First steps on the road to being mortgage free

egon

I managed to get all the financial sheets up to date. Now I have to do the filing (yep, that pile is still lingering in the corner. As I said, I am good at ignoring it! )

I will also look into claiming all money back that is owned to us. Some of it is my fault, as I haven't claimed it back from the insurance and tax and..... This will be my challenge for october. This has to go hand in hand with clearing that pile.... so the pressure is on.

Feeling not so well right now, seem to have managed to keep hold of a sinus infection. :eek: Doing everything to get rid of it. Unfortunately, I can't just lay in bed and feel sorry for myself. _pale_

One baby step after the other to sort everything....

egon

I have started on the pile of paperwork. Every night a few pages are being sorted. It doesn't feel such a chore then.

I have changed our gas provider. Last year, it wasn't worth it. Our heating isn't on yet either. Over here in Hamburg it is still nice and warm. I only put a fleece on, when the sun is going down. I unfortunately always feel any drop in temperature.

DH has been back in the UK. He and little DS will be back in the morning with lots of goodies. He is shopping at Mr T's right now.

Three years ago, we bought an old house. Lots of renovating has been done already. The last is the ground floor. We have now decided, that we will speak to the banks about a credit to finish it of. All this time living on a building side has been quiet nerve-racking. I am waiting for the last quotes to come in. I actually can't wait to finish it off.

A friend also gave me lots of hedge plants for free. I will put them into the ground tomorrow. Saves us buying garden fences. Actually, the back garden is a big building site too...

Off to do some more filing

Worry_Wart

Hi Egon, sounds like you've had a rough time of it of late. I hope you get everything sorted and get a loan to finish the house. The houses in Hamburg all seem so huge!! I was over there a couple of weeks ago, and the weather was lovely (for a change). It's a really nice city.

Good luck getting your paperwork sorted and hope you get your son some professional help soon.

WW

egon

Thanks Worry-Wart

The quotes for the building work on the house are starting to come in. I still have to get some people in to quote us for a winter garden.
Soonest I have all together, I can go and speak to the banks.

DH and DS brought a lot of goodies back from the UK. :T Fridge and freezer and all other cupboards are full.

Actually, from the winders packing, I have nine "Adult goes free" vouchers for UK attraktions. They are valid until 30/06/2015. As we will not be over for another year , I am happy to give them away. Just PM me with your address.

Whilest the weather over here is still decent, we are caring on with the garden. At the mo, it is just a big "sand pit".

I am also thinking about joining the grocery challenge again. Just to see if I can tweak our budget some more.

egon

It has been a while.....

I am in talks with the banks about the credit we need to finish the building work on the house. It has been a bit of a roller coast ride over the last few weeks.
The system over here is quiet different to the UK. I am just so glad that a colleague of mine is in a very similar situation and he is helping me a lot to make sense of it all.

We even ordered our kitchen yesterday, even tough it will not be delivered until the end of March or later .

Also, there are lots of colds/flu going around. Someone within our little family is always ill. I hope this situation will be over soon!!!

I am also pleased, that I am getting on top of things at home. The paperwork pile is nearly gone. Soon I will be able to tackle our tax return. I liked to use the money, we expect back, to buy curtains etc for when the building work is finished.:rotfl:

Christmas is around the corner too. I only have to get a few things now. I can't wait for the sales after:A:T

So, I am off to update a few other lists etc.

Everyone have a nice Sunday evening.
Egon

egon

So, the year comes to an end.

Just before christmas, we have been able to sort the credit for renovating the downstairs of our house. This was such good news! When spring arrives, the building work will start. :j
A new kitchen has also been ordered. We just need to sort the tiles and colours..... :T:j:T

I have also, at long last, been able to sort all our paperwork. I can now do the tax return for 2013. Bonus, if I can get some more money back. Otherwise, we will have no curtains at all.

I will now set up a budget for the building work, so we stay on top of it.

DH and I also agreed, that we will start overpaying the mortgage by 400 Euro each month, as we are paying the highest interest rate on it. Everything else will just get the minimum payment.

Our yearly budget is also up to date for next year. So it should be easy to keep it updated.:T

We have changed our gas provider. I did the last reading for the "old" one today. I expect repayment of around 1300 euros, as they never amended our monthly payments.
We also should get some money back from the electricity and water company.
All this extra money will go towards our winter garden.

As it is new years eve, we leave this year on a high. :j

I WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015!

Egon