A blissful home - mortgage_girl's MF diary

mortgage_girl

Hellooooo! I'm finally back! :wave::j:wave::j Thanks for stopping by BW, I didn't intend to stay away for so long but life has been extremely busy. Soooo...a quick update, the furniture has been delivered and things are looking a bit more normal in the MG household...I went on another spending spree (which was planned) and bought a couple of canvases from my favourite artist to go in the living room, they're huge but beautiful and look perfect.

The house is still pretty much upside down as i'm trying to declutter the back bedroom which had become the junk (ahem, storage) room, so I've got boxes of stuff to list on eb@y as well as boxes of stuff that I've listed. In addition to that my gf keeps dropping off boxes ready for the 'big move' so things are pretty much still topsy-turvy. My goal is to get the junk room in order by Friday - I'll just keep chipping away at it a bit at a time on an evening after work. I've got someone coming to buy some things from me tomorrow night so that will help me to clear some space (as well as earn some much needed pennies for for the furniture fund).

Work has been busy but I've been trying to keep on top of things, so I don't feel like I'm chasing my tail too much. I've been managing to get up for a run before going to work which has helped me feel less groggy in the mornings too. I'm just trying to strike the balance right with what I eat now as I felt a bit drained this weekend (and even went for a cheeky afternoon snooze yesterday).

I've managed to make a few small op's to keep things ticking over but most of my money has been directed to the cc to pay off my furniture spends. Apart from that, there's nothing else to report, life seems to be tied up with work and clearing space for the big move at the moment, so it's all a bit hectic.

Looking forward to catching up with everyone's diaries.

MGx

mortgage_girl

Sooo it hasn't exactly been a blissful home over here for the last few weeks with mammoth packing, decluttering and general space clearing activities. It's definitely disrupted my mojo (ooh I feel all Austin Powers)! However, the good news is that I now have someone to come home to at the end of the day - yes, she's finally moved in! :jI came home on Monday to a delicious homecooked tea of spaghetti and meatballs which was lovely. The house is still full of boxes and there's a lot of sorting to do but we'll get there in the end. Thankfully there's only this week to go and then we get a week off so we'll be able to get a bit more done then.

MGx

CathT

That's wonderful news MG.

mortgage_girl

Thanks Cath. We've survived the first week together and it hasn't felt as odd as I thought it would. We seem to have settled into living together really quickly and it almost feels like she's been here forever (in a good way :rotfl:). There's still a lot of sorting to do but we only have 2 'chaotic rooms' now as opposed to a house full.

We got rid of a load of 'extras' yesterday. A man from the local auction house came to pick them up. It was mostly duplicate kitchen bits and pieces but we had 7 boxes full of stuff so it feels good to clear some space and hopefully we'll get a bit of money for them to put towards a few house extras that we need. I've got another 4 items that have sold on eb@y to post tomorrow too and hopefully i'll get a few bits listed this week to keep that ticking over.

Did I mention that it's half term? :T:T:T There's some decuttering to do and some gardening, as well as Christmas cake making...shhhh...did someone say Christmas. But we're also going to have a couple of days out and maybe a day or two just to chill at home - bliss.

Hope everyone is having a relaxing Sunday.

MGx

mortgage_girl

Well what fab weather we're having for October. I don't remember it being this warm last year - although I know it wasn't as cold as expected. I'm going to go out in the garden for an hour or so and carry on emptying the raised bed. We're moving the plum tree there to make way for the coal bunker. It's a slow process as there's only so many loads of soil I can carry in one go so I'll just keep chipping away at it a bit at a time. We're going out for lunch, which will be a welcome break, then tonight I want to get the Christmas cake ingredients ordered.

I'm trying to stretch out the rest of my wages til payday on Monday rather than dipping into savings. We're going out for the day tomorrow and need a few bits of shopping so things could be a bit tight.

MGx

CathT

Happy new year mortgage girl. Have missed your posts, hope all is well with you.

mortgage_girl

CathT wrote: »

Happy new year mortgage girl. Have missed your posts, hope all is well with you.

Thanks Cath. Happy New Year everyone!

Well life suddenly seems to have got busier now there are two of us living under one roof - there seems to have been so much to do, hence the lack of posts. I think I underestimated how time consuming it would be combining two houses into one. There just seems to have been so much 'stuff' to sort. However, I feel that we've turned a corner and are starting to get on top of it, which is good.

I've lost track of my posts somewhat so I'm not sure if I mentioned that I passed my course, which was a relief (and it's so lovely not to have to come home and do coursework).

Christmas was good but busy. We had my gf's family stopping over so the first week of our hols was spent shopping and getting bits and pieces done around the house. Things have returned to normal over the past few days but I can't believe how tiring it's been.

Sooo, the new year is here and I've not even had time to think too much about New Year's Resolutions. However, one target I am setting myself is to get my mortgage below £10,000. I plan to offset it with both overpayments and savings so that I have some money set aside for a rainy day.

It's time to go and devour some more leftovers now but I'm hoping to catch up on some diaries later this evening.

Happy 2017!

MGx

mortgage_girl

Well it's been a busy first week of 2017. Work has been hectic combined with boiler breakdowns and power cuts but thankfully I could return home to a lovely warm house at the end of the day.

I've made my first op of the year :j and will make another smaller one tomorrow. I'm hoping to hit the £500 mark this month so I'll see how it goes. I've also put the equivalent amount into savings as I really need to get them built up again after last years decorating endeavours, followed by various insurance renewals and Christmas - it feels like it's been one expense after another. It's been well worth it though!

The weekend has been lovely. I did some decluttering yesterday and then we went to see the City of Culture opening displays - it was fantastic. I've never seen so many people in the city. Today I've batch cooked some beetroot burgers and made some coleslaw to use up some leftover sprouts (yes, really ), we also picked up some yellow stickered stir fry bags for tea tomorrow - and it'll probably stretch to Tuesday's lunch too!

I've been collecting a few Christmas and birthday items from the sales and my aim this year is to pick presents up through the year as I see them. Hopefully it will help the final few months of the year feel less stressful and I'll get a few bargains in the process.

I've finally bought a new phone - my old one seems to be losing charge faster and faster and I've had it for at least 5 years so I've had my money's worth from it. My new one is a used / almost new one that I purchased from C3X, I bought it outright on an interest free credit card and managed to save £150 compared to buying it brand new. It looks like new and came with a 2 year guarantee, plus I get to stick with my cheap sim deal. So although it was a relatively costly purchase, I've done what I can to keep it as cheap as possible, plus I'm hoping to trade my old phone in for around £60 which will offset some of the costs.

I'm hoping my thrifty, money saving ways continue throughout 2017 - fingers crossed!

MGx

cookie9

Happy new year MG. Like the sound of your beetroot burgers. Good luck with your OP and building your savings up again.

mortgage_girl

Thanks cookie. Oh they're soo lovely - if you google Jack Monroe's beetballs you'll find the recipe I use. They're so cheap and easy to make and they're delicious too!

So this week has been manic at work, I've felt like I've been coming down with the lurgey but seem to have shook it off after a couple of grotty days with it. I've also been looking after my gf who has done her back in and being signed off.

I've been keeping a close eye on my budget and trying to eek it out until payday - almost there now.

I've had quite a few vouchers through - I received my £30 M&S voucher from my new credit card so I'll be putting that towards a new dressing gown. I've also redeemed £15 worth of Am@zon vouchers from sb. I've traded my old phone, xbox console and my replacement fitbit (received my 2nd in a year a couple of days ago :eek:) in with C3X and the vouchers to upgrade my fitbit to a model that hopefully isn't flawed. I love the app and really didn't want to change to another fitness band so I've effectively upgraded for free. :T

Today I changed my landline provider to +net (who I already have broadband with). I quoted the Sky offer and although they couldn't quite match it, I managed to get unlimited interent for £4.99 a month plus £4.00 for evening and weekend calls and their line rental saver for £185, which I'm happy with. I also went over to my Nanna's and found out that she was being charged £35 a month by her landline provider so have switched her over too - considering she was paying £13.50 a month for her internet previously it's a substantial saving. :money: So I feel like I've got off to a good start on a MSE 2017. Let's hope I can keep it going.

Hope everyone is having a chilled Sunday.

MGx