Go Lily Go - Paying off the mortgage

lilyp

A bit of a down day - spent about £40 in Sainsburys somehow. Still smoking and feeling very ashamed of myself. I need a few days off to give myself a bit of a boost. Only had half a day off today and got nothing done.

On the plus side our water bills have been reduced by £10 a month! I used to have a bath nearly every night and our tub is huge. I have been trying to only have one once a week and I dont shower in the morning if I am home doing nothing anymore. I cant believe what a difference this makes!

BF and I are both guilty of running water when brushing our teeth so I am going to stop that too.

lilyp

Bad couple of days. BF lovely mum has been diagnosed with cancer. Her husband is currently unemployed so every penny is saved towards helping them.

She is being very brave and so is he.

gallygirl

So sorry to hear. I hope the prognosis is hopeful.

It's good that you can help put a little.

andrea_louise

Aw LilyP, what awful news. The Macmillan nurses can give excellent emotional support and advise on benefits (ESA and DLA) that are available too. Its bad enough facing the treatment, without any financial pressures too. Hope the prognosis is good.

Keep focused on your aims though!

Andi-Lou

lilyp

Thanks for the kind words both xxx

We are waiting biopsy results but she has already started radiotherapy on one of the tumours. I contacted Macmillan today and they are sending me out some stuff.

I cant think about much else for the moment

lilyp

Hello

Feels like so long since I wrote a diary here. A lot has happened and reading through my diary of last year I dont recognise myself.

BFs Mum has terminal cancer but is doing very well, responding to chemo. We are down there most weeks helping out. One good thing is that we have both quit smoking for over 3 months (with one blip on NYE) and because of my mother in law I dont think either of us will ever go back to it again. I have realised that I was being too neurotic about money and that we need to live a little and BF has a better attitude towards the finances and although I still have to do all the admin he is much more helpful.

Financially things are better in some ways but worse in others. The petrol to visit my MIL is a killer and there is no way around it. We have bought a new sofa which is on interest free loan for 3 years so that is £30 a month extra to pay out. We are doing lots of DIY around the house - paint is so expensive!

I have also become vegetarian again and refound my ethical values. I rarely shop in supermarkets anymore but I tend to pop into town once a fortnight and buy from independant shops and market stalls. We have a fortnightly organic veg box delivered. Although I am spending a bit more on food we are eating healthier and I am not worrying about finding horsemeat in my dinner.

I have £1500 in my savings account and around £90,000 worth of mortgage. Time to start watching the pennies and building up to making annual overpayments. However this time we are saving £150 a month towards an annual holiday too. I think there is a part of me that would still like to see that money go towards the mortgage but life is for living and I really hope I can create a happy healthy balance.

andrea_louise

Hi Lilyp,

So sorry to hear the news! Am pleased your MIL is coping well with the chemo, so many people don't. I started a low grade chemo treatment for inflammatory arthritis last year (the side effects were horrendous, but I did lose some much needed weight). Fantastic that you have both given up the dreaded weed. Sometimes our money plans are taken off track by incidents that are outside of our control.
You are now in the habit of watching the pennies, and as long as the mortgage doesn't increase (or the savings don't stop) then your in a better position financially, than a lot of others.
Thoughts to you all!
Andi-Lou

lilyp

Hi Andi-Lou

Thanks for your good wishes. She has been so lucky with chemo - no side effects at all. I have been with her for a few treatments and the whole process seems such a nightmare. Hope you dont have to go through it again.

xx

lilyp

Not the best start today. Paid out £120 for a new pair of glasses and a pair of prescription sunnies from Specsavers plus eye test. Good news is that my eyes have improved by 25% - or I am just getting old as my mother kindly told me! :rotfl:

I tend to keep specs for years so it really isnt a bad price but the bank balance is not at its best right now so was a bit of a blow.

I have calculated that my work owe me around £200 in unpaid wages so fingers crossed that they agree and sort it soon.

Am off to scavenge in the freezer for something for dinner and then spend the evening listing on Ebay.

lilyp

A pretty good day - have been at work all day so a NSD.
Attempted to start the 5.2 fasting diet but failed in spectacular style and gave in to big lunch and then afternoon sandwiches and cake At least they were provided by work.

Discovered it was a free listing weekend on Ebay when I finally made it home so spent the evening infront of mindless telly listing loads of cds.

Shattered! Off to dream about mortgage overpayments and ways to make money. Night night :wave: