Keeping up appearances.......

Seasidegal58

Glad to see you back posting Happy.

milann

Pleased to hear you’ve got the funeral behind you now and can move forward with your memories of her. Not an easy time for you. I really hope you don’t encounter any problems with the inheritance as we have. We’ve been waiting since October 2016 and it should have been straightforward- mil thought she’d left everything in order......but unscrupulous financial advisor and trust company really put a spanner in the works. And it’s still not fully sorted 😡
Good to see you again. 

Seasidegal58

Hope all is well with you and your family Happy. 

Happy Mother's Day. 💐💐💐

Seasidegal58

How are things going Happy?  Hope things are ok at your end. X

milann

Hope you are doing ok in this mad situation 🤞👍

HappyNow

Crikey, over a month since I last posted, and even then it was just a quick flyby. Thanks to everyone who has dropped by and for all the good wishes.
The world is a bit weird and scary for all of us right now and I hope everyone is keeping well. I'm missing seeing my mum and daughter but we speak by phone every day so I know they're OK. Little Miss H is a teacher so I do worry about her looking after key workers' children - she's young and healthy but I'm terrified that if she caught the virus it might re-light her balance disorder from a few years ago. Anyway, so far so good. Master Happy and his girlfriend are still living with us because they can't view houses to buy right now. They're good lodgers though so it's not an issue. 

Financially things aren't great because Mr H hasn't been able to do his self-employed work since lockdown. He was only part-time but it's about £500 a month lost and we are feeling it. It doesn't look like he'll qualify for the government SEISS grant in June because his pension drawdown was slightly more than 50% of his income for the relevant years. 

But the silver lining is that the inheritance from his mum is almost through. That's mega fast, we thought it would take ages. It's much more than we thought at £34,000. That will clear the unsecured debt, for which I am unbelievably grateful. We won't be clearing it straightaway though, counter-intuitively, because the debt is all on 0% which is running out in phases between August 20 (that one's £11K so a BIG chunk) and April 21. We will just shove it into premium bonds for safety (and obviously in the hope of the million pound win or at least a few smaller ones!) and pay it off just before each 0% expires. The remainder we will sit on for now, drawing out £500 per month to replace Mr H's lost wages. When/if he goes back to work (he contracts to a company which might be closed a good while) some will go off the mortgage and some will be used to finish the outside of the house. We are cracking on with that as best we can but it's not easy to get the materials we need. I find this debt payment stuff very exciting, but equally I'm aware that it's at the expense of losing his mum so that tones it down somewhat. 

I'll be back later to update the signature in advance of payday on Wednesday

Seasidegal58

Hi Happy - I'm pleased to hear you and your family are well.  It's hard not seeing family - I should have visited my DD last weekend but at least we can still keep in touch via technology!

Sorry to hear about your OH's job - hopefully this madness will end soon and some normality will prevail. In the meantime, as you write, the inheritance will be of great help in taking the place of OH's salary and clearing the unsecured debt. 

X

bd80s

Hi Happy, glad to see you are all ok and managing through all of this. 
Its nice that you have the inheritance that can help plug gaps at the moment and have it on standby to clear debts  

milann

I can’t believe how quickly your inheritance has gone through - like you say though, it’s tinged with sadness. We’re still waiting and it’s well over 3 years. It was at a stage where grandchildren have been paid out whatever she left them, but the majority is still waiting on unscrupulous financial advisors arguing about fees.....we were close seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when the virus took hold - so dare say this will scupper things again. It should have been a straightforward case as my mil thought she’d doe the right thing putting it all in the hands of an advisor and his cronies - beware folks.
Its good to see you again and to hear that you are safe and well. Not seeing family is hard - it’s what I’ve found that the hardest.
Your financial plan sounds positive - uncertain times are definitely ahead for us all I think. Good luck with getting materials for the house.....it’s good to have a focus.

EssexOstrich

Hi Happy, I've dipped in and out of your diary from the past 9 years and I've decided I must be you! Or you're me... not sure which but honestly, it's a breath of fresh air. I don't know how to subscribe but I'll try and find out and will follow your journey