Sweetdaisy's aim to be mortgage-free

edinburgher

Good luck with the job applications SD. I'm also looking just now

sweetdaisy

edinburgher wrote: »

Good luck with the job applications SD. I'm also looking just now

Thanks edinburgher. All the best with your applications too.

Firegirl

Sounds like an exciting career change!!!! Good luck with the applications!

sweetdaisy

Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus i bawb (Happy St. David's Day everyone) _party_

This month I am going to simplify my finances. I tend to transfer money between various accounts almost on a daily basis; therefore I have set up little ‘separate pots’ in both my Direct ‘Debit/Bills’ and ‘Weekly Spending’ Current Accounts.

I am now going to transfer money into Savings, Mortgage and Childrens’ Savings accounts at the end of month. This means that I shouldn't need to log onto online banking as often as I do and more importantly it will make my bank statements a lot shorter!

TimmySaver

That sounds like a really good plan, Sweetdaisy. Best of luck in finding a job in accounting/finance.

sweetdaisy

Had an extremely busy month, so a long post from me. They do say that things always happen in 3’s, however in our case it happens in 4’s . . .

Firstly, had more car trouble this month, again with DH’s car. Car went completely flat on three occasions, despite his battery only being a year old. Got breakdown recovery company to restart it and something is draining the battery by 10 amp but we can’t find what it causing it. DH doesn't trust the car so bought a mobile £60 car charger/starter. DH now wants to change his car, but I am trying to persuade him to hold off replacing his car just yet - mainly because he doesn't think things through and wants everything yesterday!

Secondly, talking about things breaking down - our oven decided to pack in . The fan was making a grinding noise and then cut out half way through cooking a chicken. Called a local white goods repair service and I have to say they provided an excellent service. On the day of calling them they came out to inspect the oven, took it away for repair and replaced the fan and element, then returned it all within 3 hours. It cost £112 but at least it is cheaper than a new oven.

Thirdly, there has been a gone-off smell coming from the little bedroom which doubles as a computer room/office and it is where the airing cupboard is located. We had turned the room upside down searching to see if any of the children sneaked any food in there which may have gone off. It turns out that we had a leak in the airing cupboard and the smell was the chipboard drying with the heat. Luckily DH has fixed it and there is no more leaking and the awful smell has now disappeared.

Lastly, my car has been recalled by Nissan due to a fault reported with the steering. My car is going in to be fixed in a few weeks; however luckily we don’t need to pay for this.

The positives:

I am in holiday mode as we are going on a family holiday to a Haven Caravan Park in Dorset next week :j. I am looking forward to being able to spend quality time as a family and re-charge the batteries.

I contacted my Mortgage provider and my minimum monthly mortgage has reduced by £31. I am happy with this as I am making an additional overpayment without having to do anything. This month I have made Mortgage OP’s of £490, monthly interest applied to the mortgage was £96 – the first time it has been under the £100 mark . Mortgage balance is now £52,703.

There is some progress on the changing careers front – I have started voluntary work 1/2 day a week at a local Accountancy Company - it makes my Fridays a very long day as I go straight into work for 8 hours after volunteering for 4 hours, but it's got to be done. I am being realistic in that I am not going to be able to get a job in accountancy unless I get experience. After sending my CV out to around 20 companies, I only received 3 replies to say that they were not taking anyone on. So, I phoned a local accountancy company and asked if they would be willing to take me on as a volunteer and they said ‘Yes’. Hopefully the experience will enable me to change jobs in the future.

Watty1

Fab idea about the volunteering. I'd bet an employer snaps you up with that kind of commitment soon.

sweetdaisy

Watty1 wrote: »

Fab idea about the volunteering. I'd bet an employer snaps you up with that kind of commitment soon.

I hope so . A recruitment company that I am signed up with has said that I am next in line to be put forward for the next role that comes up in a large local Blue Chip company. The roles that come up are temp roles for around 3 months, but the experience I could get could set me up for a more permanent role/or to be taken on by this company. I am hoping that they (the recruitment agency and blue chip company) will see that I am committed to changing careers and doing everything that I can to make that happen.

I am working full-time, go to College 2 evenings a week, volunteer 4 hours a week, plus there are family commitments and organising children's activities etc. Everyone keeps on telling me that I am doing too much, but I am hoping that it is short-term pain for long-term gain .

CathT

Hope all your hard work pays off. We are going to Haven in Easter hols too, can't wait!

Ouch at all the car expenses, hope that's the last of the car trouble.

sweetdaisy

Hi Cath - hope you enjoy your holiday . Just checked the weather and it looks like we will have at least 2 dry days, so have packed for wet weather as well. I am almost packed, just a few things to sort in the morning and fill the cooler bag with fridge food and we are off :j.