Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

themadvix

That sounds like a good solution! Enjoy!

earthgirl

Have a lovely Christmas, thank you for all of your help thus far x

themadvix

Ah bless you Earthie - I'm not sure about help, but it's great to have a willing audience for my passion! :rotfl:

Amazingly I am back on here today. Had a great walk yesterday and picked up two small items in the NT shop sale ( ) as last minute bits for a couple of people I felt needed a little extra.

Cat-sitting is all sorted now and I've been round and seen the lovely boys this morning, so all good there. And relatively quite a bit of work for this morning too. All done now, so Christmassy jobs, something to post (survey item) and some relaxation coming up. Need to enjoy the calm before the storm....

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

themadvix

Happy 2020 Everyone!

I've had a really lovely festive season and done lots of socialising and catching up with people. It's been great - and nothing too strenuous for the introvert in me. I've seen family I've not seen in over a decade and have spent quality time with friends and other family too. I feel very lucky to have so many lovely people in my life.

We were very fortunate and grateful to receive a cheque for £2000 from DH's parents for Christmas. My share of this has contributed to our holiday as DH had paid for everything until then (I did offer him money at the time, but he didn't want it then!). We also received generous amounts of money from my family (although not to the same extent - and quite rightly, even then they were more than generous!) which we will put towards excursions when we're away - a cooking demo and a bayou trip in New Orleans, a night at the Opry in Nashville and a visit to Alcatraz in San Fran.

With regard to 2020 financial goals things are a bit up in the air at the moment. DH is looking at replacing his car with something more environmentally friendly. We can't afford a Tesla (Model 3) at the moment (realistically the only fully electric car with the range suitable for a main car), but he is considering an Audi A3 e-tron (a plug-in hybrid), which would allow him to get to work and back on electric only (charging mainly at work, but sometimes at home too). The reality is that this would cost us money - both the capital for the car and the greater expense of running a modern dual-fuel vehicle that we couldn't work on ourselves. We'd hope that the cost of servicing would be offset by the lack of vehicle duty, but ultimately our cars currently cost us very little to run, so we know there would be a cost involved. And our car still works fine.... which makes this a very difficult decision. But DH's work involves introducing alternatively fuelled vehicles into a fleet and so he (we) feel that we should be doing more at home. It's a tricky one - and we know that there's the cradle-to-grave cost involved in producing cars....

Anyway... if DH does buy one, he'll be focusing on replenishing the savings in 2020 - we'll be buying in cash. I will focus on the mortgage (as well as pension and S&S ISA). I have £2306 (from Nan) to pay off the mortgage that's sat in savings at the moment, as we'd reached our OP limit last year. After that, there'll be about £5,116.98 left on our allowance (thanks helpful Santander person for the details) - that's my goal. As always, being self-employed, I have no way of knowing how much I can expect as income, so this is always an uncertain goal. The best hope of achieving it is to ensure we're running a tight ship and making the most of what we have coming in.

With this (and my everlasting goal of creating a minimalist home) in mind, I have a menu plan for the next week, using a full inventory of the cupboards, fridge and freezer. We've already started using bits up. As Brexit is looking less likely to be a cliff-edge situation, I'm happy to run down the stocks we've got and get back to a more sensible cupboard situation. I envisage that we'll need to spend a maximum of £50 on food (milk and veg box, with the odd necessary extra) in January.

In a fit of madness (for him) yesterday, DH sorted out a bunch of CDs/PS3 games which we will Music Magpie (all of £11 worth). He's also acknowledged that various other bits can be ebayed, so once January is out of the way, I'll crack on with that (no point in Jan, everyone's broke!). Not MSE, but I've been freegling and charity shopping lots of bits too, so hopefully that minimalist home is not too far away.

All other MS activities will continue as before.

Gratitudes:
* A lovely festive season
* A return to normality
* The discovery of the benefits of meditation (using the Calm app)
* Very generous gifts (for which I'm very grateful, but which were totally unnecessary!)
* A fresh new decade

Happy 2nd January everyone!

themadvix

So... that was the big waffly bit.

Today I have:
* Paid £100 into S&S ISA (which is definitely benefiting from the stability in the political realm)
* Paid £27.95 into savings
* Claimed £17.12 from TCB
* Clicks (inc Hunger Site)
* Lunch is root veg soup (big batch used up swede and parsnips, which needed eating) and hm bread roll.
* Dinner is lentil bolognese cannelloni - using up cannelloni (from pasta win several years ago :rotfl:), bolognese from freezer and nutritional yeast in white sauce (instead of cheese) - it's definitely not a replacement for cheese!

Busy_Mee1

Happy New Year Vix. So glad you have had a lovely festive period. I guess you feel like we do, having lost someone very dear to you. It really makes you appreciate family occasions.

Your goals for 2020 sound great. I will be very interested to hear about your trip to New Orleans and Nashville. Both are on our list.

We have done San Francisco and Alcatraz and really enjoyed it. You forget how much history there is in San Fran......the gold rush, the earthquake, hippys, Alcatraz etc It makes for a very interesting place. We loved it.

I will also be interested in your deliberations and experience with an electric car. This is something we have also been discussing too.

themadvix

Hi Busy Mee, Happy New Year! You are very perceptive - I did appreciate the time with people more, knowing how that might not last.

We're really looking forward to our holiday now - it's in 125 days (I logged in earlier to try and book the chauffeur service to the airport as I have enough points now :rotfl: - couldn't get through, so will try another time). But it told me how long! It feels much closer now that we're in the same year. I think we're trying to do too much, but I hope we enjoy all of it. That's very true about SF. And thanks for the additional vote for Alcatraz - DH really isn't that bothered, but everyone says it's really good, so we're going!

The car thing is *so* tricky... but ultimately it's DH's decision (I've already made the decision that I'm keeping mine, not his (which is newer)).

Karmacat

Hiya madvix your trip is coming along really fast now! Excellent! How long are you in New Orleans for? Turns out my sister and niece are going there next month, just before Mardi Gras, I'm not sure bayou trips are on the agenda (or known about, actually) but it sounds great.

Electric cars: after seeing my brother struggling with places to recharge his son's Tesla when he borrows it, I have my doubts about the practicality just yet. I think buying now is a very unselfish thing to do - you sound like you're aware its going to cost, but honestly, green as I am, if I was in your shoes I'd be flogging my old car for as long as I could, and then acquiring the next gen. of electric / hybrid car.

And thanks for the reminder on thehungersite - I used to click that all the time, don't know why I drifted.

Have a great day

newgirly

Hi vix, happy new year

I’m sure I saw that one particular full electric car has two options now, it may have been the leaf I’m not sure, but the dearer option had a range of over 200 miles if I recal? Not sure how that compares to a Tesla. Dh’s Work electric van leased about four years ago had a real life range of about 95miles, the next one three years later the range had risen to 140 miles, a big difference!

Suffolk_lass

Morning madvix, great plans, so organised. We are in complete contrast and still have visitors so running at least a week late in posting aims, goals and plans. Your sound great. Happy New Year!