Challenge of a lifetime!

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Morning CA, sending over a :grouphug:

This balancing act is difficult at times but lets console ourselves with knowing that GG is going on holiday, if the plane takes off in the snow . I am sure we can live vicariously through her for our holiday :eek:

Hopefully the heating is not a big job - typical that it breaks down in time for more snow. That's happened to me two years in a row and it is so frustrating.

Get the layers out and put the kettle on - best wishes Tilly x x

catshark88

Wow, have just caught up with your diary and your energy puts me to shame!

Congratulations on you excellent progress!

cotswoldaccountant

Thanks Tilly, and Catshark88! Our heating miraculously fixed itself without the need for a plumber. The car started, and we even made it up north, although not without the journey taking two hours longer than planned, as we got caught in a blizzard, and eventually abandoned the car about half a mile from our holiday cottage. Luckily, the owners were very helpful and came to rescue us and all of our luggage in their 4x4, and delivered us all to a lovely warm cottage.

Very MSE start to the weekend as our £175 online shop, due for delivery last night, has been cancelled due to bad weather. OH not impressed as he spent a whole evening doing the order! Tesco have kindly invited me to re-order "when conditions improve" Sadly this also means we have no food apart from a bit of bread and milk, so a mile or so trek through snowdrifts to the nearest convenience store will be necessary this morning! Although I think that will be a trip for OH and the older boys - the snowdrifts are bigger than DD and DS3 so I don't think they'll be too keen!

I doubt we'll be venturing out much except to build snowmen, but luckily we have TV, books and games, and an indoor pool right next to our cottage, so we are well catered for. Hoping that relatives will arrive to join us today, but they haven't yet made it past a service station hotel on the M1, so that might not happen

Still, the view is lovely and we are enjoying a slightly unusual but interesting holiday!

Peonie

Where have you gone? Wales, the North West, North East, Scotland!

cotswoldaccountant

Hi Peonie - we're in Yorkshire. No more snow but the forecast is freezing for next few days so I don't think it will melt much.

Cottage owners very kindly drove me in 4x4 down to local shops yesterday so have stocked up on food. So much for my moneysaving grocery cancellation! Oh well, we have to eat!

Realised that I have left my bank thingy at home which allows me to log on to internet banking. Bit annoying as I'd hoped to make an OP or two whilst away, but never mind - it can wait till we get home. Funds still rather slow at coming in tough, so will be well under my £3k target this month. Only £600 OPd so far.

cotswoldaccountant

Good news on the grocery front - Tesco rang about the cancelled order, and offered me £6.50 in vouchers as a goodwill gesture for the inconvenience. I said that wasn't sufficient, and they have upped it to £10, plus of course a refund of the full grocery order + delivery, which they had already charged me for despite it never arriving!

Loving the snowy scenery where we are, but it is hard work getting anywhere, especially with DS3 and DD being so small - they tend to sink into even the smallest snowdrifts. We have at least managed to dig out our abandoned car, and it started first time, so no hefty garage bill to deal with yet!

CA

Peonie

The car starting is excellent news. Did you manage to love it nearer to where you are staying and did your family arrive?

cotswoldaccountant

Fortunately we did manage to get it up the steep hill eventually, so it is now right next to where we are staying. Sadly the in laws decided it would be too treacherous to continue on their journey and they went back home. A shame, but probably for the best as FIL is a little frail and it is very slippery on all of the paths. Wouldn't have wanted any broken bones! It would have been lovely to have them here, but we are having a very nice time in any case - lots of swimming, and the children are about to go and collect the eggs from the farm.

cotswoldaccountant

Well the rest of our holiday was nice, and it's been a busy week back home keeping the children all entertained over Easter. Luckily they are at holiday clubs/childminder for a couple of days so I have finally had the chance to get some work done!

Just had mortgage balance update and we're down to £381,099 :j:j

Moneysaving activities this week include buying two 25kg sacks of flour from our local mill, for bread making and cake baking. OH bakes all of our bread now, and he has got very good at it since setting himself this challenge a couple of months ago. He works from home so it's quite easy for him to make the bread in between calls. We easily get through a loaf a day (what will it be like when our children are teenagers?!) so this is saving a lot of money, as the price per kilo of flour works out as just 53p! The cheapest bread flour from the supermarket is about 70p.

Can't do too many OPs at the moment as we need to save some money this month to spend on having our holiday let redecorated. It was renovated two years ago, but suitcases and general wear and tear take their toll, and a good paint is definitely needed. The painter is booked in for next week.

Right, I must go and be productive today, as I have a lot of work to get through. At least the sun is shining! :j

PrincessLou

Glad you had a nice holiday!

I can't believe how well you're doing with this challenge - it's very inspiring seeing the amount you've been able to knock off your mortgage in such a relatively short amount of time. It seems just yesterday when you reached your 400K target - now you're well on the way to hitting 375k!

How do you decide how much you'll be able to overpay each month? Do you wait until the end of each month and then just overpay what is left over after everything else has been paid for?

Anyway, keep up the excellent work! :j