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

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Hi Amni, nice of you to drop by. In the current situation where interest rates are virtually zero on savings, it may well be better to overpay the mortgage (investing in index funds is another matter and you may get higher returns, but there's risk involved; lots of us do both). You'd need to do your own research into your specific circumstances though. You've found the bit of the forum where those of us on the journey to mortgage freedom diarise our efforts in this direction (and this is my diary in particular). I'm sure you'd have willing readers if you decided to go down this route and start a diary about it.

Thanks SL. No news though, so it's doubtful (we'll see). It's going to be a shock if someone does actually want it now though - I'm inured to the status quo now! 

Quiet on the work front this morning, so I've paid myself, money shuffled, sorted out my RBS a/c and paid the bills. Despite a lower income this month (Rishi's addition to my income has finally been exhausted), I still managed to put some money into savings.

I got the baby present yesterday, so I need to get that packed up and sent out. It was a nightmare out in the world though - both young and old ignoring all the guidance!! I'm so glad we have regular supermarket deliveries. When I went to start the car though the battery (my car, regular battery!) was flat despite DH having got it going the day before, so he got it going again and I just did one good run up the motorway to M&S and back - I didn't go to the zero-waste shop or the nursery yesterday (I bought plastic-wrapped rice in M&S -blue-faced eek for environment and money saving!). Am meeting Mum in an hour at another nursery we've not been to before, which is nearer, to see what plants they've got (and their prices).

Lunch today was a use-it-up special - pasta with leftover pizza sauce and some pickled mussels, which have been lingering in the cupboard for a year (?) now. Turns out the mussels aren't too bad and went well in the pasta. DH is meeting a friend for dinner tonight, while I've got another friend coming for dinner (salmon and prawn risotto).

MS things:
* 1P surveys
* YG survey
* Clicks etc.
* PA survey
* Heating off (need to dig out my fingerless gloves)

Gratitudes:
* Cat toys from Amazon arrived - *best* things ever according to the boys
* Supermarket deliveries due to DH's work
* Bake Off on catch-up

Have an enjoyable afternoon all!

Jessy103

Have a lovely dinner with your friend! 😀

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks Jessy! It was indeed a lovely evening - haven't seen her properly since just before Christmas and we always have a *lot* to talk about. 

We had a little bit of risotto left over, so am looking forward to having a go at arancini tonight (we never have leftovers normally!), although only enough for a small one each for DH and I, so we'll have something else too (stir fry, I imagine!). There's also raspberries and strawberries left over (shame) and most of a tub of DF almond salted caramel ice cream, which it turns out was delicious. 

Had a bit of a drama yesterday afternoon. Met mum at the nursery (which was a great find - 15 pansies for £5). On returning to the car though it wouldn't unlock on the fob, so I had to keep setting the alarm off using the key (I'm really glad it's an old car and has a key/key slot in the door). It was fine to lock it again, fortunately, which meant the alarm didn't keep going off. However, the immobiliser couldn't be disarmed, so I wasn't going anywhere. Cue Mum dashing back to mine to collect spare key from DH who'd just got back from a meeting and had another virtual one, all within 30 mins as the nursery was due to shut. The man running the place was really kind though - he'd have stayed, but it was his Dad's birthday, so he just left the gate open for me to leave (presumably came and locked up later!). Mum didn't quite make it back in time, but when she did the spare worked fine, so disaster averted. DH opened up the fob when I got home and you could see the corrosion on the circuit board, so we've sent that off to be fixed by a man on t'Internet (£15).

This morning I've ventured out in the rain to the post box with an RM survey item and there's bread baking in the oven (which I've just realised I forgot to put a timer on for!). A few bits of work to do and then I really need to sort out my MS Office as the support expires for Office 2010 in 11 days time! Otherwise, I think a quiet day, out of the rain!

MS things:
* 1P surveys
* RM posting
* Clicks etc.
* Using up leftovers in every direction
* Still no heating... but blanket on bed and microwaveable sheep (wheat bag, but much cuter in sheep form) have come in handy! It's not really been that cold.

Gratitudes:
* A lovely evening with friend
* A warm, dry home
* Interesting work

Have a good day all!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

We did have stir fry for dinner last night, with arancini to start (sounds much posher than 'we stood in the kitchen and scarfed down some deep fried rice balls whilst starting to cook'!) and berries and yoghurt to finish - all using stuff up. We've still got a few bits of fresh veg, so I'm confident we can eke it out until veg delivery on Thursday. I do want to get stocks down to more useable levels - we seem to have a lot of bitty bits in at the moment, rather than core ingredients for our regular meals.

I'd like October to be a fairly low-spend month. I can see that work-wise things may be quietening down again (due to normal cycles rather than Covid), so I need to minimise spending so I can maximise savings (see below). I can't foresee much to spend on tbh, so this shouldn't be difficult. We had a *big* supermarket delivery last week, topping up stuff for cats, booze and general foodstuffs (including emergency rations of tinned soup in case we have to self-isolate), so hopefully we can keep food spending down too - I envisage smaller spends at zero-waste shop and on second supermarket delivery.

The longer we end up not selling, the keener I'm getting on the stay, pay off mortgage asap and find a plot of land somewhere scenario (not helped by an episode of GD last night!). I'm not really seeing much coming up for sale in our price bracket that would suit us, so I'm increasingly doubtful that we'll find somewhere, even if we do sell ours. While we haven't got a first clue about the best way to go about self-building (Busy Mee, I may be picking your brains soon!), we do have some ideas and our housing needs would be relatively modest (I don't think we'll be featuring on GD!), so the cost wouldn't need to be huge. The land cost would be the issue, I think.

Along with RM survey stuff, the post brought a second payment from Shell Energy - you may remember that I had a random email some time ago saying they'd overcharged me on leaving (eventually realised that this was when it was First Utility - our first energy provider on moving here!) and a £15 credit to my account. Well, a couple of weeks ago I had another email saying much the same and that I'd receive the money by the beginning of October... so today a cheque for £9 turned up! I've paid this in via app, and will transfer to savings when it's cleared.

We have a viewing later today and another one booked for Monday. May visit the in-laws tomorrow.

MS things:
* Lunch from stores
* Clicks
* 30p withdrawn from PP
* £9.06 from Shell
* Heating went on for 1/2 hr last night at same time as boiler was on for water. Nothing yet today
* RM survey stuff

Gratitudes:
* No need to step outside into the wet today!
* DH's garage roof repair seems to be working
* Freeglers coming to pick things up

Happy Saturday!

Jessy103

Ooo building your own house would be super exciting! Imagine doing an eco one where you don't have anymore electric or heating bills! I've always dreamed of doing a hobbit house that's built into a hill ever since I read the hobbit and Lord of the rings! 😀

themadvix

It would definitely be a super eco one Jessy, but no hobbit house for me - I like lots of daylight and views (not necessarily exciting views, just views as opposed to the view of sky through a skylight).

themadvix

Morning all,

Another cold and wet day here today. I did manage to get a walk in yesterday afternoon, which was rather lovely - nothing special but I did get to see the countryside from the local park - a view that always brings me a sense of peace. It also meant I managed my steps for the day. Despite the rain, DH has just gone out for a run (not a marathon run though - I feel for those doing that today, it's not inspiring weather!).

I've signed up to Streetbees this morning, after SC's raving about it. It's an interesting one... and I haven't quite worked it out yet. But we'll see what happens. I can't work out how I get paid (paypal, but is there a minimum, do they pay per study, how long does it take them to review my stuff?).

Will probably head over to the in-laws at some point as DH wants to collect the Mini gearbox so he's got something to play with while it's wet and miserable. Will also call in at my Mum's too, briefly. 

Viewing went as expected yesterday. DH and I have agreed that we'll ask them not to book anything after Monday's for a week, giving us a chance to make a decision about where we go from here. I feel we're not really getting anywhere at the moment, so we may have a break until the spring (or decide not to move at all for the time being). I'm finding I really resent the time we spend making the house ready, only for the viewer not to even give feedback in a lot of cases - even if it's 'It's not for us' that would be fine, but we spend the best part of two hours getting it ready, having the viewing and then making it cat friendly again afterwards.  

We can remortgage from November but our deal doesn't expire until March, so if we're not moving imminently we need to make some decisions about whether to go for it now (Nov),  but not pay a lump off and be limited to 10% OPs, or risk waiting until March, let the fix expire, OP a lump sum (even if it's not a huge amount, at least it wouldn't be in our OP allocation) and then get a new deal. Either way, I think we've decided we'll shorten the term  - at the moment DH pays £646/month and we're looking at mortgages of as much as £1k/month, so he can definitely afford a bit more, which would help get it gone.

MS things:
* Streetbees
* Clicks
* No heating - just exercise!
* Neighbour dropped round a bag of (vegan?? Think she may have the wrong end of the stick! ) pastries yesterday as a thank you for cutting her hedge - entirely unnecessary, but very kind of her. 
* Comps entered
* Card made for friend's 3-yr-old 
* Going to bottle wine shortly

Gratitudes:
* Pastries for breakfast
* A lovely walk yesterday - really helped me wind down from the viewing stress
* Weekends that are for pottering

Have a good day all, stay dry!

Karmacat

Weird on the lack of feedback and the lack of 2nd viewings for you very disappointing.  Not surprised you're pausing to think.  Have a lovely day today!

themadvix

Thanks Karma. It’s good to know we’re not just particularly easily dissuaded and that it seems reasonable to take a break - I know it can take a long time, but it’s definitely taking longer than expected (flooded market?). I can’t fault the agents - they always ring and ask the viewers for feedback, but I guess they can’t hassle them. Ultimately though, unless they’re on the phone first thing the next day asking for a second viewing or making an offer, you know it’s not a yes.

 While we definitely don’t want to be here forever (and have been talking about moving on and off for a while), we’re not in a desperate rush/don’t *need* to move, so what will be will be.

South_coast

themadvix said:

I've signed up to Streetbees this morning, after SC's raving about it. It's an interesting one... and I haven't quite worked it out yet. But we'll see what happens. I can't work out how I get paid (paypal, but is there a minimum, do they pay per study, how long does it take them to review my stuff?).

They normally approve them within a day or so and then send the payment a couple of days after that. They pay for each study individually and there's no minimum, so you could just do one and they'll send you 20p (or whatever). Great if you don't want to make a commitment to it, as you can do as much or as little as you like and there's no threshold to meet 😀