscellany

i think I'll give it a pass, but thanks for the offer! I'm still not using quidco or onepolll properly yet - danger of being over confused me thinks.

Frugaldom

Hi Pavlov's - just caught up with your thread and I'm so pleased that you're doing so well. Also glad that the hole in the wall disn't turn out to be anything sinister.

Will try to keep up here and attempt to keep up on my 'buying a house without a mortgage' thread. everything else frugal has been put on my own blog now, as things were just becoming unmanageable on MSE when time was so limited.

Keep up the good work!

pavlovs_dog

sorry for disappearing on you, the past few weeks have been very, VERY hectic.

just wanted to note (so I don't forget) an OP of £158 this month.

Mortgage balance currently stands at £130,631.26

Frugaldom

Keep up the good work. House moving takes time, patience and hard work, so I think you're doing incredibly well being able to make a start on over payments this early.

pavlovs_dog

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

my folks came over and helped me to measure for the made-to-measure blinds for the study and dining room. I'm going to order 1 room's worth at a time, as each order is well over the minimum spend for free del.

it took over a month, but they were finally put up this week. They look good, and it's nice to have some privacy and shade in the office. Have ordered the set for downstairs. Thankfully it's coming out of my golden hello money, so it doesn't really feel like it's costing us anything IYSWIM.

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

well it pays to shop around. Had our RAC renewal through...

(touchwood we've never had major mechanical problems with the car, which is just over 3 years old. But if anything was to happen whilst I was driving away from home I wouldn't really have the first clue where to begin fixing it. £8 is a small price to pay for the piece of mind).

this paid for itself this week as I had a puncture on the way to work. Glad I 'renewed' (albeit under OHs name and at a cheaper price )

Frugaldom wrote: »

Keep up the good work. House moving takes time, patience and hard work, so I think you're doing incredibly well being able to make a start on over payments this early.

that's thanks in part to threads like your for making me realise that I didn't have to be a slave to the mortgage all of my life :kisses3:


am mentally exhausted. School work seems to be getting more and more relentless. Never mind the days, I am counting off the seconds until Easter. I've never felt more in need of a break. It's a cruel irony therefore that I have so much work to do that I need to spend pretty much all this weekend working just to stay/get on top of things

I am trying to console myself with a message that a friend put on her facebook status recently - nothing is so bad that it couldn't be worse!


just keep swimming....

gratefulforhelp_2

Horrible this time of year, all the exam pressure and coursework deadlines looming.

Frugaldom

Hope you can, at least, enjoy part of the weekend and that it's as sunny there as it's been here for the past couple of days. And I have to agree with your friend - yes, things can certainly always get worse, so always make the most of any situation.

Roll on the holidays - friend was telling me her kids are only in school a total of 8 days throughout the month of April. Maybe the schools are the same where you are and you'll have plenty of holiday time?

pavlovs_dog

Frugaldom wrote: »

Roll on the holidays - friend was telling me her kids are only in school a total of 8 days throughout the month of April. Maybe the schools are the same where you are and you'll have plenty of holiday time?

no such luck - I still have 14 teaching days left before Easter. Off last two weeks of April, in for 3 weeks then off for a week for Whitsun. The staffroom is like night of the living dead - two 7 week half terms back to back is physically too much. we are all exhausted.

in happier news, made another OP today of £104 (tutoring money and March £50 OP). We have now OP'ed £442 of our £1500 target, or 29.5%. In other terms, this more than equals the amount of money from our £710 monthly payment that goes towards paying off the capital rather than the interest.

I also bought lunchbox type bits in the weekly shop this week, to avoid wasting food on the school canteen. I always eat better when I take a packed lunch. Made flapjacks packed with fruit and seed for breaktime snacks. They must taste good because they are disappearing from the biscuit tin at lightening speed. Easy to make though so I think I'll bake more next weekend.

cha97michelle

That is a long half term hon. No wonder you are on your knees. It is almost as bad as the 8/7 before christmas. I just looked after Frugaldom's comment and my kids too are only in for 8 days in April. That is quite mad. They break up here on the 7th of April.

Frugaldom

Well done with the over payments; Is £1500 your 2011 target?

Just had a look at the school term times here - DGD finishes this Friday for her hols:

Spring Holiday - Monday 4 April to Friday 15 April 2011
Easter Break - Friday 22 April and Monday 25 April 2011
Royal Wedding - Friday 29 April 2011 (Additional day to celebrate event)
May Day Holiday - Monday 2 May 2011

A total of 8 days in school.