To Freedom...

kirstypark

paid in £50.19 today to round off bank balance, as daughter paid her rent early. Have finally tided up the conservatory and installed our old wi-fit in there so having fun bouncing around to the dance tracks. We should get paid end of this week, but have bought tickets for the Wickerman festival in July on the credit card so will have to pay that off and still saving for new york in december.

Must buy some new trousers for work - have one pair with a burst zip and one pair with a stain on the knee - leaving me one pair that is wearable. So will definately need to go shopping this week.

kirstypark

wages day and have chucked most of it in savings for the new boiler and new york trip, after paying off tickets for our holiday in July. Only had £62 left over to overpay, but might manage some more trickles in june as we are getting very close to making it under 80k and I CAN'T WAIT to see that.

Went late night shopping last night and saw a lush dress inreally wanted, but didn't 'need' so ignored it. Managed to get 2 pairs of work trousers, and 2 tops instead for the same price so was pleased with that and it gives me a boost when i have something new to wear to work. Also cleared out my wardrobe yesterday and found a few things stuck at the back that i had forgotten about so can get a few wears out of them - althougth the reason they are at the back is probably cos i don't really like them.

Camping this weekend at a nearby village where they have the best fish and chips, and a nice seafood reasurant also. Mr P is taking his fishing rod and I managed to find a 2nd hand lens for my camera to replace one that was broken last year so can get some practice in with that. Hope the weather stays nice, but will go to the library today to pick up a few books in case it rains.

kirstypark

found another £79.53 to overpay today after an unexpected gas refund - the balance is just £8 over 80k, bit annonying, want to see a number beginning with 7! But Mr Park has a birthday next week and want to keep some spare cash for that. I got hotel vouchers as a work bonus earlier - bit daft for someone with a campervan, but a nice gesture - so we have booked a dinner, bed and breakfast close by to celebrate.

We decided to paint the camper as it enters it's first rally next week - a freind gave us some free paint and another offered use of his compressor with spray gun - we spent a week washing every bit of rust and dust off it - no mean feat when it's 36 years old! Then saturday the weather was awful and too windy to paint, so spent the day in a very bad mood - sunday was bright and sunny, so gazeebo erected in front garden and Bella driven into it ( our neighbours must love us!) and spent 4 hours masking off every bit we didn't want painted orange. Borrowed the compressor in the afternoon - only to find it doesn't work...major disappointment. with only a week to go to the show, we have resorted to buying up cans of spray paint and doing it all by hand. I think the staff at Hallfords think we have developed a paint sniffing habit or are indulging in major grafetti.

So far, we have used 18 tins of paint :eek: that were unbudgeted for. Still cheaper than a professional spray paint job which was costed at 4k, and from a distance looks a good bit less shabby now.

kirstypark

pay day and have decided to carry on saving for now so only got £154.86 to overpay today, but that brought us down to £79k. :j

Rally was great fun - weather eventually turned out great - was raining at first then brightened up to glorious sunshine and lots of visitors arrived to have tea and cakes in the camper. We didn't win any prizes, but did get a rosette for taking part.

I have a job interview this week :eek: It's for a job i used to do years ago, slightly less money and more hours, but based locally, so no commute. Would also mean working with a team with old freinds in it. Was debating to go for it, when my manager forgot to pay me my overtime again for about the 3rd time this year. So fed up with general disorganisation that decided to apply somewhere else.

kirstypark

direct debit went into mortgage - it does include a small overpayment, I forget how much. And skimmed another 90.93 off other accounts to pay a bit more. We are on holiday this month so don't want to leave us too short, but now have the cash for a new boiler saved up - just waiting till it starts clunking again. Then I think I'd like to save for a new kithcn, getting really fed up of the old blue units we inherited when we moved here.

Anyway, mortgage total is now £79,200 meaning we have paid a total of £21,956.45 off in 2 years. Quite impressed with that. The smallest mortgage, which is the one I overpay is only £19k now and once that goes the other one would be easy to manage on one wage, if we had to.

kirstypark

interview went well and was offered the new job, so have accepted. I think it's the right thing to do, less responsibility for about the same money, less travelling and hopefully less stress. Back into a uniform again, and that will save some cash too.

Got a stinking cold this week so phoned in sick, managers will be suspicious - but can't be helped... And it gives me some time to sort out various insurances, etc that were needing sorted.

Keep looking at new kitchens - and have decided we really need a new bathroom too. So as we are going to be here for a bit we might have a break on the overpaying mortgage and start spending on the house.

My dad had a great idea to mask our neighbour's horrible grey garage wall that takes up one side of our garden. He reckons he could build fake beach huts, only 1 plank deep that would have window boxes, and could be painted in pastel colours. One could even open up to store rakes and hoes in as our shed is full of stuff. I think it will look great.

kirstypark

paid in another £54.52 today, a bit of false economy as we are on holiday next week and will need to raid our savings a bit, but have 3 months overtime to come home to.

And it's my graduation this week :beer: I really wanted a new dress, but have a perfectly adequate one that i can wear under my robe, so cannot justify that. We have arranged to take my parents out for a fancy meal however.

Woke up yesterday to find water dripping from the kitchen ceiling from the bathroom above. I thought for a minute that we were going to have to get that new kitchen and bathroom sooner than planned! I quickly pulled out the house insurance schedule to see what we were covered for...However, my dad came round to help and he and Mr P ended up on the roof doing something clever with a leak they found. The sight of a 48 year old and a 67 year old climbing on roofs was a bit nerve racking. I had the life insurance schedule pulled out then and don't think it would pay out if Mr P had fallen off...

skint_spice

Have a great time at your graduation, I'm sure you will look fabulous!

kirstypark

thank you! the graduation was great fun. Then went on holiday the day after and took part in a rally with other VW campervans. We stopped traffic! It was a wonderful week although we spent massively and not sure on what...

Still waiting for OH pay this week before i do the money shuffle again - have decided we definately want a new kitchen so going to save most of it. And pay off credit card for Mr P's dentistry bill that was a bit shocking. Still waiting for a start date for new job - which is frustrating as really want to be gone now. But paperwork not complete yet.

kirstypark

another pay day and credit card paid off, bit of saving for new york trip and then filled up saving accounts again as really want a new kitchen. Chatting to freinds last night they told us their new kitchen cost over 14k :eek::eek: is that really what they cost?

but found £110 to overpay mortgage, so did that.

My hoover is really playing up - i bought it with a voucher deal found on this site and it's been the worst hoover ever - always falling apart or blocking. It puts me off cleaning! So have decided it's a need, not a want and going off to buy a cheap one today.